Project Synopsis
The BANQUETING HOUSE, is situated on the flat open landscape of the upper Mississippi Delta near Poverty Point, a small town in rural north Louisiana and archeological site of the oldest agrarian civilization in North America.
The program calls for the design of a guest residence in which a host couple can: (1) nurture and cultivate the amenities this landscape has to offer and; (2) provide a setting where host and guests can enjoy the products of agrarian labor and serve gourmet meals. To this end the BANQUETING HOUSE and its setting provide a variety of gardens, a bowling green for lawn games, a banquet room, sleeping facilities, a sauna, and communal spaces. The house is partially sustained by features which are suited to the regional climate. Solar panels accommodate southern sunlight by providing sufficient energy which pumps water through a drip/cooling system, waters the herb garden, and powers ventilating fans on opposite ends of the house. Air drawn through the system is cooled by the water and naturally scented by the herbs.
The notion of paradise is implicit in the archetype of the walled garden. Whether conscious or unconscious, it is universal to western culture. As such, it is the thematic point of departure for the design of an agrarian house for all guests—the BANQUETING HOUSE. The house is central to the garden landscape in which it is situated. It was conceived in section and is organized into three principal domains; (1) the banquet room (second level overlooking the garden) serves as a ritual setting where host and guests actively celebrate a variety of garden delights; (2) the withdrawing room (ground level) where gratified guests withdraw and settle into a somnolent afternoon or evening and; (3) the vertical herb garden, analogous to the sacred tree of paradise, rises through the central structure of the house. From here, the host and guests can pick spices for the ensuing meal. The herb garden creates an obvious and distinct separation between the banquet room on the second level and the withdrawing room on the ground level. To the satiated guest withdrawing from a beneficent meal, this polarity suggests an ironic counterpoint to a banquet in paradise—over indulgence; even paradise can at times be malevolent. In this regard, the BANQUETING HOUSE becomes a critique of paradise itself. Separate from the main house is finally (complete with telescope) the outhouse; the last respite for the truly indulgent guest. Here one can sit, contemplate the stars, vent frustration, and speculate utopia.
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