The Rotating Radius House
The Rotating Radius House is an experimental interactive architecture project designed to provide a special weekend retreat place for two people living in New Mexico.
At the center is a twenty-foot diameter glass and steel cylindrical space formed by twelve perimeter sliding glass doors, and by twelve segments of a sloped glass and steel roof. Each of the sliding glass doors is fitted with interior privacy shades and screens. This space contains a large centrally located light, a bed, chairs, tables, a food preparation pod, and a bath/toilet pod, all mounted on wheels. The entire house is powered by a large solar panel mounted on the top of the structure, and by auxiliary propane gas, stored nearby in steel tanks. Rainwater is collected off of the roof and purified for use in the house, and stored in an outside reservoir.
Four large slotted painted steel curved panels (mounted on wheels) are connected to a center mast, mounted to the top of the cylindrical center glass structure. Each of these panels is nested inside of each other so they can be rotated around the center glass structure on the mast, in any direction, and into many different configurations. In this way, the center glass structure can be completely surrounded by the curved panels, and/or exposed to whatever degree is required to satisfy the desires of the occupants of the house. This interaction allows the occupants to fine-tune the ways in which they experience the atmosphere of the center glass structure not only in terms of the quality of light and heat, but also in the ways in which they view the surrounding landscape.
In addition, the reconfigurable curved panels can form many different kinds of transitional spaces between the center glass structure, and the inside surfaces of the curved panels. All of the curved panels can be moved into different configurations simply by pushing them around the center glass structure on steel tracks. When a desired configuration is obtained, each of the curved panels can be locked into position onto the tracks. The tracks and the entire house is secured to a large circular shaped wooden deck.
The Rotating Radius House is one in a series of Michael Jantzen’s projects that explore new and exciting ways in which to create more interactive and responsive forms of architecture that blur the lines between art, architecture, technology, and sustainable design.
Status: Unbuilt
