House for a Samurai

Why does a Samurai want to build, in the Czech landscape, a house covered with earth? It is not to save energy or to pursue some environmental utopias. It is the result of a disciplined decision and a natural desire to blend into the surroundings. The Samurai wants to stay in the house only occasionally. The spiritual aspect of all the spaces in the house is more important that mere performance of intended functions. Everything must be utilitarian. The central theme of this house is a humble embrace of one’s own inconspicuousness.

Our design uses the entire plot, exploiting its gentle slope. When you approach the house, you cannot really see it; all you can see is a copse, a landscape element so frequent in the surrounding area. You enter the house by descending an equal-armed staircase, which forms the beginning of a long axis that runs through the entire house. A long dark passage runs underground, connected to the world above only by two small yards. The passage communicates with all the little rooms in the house. Towards the south, the house gradually emerges from the terrain and the passage begins to grow lighter. We end up in a glassed-in elevated space that directs our gaze into an undulating landscape.

The building is a reinforced concrete monolith sunk into the hillside. Structurally, it is simple; all its dimensions and the shapes of its spaces affirm the leitmotif of the building. The entire roof is overgrown with lush vegetation, which receives as little care as the surrounding landscape. The glassed-in part of the house boasts a pure form of design; its glass walls can be opened up to the greatest extent possible, so the end of the house is simply a natural element in the landscape, an overhanging projection under which one can take shelter.
 

location: Svarov, Czech republic
current state: study
realization: 2011