The proposed building is located on the border of two
different worlds: the urban and the natural. From the north-western side of the
site is a wedge of bio-corridor stretching along the Dalejský Brook. The
corridor is enhanced by the distinctive exposure of the Hlubočepské Rocks.
Urban space surrounds the site on the south and east sides. It is a chaotic and
random development, often adversely affecting the value of the projected
terrain. The form and spatial layout of the house are a direct response to this
context.
The proposed house design seeks to extend the natural context into the interior
of the site and into the interiors. On the other hand, the house is then
separated from the ‘urban world’, for which it becomes an abstract body that,
through its form and scale corresponds to the surrounding rocks in the
background.
At the same time, the form of the building addresses the need for proper
illumination of the rooms by natural light, the question of “the problem of the
‘narrow’ entrance and the problematic location of the neighbouring building on
the southern boundary of the site.
In the first steps, we designed a building that was created by the method of
land deformation. The terrain was to transition smoothly from the north-west
side into an artificial hill into which the house was to be placed. From the
southeast side, the “hill” was to be undercut, which would allow the creation
of an entrance patio under the building, created in that part by a different
rectangular geometry.
Due to the need to limit the budget, it was necessary to significantly reduce
the previously proposed building. It was decided on the risky method of
directly cutting away “unnecessary” elements, which had to significantly affect
the final result. Such a deliberately primitive and direct cut-off has in
places resulted in surprisingly good effects, in other places the effect was
worse. The changes involved almost exclusively organic, rear part of the
building and had little effect on the interior spaces that, which, according to
the original concept, were created by the clash between two geometries: organic
and rectangular.