eskin house for an ecologist
Eskin house is the winning entry in an International Ideas Competition titled "House for an Ecologist" sponsored by the AIA Committee on Design and the AIA Committee on the Environment. The competition challenge is to elevate the merger of design excellence and sustainable design. The competition program is a 1,500 square foot live/work dwelling for an Ecologist in Residence in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Training Center to be located at a nearby site in the forest. The area of Eskin house is reduced to 150 sq ft and the house is located beneath an existing pedestrian bridge to leave the competition site undisturbed and symbolizes the bridge between the life of the ecologist and the important work they perform for the environment.
In awarding this project, the design jury stated, "It made a decision to not build, which would disrupt the surrounding forest. The unique characteristic of this project is the simple rejection of the design problem. It was the most provocative of the submissions. Rejecting the palate and rejecting the site and rejecting that it had to be a certain site, it should send a certain message about competitions: You have to take risks."
eskin house
Somewhere between the earth's core and the alpine wildflowers is the architecture of sustainability.
Caves and tunnels, volcanoes and glaciers, elements and atmosphere all exist in layers of the earth.
The human body's passive cooling and heating systems are manifest in our skin.
Consider the term "building skin" and its correlation with human skin and the skin of our planet.
How does the intervention of mankind, industry, buildings and extractions affect the state of the earth-skin?
How do these interventions contribute to the wellness or stability of the earth-skin?
Is this the architecture of sustainability?
Eskin house examines the idea of building skin as the essential system of architecture where the collective knowledge of sustainability will exist.
The competition site will remain undisturbed reducing campus sprawl.
The site will be the existing bridge structure connecting the instructional buildings and the Commons.
The program is focused on the creation of a minimal environment.
150 square feet is allocated instead of 1,500 square feet to assist in reducing the project's environmental impact.
The ecologist will have use of the bridge, nearby terraces, and existing facilities.
Hanging from the underside of the bridge and hovering approximately 30 feet from the ground, the house will be private
yet completely exposed and integrated into the forest.
A cocoon, a web, a blister in the sun…..
