Snake House Theory

The designs for the Snake House have evolved a number of times during my explorations of this character. I began with a character who was extremely distrusting and anxious about the city that he lives in. He has fond childhood memories of the city but believes it has changed and degraded into a place almost unfit for human habitation.

He has managed to raise a small family in this city but is very protective (overprotective?) of his children and rarly allows them to leave.

In stark contrast to this he has a great love for his 'other children'. The 6 snakes he keeps within his home. He ffels a strong connection to them and treats them as if they were his own children. He connects with their sense of responsibility and instinct to protect their young and he sees alot of his own personality trates in them.

I began designing his home around his sense of distrust of the city. I began designing a home within a home, rather a space where his family could feel 'safe' and 'protected' from he outside world. I arranged the home around a central courtyard and attempted to screen off the street with garden walls and I stategically placed the windows at points that allowed views out but restricted the views in.

The interiors were designed with a view to give a vary 'family friendly' feel with large but comfortable areas to sit and interact.

I designed with the intention of incorporating snake elements and references that I believed would appeal to a man who was so fond of them. I intend to clad a large portion of the exterior of the main living areas with a copper sheeting attached in small roof tile size sheets. These would discolor and change over time and would remind the owner of the way his snakes change and discard their used skins. And the patterning of the copper 'tiles' would be reminiscant of the scaly skins left behind.

The split ramped entry was designed to represent the opening jaws of the anaconda (one of the owners personal favorites). The building 'opens' as if to receive visitors and then closed behind them after they enter. The long curved entry ramp not oly provides and extra element of 'protection' from the street below but it also would make the owner smile just a little when it reminds him of the cobras tongue flicking out of its mouth testing the air for threats, or possibly for its next meal.