brooklyn NEW YORK
Pratt GAUD
Critic: Kutan AYATA

A house is typically seen as an icon of domesticity, with its most recognizable feature being the pitched roof, yet it is the part that is typically uninhabitable. Subverting this idea, the tower reaches its form through taking this common element and exaggerating its scale to where residents now inhabit the roof. This project brings the familiar roof profile into the realm of the strange by deploying games of scale, yet retains its familiarity through its materiality. The Roof Haus is covered in standard sized shingles, and the lower half retail space is ribbed concrete.
The lower section of the Roof Haus accommodates a mixed use commercial and retail space that is accessible to the public through three entrances that are cut away from the form that are motivated by the site. Residential access is located on the sides through hallways that lead straight to the elevators. Three smaller elevator cores access the lower residential units. Bridges from the cores are located at every three levels and provide circulation through the duplex unit housing above and below. One elevator core allows access to the top of the complex which also reaches the “attic” space that is used as a leisure viewing deck to the sky above. This opening also lets natural light to flow into the central atrium. The atrium is defined by scallops to provide points of view from each unit through small fixated apertures that are punctured through the tiling material for privacy. From below, looking up, the feeling of being engorged into a soft central space in the building is intensified by these scallops. Other sources of light are introduced into the atrium by openings from the exterior wall that flow into the central space marked by amenities and elevator access. The facades are articulated with undulating dormers that pull in and out of the rooms in various scales, nesting together to create their own language. Larger windows mark the elevator access throughout the building to allow more light to enter into circulation areas. These dormers flow down into the retail facade and engage the public space with windows that light up the retail spaces.