This is a house that both grows out of the landscape and is open to the landscape. Its transparency creates a sense of spaciousness and connection to the land, providing soothing, varied, long views of nature from all public and private rooms. Although we have not always used the formal term “sustainability”, our firm’s approach from its inception has been to design projects with an economy of means. This translates into building buildings that conserve energy. As early as 2000, we built this forward-thinking, high-performance house in which we successfully installed systems such as radiant heat, multi-zoned air conditioning, low-energy glazing and low VOC plaster interior finishes that are at the core of today’s green LEED thinking. This house is inextricably tied to the landscape, emerging from the ledge upon which it is built. Constructed on a wooded lot, it straddles the northernmost part of the site like a line in the earth, delineating the spare cultivated land to the north from the heavily wooded forest to the south. In order to merge with the land, the first floor was partially buried below grade creating a lower profile for the entire structure, while simultaneously conserving energy from the natural insulation of the earth. Pyramids of boulders blasted to create the foundation were situated to create space-defining markers in the terrain and establishing a memory bank of the displacement of the earth beneath the house.

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Louise Braverman

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Early Sustainable House

Westchester County, NY, United States

Other Projects by Louise Braverman Architect

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2021 Venice Biennale: Open the Box

2016 Venice Biennale: Active Voice

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Early Sustainable House

Westchester County, NY, United States

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team

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Early Sustainable House

Westchester County, NY, United States

Other Projects by Louise Braverman Architect

2023 Venice Biennale: Layers

2021 Venice Biennale: Open the Box

2016 Venice Biennale: Active Voice

2018 Venice Biennale: Hyperloop Suburb

Kigutu Staff Housing

Pre-Fab Learning Landscape

Staten Island Community Charter School Master Plan

2014 Venice Biennale: Architectural Essence

NYC Apartment Renovation

Pavel Zoubok Gallery

Master Plan for a Sustainable Kigutu

2012 Venice Biennale: Kigutu in Formation

Maps + Movies: Grand Central Terminal

Poetic Light: Grand Central Terminal

House at Ninevah Beach

Joe's Salon + Spa

Brooklyn Public Library Highlawn Branch

Chelsea Court Affordable Housing

Derfner Judaica Museum

Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso

Early Sustainable House

Westchester County, NY, United States

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team