XYZ House, 2009, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple, Canada
The XYZ House is part of an ongoing research project aimed at developing a new typology of architectural form. The intersection of the X, Y, and Z axes defines a place for dwelling within the landscape and the cosmos. This prototype has not yet been completed. In material expression, the house is a bar (constructed of concrete or stone), cut and connected to the earth, alongside a light and floating tectonic bar — a reference to Kenneth Frampton's seminal study in tectonic culture (1995). A third element also exists: a vertical cut fireplace that pins the house to the ground. These two horizontal forms frame a path of Jenga-like stacks that ascends from the valley floor to the hilltop, passes beneath the "belly" of the southern living bar, and enters a private courtyard framed by the two bars. In the first version of this design, called the "Marilyn House," intended to be built in Upper Kingsburg in Nova Scotia, the concrete bar contained a swimming pool and an entry/service box beside the courtyard. The western end of the taller tectonic bar is clad. The southern facade facing the ridge road looks out to the open sea from the LaHave Islands. Another version of the design comprised six pairs of stacked bars cascading down the hillside. This version was entered into the "Fallingwater Cabins" competition, held alongside Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece in Bear Run, Pennsylvania. Here, the living and sleeping bars sit side by side, creating a combination of roof terraces and courtyards. The third version was a larger house set in the Quebec landscape. Here, the cut element includes a koi fish pond in the courtyard. Beneath the tectonic bar, a spacious sleeping area opens out toward the exterior clad pool and fireplace and the valley beyond.