Rotschild House, 1965, Oscar Niemeyer

Rotschild House, 1965.
by Oscar Niemeyer
Cesaerea, Israel.

Situated in the arid landscapes of Caesarea, this vacation house designed for the French-Swiss banker Baron Edmond de Rothschild during the first years of Niemeyer's exile, reveals an attempt to subvert his conventional explorations by bringing the daring geometry from the outside edges of the volume – as in Casa das Canoas – to the inside limits of the courtyard.

The idea of a cubic volume enclosing a free-from shaped courtyard not only is a formal reference to the vernacular mediterranean house but also an effective way to cool down the heat and local climate within the habitation.

Niemeyer intensifies the contrast with the harsh exterior by giving a lustful treatment for the inwards, with the lush greenery, the edgeless pool and the choice of materials, creating in a certain way, an oasis within the desert.

The Rotschild House has never been built.