Private House in Sigulda
Largely invisible from the street, this private house received an award for the best Latvian architectural design of 2004, beating all its heavyweight rivals and becoming a place of pilgrimage for both architects and the general public. The hillside on which the building sits was first excavated and then filled in again once the house was completed. The plot was strongly landscaped in bands of simple 'materials': a rye field skirting the street, a grassy lane on the valley side, gravel for the 'cour d'honneur', and pebbles for the tourist trail that passes across the roof of the building. The house itself is an elongated, linear structure, whose orthogonal geometry provides a backbone for the skewed volumetric composition and spatial layout. A combination of rough, massive surfaces and smooth, light elements meanders through the house. Slanting, protruding and naturally uneven elements create a genuine sense of nature.
HOME
No MIMOA account? Register here!