the homestead project | bruce norelius studio

Rockland / United States / 2012

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As one of ten selected architects to submit an urban contemporary house design on display at the Farnsworth Art Museum (www.farnsworthmuseum.org/exhibition/homestead-project) we began with the question "Why here?" We are convinced that the answer to that question—in its detail and nuance—would be the foundation for any concept we developed. It is a perplexingly complex context, both physically and socially. The middle of downtown, in the heart of an eminent museum grounds, far from the typically desirable secluded oceanfront parcel. We are intrigued: this is a client who has a well-considered attitude about being part of a community, and one who has thought about balancing that with the need for privacy and reflection. This proposal dedicates the east edge of the property to a new farnsworth museum exhibit space, defining the Elm Street entrance to the museum and delineating end-of-museum and beginning-of-residential precincts. The plan and section are a complex series of layers progressing from the public realm of the street to the private spaces of the house. A series of robust stone walls have several duties. Pragmatically, they are used as space definers. Metaphorically, they allude to masonry patterns in town, as well as the directional fingers of ledge defining the topography and geography of midcoast Maine. Thermally, they provide mass contributing to the energy reduction strategy. Tactilely, they define the rough end of the material spectrum in the house. And, provocatively, they invert the fundamental spatial essence of the19th century entry hall, exchanging absence for presence. models by local collaborator, brian briggs
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    As one of ten selected architects to submit an urban contemporary house design on display at the Farnsworth Art Museum (www.farnsworthmuseum.org/exhibition/homestead-project) we began with the question "Why here?" We are convinced that the answer to that question—in its detail and nuance—would be the foundation for any concept we developed. It is a perplexingly complex context, both physically and socially. The middle of downtown, in the heart of an eminent museum grounds, far from the...

    Project details
    • Year 2012
    • Status Competition works
    • Type Single-family residence
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