Brabant Dreaming

In the conventional house the division of functions results in a series of spaces each used for a different purpose. Consequently, many spaces remain unused for large parts of the day. Yet in the traditional Brabant farmhouse, where living space was scarce, occupants slept in an alcove or stede (cf. old English suffix 'stead'). Reintroduction of the 'stead' reduces living functions to alcoves in which space an furniture become one. Different 'steads' are positioned off a single space, which is then claimed, as it were by those 'steads' in use at any given time. Erected around this 'homestead' is a glazed dome similar to the original envelop of the house in terms of form. The resulting configuration is a formal inner zone and informal outer zone. This outhouse - the cavity space - creates a condition between which is a cross between inside and outside, between house and garden. A condition on the edge of field and blacktop, where red and green converge and where resident and gardener are the same person.