Hasta La Ideas

The nice thing about your average international design competition is its sheer reach, but it’s also nice to see small, rural communities holding design comps of their own. The Bicentennial House Competition was one such event, sponsored by the tiny town of New Harmony, Indiana, population just 789 people.

The historic town of New Harmony has an architectural legacy in the Harmonist house, a type of dwelling named for the religious movement of German immigrants who setlled the area in the early 1800s. A Harmonist house was a simple 20×30 box with an austere look and a central chimney, originally built with old-school techniques:

…The Harmonie Society constructed…28 single family dwellings made with half-timbered traditional construction and insulated with wooden boards covered with straw and mud. Painted plaster covered the interior walls, while either hardwood clapboards or bricks sheathed the exteriors. Wood shakes covered the roofs. A footprint of 20 x 30 feet was the norm in each two-story house.

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