White House — Astolfo Maria Cicerano

Year: 2014
Location: International Garden Festival, Jardine de Mètis, Canada
Role: Lead Designer & Concept Development
Type: Public Installation / Pavillion
Status: Unbuilt

"White Houses" is a series of wireframe interventions designed as intimate sanctuaries—modern interpretations of the domus—integrated into the natural environment. The project consists of three structures connected by a path, each serving as a vessel for foundational human experiences: Play, Sign, and Sound.

The architecture does not seek to enclose; instead, it acts as a porous filter that allows the forest to flow through the living space. In the first house, visitors are invited to engage in games of strategy; the second, the "House of the Sign," returns to ancestral origins, allowing guests to leave chalk marks on slate walls. The journey concludes in the third house, where the forest is filled with the notes of a piano, merging the architectural frame with the surrounding soundscape.

Site Plan & Spatial Organization

The layout plan (Scale 1:100) defines a precise path that winds through the forest, connecting the three structures in a narrative sequence. The positioning follows a North-South axis, strategically placing the houses between trembling aspens and poplars to maximize the interplay of light and shadow.

This organic arrangement ensures that each "house" remains a secluded sanctuary while staying part of a larger, articulated whole. The trail acts as the architectural spine of the project, guiding the visitor from the House of Play to the House of the Sign, and finally to the House of Sound.