Modular proposal as an answer to the climate crisis. House of Cards by Gordon Kipping

In Maison de Cartes, Gordon Kipping proposes a construction module for the crisis of our time, climate change, trees are a fundamental element to counteract climate change since they can capture carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

This construction module follows the spirit of Les Maisons Dom-ino, although it uses solid wood as the structure or backbone of the construction, wood has become a more sustainable alternative to concrete and steel for the structure of buildings.

Gordon Kipping has shown a special interest since the 1990s in the problem of housing, as was his award-winning project RUSS (Residual Urban Site Strategies) published in METALOCUS 01 or his invitation to participate in different exhibitions on housing and minimal housing in the MoMA in New York.


House of Cards by Gordon Kipping. Photograph by Joshua White Photography.

SCI-Arc is proud to present Maison de Cartes, or House of Cards, an exhibition by Gordon Kipping (M.Arch ’95) opening with a reception in the SCI-Arc Gallery on April 12 at 6pm. Maison de Cartes proposes a module of construction for the crisis of our time: climate change. This module of construction is in the spirit of Les Maisons Dom-ino, however, using mass timber as the structure or backbone for the construction. Instead of columns supporting slabs and a stair, Maison de Cartes proposes a stacking of cross-laminated timber walls and floor slabs in combination with glue-laminated columns and beams which support a ramp to ensure universal accessibility.

Wood has emerged as a more sustainable alternative to concrete and steel for the structure of buildings. Wood is renewable and through properly managed reforestation represents an endless resource. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees capture carbon dioxide and release oxygen which operate to counter climate change. While wood eventually needs to be transported and milled, its impacts during the growing and harvesting phase are relatively low compared with concrete and steel which are made from substances that must be mined and heated to extremely high temperatures.
 
For the exhibition, a fragment of the Maison de Cartes is constructed in the exhibition space, complete with the expression of fragility and impossible balance. Through the use of an augmented reality application available to your smartphone, the fragment is extended on your screen with wireframe linework to compose the whole. As one moves through the exhibition space with the augmented reality application, real-time/real-space perception of the fragment is augmented with the completion of a representation of the Maison de Cartes.


House of Cards by Gordon Kipping. Photograph by Joshua White Photography.
 
To demonstrate its mutability, Maison de Cartes is taken through a geometric progression to become the Hocken House, a residential project currently under development by Gordon Kipping Architects in Toronto, Canada. The Maison de Cartes fragment is to have a second life and support another crisis. The mass timber fragment upon disassembly is reassembled into a cube which is redeployed to provide emergency transitional shelter on an encampment site of the unhoused.
 
Maison de Cartes runs from April 12 through June 2 in the SCI-Arc Gallery.