Lawson-Westen House (Architecture in Detail)

by James Steele (Author)

The Lawson-Westen House was designed for a couple who cook together and entertain frequently. The vertical funnel of space above the food preparation area that results, is a dominant form in the building's composition and one of the major ordering devices in the building's circulation system. It is also an extraordinarily complex geometric feat, relying on shifting grids and subtle subdivisions, revealing a geometrically-based order of Moss' own devising. Incomprehensible at a simple glance, the interior of the Lawson-Western House is exhilarating and mentally exhausting at the same time.