A Precedent A Day. Entry #5: 511 House

A numbered house located in Palisades, California, this precedent is designed by Kanner Architects for the architect itself, Stephen Kanner and his family. This particular architecture of the house is deeply influenced by architects, Charles Eames and Richard Neutra, due to their own architectured precedents which lie near the 511 House.




First impression of the house gives a direct influential of the said architects, given its modernism touch on its outer layout of the house and the interior. The goal of this house is to thin the connection between the inside and outside space of the house, making a maximum coverage of the house is glass. This benefits from the sunny weather of California which enables maximum southern sunhine into the inside of the house. Hence, the merging of the inside and outside world is amusingly visible. But still, the house cleverly draws the line of being private by having nature of trees, foliages, and bushes big enough as front yard landscape.


I am not particularly intrigued by the design, as to be truthful, it is not something that I enjoy. The design is a little too generic, trying too hard to imitate Eames' success and grasping the idea of modernism but failed miserably. The wind bracing on doors is located at such random places that it seem unmatched with the whole concept design. As if trying to not become innovative or not being a complete copycat of inspired architects, the design is slanted. As if that does not seem enough, it is sprayed with weird circle voids or holes as windows that do not seem to integrate with the whole concept design. And arrangement of rectangles of the house design is uncharacteristically bad. Having the whole house as white also makes it plain, creating a bad combination of plain and contemporary weird.



It claimed to create a lifestyle, rather than a contemporary facade, but it appears to be anything but a lifestyle. A little too much contemporary, or a contemporary lying flat? Well, who am I to know, a naive first year architecture student? But still, an opinion is an opinion.

Images taken from http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/2009/11/18/pictures_of_the_511_house_in_pacific_palisades.html

A Precedent A Day. Entry #4: Coromandel Bach

Moving on with this blog project which I have not entirely abandon (well, I did not exactly say that this project is daily, which is inevitably unachievable), I am going to review on the Coromandel Bach which is architected by Crosson Clarke Architects. A fellow Malaysian architect student lend me a book of precedent collections entitled "A Pocketful of Houses", edited by Robyn Beaver, so I am using this book to its full use.



This is the precedent which has heavily influence on my design of the Habitat Project. First impression of the house is it is rectangle. Simple, plain, honest rectangle. Located in Coromandel Banch, New Zealand, the house is designed for the Crosson family and is claimed to be influenced by the New Zealand building tradition of crafting of the wood. Well, not knowing much about the architectural culture of New Zealand, the house is indeed cladded in wood, making it look spectacular sitting on the beach facing the sea of New Zealand.



The design is straightforward. A container lays on the beach cladded in woods with a void in the rectangle creating a panoramic view from inside. The interior of the house is also wood filled, celebrating the art of the tradition of wood crafting. During night, this void glows in the middle of the beach, the only source of light to the outside from the Coromandel Bach, a feature that stands out when the sunis out.

The living room is open to the outside and the sun, creating a feel of being metaphorically in a tent while the bedrooms are enclosed and cool, a sanctuary. There is also an open bathroom which gives the experience of cleansing is deeply connected to nature. These features are key elements that makes the house a habitat that is exceptional from the other usual residential buildings.



This simple design intrigues me. Uncomplicated, it defines habitat as a simple place of living that one can just ease themselves in, relieving from the fast pace of outdoor life.


Images taken from http://www.ccca.co.nz/9919_coromandel_bach.php

"seriously!"

I have been very busy lately that this blog remain scarced for quite some time. Works have been piling on my in tray and the ratio on the out tray is not looking too good. Introducing the Habitat Project.

After visiting the site of Kenmore (at which I nearly missed and forced to sweat my first sweat by running to catch the bus), I found myself clueless on how to go on with this so-called project. During tutorial day, I bursted out the idea of having an unconventional house by having the public area and the main entrance on the first floor as one inhabitant, due to her Alzheimer's, is on a wheelchair. Honestly, I was reminiscing in my head storyline of Grey's Anatomy when this idea burst into my head, so, thank you Meredith Grey?

Still, having no definite idea on how the house would look like, I freaked out. Well, this is, in fact the first house I would ever design, eventhough it is for imaginary inhabitants I invented myself with names not everyone, or anyone ever heard of (Bedah Merana, Yusof Merana, Sundal Malam?), it is fresh and new to me. After a tutorial on Friday, I experimented with many hand-made boxes that cover the area of 200 meters square and concluded to a design of shifted rectangles, with help from tutor Cameon Mcewan, a design that seems simple yet intriguing. Note the hand-made part. A whole lot of things on this course have to be made from scratch, a concept I am trying to adapt.

So, as the design developed, the plan for the first floor and the ground floor is thought of. A point in this week, I heard someone, of who I believe is a fifth-year or so architecture student, said that you can never design a brand new design. There must be one or two designs that is the same as your own. Hence, upon looking at a book entitled "A Pocketful of Houses", though its generically tacky name, has found me an inspirational house, the Coromandel Bach by Crosson Clarke Architects. A direct impression of the house transfers to the outer layout design of my house which consist of panels of woods. Accompanying these wood panels are glass panels at random places, a little innovation of my own intrepetation of the habitat.

Still, a lot more things to do, to achieve, to finish. With mashed up (of laziness,) cluelessness and determination of the whole design and with side works that must be done (this blog!), I wonder if I could ever finish it all. Seriously!

A Precedent A Day. Entry #3: Kelly Residence

Fun. Achieving this idea, Abramson Teiger Architects proposed a presidence with such childbrain concept situated in Los Angels, California in the heart of he United States, making a mark of the firm, the Kelly Residence. With the concept of precedent and its function still intact, the house is divided into two - lower floor which is mainly for the public area, and the upper floor which is otherwise, the public area. Another partition being drawn is one side as a children's and another parents'. Claimed that there is a connection bridge that divides two worlds at which the division protect each institution privacy and sound control, the apparent separation makes a definition of family togetherness unattainable.

Adding another concept of partition into the general idea, the general design for the house is divided into four 'boxes', as quoted often, where within these boxes a part is missing and being replaced with panels of wood which are extruded upwards from the first floor.

The simplicity of boxes is being challenged with the house's complexity of details and integration of shapes. Seem simple enough, the house looks like a 3 year old stacking lego on top of each other, it gives a sense of maturity and suave. The design is playful, lovable and splashed with basic colours of black, white, and grey, it dodges from being utterly ridiculous given the simplistic shape.

With the rave of fearing the Earth to be dead and humanity will drown in melted ice from South and North Pole, the house uses features that promotes green living, which supposedly can save mankind from eternal doom by not thinning a small percentage area of ozone that has already been known to being nearly extinct, such as photovoltaic cells on flat roofs and energy saving appliances. As an addition of being green, the house tries to attain its greenness by having artificial lawn, a feature that does not seem superficial at all, as it claimed to be.

A Precedent A Day. Entry #2: Klein Bottle House

The principal architects for this astounishing bold design are Rob McBride and Debbie-Lyn Ryan. This multi-award winning house is located on the down under of Melbourne, Australia. The initial concept was to have a holiday house that screams excitement and apparent extraordinary from monotonous daily lives, where one can get away from. Defining volume in three dimensional in different angle, a general concept of the Klein Bottle (a certain non-orientable surface with no distinct "inner" and "outside" sides) is developed profoundly to achieve it. Hence, the Klein Bottle House design. Though the design is distorted, it remain topologically the same, parallel to the concept of Klein Bottle.



The idea of traditional precedent is redefined with geometrical experiment of quirky design. With unique feature, the precedent still gives a comforting value. Many critizes the house as being an origami style of the Klein Bottle which seem to describe the house perfectly.

Klein Bottle House is basically centralled on a courtyard with a regal stairs connecting all levels, giving a sense of connection between inhabitants, a simple closure. The geometrical curling stairs, though confined to the center of the house, gives a sense of exposure to the natural surrounding.

Personally, the unique design is intriguing enough to make one love the general house idea. With cliche black and red colour concept for the exterior and interior of the house, it still looks grand and majestic, a brand new feel of any precedent.

A Precedent A Day. Entry #1: Re-Cover House

I pledge to have a random precedent by various architects a day to be observed and analysed with personal interpretation.

Hence, my first entry of my will is a precedent namely the Re-Cover House, located in Amagansett, New York. Designed by Bates Masi + Architects, the project of further elaborate the house received the 2008 AIA Peconic Chapter Merit Award for Architecture/Renovations & Additions. The house was originally built 35 years ago by the said architects. Living up to their needs, the owner decided to expand the house, but without altering the essence of the house, therefore having the same architects for the original to design the expansion of the house.

Acknowledged for its earthly tone, the house fits the green surrounding of the site with its proud wooden and stone texture that covers the house whole. The design is simple, expansion of boxes with spaces within, but still it oozes elegance with its material of various complimenting woods that are actually salvaged from the South wall and deck for the new siding. The expansion itself, has received may compliments, mainly due to its ability to retain the original character of the house, and be able to use very little materials. The new expansion integrated with the house perfectly making it not seem to just be added 35 years later.

A great house, with or without expansion. Thoroughly designed and well accounted for, I love this house for its close connection towards nature and how it celebrates the art of cost-saving.