omer arbel crafts lily pad-shaped columns for family home in canada

Omer Arbel builds 75.9 family home in Canada

Canada-based artist and designer Omer Arbel recently completed 75.9, a family home situated on a hayfield in the Canadian Pacific Northwest, marking his first work in large-scale architectural design. Before officially taking on the project, Arbel began experimenting with a method of pouring concrete into a fabric stretched between lightweight plywood ribs, resulting in the creation of large lily pad-shaped columns. The success of this experimental column led the clients to commission Arbel to design the entire home around this innovative technique. The finished structure unfolds as an extension of nature, where the pathways connecting the volumes are covered by lush grass, integrating the house into a green oasis. Curved walls craft openings, allowing access to the interior spaces and facilitating movement across the volumes.

all images by Fahim Kassam courtesy of Bocci

A Contemporary Dwelling Embraced by Natur

According to the design team, the fabric-formed columns are reminiscent of archaeological ruins within the landscape, serving as focal points around which the contemporary house is constructed. The living areas consist of four double-height volumes made of glass and cedar wood. Magnolia trees are planted atop the columns’ hollows on the roof. Additionally, the surrounding hay field has been elevated to cloak the house’s connecting pathways, seamlessly blending the architecture with the natural landscape. Regarding the interior, Omer Arbel has crafted a narrative of domestic life, where each column’s height and position define distinct areas and create varied experiences within the house. The living room, dining space, and kitchen are situated under one of these columns, providing a distinct contrast between the rough finish of the columns and the polished concrete floors. The interior design includes warm timber fixtures, a Japan-inspired indoor garden, and lighting fixtures from Bocci, a company co-founded by Arbel.

Magnolia trees flourish atop the columns’ hollows on the roof

75.9 represents Arbel’s extensive experimentation with materials over a decade and marks a landmark in his process-driven design approach. The house showcases his exploration of ancient construction materials in a contemporary setting, resulting in a home that integrates with the landscape.‘For 15 years, we’ve developed a method of working with materials at the scale of an object,’ says Omer Arbel. ‘This is the first project where we’ve had the opportunity of trying that same methodology at the scale of architecture. Our approach has been to design methods of making concrete artifacts and treating them as if they were found form, as if they were archaeological ruins. To divide the decision-making into two different phases, one focused on creating specific objects, and the other separate, much later, focussed on weaving them into domestic space.’

the hay field has been lifted like a carpet to cover the house’s connecting passages