Grez-doiceau house
conceptual design
Grez-doiceau, Belgium
2016
in partnership with Debaes Architects
FOT team: Will Galloway, Koen Klinkers, Erez Golani, Christopher Sjoberg
The project is located in the middle of a forest, nestled at the foot of a valley. Between the mountain aloft and the lake below, the house vanishes in a logical continuity of the territory.
Chapter 1
Our Clients, gallerists by profession, wish to open their house to artists and friends.
Art has always been able to return to its inception, close to nature. It was in this spirit that the will to have a guesthouse, sort of a studio, was born, recluse in itself on the other side of the valley.
Cut off from the conveniences of everyday life, without running water or electricity, the idea was to return to simple values, reconnecting the occupant with nature and himself.
Nature serves as a catalyst for reflection and creativity.
A pavilion will be installed across the pond and an aqueduct will link it with the existing house. To initiate his visit, the visitor will need to confront himself with the elements of nature from the start by literally throwing himself into the water. Conditioned, the individual will only be more fortified.
Chapter 2
The existing house is no longer preserved. Instead, we want to strengthen its relationship with the landscape by installing a platform. The platform is anchored in the landscape and flows through the valley.
The house, partly on pillars, partly sunken in the hillside, merges into the surrounding landscape. The roof, a horizontal plane in the sloping landscape dressed in strips of wild vegetation, acts as a podium, inviting the house to embrace the landscape.
It allows the resulting landscape to be read as a clear line. Our house thus melts and disappears in its background, always in the respect of the surrounding nature.
The smaller volumes on the roof - a workplace and a studio - constitute small islands amidst the vast panorama, shelters where the residents can retreat.
