Designed in 1968 by Cincinnati modernist Carl Strauss, the existing residence was a bold series of alternating shed-roofed and flat-roofed masonry masses forming a rhythmic, domestically-scaled linear plan. Sometime after 1986, the previous owners added two inappropriate and awkwardly proportioned “bookends”, obscuring the dwelling’s simple logic and basic integrity. For economy and useful purpose, we adopted a strategy of selective demolition and subsequent restructuring of the volumes, allowing the prevailing spatial logic to re-emerge. Carrying the limits of the expression forward, new detailing – re-enacting the question of the suitability of forms to habits – opens ordinary domestic events to view.

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Photography: Corson Hirschfeld