Hinge House
Hinge House
This small house pretends to be big. The pinched front expands to the back, splitting into two – a ranch house folded onto itself to shed the excess of suburbia, transforming into two conjoined studio units with a few shared spaces: a kitchen, a room with a large table and laundry. The house is ideal for those who want to live alone but have some company: two friends or two strangers; an elderly woman and her caretaker; a parent and their grown child, or simply two couples that want to share some chores.
Project Team: Monica Ponce de Leon, Stephanie Rosas, Shoshana Torn
Each studio is large enough for a bed, a den for welcoming guests, and space to work from home. Food is the catalyst for coming together, with the kitchen and the dining room welcoming you at the entry – large enough to have a party without disturbing your housemate, intimate enough to share. One bathroom has two vanities (a small luxury if you are a couple) and can be split into a powder room in case there are guests for dinner. From the entry, the small patio quickly bypasses the house, connecting the front and the back, and providing an outdoor space that can be collective without disrupting privacy. You can host a large party with friends, and your roommate will be undisturbed.
The roof ridge(s) trace of these transformations. The front plane of the building splits to open the house for entry. The back deforms under the pressure of the conjoined roof, giving the interior enough differentiation to hint at how spaces could be occupied. A roof drops towards a window to point to the view, a roof lifts up to provide more light for work. Nothing in this little house survives the pressures of change. Even the skin of the building gives way to the transformation.
