Architecture Wednesday: Tower House

This is the home e of sculptor Jacek Jarnuszkiewicz, who worked closely with architects Marie-Claude Hamelin and Loukas Yiacouvakis to realize his vision. The tower is located on a parcel of land overhanging lake Trousers, and is surrounded by a chiaroscuro coniferous forest.

Jarnuszkiewicz conceived the idea of each designer building upon the work done by the previous one. Each idea debated among the artist and architects until verticality—necessitated by the landscape—was agreed upon as the core concept of the project, from volume to plan, from the handling of materials and masses to the upgrowth of interior spaces.

The open plan offers a natural fluidity and continuity between the forest’s ground level and the lower floor of the house, between interior and exterior. The mezzanine lounge on the last floor is completed by a large covered terrace that is both a wildlife observation tower and a nature viewing gallery. It opens itself to the mountains and overlooks the nearby lake.

The tower design was chosen because it mimics the verticality of the mature trees surrounding it, and as the house rises, it opens itself to daylight and the scenery.

It’s the perfect house for a sculptor.

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