A case study of Peter Eisenmen's House X. Included aspects are plans, sections, elevations, drawings as well as the 3D model for better understanding.

1. FACULTYOFARCHITECTUREANDPLANNING
Dr.A.P.J.AbdulKalamTechnicalUniversity,Lucknow
HOUSE X
BY-
LAKSHYA GUPTA
B.Arch 2nd Yr. 4th Sem Session 2019-20
(A CASE
STUDY)

2. CONTENTS
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences
INTRODUCTION
 Architect: Peter Eisenman
 Year: 1975
 Location: Bloomfield hills, Michigan
 Location Type: Semi urban
 Climate: Humid Continental
 Style: Deconstructivism
 Site: 8000 sq. ft.
 Original Use: Single family residential
This building gives a new design approach of
fragmentation by using non vertebrate
structure having no centrality and hearth.
Legacy Of The Building/ Importance
Of The Building:
Fig. 1. A model of the house with
contours

3. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
The concept of house X is to design a non vertebrate structure having no
centrality and integrate the terrain of site into the residence itself. The
specific configurations of House X can be understood initially as the
juxtaposition of four squares.
Concept Of The Building
The design used the slope in such a way
that the natural landscape ran through the
house, splitting it into four quadrants to
reduce the scale. The specific
configurations of House X can be
understood initially as the juxtaposition of
four squares. This configuration is only an
initial analogue, a heuristic device used to
approach a more complex sign condition,
which in itself is only a possible
approximation of the reality it signifies.
Good About Building:
Bad About Building
The building is having no access to the terrace.
Fig. 2. An isometric of the modular
house.
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

4. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Fig. 3. Basic sketch of the building
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

5. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Landform
• The landform is terranean and
residence massing is done in
accordance to contour.
• This helps in utilization of contour in
design.
• Slope
• It gives rise to the 4 divisions of
residence in accordance to the
topography.
• This helps in maintaining the natural
flow thus incorporating wind and
water flow.
Topography
• Massing are on different levels.
• This provides more enclosed spaces.
Open to Built
Fig. 4. Topography of the structure
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

6. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
• w.r.t South
• Orientation of building in accordance
to slope towards south and the blocks
face south direction
• Natural light and heat gains from the
south side for maximum
Orientation
Urban Context
Vegetation
Waterbody
• Manmade.
• Present
• Built in city offshore
Fig. 5. The building’s orientation
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

7. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
• Interrelation of 4 cuboids at 2
levels to incorporate terrain.
• This helps in conception of
idea of non vertebrate
structure.
3D Form
Fig. 6. 3D model of the house
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

8. CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
• The entrance of the residence
is multiple but allow outsider
from one direction only as seen
in site plan.
• Provides more porosity to
design also try to connect with
the landforms from different
levels
Entrance
Fig. 7. The entrance of the house
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

9. CONTENTS
SITE PLAN
Fig. 8. Site Plan
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

10. CONTENTS • The plan seems to be a
combination of linear and
grid as per the contour.
• Invertebrate structure
having no central space,
gives design a new
approach against
modernist architecture
style.
Fig. 9. Ground Floor Plan
PLAN
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

11. CONTENTS
Fig. 10. First Floor Plan
PLAN
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

12. CONTENTS
Fig. 11. Second Floor Plan
PLAN
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

13. CONTENTS
PLAN
• Access to sun
inside residence
is given through
roof as well.
Fig. 12. Terrace Plan
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

14. CONTENTS
Fig. 13. Section of the building
SECTION
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

15. CONTENTS
SECTION
Fig. 14. Section of the building
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

16. CONTENTS
Fig. 15. West Elevation of the building
ELEVATION
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

17. CONTENTS
Fig. 16. North Elevation of the building
ELEVATION
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

18. CONTENTS
Fig. 17. East Elevation of the building
ELEVATION
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

19. CONTENTS
ELEVATION
Fig. 18. South Elevation of the building
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

20. CONTENTS
DRAWINGS
Fig. 19. North Elevation of the building
Fig. 20. West Elevation of the building
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

21. CONTENTS
DRAWINGS
Fig. 21. Top view of the house
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

22. CONTENTS
MODEL
Fig. 22 & 23. The model depicting contours at the site.
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

23. CONTENTS
MODEL
Fig. 24. The model of the building.
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

24. CONTENTS
MODEL
Fig. 25. Axonometric model (as viewed from North-East corner).
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences

25. CONTENTS
INFERENCES
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences
 Most houses are conceptually vertebrate. That is, in addition to their literal,
necessary condition of structure they are metaphorically vertebrate. They have
a center, usually a hearth or a stair; their roofs pitch from the center, and their
construction exhibits a concern for an overall centrality. The center expresses
both the functional core and conceptual unity of the house.
 In House X, the center is nothing. The vertebrate house is also mimetic; it
mirrors man’s upright, axial condition. In an attempt to produce a conceptual
distance between man and object, House X is nonvertebrate; to this extent, it is
nonmimetic.
 There are no exposed linear elements – columns or beams. These are covered
by solid vertical and horizontal surfaces, and further, two of the major
horizontal living surfaces are void.
 This is a distortion of the Modern Movement’s preferred section – two solid
horizontal planes – as well as of the house’s traditional mimesis of anthro man,
who stands on a solid horizontal surface and “dominates” the landscape. The
specific configurations of House X can be understood initially as the
juxtaposition of four squares.

26. CONTENTS
INFERENCES
 This configuration is only an initial analogue, a heuristic device used to
approach a more complex sign condition, which in itself is only a possible
approximation of the reality it signifies.
 In fact, the final configuration is a cumulative attempt to dissolve its own
seeming connection with any initial analogue. In other words, the final plan is
only a series of traces that refer, in a sense, forward to a more complex and
incomplete structure rather than backward to a unitary simple, and stable
structure. It thus becomes a kind of pre-distillation of a more complex “future”
condition.
 The 8,000-square-foot private residence was designed for a large, wooded,
sloping site, adjacent to a country club and surrounded by a swimming pool,
tennis court and summer house. The design used the slope in such a way that
the natural landscape ran through the house, splitting it into four quadrants to
reduce the scale.
• Introduction
• Site Plan
• Plan
• Section
• Elevation
• Drawings
• Model
• Inferences