The Mask House by WOJR is a conceptualized cabin in upstate New York and it was designed as a space of refuge and contemplation for a man who lost his brother, "a place of separation and protection that removes one from the world of the everyday and offers passage to an other world". The building seems to protect its inhabitants from the world outside, from all the requirements and possibilities. Instead, it throws the residents back upon themselves opening a passage to another world.
"[The client] lost his younger brother in the lake that the house will overlook," said WOJR.
The cabin stands on pilotis over a slope and it is sheltered by a large slatted wall that covers the front of the home, behind, it comprises of a compact volume raised on pilotis. Within this 587-square-foot (54.5-square-metre) floorplate, a succession of smaller spaces give sense daily life. In words of architects this sequence is "a series of thresholds that define a scalar sequence of nested interiors — each interior becoming successively more removed from one world and more connected to the next".
Situated in the center is a large open room, a space glazed and a hanging chimney and faces west, towards the lake. The southern wall of this volume contains cooking appliances and some counters.
The room opens, on the opposite side, into a small kitchen on one side. To the north, the architects includ a sleeping place and bathroom. Above the bed, a circular skylight introduce light into the compact space.
The interiors are finished in a light-coloured wood. The only exceptions are the sleeping area – which is lined in a dark, felt-like material – and the bathroom, finished with tiles.
The roof of the home was designed as a terrace, and is accessible via an exterior staircase between the east facade and behind the slatted wall.
Description of project by WOJR: Organization for Architecture
Mask House provides a place of refuge and contemplation for one who lost his younger brother in the lake that the house will overlook. It is conceptualized as a space comprised of myriad sanctuaries—within the context of this project sanctuary is a place of separation and protection that removes one from the world of the everyday and offers passage to an other world.
The transition from everyday to other is drawn-out through a series of thresholds that define a scalar sequence of nested interiors—each interior becoming successively more removed from one world and more connected to the next. The vertical plane of the mask establishes a boundary across the site that creates a condition of sidedness. Mask House endeavors to provide one in search of sanctuary an abundance of opportunities to find refuge within new interiors in dialogue with the surrounding environment.
