Photo: Physical model

HOUSE X
1975 (unbuilt)

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN

Most houses are conceptually vertebrate. That is, in addition

to their literal, necessary condition of structure they are
metaphorically vertebrate. They have a center, usually a
hearth or a stair; their roofs pitch from the center, and their
construction exhibits a concern for an overall centrality. The
center expresses both the functional core and conceptual
unity of the house. In House X, the center is nothing.
The vertebrate house is also mimetic; it mirrors mans upright,
axial condition. In an attempt to produce a conceptual distance
between man and object, House X is nonvertebrate; to this
extent, it is nonmimetic. There are no exposed linear elements
columns or beams. These are covered by solid vertical and
horizontal surfaces, and further, two of the major horizontal
living surfaces are void. This is a distortion of the Modern
Movements preferred section two solid horizontal planes
as well as of the houses traditional mimesis of anthropocentric
man, who stands on a solid horizontal surface and dominates
the landscape.

The specific configurations of House X can be understood

initially as the juxtaposition of four squares. This configuration
is only an initial analogue, a heuristic device used to approach
a more complex sign condition, which in itself is only a
possible approximation of the reality it signifies. In fact, the
final configuration is a cumulative attempt to dissolve its own
seeming connection with any initial analogue. In other words,
the final plan is only a series of traces that refer, in a sense,
forward to a more complex and incomplete structure rather
than backward to a unitary simple, and stable structure. It thus
becomes a kind of pre-distillation of amore complex future
condition.
The 8,000-square-foot private residence was designed for a
large, wooded, sloping site, adjacent to a country club and
surrounded by a swimming pool, tennis court and summer
house. The design used the slope in such a way that the
natural landscape ran through the house, splitting it into four
quadrants to reduce the scale.

EISENMAN ARCHITECTS

Study-sketch

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EISENMAN ARCHITECTS

Axonometric model, North-East corner

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Site plan

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Plan View

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East Elevation

West Elevation

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Axonometric model

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Diagram of four els in a pinwhell

configuration

Diagram of five els with central space seen

as two els of unequal legth contained within
a perimeter

Diagram of five els with the central space

seen as two els of equal length but not
contained within a perimeter

Diagram showing center els in condition

of shear thus fragmenting the el (X) in the
northwest quadrant

Diagram showing the transposition of the el

in the northwest quadrant, again producing
an ABCX reading due to position

Axonometric drawing showing the cube as

an expansion of the el

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Axonometric drawing, Scheme H,

view from northeast

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Axonometric drawing showing four

els with their vertical corners at the
periphery

Diagram showing two els inverted and dropped so

that they form a mid-point congruence about their
horizontal elements.

Axonometric drawing showing four els

with their vertical corners in the center

Axonometric drawing showing two els

inverted

Diagram showing this same condition in the context of

the final form of the house

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Scheme F, First floor plan

Scheme F, Second floor plan

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Scheme F, Third floor plan

Scheme F, Roof plan

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Axonometric diagram showing the relationship of

all four interior elevations

Axonometric diagram showing the relationship of

the northwest interior elevation to its quadrant

Axonometric diagram showing the relationship of

the northeast interior elevation to its quadrant

Scheme F, section BB

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Axonometric diagram showing the relationship of Axonometric diagram showing the relationship of
the northwest interior elevation and the southwest the northwest interior elevation to the southwest
interior elevation
interior elevation

Axonometric diagram showing the relationship

of the notheast interior elevation to the
southwest interior elevation

Scheme F, section CC

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Scheme F, West interior elevation

Scheme F, North interior elevation

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Scheme F, East interior elevation

Scheme F, South interior elevation

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Model, Scheme G, view from northeast

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