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78 Sustainable Environments
Steven Holl Architects
in collaboration with Solange Fabiao,
Little Tesseract House,
Upstate New York, United States
e house brings together spatial and func-
tional experiments: It examines the proto-
type of a solar stack wall for nonmechanical
climate conditioning within a warped form
that interprets the fourth-dimensional un-
derstanding of a cube. e dark stucco cube
with extruded steel windows adds dining,
sleeping, and studio spaces to an older build-
ing, from which it obtains its basic power and
utilities. e cube connects to the existing
stone house by an exoskeletal steel frame, a
space that functions as a dining porch and
contains the stair to the second-fl oor studio.
Right e glass stack wall is oriented toward
the south to take advantage of winter solar gain.
e existing building is actually quite low and
therefore does not block the angle of the sun.
North winds are defl ected by the prowlike edge
of the opposite side of the house. In addition,
roof-mounted photovoltaic cells back up the
system during power outages.
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79
Environmental Interface
Above Pivoting windows and doors open the
L-shaped dining porch to the outdoors dur-
ing the summer to admit light and ventilation
to the addition. In winter, a Danish wood
stove helps heat this cooler space. e porch
also mediates the two sections—distinct in
form and material—of the home.
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80 Sustainable Environments
Above e interior of the residence is very
open, particularly the second fl oor, and the
solar stack wall is visible through the house.
Made of German structural channel glass,
the stack wall represents the fi rm’s initial
application of the material for heating and
cooling. e hollow plenum, used for passive
solar gain in winter and cooling via the stack
eff ect in summer, spans two stories on the ex-
terior and becomes translucent fenestration
for the rooms inside.
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