The third design strategy of the second semester involved the use of the perceived thickness and thinness of a building’s mass and the relationship between its served (living) and servant (bathrooms, storage, stairs, etc.) spaces. Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s Fosc House, Wolf House, and Poli House all employ this thick/thin design tactic. Poli House thickens the house’s skin on all sides of its cubic form to house servant spaces such as stairs, for example, while the Wolf House features thickened servant areas in its angled “love handles.” These servant spaces connect and supplement the main interior living spaces. My analysis focused on the Poli House and Wolf House along with the Summer House Söderöra by Tham & Videgård.
My design expands on the square floor plan employed in my raumplan to explore how the thickened spaces can be isolated, connect the floors, and together, carve out the main living space on each floor. Apertures allow light to pierce through specific areas, such as those areas between the servant spaces and on the stair landings. The goal of the plan was to make the distinction between the two types of space as clear as black and white, as illustrated in the plan diagrams.