Tian Shan Mountain House

Project Details

Project Description

The site for this project is a steep mountainside with poor soil and severe seismic conditions. To build here required that the entire site be stabilized. The client wanted to build a home to embrace a healthy lifestyle and engage extensively with the outdoors. Rooted in a nomadic past, Kazak domestic architecture has long been shaped by the landscape. This house explores how its rugged landscape can inspire contemporary Kazak habitation and lifestyle.

Creating a structural negotiation with the land, a cascade of terraces and retaining walls step down the slope to stabilize the hillside and provide the framework for the building. These stepped terrace walls unite the building with its site and merge the interior spaces with the exterior. The result is a taming of the rugged landscape into formal precincts with earthworks that mirror the precision of the house architecture. Blurring the distinction between inside and out, every room is tied to long views and contiguous outdoor space.

The project design called for construction techniques that were new to Kazakhstan. The team strategy combined outside experts with local suppliers and labor. This blending of talents introduced new techniques and knowledge to the Kazak construction industry. Especially successful was the introduction of architectural concrete in a project that would become the first exposed structural application in Almaty.