Tolman's Hill House

RESEARCH BACKGROUND The Tolman's Hill House is the second in a series of four houses in which the design research investigates the role of an architectural surface, a carefully orchestrated promenade that ascends from the city to Tolman's Hill. It addresses a series of disjunctive relationships along the way, such as the architectural object versus suburban context, or inside/outside. The surface acts as an architectural device and prompts re-thinking of such questions. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION In this project by Richard Blythe, the architectural surface is understood in experiential, rather than material, terms in relation to the tension created between the exterior and interior. This is achieved by creating a blunt exterior and a rich interior. From within, a relationship is revealed between the architecture as an object and the place in which it is located. This experiential re-positioning creates a new exterior, one that is framed by an internal experience. The work can therefore be understood as an architectural exploration of similar contemporary cultural enquiries such as Slavoj Zizek's exploration of the relation of objects and subjects. It builds on a rich history of architectural enquiry into issues of interior and exteriority, surface, phenomenology and questions of place. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE Zizek has acknowledged the contribution of Terroir's work in a keynote national conference presentation. This exploration of the architectural surface has been carefully documented in local, national and international peer review publications, including journal articles, book chapters, two research Masters theses and a Doctorate of Philosophy thesis for which the Tolman's Hill House was a key project.