XYZ House

Majestically looming over the Swiss Alps reveals a cruciform, cantilevered home that recalls a time when the idea of a “material world” still sounds surreal. Known as the XYZ House, its unique name is inspired by its equally unique assemblage – one that resembles the Cartesian coordinates of X, Y, and Z.

Designed by US-based studio Axis Mundi, the monumental design of the XYZ House seeks to commemorate the great romantic artists of Germany, including poet Heinrich Heine and painter Caspar David Friedrich, whose works highlighted the contrasts between the daily world and a creative genius’ eclectic, supernatural, and sometimes, irrational projections. It celebrates the human sentiment of displacement and wonder.

Aside from its notable form, the beauty of the XYZ House lies from its supreme muteness of Corten steel, which eventually envisions the project as a poetic product of the future – one that celebrates the art of contemplation and eternity along the peaceful horizon of the Swiss Alps.

Inside, residents are welcomed by a tunnel-bridge that serves as the entryway, leading to a tower that accommodates all forms of vertical circulation including a staircase and an elevator. Finally, the main habitation space weightlessly suspended atop a valley completes the composition of this strikingly unique volume.

A successful reinterpretation of the essentiality of nature that resulted in a surprising architectural work, the XYZ House injected a new meaning into the existing archetypes of reality – mimicking the omnipresent Cartesian plane combined with the simplicity of linear forms to create a beautifully privileged dwelling that confines itself between the Earth and the sky.