House for a Photographer (with Bernhard Buchberger)

Montreuil-sous-Bois, France

Architects: Moussafir Architectes

This project for a photographer’s house gave rise to two proposals illustrating the reversed versions of the same idea: that of the relationship between the principal central space and peripheral ancillary rooms. The first proposal was a 10-meter-high cubic volume with five translucent sides. The volume contained two «pockets» suspended from the roof and housing a bedroom and a shower room, while the third one at the ground level was occupied by the darkroom. The principal living area was formed by the empty space that surrounded those three opaque volumes placed within the cube. The initial project exceeded the allocated budget, therefore we sought to express the same idea by reversing the polarity and turning the structure inside out almost like a clothing item. The second project is designed more like a striking sculptural object placed in the heart of an area of suburban houses, its opaque components containing four main functional areas (entrance, darkroom, bedroom, bathroom) circumscribing the open living space, which runs through the middle of the structure and enjoys distant views of the urban landscape.