A unique rural residential design created by Virginia Tech University professor Ben Pennell as a speculative project and aspirational nod to internet-driven 'DIY' culture has taken off after being completed last fall with help from several students.Photo by Ben PennellKnown simply by its address300 John Lemley Lanethe design was realized in the rural town of Christiansburg and occupies three levels, containing simultaneous metaphors of an 18th-century London church, an American World War II bomber, and the watertight, planular-shifting multi-roof effect typical of a Japanese temple.Photo by Ben PennellLayers of 'mega shingles' made from Hardie board add to an extended plywood frame to distort and enlarge its perceived mass in a palimpsest-like effect that obfuscates the building envelope deliberately, mixing 'pseudo-Oriental' motifs with its aberrant style and architectonics.Photo by Ben PennellPennell says these elements combine to issue a challenge to normative design concept...