WHAT IS A HOUSE FOR住宅所为何
WHAT IS A HOUSE FOR住宅所为何House byTalk withInfo

Markus Breitschmid: I remember Valerio Olgiati saying in one of his lectures: „I have a client who wants to be homeless”. I believe he was referring to me. I like changing the places where I live, and I especially appreciate the nomadic quality of not being attached too much to one country or territory. I left Europe behind and embraced living in America. Because I am still spending around four months in Europe every year, I’m very careful not to let my lives in Europe and in America conflate into one. I try to keep the rhythms of life and the rituals of life of each place quite different from each other. Valerio knows all of that. So, when I came up with the idea to build a house in America, it was a natural choice that he would be the architect. The Manahoac House is a continuation of our work together. Making a building is obviously a different kind of undertaking than writing a book or making an interview, but in a way, I see it as another chapter. I think we have both grown or, at least, speaking for myself, my understanding of architecture has grown thanks to my long relationship with Valerio. If you read the books we have published, and look at the architecture he has made, you can see a continuous evolution of thought.

WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL DREAM? HOW DID YOU EXPRESS TO VALERIO WHAT YOU WANTED?

I gave him a budget and I said that he could do whatever he imagined. The only condition was that I have things to store, and I need a kitchen to cook in. But other than that, I gave him complete freedom. It is a little fatalistic on my part, but I always took the position: You cannot ask a very good architect to build a building and then tell him what to do. If you want to dictate how a house should be like, get a mediocre architect.

THE HOUSE HAS ESSENTIALLY THREE MAIN ELEMENTS - THE PLATFORM, THE A-FRAME AND THE CYLINDER. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE QUALITY OF THE CYLINDRICAL VOLUME THAT OCCUPIES THE CENTRE OF THE HOUSE?

There are two main values. Obviously, the utilitarian aspect - it has to be a functional house. Everything that needs to be stored goes in the cylinder. 

The main quality, however, is the space-making one. The fact that the cylinder is moved off centre in plan, structures the space into several very distinct areas. The front face of the room where the sliding window is, will be thirty-three feet tall (around 11 m), whilst at other points it goes all the way down to zero. At the same time the position of the cylinder brings the room to just four feet (1.2 m) wide, at the pinch points, a closeness that forms strong thresholds, without the need of doors or frames. Passing from one side of the cylinder to the other, you cross the strait in front of the tall main window and arrive at a small pocket. This is the most protected space, where out of primal instinct, you naturally go to sleep. It has a cave-like quality, and thanks to the position of the cylinder, as you go deeper, everything becomes more enclosed and dissolves into darkness. There are no windows at all.

On the other side, where I might work, you have the same delineation of space, but there is a seven-meter-long window cut into the roof, through which light enters, and, if you want to, through which you can look out at the trees. It’s an unbelievably simple house, but by being attentive to how space is formed and the way it will be illuminated, it becomes an extremely differentiated and rich space. 

If the cylinder was in the middle, this would be a completely different, much poorer, and more predictable space. Valerio designed something very complex by simply combining a cylinder with an A-frame in a very precise way. I don’t know exactly where the boundaries between these spaces will be. You can try to imagine it the way I explain it. You could think of them as kind of thresholds, but of course, there are no real doors or lintels or any of those things that you typically have when you make chambers. 

Inside the cylinder we will use the most conventional drywall, painted white and illuminated by very bright LED lights. When you enter the house from the garage, or leave from the grand dim space, you go into this kind of laboratory-like space. A steel staircase will take you up to the attic. There will also be a utilitarian metal sink, a large refrigerator, a freezer, a washer and dryer, and some cabinets. Even though these are all domestic objects, we will try not to materialize them in a ‘homely’ way, and work on keeping the differentiation between what is inside the cylinder and what is the cult space, as I call it, as strong as possible.

HAVING SEEN THE DRAWINGS, WHAT STRUCK US WAS THE USE OF ONE ELEMENT OF EACH TYPE: ONE HORIZONTAL WINDOW, ONE DOOR, ONE SKYLIGHT, ONE CYLINDER AND ONE A-FRAME. LATER AN EXCEPTION OCCURRED IN THIS SYSTEM, YOU HAVE NOW TWO SKYLIGHTS. WE WERE WONDERING AND WANTED TO ASK YOU, WHAT IS PRODUCED SPATIALLY WHEN A BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SINGULAR ELEMENTS PUT TOGETHER?

It’s an interesting question; what is the effect of a singular element on the composition of a building?

A good reference in that regard would be the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart. 

When you go there and you see all these structural pieces, the beam, the column and so on, you almost think it is a kind of a decoration because it’s only there once and it looks as if it was somehow attached. If you don’t walk around and you just go inside, you cannot understand the logic of the building. If you saw a bunch of columns, you would say, ok, it’s the structure. But in this case, all the elements are unique, there is the slanted column coming down and the beam holding up the roof. You have to stitch them all together in your head. You go outside, you see the column, you see the walls, you see the roof and slowly you are able to connect everything. You understand that in order to keep its qualities, it actually couldn’t have been built in any other way, because the dimensions and distances were too big. 

In the Manahoac House, it might look like an addition of singular elements at first. In reality, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s an organism that really couldn’t perform as a building and preserve its spatial qualities in any other way. In Landquart, it is given by an extreme use of structure. In this house, structure is not the main space-making element. The cylinder doesn’t participate in any way to hold up the A-frame. Here we speak more about volumes of solid and void that bind diverse complementary spaces together and creates an organism that wouldn’t work if any part was removed or added. It is Valerio’s mastery of architectonic space: to make something so spatially and atmospherically complex out of something so basic.

IN RELATION TO THE NOMADIC QUALITIES, YOU SPOKE ABOUT, WAS IT YOUR INTENTION TO GIVE THE HOUSE THE CHARACTER OF A TENT?

I don’t see it as just a tent. It’s also a temple. It’s a tent-temple – which I realise is a contradiction. The idea is that the house has been there forever, but also that it could move somewhere else. It was very important to let these two extremes be present and co-exist.

The triangle stands slightly elevated on a platform with large, grown trees around it. The concrete will soon be covered with moss and grow a patina. Pretty quickly, it will look like something beyond time. Yet, having the shape of such an abstract object, the patina will be something, that at first glance, won’t match. The house itself will be a steel frame construction, coated with corrugated steel and hand-painted in anthracite color on the outside and inside. When you get close to it, you will see it has a tent-like fragile quality. Something that is temporary and has been built quickly. But then from a distance, it will present itself more as a temple among the trees.

We want it to feel like a temple and therefore we don’t want it to feel domestic in any way. In the large, tall space, the only reference to something that has to do with a house is going to be the faucet of the kitchen. Water comes out, it means that somebody spends time here, nothing more.

YOU SAID THIS HOUSE IS DESIGNED WITH AN AMBITION NOT TO BE DOMESTIC. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU NOT TO HAVE A COZY HOUSE?

I can imagine, and I find it interesting, to use this building in different ways and not always as a place to live in. A cozy house is not so easy to transform into something else. A cozy house is also not a place that inspires me to imagine things at a certain scale and of a certain magnitude. I am not against coziness in the right place and moment but this typical sense of coziness that we see in many houses is too contained and too restricting for me. 

For me it’s important that these rooms have a cultural dimension, transforming into a public space, a research center, an exhibition room, or a concert hall on any given day of the week. I have a friend who is a piano player, and we are already planning a concert for around 200 people.

I don’t mind if I sometimes have to rent a room in a hotel for a week because somebody else is using the building. Or I’ll just sleep amongst whatever is taking place inside. 

The fact that we don’t call it Breitschmid House, but Manahoac House is very important. We do this so most people have no idea what it’s about. Not attaching a person to the building is intentional. We should also be careful calling it a house, as I am sure that it isn’t really a house in the conventional sense. I see it rather as a kind of cultural artifice.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MATERIALS. READING „NON-REFERENTIAL ARCHITECTURE” AND THE CHAPTER ABOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF ONE MATERIAL, AND LATER SEEING THIS HOUSE, WITH CORRUGATED STEEL, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT, RAISES SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. DOES THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING HAS A SHADE OF BLACK CONTRIBUTE TO THE MATERIAL COHERENCE OF THE BUILDING?

In the USA, there’s the front yard and back yard culture and consequently these are often two completely different worlds. People usually take care of the front yard because the appearance towards the outside is important. Of course, we are not interested in this. From the street, you drive onto a platform covered with asphalt. The porosity that Valerio wants for the asphalt doesn’t really work for the inside. So, there are basically two floor materials. The floor inside the house is a somewhat rough, very dark, anthracite-colored concrete. The aim of the materialization is to produce a sufficient distancing-effect with the available means and attributes of materials. What’s important is that the building is present as a formal idea prior to all other ways.

I think for this particular building and its character, the materials are correct, even though Olgiati probably would have preferred to do everything in concrete – something I could not afford. The platform is what belongs to the earth. You then put thin, almost fabric-like metal sheets on top of it. The building proper, the triangle, is all made in metal, except the windows.

IN A SIMILAR ELEMENTAL WAY, THE HOUSE IS A VERY CONTAINED OPAQUE OBJECT THAT CLEARLY DIVIDES THE SPACES INTO INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR AREAS. THERE ARE ALSO VERY BIG WINDOWS. WHAT WILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR BE LIKE?

The sliding window doesn’t go all the way down to the platform. There will be around a 20-centimetre upstand. When you are inside, where the kitchen counter is, and you open the window, you cross a threshold. Even though there’s a big window, and you can look out, it’s more part of the wall. Regarding your specific question about the relationship between inside-outside, it also gives an idea of how Valerio conceived it. In this sense, it is like a tent, because in a tent you somehow, push some fabric aside and you slide in. So, it’s a conscious decision to be either inside or outside. 

The openings are more light sources and thresholds. I don’t imagine the first thing you do is to sit behind these windows and look out; it is not about being inside but feeling a bit outside. That’s not the intention at all and in any case, from the big room you don’t see very far anyway. You have to walk towards the edge where the trees stop and that’s where you see into the far. 

Something else, another contradiction, attracted me to this particular place. It’s the only piece of land in the neighbourhood with so many trees, large oaks and maples, and with all the seasonal changes of spring and fall. It’s quite dramatic.

During the summer it is protected by a canopy of leaves whilst its quite open and bare in winter. The change in density, between seasons, of the surrounding trees also heightens the complexity between the interior and exterior life of the land. When leaving the house, you are not immediately exposed. What is continuous is the view, from the edge of my plot, of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains.

WHAT ROLE DO THE SURROUNDING APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS PLAY IN THE HOUSE?

Europeans usually consider America as a young country, but if you look at the land here, you can feel how old the land really is. This is very old land – among the very oldest lands on our planet. Geologically, it’s much older than the Alps or the Himalayas. And you can feel that. The nearby river, named the New River, is the second oldest river in the world. When you come here and you’re somewhat perceptive to your surroundings, you become aware of this. You realise that you’re in an ancient land and this gives it a special feeling. This kind of landscape always makes me think of the universe, about cosmology, and where we are from, where we are going, and so on. It is rather monumental. Raw. Rough even. Not finicky at all. It is the opposite of the image we have of Arcadia – the idyllic innocence of the seemingly untroubled that is associate with the Mediterranean. The land here is not rustic at all. Particularly in the winter. In the winter the land is the best: barren, yet open. There is depth. It is like a painting by Rothko or Pollock.

It opens a world of imagination and suggests possibilities. It is an intrinsic quality of this land, and the house captures it in its form and materialization.  The presence of this landscape makes me also imagine a caravan of ancient Native American tribes moving slowly across the land. Or when you would hear them chanting Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya, known as Counterclockwise Circle Dance, during a rite. 

Therefore, as I told you before, I can imagine that I could load the house on a vehicle and un-pack it in the next place, fifty miles down the road, not unlike a native American nomadic tribal tent. I tell you, when you come and visit you will feel a little bit like a shaman.

THE ILLUSTRATION YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM SHOWS THE SECTION OF A MOUNTAIN. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT EXACTLY?

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, which I find the most important announcement written by anyone in the last 500 years, lived here in Virginia and discovered some of the Native Americans burial sites. He owned some of the land nearby.

In the eastern part of America, the only remnants of ancient structures are these artificial mounds. There is nothing else left of the ancient tribes that lived here for I don’t know how many thousands of years. I posted it because the illustration somehow summarises a lot of inspirations that are woven into this house. However, it is not about emulating anything, it is not about the past, not about some story-telling. It is not about history or something. If you want to read anything into it at all, it would be more about the exact opposite: things beyond history and time. It is more about the timeless and living in a place with no time. No measuring. A certain kind of vastness. Liberty. Sometimes, I think it is maybe not accidental that a Virginian, who knew this land well, was capable of writing the text that would set individuals free. I think I get to live in a very liberating building.

06.03.2021

马克斯·布赖特施密德: 我记得瓦列里奥·奥尔加蒂（Valerio Olgiati）在他的一次演讲中说 “我有一个客户，他想成为无家可归的人”。我相信他指的是我。我喜欢改变居住的地点，尤其欣赏游牧民族的品质，不太依附于一个国家或地区。我离开了欧洲，拥抱在美国的生活。但因为我每年仍会花四个月左右的时间在欧洲，所以我非常小心，不让我在欧洲和美国的生活混为一体。我试图保持每个地方的生活节奏和生活仪式之间有所区别。瓦列里奥知道这一切。因此，当我有了在美国建造住宅的想法时，由他来担任建筑师是一个自然的选择。马纳霍克之家（Manahoac House）是我们一起工作的延续。建造一座建筑与写书或采访比起来,显然是不同的事业，但在某种程度上,也可视为另一个章节的写作。我认为我们都成长了，或者至少，就我自己而言，由于我与瓦列里奥的长期关系，我对建筑的理解也在不断加深。如果你读一下我们出版的书，看看他做的建筑，你可以看到思想的不断演变。

你最初的梦想是什么？你是如何向瓦列里奥表达你的愿望的？

我给了他一个预算并告诉他可以做任何他想象的事情。唯一的条件是，我有东西要储存，而且我需要一个厨房来做饭。但除此以外，我给了他完全的自由。

这对我来说有点宿命论，但我总是采取这种立场。你不能要求一个非常好的建筑师来建造一栋建筑，然后告诉他该怎么做。如果你想规定一所房子应该是什么样的，那就找一个平庸的建筑师。

这座房子基本上有三个主要元素——平台、A型框架和圆柱体。你如何描述占据房子中心的圆柱体的品质？

有两个主要的价值。很明显，功利性方面--它必须是一个功能性的房子。所有需要储存的东西都在圆柱体里。

然而，主要的价值在于创造空间。事实上，圆柱体在平面上从中心移开，将空间结构分成几个鲜明的区域。推拉窗所在的房间正面将有33英尺高（约11米），而在其他地方则一直变矮趋近于零。同时，圆柱体的位置使房间在斜顶处仅有四英尺（1.2米）宽，这种紧密程度形成了强大的门洞感，而不需要门或框架。从圆筒的一侧到另一侧，你穿过高大的主窗前的海峡，到达一个小袋子。这是最受保护的空间，出于原始的本能，你自然会在这里睡觉。它有一种洞穴般的质量，得益于圆柱体的位置，随着你的深入，一切都变得更加封闭，并溶入黑暗。那里完全没有窗户。

在另一边，也就是我可能工作的地方，你有同样的空间划分，但有一个七米长的窗户切入屋顶，光线由此进入，如果愿意，你可以透过它看到外面的树。这是一个简单得令人难以置信的住宅，但因关注于空间被如何塑造和照亮，它成为了一个极其不同而丰富的空间。

如果圆柱体居中，这将会成为一个完全不同，更贫乏，更可预测的空间。瓦列里奥通过简单地将圆柱体和A型框架以一种非常精确的方式结合起来，设计出了非常复杂的事物。我不知道这些空间之间的边界到底会在哪里。你可以试着按照我解释的方式来想象。你可以把它们看作是一种门洞，但当然，没有真正的门或门楣或任何这些通常在制造房间时出现的东西。

在圆柱体内部，我们将使用最传统的石膏板，涂成白色，由非常明亮的LED灯照亮。当你从车库进入房子，或从宏伟的昏暗空间离开时，你会进入这种类似实验室的空间。一个钢制的楼梯将带你到阁楼上。那里会有一个功能性的金属水槽，大冰箱，冰柜，洗衣机和烘干机，以及一些柜子。尽管这些都是居家用品，但我们将尽量不以 “家庭 “的方式将它们具体化，并努力使圆筒内的东西和我所说的邪典空间之间的区别尽可能强烈。

在看过图纸后，冲击到我们的是每种类型都使用了一个元素：一个水平窗，一个门，一个天窗，一个圆筒和一个A型框架。后来在这个系统中出现了一个例外，现在有了两个天窗。我们想知道并好奇的是，当一个建筑由单一的元素组成时，在空间上会出现些什么？

这是一个有趣的问题；单一的元素的构成对一个建筑有什么影响？

这方面的一个很好的参照物是兰德夸特的报告厅（the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart）。

当你去那里，看到所有这些结构件，梁、柱等等，你几乎认为这是一种装饰，因为只出现了一次，而且看起来好像以某种方式相连。如果你没有四处走走，而是直接进入，你就无法理解这座建筑的逻辑。例如你看到一堆柱子，那你会说，好吧，这就是结构。但在这种情况下，所有的元素都是独一无二的，有斜下来的柱子，有撑起屋顶的梁。你必须在脑海中把它们全部拼凑起来。你走到外面，看到了柱子、墙、屋顶，慢慢地你就能把一切联系起来。你理解到，为了保持它的品质，它实际上不可能以任何其他方式建造，因为尺寸和距离都太大了。

在马纳霍克之家里，一开始可能看起来是一些单一的元素的叠加。在现实中，它正好相反。它是一个确实无法表现为建筑的有机体，不能以任何其他方式保存其空间质量。在兰德夸特，它由对结构的极端使用成就。在这所房子里，结构不是创造空间的主要元素。圆柱体没有以任何方式参与支撑A型框架。在这里，我们更多谈论的是实体和空隙的体积，它将不同的互补空间结合在一起，并创造了一个有机体，如果任何部分被移除或增加，它就不会工作。这是瓦列里奥对建筑空间的掌握：用如此基本的东西做出如此复杂的空间和气氛。

关于你所说的游牧民族的特质，你的意图是让住宅具有帐篷的特征吗？

我不认为它只是一个帐篷。它也是一座寺庙。它是一个“帐篷寺庙”—— 我意识到这是一个矛盾。这个想法是，住宅永远在那里，但它也可以搬到其他地方。让这两个极端呈现并共存是很重要的。

三角形站在一个平台上略微抬高，周围有巨大的、生长着的树木。混凝土不久就会被苔藓覆盖，并长出一种铜锈。很快的，它将看起来像超越时间的事物。然而，有了这样一个抽象物体的形状，铜绿就会成为一种乍看起来不匹配的东西。房子本身将会是钢架构筑物，覆盖着波纹钢板，内外都是手工涂的炭黑色。当你靠近它时，你会发现它有一种帐篷般脆弱的品质。一个具有临时性并快速建造的事物。但从远处看，它将更多地呈现为树丛中的一座寺庙。

我们希望它像一座寺庙，因此我们不希望它在任何方面有居家的感觉。在这个大而高的空间里，唯一能参照住宅的东西就是厨房的水龙头。水的流出，意味着有人在这里度过了时间，仅此而已。

你说这座住宅的设计有着不想居家化的雄心。为什么一个不惬意的住宅对你很重要？

我可以想象，并觉得有趣的是，以不同的方式使用这个建筑，而不总是作为一个居住的地方。惬意的住宅不是那么容易转变为其他东西。惬意的住宅也不是一个能激发我想象力到一定规模和程度的地方。我不反对在适当的地点和时间的舒适感，但我们在许多住宅里看到的这种典型的舒适感对我来说太封闭和限制了。

对我来说，重要的是这些房间有一个文化维度，在一周中的任何一天都能转变为公共空间、研究中心、展厅或音乐厅。我有个朋友是个钢琴演奏家，我们已经在计划一场大约200人的音乐会。

如果我有时不得不在酒店租一个房间住一个星期，因为别人在使用这栋楼，我也不介意。或者我就睡在其中，无论里面发生任何事情。

我们不叫它布赖特施密德之家（Breitschmid House），而叫马纳霍克之家，这一点非常重要。我们这样做是为了让大多数人不知道它是干什么的。不把人与建筑联系起来是有意为之。我们也应该谨慎地称它为住宅，因为我确信它不是传统意义上的真正的住宅。我把它看作是一种文化构筑物。

让我们来谈谈材料。阅读 “非参照性建筑 “中关于一种材料的原则的章节，以及后来看到这所房子，用波纹钢板、混凝土和沥青，引发了一些额外的问题。所有东西都有一个黑色的阴影，这是否有助于建筑的材料一致性？

在美国，有前院和后院的文化，因此这往往是两个完全不同的世界。人们通常照顾前院，因为对外面的外观很重要。当然，我们对这个不感兴趣。从大街上，你开到一个覆盖着沥青的平台上。瓦列里奥希望的沥青的多孔性对室内来说并不适用。因此，基本上有两种地板材料。房子里的地板是一种有点粗糙的、非常暗的、炭黑色的混凝土。材质化的目的是在可行的方法和材料的属性间产生足够的疏远效果。重要的是，建筑被呈现为一个形式的概念，优先所有其他方式。

我认为对于这个特殊的建筑和它的特点来说，材料是正确的，尽管奥尔加蒂可能更愿意用混凝土来做所有的事情——这是我不能承受的。平台是属于地球的东西。然后你把薄的、几乎像织物一样的金属板放在上面。建筑物本身，即三角形，都是用金属制成的，除了窗户。

以类似的元素构成方式，这座住宅是一个非常封闭的不透明物体，明确地将空间划分为内部和外部区域。也有着非常大的窗户。这样的话室内外之间的关系将是怎样的？

推拉窗并不一直延伸到平台上。会有大约20厘米的立柱。当你在里面，也就是厨房柜台所在的地方，打开窗户，你就跨过了一个门洞。尽管有一个大窗户，你可以向外看，但它更像是墙的一部分。关于你的具体问题，即室内外之间的关系，这也让我们了解到瓦列里奥是如何构思的。在这个意义上，它就像一个帐篷，因为在一个帐篷里，你不知觉中把一些布料推到一边，你就钻进去了。所以，这是一个有意识的决定，要么在里面要么在外面。

这些开口更多是光源和门洞。我不认为你会做的第一件事是坐在这些窗户后面向外看；这不是关乎于人在室内而感到一点身处室外。这绝对不是意图所在，而且无论如何，从大房间里你也看不到很远。你必须走到树木停止的边缘，那是你看到远方的地方。

还有一些东西，另一个矛盾，吸引我来到这个特殊的地方。这是附近唯一一块有这么多树的土地，巨大的橡树和枫树，有着春秋两季的所有季节性变化。这是相当戏剧性的。

在夏季，它受到树冠的保护，而在冬季则是相当开放和裸露的。四季之间，周围树木的密度变化也加剧了土地内部和外部生活的复杂性。当离开房子时，你不会立即暴露在外面。连续的是视线，从我的地块边缘，到阿巴拉契亚山脉和蓝岭山脉。

周围的阿巴拉契亚山脉在这所座住宅中扮演了什么角色？

欧洲人通常认为美国是一个年轻的国家，但如果你看一下这里的土地，你就能感觉到它到底有多古老。这是一片非常远古的土地——属于我们星球上最古老的土地之一。在地质学上，它比阿尔卑斯山或喜马拉雅山还要久远。而且你可以感觉到这一点。附近的河流，名为新河，是世界上第二古老的河流。当你来到这里，对周围的环境有一定的感知能力后，你就会察觉到这一点。你会意识到自己是在一片古老的土地上，这带给它一种特殊的感觉。这种景观总是让我想到宇宙，想到宇宙学，想到我们从何而来，又去向何方，等等。它是相当纪念性的，原始，甚至粗糙。完全不精细。它与我们对阿卡迪亚的印象截然相反——无忧的田园诗般的纯真，让人联想到地中海。这里的土地毫不乡野。特别是在冬天。冬天这片土地是最好的：荒芜，但又开放。这有其深度。它就像罗斯科（Rothko）或波洛克（Pollock）的画作。

它打开了一个想象的世界，暗示了各种可能性。这是这片土地的内在品质，而这座住宅在形式和物化上抓住了它。这种景观的存在也使我想象到古代美洲原住民部落的大篷车在这片土地上缓缓移动。或者当你听到他们在祭典上吟唱《Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya》，也被称为《逆时针环形舞》。

因此，正如我之前告诉你的那样，我可以想象，我可以把住宅装到车上，然后在下一个地方，五十英里远的路上把它卸下来，这和美国本土游牧部落的帐篷没有什么区别。我可以说，当你来参观时，你会觉得有点像一个巫觋。

你在Instagram上发表的插图展示了一座山的截面。它到底代表什么？

托马斯-杰斐逊写了《独立宣言》，我认为这是过去500年，所有人中写的最重要的公告，他曾在弗吉尼亚州居住，并发现了一些美国原住民的埋葬地。他还拥有附近的一些土地。

在美国东部地区，古代建筑的唯一遗迹是这些人工土丘。在这里生活了不知道多少万年的古代部落没有留下其他东西。我把它贴出来是因为这幅插图在某种程度上概括了交织在这所房子里的很多灵感。然而，这并不关乎于要模仿什么，不关乎于过去，也不关乎于故事的讲述。它不关乎于历史或什么的。如果你想在其中读出一些东西，那更多地是完全相反的事物：超越历史和时间的事物。它更多地是关于永恒和生活在一个没有时间的地方。没有测量，某种广袤的境界，自由。有时，我想，一个熟悉这片土地的弗吉尼亚人能够写出让个人获得自由的文字，这也许不是偶然的。我想我能住在一个非常自由的建筑里。

2021年3月6日

Markus Breitschmid: I remember Valerio Olgiati saying in one of his lectures: „I have a client who wants to be homeless”. I believe he was referring to me. I like changing the places where I live, and I especially appreciate the nomadic quality of not being attached too much to one country or territory. I left Europe behind and embraced living in America. Because I am still spending around four months in Europe every year, I’m very careful not to let my lives in Europe and in America conflate into one. I try to keep the rhythms of life and the rituals of life of each place quite different from each other. Valerio knows all of that. So, when I came up with the idea to build a house in America, it was a natural choice that he would be the architect. The Manahoac House is a continuation of our work together. Making a building is obviously a different kind of undertaking than writing a book or making an interview, but in a way, I see it as another chapter. I think we have both grown or, at least, speaking for myself, my understanding of architecture has grown thanks to my long relationship with Valerio. If you read the books we have published, and look at the architecture he has made, you can see a continuous evolution of thought.

WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL DREAM? HOW DID YOU EXPRESS TO VALERIO WHAT YOU WANTED?

I gave him a budget and I said that he could do whatever he imagined. The only condition was that I have things to store, and I need a kitchen to cook in. But other than that, I gave him complete freedom. It is a little fatalistic on my part, but I always took the position: You cannot ask a very good architect to build a building and then tell him what to do. If you want to dictate how a house should be like, get a mediocre architect.

THE HOUSE HAS ESSENTIALLY THREE MAIN ELEMENTS - THE PLATFORM, THE A-FRAME AND THE CYLINDER. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE QUALITY OF THE CYLINDRICAL VOLUME THAT OCCUPIES THE CENTRE OF THE HOUSE?

There are two main values. Obviously, the utilitarian aspect - it has to be a functional house. Everything that needs to be stored goes in the cylinder. 

The main quality, however, is the space-making one. The fact that the cylinder is moved off centre in plan, structures the space into several very distinct areas. The front face of the room where the sliding window is, will be thirty-three feet tall (around 11 m), whilst at other points it goes all the way down to zero. At the same time the position of the cylinder brings the room to just four feet (1.2 m) wide, at the pinch points, a closeness that forms strong thresholds, without the need of doors or frames. Passing from one side of the cylinder to the other, you cross the strait in front of the tall main window and arrive at a small pocket. This is the most protected space, where out of primal instinct, you naturally go to sleep. It has a cave-like quality, and thanks to the position of the cylinder, as you go deeper, everything becomes more enclosed and dissolves into darkness. There are no windows at all.

On the other side, where I might work, you have the same delineation of space, but there is a seven-meter-long window cut into the roof, through which light enters, and, if you want to, through which you can look out at the trees. It’s an unbelievably simple house, but by being attentive to how space is formed and the way it will be illuminated, it becomes an extremely differentiated and rich space. 

If the cylinder was in the middle, this would be a completely different, much poorer, and more predictable space. Valerio designed something very complex by simply combining a cylinder with an A-frame in a very precise way. I don’t know exactly where the boundaries between these spaces will be. You can try to imagine it the way I explain it. You could think of them as kind of thresholds, but of course, there are no real doors or lintels or any of those things that you typically have when you make chambers. 

Inside the cylinder we will use the most conventional drywall, painted white and illuminated by very bright LED lights. When you enter the house from the garage, or leave from the grand dim space, you go into this kind of laboratory-like space. A steel staircase will take you up to the attic. There will also be a utilitarian metal sink, a large refrigerator, a freezer, a washer and dryer, and some cabinets. Even though these are all domestic objects, we will try not to materialize them in a ‘homely’ way, and work on keeping the differentiation between what is inside the cylinder and what is the cult space, as I call it, as strong as possible.

HAVING SEEN THE DRAWINGS, WHAT STRUCK US WAS THE USE OF ONE ELEMENT OF EACH TYPE: ONE HORIZONTAL WINDOW, ONE DOOR, ONE SKYLIGHT, ONE CYLINDER AND ONE A-FRAME. LATER AN EXCEPTION OCCURRED IN THIS SYSTEM, YOU HAVE NOW TWO SKYLIGHTS. WE WERE WONDERING AND WANTED TO ASK YOU, WHAT IS PRODUCED SPATIALLY WHEN A BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SINGULAR ELEMENTS PUT TOGETHER?

It’s an interesting question; what is the effect of a singular element on the composition of a building?

A good reference in that regard would be the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart. 

When you go there and you see all these structural pieces, the beam, the column and so on, you almost think it is a kind of a decoration because it’s only there once and it looks as if it was somehow attached. If you don’t walk around and you just go inside, you cannot understand the logic of the building. If you saw a bunch of columns, you would say, ok, it’s the structure. But in this case, all the elements are unique, there is the slanted column coming down and the beam holding up the roof. You have to stitch them all together in your head. You go outside, you see the column, you see the walls, you see the roof and slowly you are able to connect everything. You understand that in order to keep its qualities, it actually couldn’t have been built in any other way, because the dimensions and distances were too big. 

In the Manahoac House, it might look like an addition of singular elements at first. In reality, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s an organism that really couldn’t perform as a building and preserve its spatial qualities in any other way. In Landquart, it is given by an extreme use of structure. In this house, structure is not the main space-making element. The cylinder doesn’t participate in any way to hold up the A-frame. Here we speak more about volumes of solid and void that bind diverse complementary spaces together and creates an organism that wouldn’t work if any part was removed or added. It is Valerio’s mastery of architectonic space: to make something so spatially and atmospherically complex out of something so basic.

IN RELATION TO THE NOMADIC QUALITIES, YOU SPOKE ABOUT, WAS IT YOUR INTENTION TO GIVE THE HOUSE THE CHARACTER OF A TENT?

I don’t see it as just a tent. It’s also a temple. It’s a tent-temple – which I realise is a contradiction. The idea is that the house has been there forever, but also that it could move somewhere else. It was very important to let these two extremes be present and co-exist.

The triangle stands slightly elevated on a platform with large, grown trees around it. The concrete will soon be covered with moss and grow a patina. Pretty quickly, it will look like something beyond time. Yet, having the shape of such an abstract object, the patina will be something, that at first glance, won’t match. The house itself will be a steel frame construction, coated with corrugated steel and hand-painted in anthracite color on the outside and inside. When you get close to it, you will see it has a tent-like fragile quality. Something that is temporary and has been built quickly. But then from a distance, it will present itself more as a temple among the trees.

We want it to feel like a temple and therefore we don’t want it to feel domestic in any way. In the large, tall space, the only reference to something that has to do with a house is going to be the faucet of the kitchen. Water comes out, it means that somebody spends time here, nothing more.

YOU SAID THIS HOUSE IS DESIGNED WITH AN AMBITION NOT TO BE DOMESTIC. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU NOT TO HAVE A COZY HOUSE?

I can imagine, and I find it interesting, to use this building in different ways and not always as a place to live in. A cozy house is not so easy to transform into something else. A cozy house is also not a place that inspires me to imagine things at a certain scale and of a certain magnitude. I am not against coziness in the right place and moment but this typical sense of coziness that we see in many houses is too contained and too restricting for me. 

For me it’s important that these rooms have a cultural dimension, transforming into a public space, a research center, an exhibition room, or a concert hall on any given day of the week. I have a friend who is a piano player, and we are already planning a concert for around 200 people.

I don’t mind if I sometimes have to rent a room in a hotel for a week because somebody else is using the building. Or I’ll just sleep amongst whatever is taking place inside. 

The fact that we don’t call it Breitschmid House, but Manahoac House is very important. We do this so most people have no idea what it’s about. Not attaching a person to the building is intentional. We should also be careful calling it a house, as I am sure that it isn’t really a house in the conventional sense. I see it rather as a kind of cultural artifice.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MATERIALS. READING „NON-REFERENTIAL ARCHITECTURE” AND THE CHAPTER ABOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF ONE MATERIAL, AND LATER SEEING THIS HOUSE, WITH CORRUGATED STEEL, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT, RAISES SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. DOES THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING HAS A SHADE OF BLACK CONTRIBUTE TO THE MATERIAL COHERENCE OF THE BUILDING?

In the USA, there’s the front yard and back yard culture and consequently these are often two completely different worlds. People usually take care of the front yard because the appearance towards the outside is important. Of course, we are not interested in this. From the street, you drive onto a platform covered with asphalt. The porosity that Valerio wants for the asphalt doesn’t really work for the inside. So, there are basically two floor materials. The floor inside the house is a somewhat rough, very dark, anthracite-colored concrete. The aim of the materialization is to produce a sufficient distancing-effect with the available means and attributes of materials. What’s important is that the building is present as a formal idea prior to all other ways.

I think for this particular building and its character, the materials are correct, even though Olgiati probably would have preferred to do everything in concrete – something I could not afford. The platform is what belongs to the earth. You then put thin, almost fabric-like metal sheets on top of it. The building proper, the triangle, is all made in metal, except the windows.

IN A SIMILAR ELEMENTAL WAY, THE HOUSE IS A VERY CONTAINED OPAQUE OBJECT THAT CLEARLY DIVIDES THE SPACES INTO INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR AREAS. THERE ARE ALSO VERY BIG WINDOWS. WHAT WILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR BE LIKE?

The sliding window doesn’t go all the way down to the platform. There will be around a 20-centimetre upstand. When you are inside, where the kitchen counter is, and you open the window, you cross a threshold. Even though there’s a big window, and you can look out, it’s more part of the wall. Regarding your specific question about the relationship between inside-outside, it also gives an idea of how Valerio conceived it. In this sense, it is like a tent, because in a tent you somehow, push some fabric aside and you slide in. So, it’s a conscious decision to be either inside or outside. 

The openings are more light sources and thresholds. I don’t imagine the first thing you do is to sit behind these windows and look out; it is not about being inside but feeling a bit outside. That’s not the intention at all and in any case, from the big room you don’t see very far anyway. You have to walk towards the edge where the trees stop and that’s where you see into the far. 

Something else, another contradiction, attracted me to this particular place. It’s the only piece of land in the neighbourhood with so many trees, large oaks and maples, and with all the seasonal changes of spring and fall. It’s quite dramatic.

During the summer it is protected by a canopy of leaves whilst its quite open and bare in winter. The change in density, between seasons, of the surrounding trees also heightens the complexity between the interior and exterior life of the land. When leaving the house, you are not immediately exposed. What is continuous is the view, from the edge of my plot, of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains.

WHAT ROLE DO THE SURROUNDING APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS PLAY IN THE HOUSE?

Europeans usually consider America as a young country, but if you look at the land here, you can feel how old the land really is. This is very old land – among the very oldest lands on our planet. Geologically, it’s much older than the Alps or the Himalayas. And you can feel that. The nearby river, named the New River, is the second oldest river in the world. When you come here and you’re somewhat perceptive to your surroundings, you become aware of this. You realise that you’re in an ancient land and this gives it a special feeling. This kind of landscape always makes me think of the universe, about cosmology, and where we are from, where we are going, and so on. It is rather monumental. Raw. Rough even. Not finicky at all. It is the opposite of the image we have of Arcadia – the idyllic innocence of the seemingly untroubled that is associate with the Mediterranean. The land here is not rustic at all. Particularly in the winter. In the winter the land is the best: barren, yet open. There is depth. It is like a painting by Rothko or Pollock.

It opens a world of imagination and suggests possibilities. It is an intrinsic quality of this land, and the house captures it in its form and materialization.  The presence of this landscape makes me also imagine a caravan of ancient Native American tribes moving slowly across the land. Or when you would hear them chanting Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya, known as Counterclockwise Circle Dance, during a rite. 

Therefore, as I told you before, I can imagine that I could load the house on a vehicle and un-pack it in the next place, fifty miles down the road, not unlike a native American nomadic tribal tent. I tell you, when you come and visit you will feel a little bit like a shaman.

THE ILLUSTRATION YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM SHOWS THE SECTION OF A MOUNTAIN. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT EXACTLY?

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, which I find the most important announcement written by anyone in the last 500 years, lived here in Virginia and discovered some of the Native Americans burial sites. He owned some of the land nearby.

In the eastern part of America, the only remnants of ancient structures are these artificial mounds. There is nothing else left of the ancient tribes that lived here for I don’t know how many thousands of years. I posted it because the illustration somehow summarises a lot of inspirations that are woven into this house. However, it is not about emulating anything, it is not about the past, not about some story-telling. It is not about history or something. If you want to read anything into it at all, it would be more about the exact opposite: things beyond history and time. It is more about the timeless and living in a place with no time. No measuring. A certain kind of vastness. Liberty. Sometimes, I think it is maybe not accidental that a Virginian, who knew this land well, was capable of writing the text that would set individuals free. I think I get to live in a very liberating building.

06.03.2021

马克斯·布赖特施密德: 我记得瓦列里奥·奥尔加蒂（Valerio Olgiati）在他的一次演讲中说 “我有一个客户，他想成为无家可归的人”。我相信他指的是我。我喜欢改变居住的地点，尤其欣赏游牧民族的品质，不太依附于一个国家或地区。我离开了欧洲，拥抱在美国的生活。但因为我每年仍会花四个月左右的时间在欧洲，所以我非常小心，不让我在欧洲和美国的生活混为一体。我试图保持每个地方的生活节奏和生活仪式之间有所区别。瓦列里奥知道这一切。因此，当我有了在美国建造住宅的想法时，由他来担任建筑师是一个自然的选择。马纳霍克之家（Manahoac House）是我们一起工作的延续。建造一座建筑与写书或采访比起来,显然是不同的事业，但在某种程度上,也可视为另一个章节的写作。我认为我们都成长了，或者至少，就我自己而言，由于我与瓦列里奥的长期关系，我对建筑的理解也在不断加深。如果你读一下我们出版的书，看看他做的建筑，你可以看到思想的不断演变。

你最初的梦想是什么？你是如何向瓦列里奥表达你的愿望的？

我给了他一个预算并告诉他可以做任何他想象的事情。唯一的条件是，我有东西要储存，而且我需要一个厨房来做饭。但除此以外，我给了他完全的自由。

这对我来说有点宿命论，但我总是采取这种立场。你不能要求一个非常好的建筑师来建造一栋建筑，然后告诉他该怎么做。如果你想规定一所房子应该是什么样的，那就找一个平庸的建筑师。

这座房子基本上有三个主要元素——平台、A型框架和圆柱体。你如何描述占据房子中心的圆柱体的品质？

有两个主要的价值。很明显，功利性方面--它必须是一个功能性的房子。所有需要储存的东西都在圆柱体里。

然而，主要的价值在于创造空间。事实上，圆柱体在平面上从中心移开，将空间结构分成几个鲜明的区域。推拉窗所在的房间正面将有33英尺高（约11米），而在其他地方则一直变矮趋近于零。同时，圆柱体的位置使房间在斜顶处仅有四英尺（1.2米）宽，这种紧密程度形成了强大的门洞感，而不需要门或框架。从圆筒的一侧到另一侧，你穿过高大的主窗前的海峡，到达一个小袋子。这是最受保护的空间，出于原始的本能，你自然会在这里睡觉。它有一种洞穴般的质量，得益于圆柱体的位置，随着你的深入，一切都变得更加封闭，并溶入黑暗。那里完全没有窗户。

在另一边，也就是我可能工作的地方，你有同样的空间划分，但有一个七米长的窗户切入屋顶，光线由此进入，如果愿意，你可以透过它看到外面的树。这是一个简单得令人难以置信的住宅，但因关注于空间被如何塑造和照亮，它成为了一个极其不同而丰富的空间。

如果圆柱体居中，这将会成为一个完全不同，更贫乏，更可预测的空间。瓦列里奥通过简单地将圆柱体和A型框架以一种非常精确的方式结合起来，设计出了非常复杂的事物。我不知道这些空间之间的边界到底会在哪里。你可以试着按照我解释的方式来想象。你可以把它们看作是一种门洞，但当然，没有真正的门或门楣或任何这些通常在制造房间时出现的东西。

在圆柱体内部，我们将使用最传统的石膏板，涂成白色，由非常明亮的LED灯照亮。当你从车库进入房子，或从宏伟的昏暗空间离开时，你会进入这种类似实验室的空间。一个钢制的楼梯将带你到阁楼上。那里会有一个功能性的金属水槽，大冰箱，冰柜，洗衣机和烘干机，以及一些柜子。尽管这些都是居家用品，但我们将尽量不以 “家庭 “的方式将它们具体化，并努力使圆筒内的东西和我所说的邪典空间之间的区别尽可能强烈。

在看过图纸后，冲击到我们的是每种类型都使用了一个元素：一个水平窗，一个门，一个天窗，一个圆筒和一个A型框架。后来在这个系统中出现了一个例外，现在有了两个天窗。我们想知道并好奇的是，当一个建筑由单一的元素组成时，在空间上会出现些什么？

这是一个有趣的问题；单一的元素的构成对一个建筑有什么影响？

这方面的一个很好的参照物是兰德夸特的报告厅（the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart）。

当你去那里，看到所有这些结构件，梁、柱等等，你几乎认为这是一种装饰，因为只出现了一次，而且看起来好像以某种方式相连。如果你没有四处走走，而是直接进入，你就无法理解这座建筑的逻辑。例如你看到一堆柱子，那你会说，好吧，这就是结构。但在这种情况下，所有的元素都是独一无二的，有斜下来的柱子，有撑起屋顶的梁。你必须在脑海中把它们全部拼凑起来。你走到外面，看到了柱子、墙、屋顶，慢慢地你就能把一切联系起来。你理解到，为了保持它的品质，它实际上不可能以任何其他方式建造，因为尺寸和距离都太大了。

在马纳霍克之家里，一开始可能看起来是一些单一的元素的叠加。在现实中，它正好相反。它是一个确实无法表现为建筑的有机体，不能以任何其他方式保存其空间质量。在兰德夸特，它由对结构的极端使用成就。在这所房子里，结构不是创造空间的主要元素。圆柱体没有以任何方式参与支撑A型框架。在这里，我们更多谈论的是实体和空隙的体积，它将不同的互补空间结合在一起，并创造了一个有机体，如果任何部分被移除或增加，它就不会工作。这是瓦列里奥对建筑空间的掌握：用如此基本的东西做出如此复杂的空间和气氛。

关于你所说的游牧民族的特质，你的意图是让住宅具有帐篷的特征吗？

我不认为它只是一个帐篷。它也是一座寺庙。它是一个“帐篷寺庙”—— 我意识到这是一个矛盾。这个想法是，住宅永远在那里，但它也可以搬到其他地方。让这两个极端呈现并共存是很重要的。

三角形站在一个平台上略微抬高，周围有巨大的、生长着的树木。混凝土不久就会被苔藓覆盖，并长出一种铜锈。很快的，它将看起来像超越时间的事物。然而，有了这样一个抽象物体的形状，铜绿就会成为一种乍看起来不匹配的东西。房子本身将会是钢架构筑物，覆盖着波纹钢板，内外都是手工涂的炭黑色。当你靠近它时，你会发现它有一种帐篷般脆弱的品质。一个具有临时性并快速建造的事物。但从远处看，它将更多地呈现为树丛中的一座寺庙。

我们希望它像一座寺庙，因此我们不希望它在任何方面有居家的感觉。在这个大而高的空间里，唯一能参照住宅的东西就是厨房的水龙头。水的流出，意味着有人在这里度过了时间，仅此而已。

你说这座住宅的设计有着不想居家化的雄心。为什么一个不惬意的住宅对你很重要？

我可以想象，并觉得有趣的是，以不同的方式使用这个建筑，而不总是作为一个居住的地方。惬意的住宅不是那么容易转变为其他东西。惬意的住宅也不是一个能激发我想象力到一定规模和程度的地方。我不反对在适当的地点和时间的舒适感，但我们在许多住宅里看到的这种典型的舒适感对我来说太封闭和限制了。

对我来说，重要的是这些房间有一个文化维度，在一周中的任何一天都能转变为公共空间、研究中心、展厅或音乐厅。我有个朋友是个钢琴演奏家，我们已经在计划一场大约200人的音乐会。

如果我有时不得不在酒店租一个房间住一个星期，因为别人在使用这栋楼，我也不介意。或者我就睡在其中，无论里面发生任何事情。

我们不叫它布赖特施密德之家（Breitschmid House），而叫马纳霍克之家，这一点非常重要。我们这样做是为了让大多数人不知道它是干什么的。不把人与建筑联系起来是有意为之。我们也应该谨慎地称它为住宅，因为我确信它不是传统意义上的真正的住宅。我把它看作是一种文化构筑物。

让我们来谈谈材料。阅读 “非参照性建筑 “中关于一种材料的原则的章节，以及后来看到这所房子，用波纹钢板、混凝土和沥青，引发了一些额外的问题。所有东西都有一个黑色的阴影，这是否有助于建筑的材料一致性？

在美国，有前院和后院的文化，因此这往往是两个完全不同的世界。人们通常照顾前院，因为对外面的外观很重要。当然，我们对这个不感兴趣。从大街上，你开到一个覆盖着沥青的平台上。瓦列里奥希望的沥青的多孔性对室内来说并不适用。因此，基本上有两种地板材料。房子里的地板是一种有点粗糙的、非常暗的、炭黑色的混凝土。材质化的目的是在可行的方法和材料的属性间产生足够的疏远效果。重要的是，建筑被呈现为一个形式的概念，优先所有其他方式。

我认为对于这个特殊的建筑和它的特点来说，材料是正确的，尽管奥尔加蒂可能更愿意用混凝土来做所有的事情——这是我不能承受的。平台是属于地球的东西。然后你把薄的、几乎像织物一样的金属板放在上面。建筑物本身，即三角形，都是用金属制成的，除了窗户。

以类似的元素构成方式，这座住宅是一个非常封闭的不透明物体，明确地将空间划分为内部和外部区域。也有着非常大的窗户。这样的话室内外之间的关系将是怎样的？

推拉窗并不一直延伸到平台上。会有大约20厘米的立柱。当你在里面，也就是厨房柜台所在的地方，打开窗户，你就跨过了一个门洞。尽管有一个大窗户，你可以向外看，但它更像是墙的一部分。关于你的具体问题，即室内外之间的关系，这也让我们了解到瓦列里奥是如何构思的。在这个意义上，它就像一个帐篷，因为在一个帐篷里，你不知觉中把一些布料推到一边，你就钻进去了。所以，这是一个有意识的决定，要么在里面要么在外面。

这些开口更多是光源和门洞。我不认为你会做的第一件事是坐在这些窗户后面向外看；这不是关乎于人在室内而感到一点身处室外。这绝对不是意图所在，而且无论如何，从大房间里你也看不到很远。你必须走到树木停止的边缘，那是你看到远方的地方。

还有一些东西，另一个矛盾，吸引我来到这个特殊的地方。这是附近唯一一块有这么多树的土地，巨大的橡树和枫树，有着春秋两季的所有季节性变化。这是相当戏剧性的。

在夏季，它受到树冠的保护，而在冬季则是相当开放和裸露的。四季之间，周围树木的密度变化也加剧了土地内部和外部生活的复杂性。当离开房子时，你不会立即暴露在外面。连续的是视线，从我的地块边缘，到阿巴拉契亚山脉和蓝岭山脉。

周围的阿巴拉契亚山脉在这所座住宅中扮演了什么角色？

欧洲人通常认为美国是一个年轻的国家，但如果你看一下这里的土地，你就能感觉到它到底有多古老。这是一片非常远古的土地——属于我们星球上最古老的土地之一。在地质学上，它比阿尔卑斯山或喜马拉雅山还要久远。而且你可以感觉到这一点。附近的河流，名为新河，是世界上第二古老的河流。当你来到这里，对周围的环境有一定的感知能力后，你就会察觉到这一点。你会意识到自己是在一片古老的土地上，这带给它一种特殊的感觉。这种景观总是让我想到宇宙，想到宇宙学，想到我们从何而来，又去向何方，等等。它是相当纪念性的，原始，甚至粗糙。完全不精细。它与我们对阿卡迪亚的印象截然相反——无忧的田园诗般的纯真，让人联想到地中海。这里的土地毫不乡野。特别是在冬天。冬天这片土地是最好的：荒芜，但又开放。这有其深度。它就像罗斯科（Rothko）或波洛克（Pollock）的画作。

它打开了一个想象的世界，暗示了各种可能性。这是这片土地的内在品质，而这座住宅在形式和物化上抓住了它。这种景观的存在也使我想象到古代美洲原住民部落的大篷车在这片土地上缓缓移动。或者当你听到他们在祭典上吟唱《Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya》，也被称为《逆时针环形舞》。

因此，正如我之前告诉你的那样，我可以想象，我可以把住宅装到车上，然后在下一个地方，五十英里远的路上把它卸下来，这和美国本土游牧部落的帐篷没有什么区别。我可以说，当你来参观时，你会觉得有点像一个巫觋。

你在Instagram上发表的插图展示了一座山的截面。它到底代表什么？

托马斯-杰斐逊写了《独立宣言》，我认为这是过去500年，所有人中写的最重要的公告，他曾在弗吉尼亚州居住，并发现了一些美国原住民的埋葬地。他还拥有附近的一些土地。

在美国东部地区，古代建筑的唯一遗迹是这些人工土丘。在这里生活了不知道多少万年的古代部落没有留下其他东西。我把它贴出来是因为这幅插图在某种程度上概括了交织在这所房子里的很多灵感。然而，这并不关乎于要模仿什么，不关乎于过去，也不关乎于故事的讲述。它不关乎于历史或什么的。如果你想在其中读出一些东西，那更多地是完全相反的事物：超越历史和时间的事物。它更多地是关于永恒和生活在一个没有时间的地方。没有测量，某种广袤的境界，自由。有时，我想，一个熟悉这片土地的弗吉尼亚人能够写出让个人获得自由的文字，这也许不是偶然的。我想我能住在一个非常自由的建筑里。

2021年3月6日

Markus Breitschmid: I remember Valerio Olgiati saying in one of his lectures: „I have a client who wants to be homeless”. I believe he was referring to me. I like changing the places where I live, and I especially appreciate the nomadic quality of not being attached too much to one country or territory. I left Europe behind and embraced living in America. Because I am still spending around four months in Europe every year, I’m very careful not to let my lives in Europe and in America conflate into one. I try to keep the rhythms of life and the rituals of life of each place quite different from each other. Valerio knows all of that. So, when I came up with the idea to build a house in America, it was a natural choice that he would be the architect. The Manahoac House is a continuation of our work together. Making a building is obviously a different kind of undertaking than writing a book or making an interview, but in a way, I see it as another chapter. I think we have both grown or, at least, speaking for myself, my understanding of architecture has grown thanks to my long relationship with Valerio. If you read the books we have published, and look at the architecture he has made, you can see a continuous evolution of thought.

WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL DREAM? HOW DID YOU EXPRESS TO VALERIO WHAT YOU WANTED?

I gave him a budget and I said that he could do whatever he imagined. The only condition was that I have things to store, and I need a kitchen to cook in. But other than that, I gave him complete freedom. It is a little fatalistic on my part, but I always took the position: You cannot ask a very good architect to build a building and then tell him what to do. If you want to dictate how a house should be like, get a mediocre architect.

THE HOUSE HAS ESSENTIALLY THREE MAIN ELEMENTS - THE PLATFORM, THE A-FRAME AND THE CYLINDER. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE QUALITY OF THE CYLINDRICAL VOLUME THAT OCCUPIES THE CENTRE OF THE HOUSE?

There are two main values. Obviously, the utilitarian aspect - it has to be a functional house. Everything that needs to be stored goes in the cylinder. 

The main quality, however, is the space-making one. The fact that the cylinder is moved off centre in plan, structures the space into several very distinct areas. The front face of the room where the sliding window is, will be thirty-three feet tall (around 11 m), whilst at other points it goes all the way down to zero. At the same time the position of the cylinder brings the room to just four feet (1.2 m) wide, at the pinch points, a closeness that forms strong thresholds, without the need of doors or frames. Passing from one side of the cylinder to the other, you cross the strait in front of the tall main window and arrive at a small pocket. This is the most protected space, where out of primal instinct, you naturally go to sleep. It has a cave-like quality, and thanks to the position of the cylinder, as you go deeper, everything becomes more enclosed and dissolves into darkness. There are no windows at all.

On the other side, where I might work, you have the same delineation of space, but there is a seven-meter-long window cut into the roof, through which light enters, and, if you want to, through which you can look out at the trees. It’s an unbelievably simple house, but by being attentive to how space is formed and the way it will be illuminated, it becomes an extremely differentiated and rich space. 

If the cylinder was in the middle, this would be a completely different, much poorer, and more predictable space. Valerio designed something very complex by simply combining a cylinder with an A-frame in a very precise way. I don’t know exactly where the boundaries between these spaces will be. You can try to imagine it the way I explain it. You could think of them as kind of thresholds, but of course, there are no real doors or lintels or any of those things that you typically have when you make chambers. 

Inside the cylinder we will use the most conventional drywall, painted white and illuminated by very bright LED lights. When you enter the house from the garage, or leave from the grand dim space, you go into this kind of laboratory-like space. A steel staircase will take you up to the attic. There will also be a utilitarian metal sink, a large refrigerator, a freezer, a washer and dryer, and some cabinets. Even though these are all domestic objects, we will try not to materialize them in a ‘homely’ way, and work on keeping the differentiation between what is inside the cylinder and what is the cult space, as I call it, as strong as possible.

HAVING SEEN THE DRAWINGS, WHAT STRUCK US WAS THE USE OF ONE ELEMENT OF EACH TYPE: ONE HORIZONTAL WINDOW, ONE DOOR, ONE SKYLIGHT, ONE CYLINDER AND ONE A-FRAME. LATER AN EXCEPTION OCCURRED IN THIS SYSTEM, YOU HAVE NOW TWO SKYLIGHTS. WE WERE WONDERING AND WANTED TO ASK YOU, WHAT IS PRODUCED SPATIALLY WHEN A BUILDING IS COMPOSED OF SINGULAR ELEMENTS PUT TOGETHER?

It’s an interesting question; what is the effect of a singular element on the composition of a building?

A good reference in that regard would be the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart. 

When you go there and you see all these structural pieces, the beam, the column and so on, you almost think it is a kind of a decoration because it’s only there once and it looks as if it was somehow attached. If you don’t walk around and you just go inside, you cannot understand the logic of the building. If you saw a bunch of columns, you would say, ok, it’s the structure. But in this case, all the elements are unique, there is the slanted column coming down and the beam holding up the roof. You have to stitch them all together in your head. You go outside, you see the column, you see the walls, you see the roof and slowly you are able to connect everything. You understand that in order to keep its qualities, it actually couldn’t have been built in any other way, because the dimensions and distances were too big. 

In the Manahoac House, it might look like an addition of singular elements at first. In reality, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s an organism that really couldn’t perform as a building and preserve its spatial qualities in any other way. In Landquart, it is given by an extreme use of structure. In this house, structure is not the main space-making element. The cylinder doesn’t participate in any way to hold up the A-frame. Here we speak more about volumes of solid and void that bind diverse complementary spaces together and creates an organism that wouldn’t work if any part was removed or added. It is Valerio’s mastery of architectonic space: to make something so spatially and atmospherically complex out of something so basic.

IN RELATION TO THE NOMADIC QUALITIES, YOU SPOKE ABOUT, WAS IT YOUR INTENTION TO GIVE THE HOUSE THE CHARACTER OF A TENT?

I don’t see it as just a tent. It’s also a temple. It’s a tent-temple – which I realise is a contradiction. The idea is that the house has been there forever, but also that it could move somewhere else. It was very important to let these two extremes be present and co-exist.

The triangle stands slightly elevated on a platform with large, grown trees around it. The concrete will soon be covered with moss and grow a patina. Pretty quickly, it will look like something beyond time. Yet, having the shape of such an abstract object, the patina will be something, that at first glance, won’t match. The house itself will be a steel frame construction, coated with corrugated steel and hand-painted in anthracite color on the outside and inside. When you get close to it, you will see it has a tent-like fragile quality. Something that is temporary and has been built quickly. But then from a distance, it will present itself more as a temple among the trees.

We want it to feel like a temple and therefore we don’t want it to feel domestic in any way. In the large, tall space, the only reference to something that has to do with a house is going to be the faucet of the kitchen. Water comes out, it means that somebody spends time here, nothing more.

YOU SAID THIS HOUSE IS DESIGNED WITH AN AMBITION NOT TO BE DOMESTIC. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU NOT TO HAVE A COZY HOUSE?

I can imagine, and I find it interesting, to use this building in different ways and not always as a place to live in. A cozy house is not so easy to transform into something else. A cozy house is also not a place that inspires me to imagine things at a certain scale and of a certain magnitude. I am not against coziness in the right place and moment but this typical sense of coziness that we see in many houses is too contained and too restricting for me. 

For me it’s important that these rooms have a cultural dimension, transforming into a public space, a research center, an exhibition room, or a concert hall on any given day of the week. I have a friend who is a piano player, and we are already planning a concert for around 200 people.

I don’t mind if I sometimes have to rent a room in a hotel for a week because somebody else is using the building. Or I’ll just sleep amongst whatever is taking place inside. 

The fact that we don’t call it Breitschmid House, but Manahoac House is very important. We do this so most people have no idea what it’s about. Not attaching a person to the building is intentional. We should also be careful calling it a house, as I am sure that it isn’t really a house in the conventional sense. I see it rather as a kind of cultural artifice.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MATERIALS. READING „NON-REFERENTIAL ARCHITECTURE” AND THE CHAPTER ABOUT THE PRINCIPLE OF ONE MATERIAL, AND LATER SEEING THIS HOUSE, WITH CORRUGATED STEEL, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT, RAISES SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS. DOES THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING HAS A SHADE OF BLACK CONTRIBUTE TO THE MATERIAL COHERENCE OF THE BUILDING?

In the USA, there’s the front yard and back yard culture and consequently these are often two completely different worlds. People usually take care of the front yard because the appearance towards the outside is important. Of course, we are not interested in this. From the street, you drive onto a platform covered with asphalt. The porosity that Valerio wants for the asphalt doesn’t really work for the inside. So, there are basically two floor materials. The floor inside the house is a somewhat rough, very dark, anthracite-colored concrete. The aim of the materialization is to produce a sufficient distancing-effect with the available means and attributes of materials. What’s important is that the building is present as a formal idea prior to all other ways.

I think for this particular building and its character, the materials are correct, even though Olgiati probably would have preferred to do everything in concrete – something I could not afford. The platform is what belongs to the earth. You then put thin, almost fabric-like metal sheets on top of it. The building proper, the triangle, is all made in metal, except the windows.

IN A SIMILAR ELEMENTAL WAY, THE HOUSE IS A VERY CONTAINED OPAQUE OBJECT THAT CLEARLY DIVIDES THE SPACES INTO INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR AREAS. THERE ARE ALSO VERY BIG WINDOWS. WHAT WILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR BE LIKE?

The sliding window doesn’t go all the way down to the platform. There will be around a 20-centimetre upstand. When you are inside, where the kitchen counter is, and you open the window, you cross a threshold. Even though there’s a big window, and you can look out, it’s more part of the wall. Regarding your specific question about the relationship between inside-outside, it also gives an idea of how Valerio conceived it. In this sense, it is like a tent, because in a tent you somehow, push some fabric aside and you slide in. So, it’s a conscious decision to be either inside or outside. 

The openings are more light sources and thresholds. I don’t imagine the first thing you do is to sit behind these windows and look out; it is not about being inside but feeling a bit outside. That’s not the intention at all and in any case, from the big room you don’t see very far anyway. You have to walk towards the edge where the trees stop and that’s where you see into the far. 

Something else, another contradiction, attracted me to this particular place. It’s the only piece of land in the neighbourhood with so many trees, large oaks and maples, and with all the seasonal changes of spring and fall. It’s quite dramatic.

During the summer it is protected by a canopy of leaves whilst its quite open and bare in winter. The change in density, between seasons, of the surrounding trees also heightens the complexity between the interior and exterior life of the land. When leaving the house, you are not immediately exposed. What is continuous is the view, from the edge of my plot, of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains.

WHAT ROLE DO THE SURROUNDING APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS PLAY IN THE HOUSE?

Europeans usually consider America as a young country, but if you look at the land here, you can feel how old the land really is. This is very old land – among the very oldest lands on our planet. Geologically, it’s much older than the Alps or the Himalayas. And you can feel that. The nearby river, named the New River, is the second oldest river in the world. When you come here and you’re somewhat perceptive to your surroundings, you become aware of this. You realise that you’re in an ancient land and this gives it a special feeling. This kind of landscape always makes me think of the universe, about cosmology, and where we are from, where we are going, and so on. It is rather monumental. Raw. Rough even. Not finicky at all. It is the opposite of the image we have of Arcadia – the idyllic innocence of the seemingly untroubled that is associate with the Mediterranean. The land here is not rustic at all. Particularly in the winter. In the winter the land is the best: barren, yet open. There is depth. It is like a painting by Rothko or Pollock.

It opens a world of imagination and suggests possibilities. It is an intrinsic quality of this land, and the house captures it in its form and materialization.  The presence of this landscape makes me also imagine a caravan of ancient Native American tribes moving slowly across the land. Or when you would hear them chanting Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya, known as Counterclockwise Circle Dance, during a rite. 

Therefore, as I told you before, I can imagine that I could load the house on a vehicle and un-pack it in the next place, fifty miles down the road, not unlike a native American nomadic tribal tent. I tell you, when you come and visit you will feel a little bit like a shaman.

THE ILLUSTRATION YOU PUBLISHED ON INSTAGRAM SHOWS THE SECTION OF A MOUNTAIN. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT EXACTLY?

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, which I find the most important announcement written by anyone in the last 500 years, lived here in Virginia and discovered some of the Native Americans burial sites. He owned some of the land nearby.

In the eastern part of America, the only remnants of ancient structures are these artificial mounds. There is nothing else left of the ancient tribes that lived here for I don’t know how many thousands of years. I posted it because the illustration somehow summarises a lot of inspirations that are woven into this house. However, it is not about emulating anything, it is not about the past, not about some story-telling. It is not about history or something. If you want to read anything into it at all, it would be more about the exact opposite: things beyond history and time. It is more about the timeless and living in a place with no time. No measuring. A certain kind of vastness. Liberty. Sometimes, I think it is maybe not accidental that a Virginian, who knew this land well, was capable of writing the text that would set individuals free. I think I get to live in a very liberating building.

06.03.2021

马克斯·布赖特施密德: 我记得瓦列里奥·奥尔加蒂（Valerio Olgiati）在他的一次演讲中说 “我有一个客户，他想成为无家可归的人”。我相信他指的是我。我喜欢改变居住的地点，尤其欣赏游牧民族的品质，不太依附于一个国家或地区。我离开了欧洲，拥抱在美国的生活。但因为我每年仍会花四个月左右的时间在欧洲，所以我非常小心，不让我在欧洲和美国的生活混为一体。我试图保持每个地方的生活节奏和生活仪式之间有所区别。瓦列里奥知道这一切。因此，当我有了在美国建造住宅的想法时，由他来担任建筑师是一个自然的选择。马纳霍克之家（Manahoac House）是我们一起工作的延续。建造一座建筑与写书或采访比起来,显然是不同的事业，但在某种程度上,也可视为另一个章节的写作。我认为我们都成长了，或者至少，就我自己而言，由于我与瓦列里奥的长期关系，我对建筑的理解也在不断加深。如果你读一下我们出版的书，看看他做的建筑，你可以看到思想的不断演变。

你最初的梦想是什么？你是如何向瓦列里奥表达你的愿望的？

我给了他一个预算并告诉他可以做任何他想象的事情。唯一的条件是，我有东西要储存，而且我需要一个厨房来做饭。但除此以外，我给了他完全的自由。

这对我来说有点宿命论，但我总是采取这种立场。你不能要求一个非常好的建筑师来建造一栋建筑，然后告诉他该怎么做。如果你想规定一所房子应该是什么样的，那就找一个平庸的建筑师。

这座房子基本上有三个主要元素——平台、A型框架和圆柱体。你如何描述占据房子中心的圆柱体的品质？

有两个主要的价值。很明显，功利性方面--它必须是一个功能性的房子。所有需要储存的东西都在圆柱体里。

然而，主要的价值在于创造空间。事实上，圆柱体在平面上从中心移开，将空间结构分成几个鲜明的区域。推拉窗所在的房间正面将有33英尺高（约11米），而在其他地方则一直变矮趋近于零。同时，圆柱体的位置使房间在斜顶处仅有四英尺（1.2米）宽，这种紧密程度形成了强大的门洞感，而不需要门或框架。从圆筒的一侧到另一侧，你穿过高大的主窗前的海峡，到达一个小袋子。这是最受保护的空间，出于原始的本能，你自然会在这里睡觉。它有一种洞穴般的质量，得益于圆柱体的位置，随着你的深入，一切都变得更加封闭，并溶入黑暗。那里完全没有窗户。

在另一边，也就是我可能工作的地方，你有同样的空间划分，但有一个七米长的窗户切入屋顶，光线由此进入，如果愿意，你可以透过它看到外面的树。这是一个简单得令人难以置信的住宅，但因关注于空间被如何塑造和照亮，它成为了一个极其不同而丰富的空间。

如果圆柱体居中，这将会成为一个完全不同，更贫乏，更可预测的空间。瓦列里奥通过简单地将圆柱体和A型框架以一种非常精确的方式结合起来，设计出了非常复杂的事物。我不知道这些空间之间的边界到底会在哪里。你可以试着按照我解释的方式来想象。你可以把它们看作是一种门洞，但当然，没有真正的门或门楣或任何这些通常在制造房间时出现的东西。

在圆柱体内部，我们将使用最传统的石膏板，涂成白色，由非常明亮的LED灯照亮。当你从车库进入房子，或从宏伟的昏暗空间离开时，你会进入这种类似实验室的空间。一个钢制的楼梯将带你到阁楼上。那里会有一个功能性的金属水槽，大冰箱，冰柜，洗衣机和烘干机，以及一些柜子。尽管这些都是居家用品，但我们将尽量不以 “家庭 “的方式将它们具体化，并努力使圆筒内的东西和我所说的邪典空间之间的区别尽可能强烈。

在看过图纸后，冲击到我们的是每种类型都使用了一个元素：一个水平窗，一个门，一个天窗，一个圆筒和一个A型框架。后来在这个系统中出现了一个例外，现在有了两个天窗。我们想知道并好奇的是，当一个建筑由单一的元素组成时，在空间上会出现些什么？

这是一个有趣的问题；单一的元素的构成对一个建筑有什么影响？

这方面的一个很好的参照物是兰德夸特的报告厅（the Plantahof auditorium in Landquart）。

当你去那里，看到所有这些结构件，梁、柱等等，你几乎认为这是一种装饰，因为只出现了一次，而且看起来好像以某种方式相连。如果你没有四处走走，而是直接进入，你就无法理解这座建筑的逻辑。例如你看到一堆柱子，那你会说，好吧，这就是结构。但在这种情况下，所有的元素都是独一无二的，有斜下来的柱子，有撑起屋顶的梁。你必须在脑海中把它们全部拼凑起来。你走到外面，看到了柱子、墙、屋顶，慢慢地你就能把一切联系起来。你理解到，为了保持它的品质，它实际上不可能以任何其他方式建造，因为尺寸和距离都太大了。

在马纳霍克之家里，一开始可能看起来是一些单一的元素的叠加。在现实中，它正好相反。它是一个确实无法表现为建筑的有机体，不能以任何其他方式保存其空间质量。在兰德夸特，它由对结构的极端使用成就。在这所房子里，结构不是创造空间的主要元素。圆柱体没有以任何方式参与支撑A型框架。在这里，我们更多谈论的是实体和空隙的体积，它将不同的互补空间结合在一起，并创造了一个有机体，如果任何部分被移除或增加，它就不会工作。这是瓦列里奥对建筑空间的掌握：用如此基本的东西做出如此复杂的空间和气氛。

关于你所说的游牧民族的特质，你的意图是让住宅具有帐篷的特征吗？

我不认为它只是一个帐篷。它也是一座寺庙。它是一个“帐篷寺庙”—— 我意识到这是一个矛盾。这个想法是，住宅永远在那里，但它也可以搬到其他地方。让这两个极端呈现并共存是很重要的。

三角形站在一个平台上略微抬高，周围有巨大的、生长着的树木。混凝土不久就会被苔藓覆盖，并长出一种铜锈。很快的，它将看起来像超越时间的事物。然而，有了这样一个抽象物体的形状，铜绿就会成为一种乍看起来不匹配的东西。房子本身将会是钢架构筑物，覆盖着波纹钢板，内外都是手工涂的炭黑色。当你靠近它时，你会发现它有一种帐篷般脆弱的品质。一个具有临时性并快速建造的事物。但从远处看，它将更多地呈现为树丛中的一座寺庙。

我们希望它像一座寺庙，因此我们不希望它在任何方面有居家的感觉。在这个大而高的空间里，唯一能参照住宅的东西就是厨房的水龙头。水的流出，意味着有人在这里度过了时间，仅此而已。

你说这座住宅的设计有着不想居家化的雄心。为什么一个不惬意的住宅对你很重要？

我可以想象，并觉得有趣的是，以不同的方式使用这个建筑，而不总是作为一个居住的地方。惬意的住宅不是那么容易转变为其他东西。惬意的住宅也不是一个能激发我想象力到一定规模和程度的地方。我不反对在适当的地点和时间的舒适感，但我们在许多住宅里看到的这种典型的舒适感对我来说太封闭和限制了。

对我来说，重要的是这些房间有一个文化维度，在一周中的任何一天都能转变为公共空间、研究中心、展厅或音乐厅。我有个朋友是个钢琴演奏家，我们已经在计划一场大约200人的音乐会。

如果我有时不得不在酒店租一个房间住一个星期，因为别人在使用这栋楼，我也不介意。或者我就睡在其中，无论里面发生任何事情。

我们不叫它布赖特施密德之家（Breitschmid House），而叫马纳霍克之家，这一点非常重要。我们这样做是为了让大多数人不知道它是干什么的。不把人与建筑联系起来是有意为之。我们也应该谨慎地称它为住宅，因为我确信它不是传统意义上的真正的住宅。我把它看作是一种文化构筑物。

让我们来谈谈材料。阅读 “非参照性建筑 “中关于一种材料的原则的章节，以及后来看到这所房子，用波纹钢板、混凝土和沥青，引发了一些额外的问题。所有东西都有一个黑色的阴影，这是否有助于建筑的材料一致性？

在美国，有前院和后院的文化，因此这往往是两个完全不同的世界。人们通常照顾前院，因为对外面的外观很重要。当然，我们对这个不感兴趣。从大街上，你开到一个覆盖着沥青的平台上。瓦列里奥希望的沥青的多孔性对室内来说并不适用。因此，基本上有两种地板材料。房子里的地板是一种有点粗糙的、非常暗的、炭黑色的混凝土。材质化的目的是在可行的方法和材料的属性间产生足够的疏远效果。重要的是，建筑被呈现为一个形式的概念，优先所有其他方式。

我认为对于这个特殊的建筑和它的特点来说，材料是正确的，尽管奥尔加蒂可能更愿意用混凝土来做所有的事情——这是我不能承受的。平台是属于地球的东西。然后你把薄的、几乎像织物一样的金属板放在上面。建筑物本身，即三角形，都是用金属制成的，除了窗户。

以类似的元素构成方式，这座住宅是一个非常封闭的不透明物体，明确地将空间划分为内部和外部区域。也有着非常大的窗户。这样的话室内外之间的关系将是怎样的？

推拉窗并不一直延伸到平台上。会有大约20厘米的立柱。当你在里面，也就是厨房柜台所在的地方，打开窗户，你就跨过了一个门洞。尽管有一个大窗户，你可以向外看，但它更像是墙的一部分。关于你的具体问题，即室内外之间的关系，这也让我们了解到瓦列里奥是如何构思的。在这个意义上，它就像一个帐篷，因为在一个帐篷里，你不知觉中把一些布料推到一边，你就钻进去了。所以，这是一个有意识的决定，要么在里面要么在外面。

这些开口更多是光源和门洞。我不认为你会做的第一件事是坐在这些窗户后面向外看；这不是关乎于人在室内而感到一点身处室外。这绝对不是意图所在，而且无论如何，从大房间里你也看不到很远。你必须走到树木停止的边缘，那是你看到远方的地方。

还有一些东西，另一个矛盾，吸引我来到这个特殊的地方。这是附近唯一一块有这么多树的土地，巨大的橡树和枫树，有着春秋两季的所有季节性变化。这是相当戏剧性的。

在夏季，它受到树冠的保护，而在冬季则是相当开放和裸露的。四季之间，周围树木的密度变化也加剧了土地内部和外部生活的复杂性。当离开房子时，你不会立即暴露在外面。连续的是视线，从我的地块边缘，到阿巴拉契亚山脉和蓝岭山脉。

周围的阿巴拉契亚山脉在这所座住宅中扮演了什么角色？

欧洲人通常认为美国是一个年轻的国家，但如果你看一下这里的土地，你就能感觉到它到底有多古老。这是一片非常远古的土地——属于我们星球上最古老的土地之一。在地质学上，它比阿尔卑斯山或喜马拉雅山还要久远。而且你可以感觉到这一点。附近的河流，名为新河，是世界上第二古老的河流。当你来到这里，对周围的环境有一定的感知能力后，你就会察觉到这一点。你会意识到自己是在一片古老的土地上，这带给它一种特殊的感觉。这种景观总是让我想到宇宙，想到宇宙学，想到我们从何而来，又去向何方，等等。它是相当纪念性的，原始，甚至粗糙。完全不精细。它与我们对阿卡迪亚的印象截然相反——无忧的田园诗般的纯真，让人联想到地中海。这里的土地毫不乡野。特别是在冬天。冬天这片土地是最好的：荒芜，但又开放。这有其深度。它就像罗斯科（Rothko）或波洛克（Pollock）的画作。

它打开了一个想象的世界，暗示了各种可能性。这是这片土地的内在品质，而这座住宅在形式和物化上抓住了它。这种景观的存在也使我想象到古代美洲原住民部落的大篷车在这片土地上缓缓移动。或者当你听到他们在祭典上吟唱《Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya》，也被称为《逆时针环形舞》。

因此，正如我之前告诉你的那样，我可以想象，我可以把住宅装到车上，然后在下一个地方，五十英里远的路上把它卸下来，这和美国本土游牧部落的帐篷没有什么区别。我可以说，当你来参观时，你会觉得有点像一个巫觋。

你在Instagram上发表的插图展示了一座山的截面。它到底代表什么？

托马斯-杰斐逊写了《独立宣言》，我认为这是过去500年，所有人中写的最重要的公告，他曾在弗吉尼亚州居住，并发现了一些美国原住民的埋葬地。他还拥有附近的一些土地。

在美国东部地区，古代建筑的唯一遗迹是这些人工土丘。在这里生活了不知道多少万年的古代部落没有留下其他东西。我把它贴出来是因为这幅插图在某种程度上概括了交织在这所房子里的很多灵感。然而，这并不关乎于要模仿什么，不关乎于过去，也不关乎于故事的讲述。它不关乎于历史或什么的。如果你想在其中读出一些东西，那更多地是完全相反的事物：超越历史和时间的事物。它更多地是关于永恒和生活在一个没有时间的地方。没有测量，某种广袤的境界，自由。有时，我想，一个熟悉这片土地的弗吉尼亚人能够写出让个人获得自由的文字，这也许不是偶然的。我想我能住在一个非常自由的建筑里。

2021年3月6日

M. Breitschmid

Markus Breitschmid (*1966) is an American-Swiss architecture theoretician and an author on architecture. His books focus on contemporary architecture and philosophical aesthetics. His most highly regarded books are Der bauende Geist. Friedrich Nietzsche und die Architektur(2001), The Significance of the Idea. The Architecture of Valerio Olgiati (2008), and Non-Referential Architecture (2018).

M. Breitschmid

Markus Breitschmid (*1966) is an American-Swiss architecture theoretician and an author on architecture. His books focus on contemporary architecture and philosophical aesthetics. His most highly regarded books are Der bauende Geist. Friedrich Nietzsche und die Architektur(2001), The Significance of the Idea. The Architecture of Valerio Olgiati (2008), and Non-Referential Architecture (2018).

M. Breitschmid

Markus Breitschmid (*1966) is an American-Swiss architecture theoretician and an author on architecture. His books focus on contemporary architecture and philosophical aesthetics. His most highly regarded books are Der bauende Geist. Friedrich Nietzsche und die Architektur(2001), The Significance of the Idea. The Architecture of Valerio Olgiati (2008), and Non-Referential Architecture (2018).