Cross House
High above the Linth plain, Cross House is built into the hillside in a north-south orientation. The cross-shaped floor plan combines the strong, natural contrasts of the site in one geometry and is created by superimposing the contour line with the dip line.
The symbolism of the cross, to unite the human being in the horizontal with heaven and earth in the vertical, is referenced throughout the building. From the very first design ideas, Cross House was intended to anchor its resident within the transition between earth and sky and make this transition tangible. The house breaks down the boundary between light and dark, fragility and strength, protection and exposure, storm and calm, clear air and thick fog.
Cross House serves artists as a retreat and place to work. A corridor runs between the internal insulated wooden structure and the exterior concrete shell that protects the house against the hill. The corridor changes along the outline of the cross from a balcony to a terrace and a tunnel that leads through the hill. Through open skylights in the corridor leaves, snow, rain and sunlight fall from the roof all the way down to the ground floor. The central anchor point of the house is the spiral staircase that leads from the workshop on the ground floor up to the roof terrace and the access to the forest. The bedroom, kitchen, living room and the second atelier space are situated on the first floor within the four arms of the cross.
The artist Marie Schumann was commissioned to design the sun curtains for the house. She created a textile facade that can be draped horizontally or vertically and can be opened or closed as needed. The soft materiality, always in slight movement from the air currents, creates a sensual balance to the rigid building.
