Whimsical: »The House for Essex« by FAT & Grayson Perry

Completion of »The House for Essex« gave rise to much anticipation. When the day finally dawned the building commissioned by philosopher and critic Alain de Botton as part of his Living Architecture Programme turned out to be a fairytale-like holiday home. To create the house, the architectural office FAT renovated a badly dilapidated building in collaboration with artist Grayson Perry, lining the outer walls with gleaming tiles and fitting the interior with furniture and artworks inspired by a fictitious woman named Julie Cope. The result is a very singular and lively building. Julie Cope is an imagined Essex everywoman – a sort of female John Doe. Tiles, wall panelling, china statues and other details take their inspiration from her life, which from beginning to end seems to have been as bizarre as the house dedicated to her memory. Alain de Botton wanted a house that would seem small and very rich – and what with tiled outer walls and a copper-clad roof reminiscent of mediaeval churches, this has been achieved. Whatever the case, the building is definitely worth seeing.