Shishiodoshi house | Avignon Clouet Architectes

Avignon-Clouet architects have just completed their very latest project near the cité radieuse housing unit designed by Le Corbusier in Rezé, near Nantes. This vertical mass stands towering like a headdress perched on a Bigoudenne*, and its full 11m of height is centred on a focal, specific function. Home to a young couple and their three children, this project is based on a timber-frame house, with the entire surface coated in white PVC. In compliance with local urban planning regulations, the eaves of the roof remain within the boundaries of the property, and channel rainwater towards a vast SHISHIODOSHI built of aluminium. This authentic Japanese rocking fountain system, whose design has been overhauled by the architects in cooperation with the Esclain shipyard in Nantes, sets itself in motion as soon as the first drizzle starts falling over Nantes, and winds up in the final stretch with the water collecting in a tank. Studded with numerous, spacious balconies, the building gives the inhabitants unique views over their neighbourhood, like a lighthouse watching over an ocean of houses. (* a Bigoudenne is the name of a woman from the Finistère area in Brittany, as well as the name of their distinctively tall, traditional headdress.)