VILLA OR
LOCATION Lemont, Illinois
PROGRAM Private Residence, Entertaining
AREA 8,000SF
COST US$1.25MM
STATUS Design 2006-2007
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS Skidmore, Owings and Merill, LLP
GEOTECHNICAL/SITE ENGINEERS Cemcon, Inc.
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Villa_OR, designed for a wooded lot 50 miles west of Chicago, participates with its environment to produce a new way to feel the forest. Shaped in its plan and hugging the terrain in section, the house assembles an open living experience. Each room is conceived of as sequential moments framed by an open exterior and disciplined by the massive bearing wall partitions on the interior. Sliding exterior glass walls further eliminate the separation between the contexts, developing a new variation on private villa architecture. The diminutive southern entry facade serves in direct contrast to the aggressive north terminus resulting in a dynamic exterior choreography of nature, both constructed and existing.
