“Let us return to the past; it will be a step forward.” -- Verdi

This project deals the thematic interaction between a traditional house without windows, which remains steady in space, and the myth of Sisyphus, which illustrates human absurdity through the instability of form.

The object is conceptually and structurally interpreted through the language of (in)stability. The roof as an element of tradition alludes, with its geometry of an equilateral triangle, to the idea of stability, and becomes an active element of the interior space by giving the functional organization a dynamic sense of spaciousness.

The object’s functional organization leans on elements of traditional architecture. Its central motif is the hearth, which in the winter period warms all of the spaces clustered around it.

The sloping pitch of the terrain informs the foundation of the object, whose shape may be defined as a reversed roof. It frames the object’s mass while giving it its geometric character of apparent instability and dynamic design.

Large, angular, sliding curtain walls located on the cantilevered side of the building face south-east and provide the only opening through which light enters the space. The dimensions of this opening allow large amounts of light to fall deep into space all year long, directly illuminating the living room and parts of the hallway and bedrooms. The openness of the angle breaks the form of the compact mass and emphasizes the roof and the (reversed roof) base. The angled aperture unabashedly flirts with the idea of porches in traditional architecture.

The facade is made of reclaimed wood from old vajat houses, which can be purchased quite inexpensively. Recycling and reinterpreting building materials in a contemporary manner extends the life of these materials without changing their basic purpose, and thus retains the spirit of the architectural past. Here, the absurd does not represent making peace with the instability of progress but speaks to the unused potential of the past to create stability in the future.