The house is located on an undeveloped lot in a forty- year-old neighbourhood, close to where I live. No one I’ve talked to seems to know why this lot is undeveloped or who the owners are. Do they live elsewhere? Do they even care about this property? Have they left this lot dormant for some unknown reason?
Good fences make good neighbours. The front façade is a bas-relief composite of adjacent neighbours’ street-facing façades.This conciliatory gesture acknowledges immediate neighbours while giving my imaginary clients sufficient privacy to pursue their obses - sions.
A local railcard building was slowly deconstructed late last year; it’s an inspiration for the superstructure.
postscript The owner of the mystery lot is mysterious no more. He’s an older doctor who bought the lot when the neighbourhood was being devel- oped. Apparently, he was promised an unobstructed view of the city at the time of purchase; this promise was broken as houses went up between his lot and the river valley beyond. In a fit of pique extending forty years, he has refused to build on this property, letting the site literally go to seed. A future chapter may be added; I’m tempted to approach him with my design and get his response. It may very well appeal to him. As I was photographing the model on the site one morning, a number of neighbours jogged by and commented that they wouldn’t let their dogs piss on this building.
Myron Nebozuk is a partner with Manasc Isaac Architects in Edmonton,Alberta. He continues to favour martinis with lime twists.
37
O n S ite review
W eight
I ssue 10 2003
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator