This house for an astronomer results from the convergence of an unusual program focused on issues of observation and an enduring interest in the structure of projective geometry. Our familiarity with the conventions of architectural drawing tends to obscure the degree of abstraction inherent in even the most standard of orthogonal projection drawings: plans, sections, and elevations. Analysis of the specific operations of a parallel vision field within an isometric projection reveals the infinite space implicit within all three primary systems of projective geometry: isometric, axonometric, and orthogonal.
Formally, the project is a 3-dimensional mapping of a parallel vision field within isometric space. Such parallel vision fields underlie all systems of projection drawings - embedding a mathematical description of infinity at the very core of the system. To clarify, unlike linear perspective - in which all vision lines converge at a single privileged viewpoint - orthogonal projection systems generate fields of parallel vision lines. These fields project the outlines of an object in parallel along mathematically defined axes, shifting the location of the aforementioned perspective viewpoint outside the scene to a (conceptually) infinite distance away - such that the vision lines connecting object and viewpoint become a field of parallel lines.
The form of the house emerges from a recursive isometric projection process performed on a simple rectangle. The geometry of the house maps the second iteration of this process: a six-sided lens projected at 20º within isometric space. A parallel vision field organizes this process throughout: first, it provides the limit for the isometric extensions - at the point(s) of overlap within the parallel vision field; second, the interior program of the house is layered into five parallel strips perpendicular to this field; third, a singularity at the first point of overlap is mapped beyond the house as a retaining wall which splits the landscape. As such, the isometric space of the house makes thematic the mathematical abstractions which structure its own generation.Sonoma County, California
