073 'I'm lost in Paris' house.'I'M LOST IN PARIS' HOUSE LOCATION PARIS Paris, in Greek mythology Paris or Alexander, in Greek mythology, son of Priam and Hecuba and brother of Hector. Because it was prophesied that he would cause the destruction of Troy, Paris was abandoned on Mt. , FRANCE France (frăns, Fr. fräNs), officially French Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 60,656,000), 211,207 sq mi (547,026 sq km), W Europe. ARCHITECT R & SIE SIE Sierra Health (stock symbol) SIE Serial Interface Engine SIE Serviciul de Informatii Externe (Romanian: Intelligence Service for the Exterior) SIE Società Italiana di Endocrinologia (N) WRITER CATHERINE SLESSOR As if plucked from the pages of a dark fairytale, this remarkable dwelling exudes the mystique of a house in an enchanted forest. Concealed from public gaze within a typical Parisian residential courtyard, the two-storey volume is shrouded in a dense thicket of hydroponically sustained ferns. These erupt from their chemically controlled nutrient beds to form a shaggy green coat, so like some kind of crazy, urban duck blind, there is little sense of the man-made construction underneath. Such bucolic disinhibition dis·in·hi·bi·tion n. 1. A loss of inhibition, as through the influence of drugs or alcohol. 2. A temporary loss of an inhibition caused by an unrelated stimulus, such as a loud noise. is the radical antithesis of Paris' manicured urban condition, but architects R & Sie(n) (punningly pronounced 'heresy') actively relish all manner of tensions, whether between nature and architecture, purity and corruption, attraction and repulsion repulsion /re·pul·sion/ (re-pul´shun) 1. the act of driving apart or away; a force that tends to drive two bodies apart. 2. . It's all tinged with an experimental edge and tugged by an undercurrent of unease. 'Like Hitchcock with hydroponics hydroponics, growing of plants without soil in water to which nutrients have been added. Hydroponics has been used for over a century as a research technique, but not until 1929 were experiments conducted solely to determine its feasibility for growing commercial ,' posits R & Sie(n) partner Francois Roche, alluding to the Rear Window-like claustrophobia of the courtyard, where people's lives arc watchfully crammed together. It took five years for the project to be finally realised. Building in a Parisian courtyard is problematic at the best of times, as planning laws require two-thirds of surrounding residents to approve any new construction. The organic camouflage is an obvious response to the issue of intrusion by a new structure, but also attempts to establish the intruder's privacy. The house's inhabitants, an adventurous family of four, are perpetually cocooned in a luxuriant luxuriant /lux·u·ri·ant/ (lug-zhoor´e-ant) growing freely or excessively. veil of greenery. The ferns are contained in a metal pergola pergola Garden walk or terrace typically formed by two rows of columns or posts roofed with an open framework of beams and cross rafters over which plants are trained. Its purpose is to provide a foundation on which climbing plants can be viewed and to give shade. set at a slight remove from the house and anchored by horizontal members attached to the external walls. Further bracing is provided by a network of tensile supports. The 1,200 specimens of feathery Dryopteris filix-mas are nourished by a mixture of bacteria, nutrients and rainwater, which can be adjusted in response to climate and light. This foetid foe·tid adj. Variant of fetid. foetid Adjective same as fetid Adj. 1. brew is fermented in 300 glass beakers and then piped, drop by drop, to the plant substrate. Specially hand-blown by Italian craftsmen, each beaker resembles a giant glass raspberry. Clustered together in the foliage, the glittering, mutant 'fruit' add to an already surreal tableau. Behind the lush depravity of the ferns, things get more clinical. The 130[m.sup.2] house is the simplest of structures, with walls, floors and ceilings all formed from raw concrete. External walls are wrapped in a thick layer of green plastic with polyurethane insulation underneath. As the house butts up against an existing courtyard wall, a narrow service zone is set along this blind side. Large windows arc punched into the three other faces, offering oblique views of the courtyard through the greenery. Living and dining functions are on the ground floor, with a trio of bedrooms above. There's also a basement housing the mechanics of the hydroponic system. Clearly it requires some discipline to live in such a boundary-pushing environment, but nonetheless the project is an enthralling en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. sideswipe side·swipe tr.v. side·swiped, side·swip·ing, side·swipes To strike along the side in passing. n. 1. A glancing blow on or along the side. 2. An incidental critical remark; a gibe. at 'green' architecture and a rare foray into the darker side of nature. Roche goes further, concocting a narrative of an urban witch and her alchemical experiments that sustain the planting. 'The neighbourhood is attracted by the green aspect yet repulsed by the processes of fermentation,' he says. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ARCHITECT R & Sie(n), Paris, France PROJECT TEAM Francois Roche, Stephanie Levaux, Jean Navarro STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT Christian Hubert GLASS BEAKERS Pedro Velaso, Vanessa Mitrani |
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