Floating Camera Obscura Box House
Unbuilt Buildings
Firm: Froelich Kim Architecture
Location: Chicago
This two story addition opens up to the relative privacy of the back yard on this wider than normal Chicago lot. Through the use of cedar siding and a modern architectural language, the addition is a sculptural object distinctly different from the original building. The resulting contrast creates a powerful and complementary dialogue between old and new, wood and masonry, modern and vernacular. The three foot cantilever around the entirety of the new structure creates a visually floating effect which heightens the effect of that which is “addition” as an autonomous object.
Punched openings in the south facade playfully frame views of the neighboring ornate and substantial church. These smaller punched openings paired with the primary opening facing the rear yard which itself frames the main and most dramatic view, can be compared to a camera obscura whose purpose is to “project the entire outside world into a dark “box”.
