The work of minimalist architect John Pawson is the latest edition to Italian product and design company Salvatori's, The Village project, a collection of miniature sculptures created by a cohort of international designers. 

Pawson, with House of Stone, is the fifth contributor to the project, which includes work by Rodolfo Dordoni, Patricia Urquiola, Yabu Pushelberg, and Kengo Kuma. The Village tasks its participants to create miniatures in natural stone that express their interpretation of the concept of home. The project was inspired during the 2020 lockdown and Salvatori CEO, Gabriele Salvatori’s reflections on the importance of home. 

For House of Stone, a single block of Pietra d’Avola limestone is carved and cut to create slits that allow light to permeate its newly formed apertures. 

“For my contribution to The Village I wanted to create a volume that is both absolutely simple and deeply evocative,” said Pawson. “House of Stone is an archetypal form in miniature, stripped of every extraneous detail. Over the past year, many of us have spent unusual amounts of time at home. The object I have made is an expression of the iconography of home taught to us in childhood — or at least one version of it” 

According to Salvatori, the design of House of Stone also pays homage to the first project Pawson and Salvatori worked on together at the 2010 Milan Design Week called The House of Stone. 

“...the full-size installation challenged perceptions of stone’s inherent characteristics in a daring, innovative key and fascinated every architecture and design aficionado who saw it,” as read in Salvatori’s release. 

House of Stone has a similar effect, however, rather than a large installation, it can modestly sit on one's coffee table.