Wood House Sits Lightly On Landscape
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.15.08
One can build a house out of wood and cover it up, or one can celebrate the nature of wood, as this one in Slavonice, Czech Republic does. Designed by E - M.R.A.K. | Martin Rajniš, Kamila Amblerová, Václav Horecký, it is built out of unplaned, uncut wood piled on top of each other, and held together only by its construction weight to make it completely adaptable. It is basically a pile of lumber.
The architect describes it: "To summarize, it is about the minimum work, minimum adaptations, I minimum time, minimum energy, no waste, minimum nature infringement, minimum traffic, minimum assembling, minimum costs.."
"One of the main endeavours was to grasp the object very sensibly with regard to the environment and natural neighbourhood. The construction has no foundations; it doesn't penetrate the landscape, it only touches it"
"the internal areas are covered by a free building set of glassed frames suspended from the upper horizontal structure. On the northern side, these frames are filled with fibre boards, with double-glass boards on the other sides. The internal partition walls are either fixed, or sliding, made also of fibre boards suspended from the upper horizontal structure."
All photographs by Andrea Lhotáková via ::Archiweb
Nice idea... Won't work on any zone where tornadoes or hurricanes are common occurences.
I don't know if Czech building codes just encourage this sort of thing or if the Czechs have a different aesthetic than the rest of Central Europe...but I've seen some really innovative new construction in the Czech Republic over the past couple years (as well as, granted, some absolutely awful "who is still thinking in Soviet-style" grandeur monstrosities).
Much of the good stuff is just well built simple construction with tasteful finish. I think this comes from the fact that many Czech construction workers also do restoration and conservation work on existing historic structures--combined with the fact that they had to make do with years of depravation. I imagine that would instil a sense of doing the absolute best with the minimum material.
good style ,i like it,but i alway have a danger to it
it can only decorate the house,although it look well,it is not practical.
They must not have tornadoes there. That would be gone in a heartbeat in one storm, just like an untethered trailer. Otherwise, it is an interesting concept.
Though the house looks nice, something like that wouldn't be practical in severe weather conditions. Or, say in California with the Earthquakes.
I've been to the Czech Republic, and they like to drink a lot, sometimes too much. I think this is one of those times. Does anyone think this is an actual example of a viable building method? Frankly I am as disappointed in this article as any I have seen here on TH, nobody is going to live in a house like that and all it is is an artistic statement. They guy should try his hand at building something useful, because that's what the world needs.
If I built one, I'd give it about four years for outgassing before I moved in...
I do not believe that this is a feasible building method. The idea of holding a building together only by its own gravity would fail in all but the most placid of climates. In addition, the building lacks any insulation, and I imagine it wouldn't weather the Czech winter very well. With this in mind, I must remark on its creativity and innovation, even if it is an accident waiting to happen.
Gee - no foundation? Not even minimal piers?
Seems like that would be a nightmare once the soil settles.
Fixed glass and fiberboard panels for wall system?
No insulation? In a climate with winters?
This project looks less like green building and a lot more like an exquisite full-size architectural model.
I love the way it looks, but the actual design is temporary horribly unsophisticated.