Form games in Kuwait
This house, located in the residential district of Abdulla al-Salem, in Kuwait, was intended to be private and unique, even iconic. Hence the concept, created by the AGi Architects group, of a rock-shaped house, open on itself but closed to the world.
Placed on a street corner, in one of Kuwait’s upscale suburbs, a funny origami, made of reinforced concrete, sparkles in the sun. It is spread over 1,300 m2, completely enclosed by neighboring, more traditional homes. Its totemic value, a rock clad in white, as if it had migrated from the nearby desert, is the idea of AGi Architects. A home that blends into its environment while standing out from the crowd. The structure, by sealing on itself from the outside, pivots on its frame, opening more and more to its center, which houses a vast courtyard, around which the living spaces are articulated. Respecting the principles of usual Muslim architecture, its design rejects hallways for a more convivial approach. So each room connects to the others as it does to the middle hearth, by several routes. The areas of each room are smaller than local standards, but gain in flexibility. Here, the raison d’être of a surface is transformed according to the peculiarities of the hour, rather than the usual rigidity that delimits the rooms of a dwelling. Beyond this blooming interior, the villa only shows itself to its surroundings through limited transparency. Breakthroughs on the avenue are rare and serve to prevent unwanted views and excess sun rather than projecting themselves into it!
