2969 House, Columbus Ohio 2008-10

Surrounded by a homogenous sea of lawns the typical suburban house sits statically with shrubbery and flowers plastered against its facade for the viewing pleasure of passengers of cars as they speed past. 2969 House rethinks this typical condition by exploring ways in which a house can engage with and be engaged by the landscape. Interdependence between house and landscape is created by the way elements of the house extend and capture exterior space, and by the way landscape elements become exaggerated and figural. 2969 House opens itself up in ways that allow views into and through the house from various positions within the landscape. The house is also deliberate in its orchestration of the ways in which occupants look out into the landscape. Because of the interdependence between house and landscape the space of the yard is treated as an extension of the house. No longer will the house be a static object placed in a neutral landscape, and no longer will the yard be a vast homogenous landscape that is only viewable from the car.