precedents 01

precidents 01

(click the photo above for Shutterfly pictures)

Vincent James Associates Architects' (VJAA) Type Variant House in Northern Wisconsin.  James dubbed this "Machine in the Garden", an adaption of Le Corbusier's "Machine For Living":

The idea of the type/variant house developed from the client's interest in collecting objects in series.  As, for example, in butterfly collection, the essential characteristics and variations among objects appear amplified by grouping them within a particular type.

The house was conceived as a “collection” of wood-framed, copper-clad volumes, each differentiated by its orientation, proportions, and natural light.  The rooms and spaces defined by the cubic volumes frame continually shifting views of the site and other parts of the house.  Interior and exterior stairs, ramps, and bridges combine to create multiple pathways, both public and discrete, throughout the house.

The complex is meant to both grow out of the landscape and blend into it.  Planes of bluestone transition from the building's foundation to the ground plane to elevated terraces.  And from outside in.  The exterior cladding is copper.  Over time, the virgin metallic color is streaked by the elements in patterns defined by nature, soon providing a grey green rust patina.  I suppose eventually the skin will turn completely that light green patina color.  

This concept of the building skin changing in response to the elements is similar to Herzog & De Meuron's DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park, SF (built after Type/Variant).

There are several ideas here that I want to take into consideration.  First, the idea that the house concept is driven by the occupant's personality and interest.  From organization, method of construction, materials.  The idea of a "Limiting Concept" (Steven Holl, Parallax) gives the designer a constant reference point, a baseline to push against during design.  And in the instance of a residence, the direct concept can provide an immediate connection for the client, especially during the preliminary design 

Things I know about my father:

He designed and built the house I grew up in.  It's timberframe, passive solar with south facing patio windows and doors on the first and second floors and clerestory awning windows at the ridge.  He is a gardener, a bread baker, wine connoisseur, carpenter, and loves to eat dinner on the porch with my mom.

He has talked about a house that has interior/exterior spaces.  A living room that can open to an exterior porch or terrace, and a garden that folds into the living space.  

We have talked about the juxtaposition of poured form concrete and wood screens.  The idea of a concrete core containing the living essentials - kitchen, bath, and a bedroom - and open living spaces framed into the core.  The core would act as a safe haven in the event of high winds.  Also the primary structure, thermal mass, what else...?

The next post will take a look at Pertucci's vh r-10 house, a beautiful example of core and frame construction with sliding slat walls that open and close for privacy.

  

because it's hurricane proof...

There was a dome house that my dad saw online and originally sent me an email regarding building a shelter in the event of a hurricane or high winds.  I'm not sure if this was the one, I think he sent me a link that had a news article and diagrams.  I'll keep looking for the article.  So this is where it started.

what is GIMMEESHELTER?

GIMMESHELTER is an exploration, a research project with a site and a client but no schedule and no budget.

GIMMESHELTER will be a virtual sketchbook, pinup board, preliminary review, and precedent binder.

I hope to record the design from precedent to final design, a running narrative chronologically available for my client's (my dad's) review.

When I was working on my thesis in college, I sketched on a 9" roll of trace - I bought an 18" roll and cut it in half on the bandsaw in the woodshop - felt tip pen and alcohol based markers (brand?). When used on trace, the markers bled and looked like watercolors. I specifically chose lighter colors that had this effect, and got into the habit of using brown, green, and blue almost exclusively. I never ripped off the trace. I rolled up the drawn-on end and kept unrolling the unused portion to draw on. By mid-semester we called it the scroll but it was useful to be able to scroll back and forth through designs and thought processes. Even if the sketches ended up as a dead end, they were an ever present reminder of the continuity (or discontinuity) of the design. I admit that sometimes it was counterproductive to have a continuous record. Sometimes I thought too much about a sketch rather than trying something out and being able to tear it off and start over. The scroll became a relic. But there was something truly valuable in it too. Rolling through enabled me to quickly regain design momentum. Professor Doug Harmon even joked (he was serious) that I should design a contraption that would help me quickly scroll back and forth. The design record and momentum is what I want to replicate here. A scroll for the digital age...and one that I can tear off and edit if I like. Because of my office job, the design of this project will not be as ever present as one would like. This way, I will be able to quickly re-immerse myself into the work. And be able to share it with my client - my father - 1200 miles away.

The GIMMESHELTER project is the design of a guest house / retirement cottage for my parents adjacent to the house I grew up in in Ridgely, Maryland. I can thank Al Gore, Katrina, and my father's 50th birthday for this "commission". He wants a house that he can retire in (practical), smaller than the five bedroom (six?) house we grew up in and easier to take care of. He has an interest in building green, the environment, and a concern that climate change could bring a hurricane up the peninsula (much more research needed on this one). So at this point his parameters include an energy efficient cottage with a structural "core" that can resist category x force winds. Everything else is on the table. This is where the research begins. We have talked about houses published in Arch Record, I have posted pictures onto Snapfish but our discussion was limited by the format. I wish that we could sit down together at the dining room table every weekend but for now this will have to do. I will be posting precedent houses soon. Here we go...