client - patricia piccinini


Piccinini likes to explore the "often specious distinctions between the artificial and the natural. She challenges our classification of life by displaying the relationship and differences between the organic, natural and our constructed material world. This inspires her to combine human physiology and technological development. Her art usually provokes discussion and argument about the world - and that's a quintessential by-product of contemporary art.


Her devotion to art and personal views about the effects of biotechnology on the world have been inspirational to this design.

outdoor dining table with views framed by work space.

kitchen / dining / lounge

insipred by her views on biotechnology, paths evoke balance between artificial and natural. question the scar.

a1 graphic presentaion

a1 graphic presentaion

a seemingly natural slit in the land lures you to the entrance beacon   

entry pavilion section

p l a n

the entrance pavilion resides above the land and acts as a beacon, an architectural abstraction of patricia's sculptural works. affected by humans, the natural skin is crumpled and twisted, creating a discreet entrance. on entry, you are met with an untouchable view of the house ahead, but are lead down twisted stairs forcing your momentum to overlap, relinquishing your grasp of orientation.

moving through the peeling threshold to the house, views and paths slowly unveil. stairs to the left guide you to a private mezzanine for rest and reflection. formed from rammed earth, the deep retaining wall anchors the bed and reading cave, both embracing lateral views. 

below is the kitchen, internal dining and lounge, all formed from a single black matte plastic extrusion which echos the movement of land disrupted. this joinery pierces the curved glazing to form an outdoor dinning space. the outdoor space was inspired by centeral errosion, creating two structures whos dialouge is formally controlled. to maintain pristine views for all spaces, patricias work pavilion rises above and frames the panoramic mountain ranges afar.

where the land has been sliced, the building grows ; a cicatrice.

s i t e p l a n

sliced into the land, a wound reforms. lines between natural and artificial are blured and paths are created that question patricias belief in natural manupulation.

l o c a t i o n   p e r s p e c t i v e

discreetly hugging the coast, the house embraces northern light into both working / living zones. natural and built forms are synthesized. the house is anchored to mass yet projecting solidity to water.