ROCK GALLERY

The Rock House is a “Neighborhood Meeting Structure” on a single lot in the middle of a residential block in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of the San Francisco Bay Area. The concept is from two “structural” precedents, the Dolmen and Dom-Ino, the combination of which contains a series of informal analysis. Eventually, the structure tries to build ambiguity between regularity & irregularity, solidness & void, enclosure & openness, exterior & interior. “Meeting” as a socially generic problem will be reconsidered spatially in this project. The space of meeting is trying to find a balance between fixed & flexible, private & public, certain & unpredictable. Through the orthogonal projection operation, irregular stones are turned into L-shaped modules, which will be distributed into the grid system of Dom-Ino. Different combinations of L-shapes can generate various spaces and interactions among them. The operation of cutting is distilled from the Dolmen, which can generate gaps and subtle touches between walls and the ceiling. The material of the building will be terrazzo, which can ensure that the surface of the interior and the exterior is the same. On one hand, terrazzo possesses the property of stone that it can resist outdoor natural conditions, on the other hand, the smooth surface provides a feeling of intimacy inside. When masonry solidness encounters natural material furniture such as wood and clay, the primitive beauty of materials are emphasized. It aims to create experiences of wabi-sabi. And the irregular geometric form through cutting will allow light to perform differently on the exterior and interior within a day. The tone of terrazzo reflects the warm sunlight of the Bay Area and will react with the artificial light from inside at night.