Michelle Xue

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A HOUSE THAT WE LIVE WITH Miao (Michelle) Xue_ 387344 studio parallel fields

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We usually think of a house as something that we live in. But it is really much more than just an envelope over us. With a loving and humble attitude, this project proposes a whole new perception of a house as something that we live with.

In such a materialized world, many things are losing meanings to us. It almost seems that we are starting to get more and more detached from things we should value the most. Houses for example, nowadays they are often referred as real estate, mere products. But a house is something we cannot live without, it is there for us all the time and it shares all your memories. A house is such an important part of your life, why shouldn’t we love it as how we love our families.

Therefore, this design aims to challenge the conventional way of seeing a house by evoking love. And through the lens of love, a house is no longer a dead object but a living organism, a family member. Given a lifespan, this house grows with the family, tells a story and eventually perishes.

Since love is such a broad theme, this house plants aspects of it. With a loving attitude at the background, permeation of love in its design, purity of love in its form and honesty of love in its material. And to a extend, it nurtures a loving mind to love everything else we live with.

To spread love even further, the house is placed on a farmland in Marysville. Having to take care of a land, plants and livestocks enhances a loving relationship between us and Mother Nature which can be educational for younger

generations.

As we all know, Marysville is a beautiful town that survived a horrible bushfire in 2009. Now trees start sprouting again and people are all re-building their houses, the whole land is teemed with vitality. It is perfect for a family to root and begin a new life with their new house. Ideally, construction of this house will be carried out by the family themselves using natural materials such as straws, logs, tree barks. By doing that, a house becomes a fun DIY project and it is much more affordable for people from middle-class. Layers can be added to accomodate various life changes.

1. Landscape 2. First generation building the house 3. 60 years later 4. Site plan 1:1000 5. The diagram of stages of growth 6. By 1955 floor plan 1:200 7. 9 years later floor plan 1:200 8. 19 years later floor plan 1:200 9. 25 years later floor plan 1:100 10. perspective section 1:100

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