The Flake House: Cool Log Cabin for the Radical Nomads
Written by Jennifer Heyns
Perhaps because this exhibition house was designed as a mistake, purposefully looking like a structure that has either been broken in half accidentally or forgotten about in mid-assembly, this nomadic cabin has been dubbed the Flake House.
Designed by French Olgga Architects, the Flake House resembles a log cabin but with some very big differences. For one (and by far the most noticeable), the house is in two separate sections, like a tree branch that has fallen to the ground and broken in half upon impact.
Another variation is the soft smoothness of the interior wood. While many log cabin interiors are a flattened version of the exterior logs – somewhat rough, wide-planked and mortared – the Flake’s interior is made of narrow, very smooth wooden planks.
The house was designed specifically for CAUE 72’s competition, “Petites Machines à Habiter” (roughly translated to “Little Living Machines”), in 2006 and went on tour, stopping at several locations where visitors were welcome to check it out for the Festival Estuaire 2009.
Its nomadic function allows the Flake House to be emptied out, picked up and transported anywhere. For the transient individual, it’s the perfect answer to relocating at a moment’s notice as frequently as needed.
The house has a unique appearance that changes drastically as you move around it. At one side, it looks like a split-in-two log cabin. From another it simply looks like two stacks of logs awaiting transport or purpose. Farther around the exterior, it gives the impression of a hollow chamber interrupted just briefly by a break in the middle, allowing a bit of nature into the continuing experience.
Following the home’s brief tour, the Flake House was auctioned off to a new owner. No word yet on how nomadic that person plans on being, or how they intend to set up their new two-piece log cabin. Let us know if you hear anything!
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