Zorn Residence

The Zorn Residence is situated in a residential district in north Chicago. Its position on the site is such that it breaks the rhythm of the adjacent facades and maximizes the views to the south. The owners, a couple with two sons, were dissatisfied with the small rooms and lack of light in their previous house.

The house was designed as a simple brick and glass structure, the interior of which is centered around a split-level area which forms the common living space.

The south-facing facade is the most transparent since it was important to introduce the maximum amount of light. On the west side of the house is a long, narrow, vertical window that projects slightly from the surface of the facade and offers views of the street. It is extended along the roof to provide overhead light, which is diffused into the central area of the upper story.

As in all Krueck and Sexton projects, each section and its location is designed in a way that reaffirms the overall concept. According to the architects, the initial, intuitive, and approximate designs should, at a given moment and after numerous modifications, achieve a unity that reintegrates the elements that were previously distinct. At this point, the design process ceases to be subjective and, as each part takes its place within the whole, achieves objectivity.

The south-facing facade is the most transparent.

From the front, the Zorn Residence is reminiscent of one of Piet Mondrian’s geometric creations.

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The house is organized around a split-level, central living space.

The concept of the rectangle provides the departure point for the architecture of Krueck and Sexton. Originally conceived as a pure rectangle, the house was modified, becoming slightly irregular and offset, and various superposed elements were added. The breaks and offsetting sometimes occur vertically and sometimes horizontally.