SIGESMUND RESIDENCE

pittsburgh, pennsylvania

This house, built during the 1960's in the Pittsburgh suburb of Fox Chapel, is grounded in a dense, wooded landscape. The interior of the home lacked a sense of openness and visual connection between the interior spaces. The goal of the renovation was to visually and metaphorically connect the house to the exterior environment with the glamour and spatial sensibilities inspired by such homes as the California Case Study Houses (1945-1966).

By the selective demolition of a series of interior walls, the floor plan was opened to create a horizontal "sandwich" of interconnected space. The insertion of a series of new visual elements act as framing devices and/or focal points enhancing the visual experience of the spaces. These new visual elements are metaphors grounding the home in an actual, and contributing to a symbolic, landscape.