Hyperbole House

The hyperbole house is an invitation, a challenge, and an inspiration. Its exaggerated form invites critical consideration of architecture as aesthetic form, questioning what is fit-for-purpose, and asking how can building design navigate the nexus between the human condition and our context, physically and spiritually. The project challenges us to step back, take a moment to think differently about the architecture of the ‘house’ – what this means, and what the goal of architecture is. We are tending toward a point in architecture where we can manifest what we imagine, this raises the question of what should be manifested in the time we have. It reminds us of the power and responsibility of architecture to inspire conversation, generate ideas, bring wonder and joy, and connect humans with each other and their environment. Sitting on a rugged and isolated cliff-top site overlooking rough seas, the house grows from, and is inspired by, the land and its surrounds. The site itself is alive with hyperbole – from the scale and grandeur of te maunga Mataka (the Matanga Mountain in te re Māori*) to the significant waves crashing into the lofty mountain cliffs. Mataka is recognised for its historical and archaeological significance; across the Mataka Station, nearly 400 archaeological sites and the Oihi and Rangihoua bays have been preserved. Te maunga Mataka is said to have a striking mirror-like effect when the sun shines on the northern tip of the peninsula. The overall approach to design draws from the Māori Te Aranga design principle Mauri Tū where environmental health is protected and maintained (e.g., through water, energy, and material resource conservation, remediation and re-use). The house is anchored to, and grows from the site, a woven exoskeleton shell imbues a sense of shelter and protection from the elements. Thousands of individual scales symbolise, and provide, a living woven cloak for the house, through movement in response to predominate weather and sun patterns, and energy generation via integrated photovoltaic cells. Conversely the interiors blossom with a soft, warm materiality bringing comfort and calm. Certain materials are borrowed from the context, including hewn stone, timbers, wool, and woven flora. The building arouses the sense of reaching for infinity, mirroring the steep cliffs on which it sits. From eye-level, as the building reaches its apex the woven scales angle toward a minimal cross section, creating the illusion of merging with the sky. Much like the mirror like effect of te maunga Mataka, the house skin reflects its context - the sky from the horizon line up, and the earth from the horizon line down; in effect merging the house with the land, the water, the sky, and the spirit. Internally this evocation is maintained through the infinity gate, a living space which overlooks the epic horizon line of the pacific ocean, the foreground mirrors this line with the cliff edge and infinity pool. Above, the woven hyperbola ceilings disappear behind their own curvature removing the limitations of envelope and threshold.