Exterior Impression
Exterior Impression
Site Plan
Ground Floor Plan
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Exploded Axo
Rammed Earth House
A rammed earth wall; A 20th-century roof.
To retain the uniqueness and characteristics of the early 20th-century farm, whilst providing a modern experimental design is to respect what exists, what surrounds, and what is most important to the farmland, earth.
To exist within the forest is to become one with its surroundings. The House with One Wall subtle drop into the earth provides a deeper connection to the material, the oak, hornbeams, and beeches in which it is surrounded. The rammed earth becoming a wall, surrounding the house in its entirety, yet only to the height in which it becomes a program. The surrounding material becomes glass, open views out into the dense forest, restoring what was already there, views.
A single wall – Structure, and service become equal in their importance. Acting as the anchor in which domesticity can be extended. The central support becomes a rammed earth wall in which everything exists off. Power, privacy, entry, and rooms become existent through this wall. The structural wall becoming a showpiece to the rammed earth material, yet curtains, contents and everyday life allows for the manipulation of space, rooms, and privacy depending on the user. Entry into an open space, walls behind create the privacy needed for utilities and services, yet neither side is given preferred importance, that which is decided individually. Living, sleeping, sanitary areas are defined by the programmatic use of its inhabitant, always in a state of fluctuation.
The rammed earth columns on either side give the illusion that they are pieces of the single wall, which allows for the roof structure to sit above, a testament to Slovenian modernist architect, Oton Jugovec. These obstructing views out of the clear glass surrounds, only slightly, hinting back to the rammed earth aspect of the house. Embedded in the ambiance of the forest the structure is distilled to a clear architectural expression - an experimental building allowing sustainable dwelling.
A house out of the ground - A subtle vacant spot within the dense forest allows a place to dwell. Preserving the existing trees - the extracted soil in which the building sinks into is transformed into the load-bearing wall; a minimal footprint questioning the notion of the home. Integrated into its site the building becomes one with it - self-sufficient heated by firewood of the forest and nourished by the collection of its rainwater.
A roof of Shelter - The roof of the building becomes a reduction to its bare minimum, purified to provide shelter to its inhabitants. Drawing on Oton Jugovec’s symbolic conception of the roof, it becomes a means of preserving the pre-existing - the ruins of an old church. Supported by minimal means, the straw roof reinterprets the use of the vernacular and the building becomes an experimental construct of local materials.
House with one wall
Architects: Studio Hueguh (Pascal Henle, Chris van Corler)
Year: 2021
Location: Dobrava, Slovenia
Status: Competition entry