House for John and Mara Lighty

Terraced house built for a couple; the house consists of six building volumes, gracefully positioned on a wooded slope among white oak trees, and includes the living room - kitchen volume, the studio volume, the bedroom - library volume, a workshop, a garage, and a tower. The house was laid out on the site, and the first step of the layout process was to identify and establish the main centers on the site. The main centers, as they existed, were the spaces among the trees. The position of the main house volume was fixed on a natural shelf, parallel to the contour lines; given the slope, it was a long and thin volume, and left all trees intact. All other volumes, terraces and stairs were laid out on site, following the same procedure. The final volume positions were formed as accurately as possible, by refining the shape and position of the volumes later, in parallel with excavations when the formwork for the foundations was set. Final drawings for the permit were produced immediately after the foundation formwork was completed.