Goldwasser House / Architextit

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Text description provided by the architects. The house is located on the seam between the Mediterranean and the desert areas of Israel, facing downhill over a manmade grove. The design challenge was to deal with the hot climate while allowing them to feel the outdoors and keeping the privacy of the habitants.

The geometry of the house is clean and simple, keeping the straight lines of a white box. But within the box there are unique shapes, materials, and interpretations that make the box an evolving experience for its habitants and visitors: Entering from the hot south street to the front green garden is the first step of the voyage. From the front garden, the next experience is entering an enclosed shaded outdoor foyer, decorated with vines and built planters.

The southern hot facade of the outdoor foyer is made from concrete Mashrabiya blocks in order to screen the heat while keeping the airflow and the view. The transition into the house is graduating and allowing me to feel the house not at once, but step by step. Opening the front door into an intensive, dark-colored interior entrance hall, viewing the main living space and beyond to the north terrace and the hills in front. The terrace is the main outdoor space of the house, framed with beams and columns that define the box's external shape, covered with a steel and wood pergola.

A long linear staircase that also faces the view leads to the lower floor, where two teenage twin girls live. Therefore, the arrangement of the lower floor tries to keep a measure of symmetry to be able to share the space equally and peacefully. An outdoor staircase at the west facade is combined with planters and vegetation and leads to the lower south garden. The interior design is serving the concept of a white box, filled with natural materials and colors, merging both the desert and the Mediterranean styles.