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Matryoshka House was designed by David James Architects. The house is located in Bethesda, Maryland. The main feature of the house is the suspended meditation chamber which acts as the physical as well as spiritual center of the house. Here is some description from the architects, “This small house is organized as a series of volumes nested one inside another.
At the core, a suspended meditation chamber acts as the physical and spiritual center of the project. The internal energy of the meditation chamber is encapsulated within an open glowing frame. An alternating tread stair engages the participant to deliberately ascend the threshold to the meditation chamber.
The meditation chamber is surrounded by a wooden container which encases the living areas of the house. This shell is in turn cradled by stucco walls serving as a protective layer and grounding the house to the earth. The in-between spaces of the nested volumes are strategically sliced to allow the sun to protect lines of light within. By separating the three shells, the interstitial spaces allow light to become an architectural material that activates the interior.”
