THE WOODEN HORSE

> The ideas for Dürer’s house are a continuation of the conceptual ideas from Equus merged with the focus on interiority from Mystery Play. The metaphor, representing Dürer’s fading mental health with a draping cloth, is reintroduced. Dürer is caught up within a fold in the fabric, the cloth constricting and encasing his existence. The built form is a materialisation of this metaphor, with the occupant, Dürer, within one these folds.
> The residence sits within a hill which covers the entire site, hiding the contours of the building’s envelope. This approach to the surrounding urbanity seemed fit for the statement being made about Dürer. The four light wells permeating from underneath the earth like periscopes provide a way of looking in from the outside, reinforcing the strong threshold between Dürer and the rest of the community. He is oblivious to his mental deterioration.
> The entire residence is underground, bearing the consequence that all of the spaces within it are introverted. The bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining, living and laundry spaces surround the central atrium which acts as the vertical axis for the house. This central area is occupied by the study, it being the space where Dürer spends most of his time. This of course is a response to his obsessive quest to find the ever-present formula for beauty. Within the atrium Dürer’s large collection of books extends up the height of the void; books being a symbol and a constant reminder of his everlasting fixation with his research.