House Submitting To The Seasons
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Total area: 250 sqm
Design: 2019-2020
Program: 4-bedroom family house
A ‘House Submitting to the Seasons’ was designed to intervene in nature and consequently intervene in light. In summer, the high Cypriot sun creates a warm, sharp light with strong shadows that emphasise the solidity and mass of the building. In contrast, the interior light of the house is diffuse and cool with soft shadows that flatten and diminish matter.
A family house with a modern, tranquil feel and a sculptural form that complements its natural setting. The building is composed of concrete, timber, and glass – materials of the present that are attractive in a raw state. Materials and means of construction informed the house’s design, which developed incrementally, through addition and subtraction. Concrete was heavily used for the main façade, celebrating the imprint of the surface against which it was cast and the effect of the weather as it dried.
The soft grey, concrete walls and glass windows make the house appear unusually delicate, providing a background to the changing colours of nature – yellow, brown, green, red and gold. Windows afford long views to the undulating fields beyond, which shutters can obscure when necessary. Creating ambiguities between inside and outside and home and garden. The ‘House Submitting to the Seasons’ echoes across time, creating a dialogue between past and present and offers future relevance. Faced with an ever-faster world, the house’s monumentality makes time seem slower and more apparent.
