HIDDEN  HOUSE / HILL HOUSE, Spain (2009-2011)
The clients – a sculptor and his wife - found a phenomenally steep and beautiful piece of land in Formentor, on the northern tip of the island of Mallorca. The purchase included planning permission for a house. The excavation for this house carved a large quarry-like void into the hill, radically altering the inherent qualities of the steep mountain site. The client abandoned the permitted scheme. Although the quarry was environmentally.
Problematic its tall rock face struck all of us as stunning. A radical response was required. Instead of butting the new building against the exposed rock face as the mandated plans suggested, a freestanding volume was created, spiraling down from the upper point of arrival and leaving the quarry wall rock face completely exposed. This presence visually defines the building‘s interior. Strands of green make up a final layer, tying the structure back to the landscape along the profile of the original topography. This shading system will act as a blurring device. Over time the building will disappear and the old mountain will seem to reemerge.

FAR frohn&rojas + Skene Catling de la Pena
project team: Marc Frohn, Charlotte Skene Catling, Mario Rojas Toledo, Jaime de la Peña, Max Koch, Oliver Claussen, Roo Humpherson, Isabell Chua, Ruta Jakštaite, Lukas Mersch, Massimo Sean Pepe, Ulrike Stier, Cecilia Susca, Samuel Chisholm, David Wischniewski, Steven Vidovic, Katharina Laekamp
consultants: Price & Myers, downie consulting engineers, LF91