Rachofsky House
Completed in 1996, the Rachofsky House revisits questions of architectural scale and philosophy that have been central to our firm's practice for three decades: the importance of procession from exterior to interior, and from formal to intimate domain; the role of natural light in defining living spaces; the relationship between manmade structure and its natural surroundings; and the correlation between private dwelling and community. Because this residence has been designed for an individual, we were able to explore in it certain materials and design elements that might otherwise have been impractical for a family that has many different priorities, traffic patterns and schedules. In other words, the Rachofsky House is an ideal – an investigation into all of the possibilities of house as a building type without many of the usual compromises. I like to think that the Rachofsky House is a kind of elegant case study, an exercise that encourages us to reflect upon what our notions of house and home encompass.