As a type, the gable roof transcends culture and civilization, and its proliferation bears the seed for the basic model of settlement. The design of House House emerges from an interest in determining the elemental block of a city, by utilizing the gable roof as a point of departure.

The siting of the house is driven by the need to situate the building on a small lot with close proximity to adjacent houses of the Ordos 100 development. By situating the house obliquely and thereby exposing a corner façade to the main street views, the primary image of House House is present at every angle but never the same. Clad with brick in its entirety, the design evokes the stability and stillness of a single building as well as the dynamism of its proliferation.