Lecture
Frank Gehry House:
Catherine raised two important ideas about the Gehry house, which added to my understanding of this design. Very importantly, we can not view the Gehry House of Santa Monica in the same fashion as the other studies of this course, as it is essentially a suburban house, in comparison to the expansive and separated villas also studied. This raises the idea that a suburban house has busier and more disruptive surroundings, so are understandably more closed off from the exteriors of their site. Furthermore, suburban houses tend to observe or allow exterior views while minimising the connection those outside can experience with the activities within. Gehry plays on the connection of his house to the site through the reflections and materiality of the glass, in particular the tilted corner window that reflects the street light outside. Secondly, Gehry explores a rough and fresh energy in his house through stripping back a lot of the finishing, giving the site a sense that it is still under construction. This raises an interesting concept that the house is alive, ever changing and furthermore that this ‘pleasure in roughness’ can be available to everyone as it relies on a minimal budget.
Ideal Life: (Koolhass and Le Corbusier)
Both Le Courbusier and Rem Koolhass (drawing and critiquing many ideas from Le Corbusier’s work) are very interested in the liberating and higher power of architecture. Both designers explore the way in which ‘the machine will liberate us’ however in very different ways. Le Corbusier explores the possibilities of mass production, raising nature above the ground plane and towards the sky. He creates an idyllic image of dynamism in the Villa Savoye, de-materialising the landscape through the central courtyard space, the horizontal window and the arrival at the final destination; a framing of the view back to Paris and the surrounding natural context. In contrast, Koolhass uses Le Corbusier’s 4 ‘types of architecture’ and extracts them to radically oppose the light and immaterial design of the Villa Savoye, with a design full of solid, heaviness and tension in the Bordeaux House. Koolhass was interested in the power of the ‘machine’ in terms of the possibilities of the lift in combining the unexpected:
“One can eat oysters, with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor” (About the Athletic Club in New York)
The middle floor allows contemplation of and a connection with nature, although in different ways as Koolhass creates a minimalist, however very heavy space set strongly into the ground. Finally, Koolhass does not present a singal climactic end, or final understanding of nature. Instead through many irregularly sized and positioned circular holes in the frame, he highlights the multiplicity of life, and connects to people of all ages, sizes and abilities.
Submission
Ideas:
Originally a suburban house that was stereotypically closed off from the street, Gehry aims to highlight this separation by highlighting the standard bungalow on a platform. This is formed through the wrapping of an interior ‘garden-like’ space around the original form. Furthermore, through creating this barrier to the outside, Gehry creates a room like garden; a private space that is at one with the house. Gehry also aims to keep the house fresh and alive; through it’s roughness of materials and construction-like experience.
The Model:
Through making the base site of the model in balsa wood we were able to connect it with the intermediate wrapping space and the stripped back wooden framing that runs throughout the house. Furthermore, we were able to contrast this natural wooden material with the industrialised corrugated metal wall and harsh (white cardboard) house, to represent the separation from society. Finally, through cladding the interior in balsa we were able to highlight and capture the essence of the house in it’s desire to flow and look out towards firstly the ‘internal garden’ (Kitchen and dining rooms) and further into the garden and towards the protruding cactus.
The Drawings:
Floor Plans:
Through thickening the outside walls, I was able to highlight this sense of a barrier, furthermore, through the line work draws attention to the irregular glazing around the house that breaks this external barrier and also creates a flow to the garden.
Sections:
Aimed to highlight first and foremost the stripping back of the structure of the house, revealing the ceiling joists and roof structure. Furthermore, I aimed to connect these natural wooden elements with the garden spaces through cutting through areas of glazing and exposure to the natural site.
Axonometric:
The axonometric attempted to effectively represent the complicated and angular based design in a 3 dimensional image. Furthermore, it highlights the strong presence of the metal wall and original exterior Bungalow walling, through line thickness. Finally, it introduces the angled window in the back garden which firstly breaks the external barrier and secondly creates framed views of both the cactus and the wooden based, construction focussed back façade.
Structural Analysis:
My structural analysis diagram highlighted the wooden structural elements exposed by Gehry in order to create a fresh and raw house, built from the site around instead of simply an alien object being placed on a plot of land.
Circulation Analysis:
The circulation of the building directly relies upon the parallel forms of circulation, mirrored on the both floors, from the front of the house to the idyllic garden at the back. This occurs not only through a circulating direction towards doors or circulatory openings, but also to the large stripped back openings that run along the back walls of both stories. Secondly, the circulation reinforces the sense of an external barrier, unwelcoming from the outside as the entrances to both stories are placed before a large structural wall element, creating a strong barrier that needs to be traversed in order to reach the open and welcoming garden views.
Building-Landscape Analysis:
My part-axonometric drawing aimed to highlight the main joining elements between the house and the surrounding context. First the exterior angular glazing on the corrugated wall that creates very interesting reflections and light interaction to blur the lines of reality and also inside-out. Secondly, the tilted window at the back of the house, which is shown to physically cut the wall barrier in this drawing, as it does metaphorically in the real design. Finally, the glazing at the back of the house that allows wide and expansive views on to the garden space.
Major Part Analysis:
I decided to concentrate on the two rooms that sit directly above/below one another on the west corner of the house; the sitting room and main bedrooms. These spaces of relaxation and contemplation both open directly out on to the garden through an opening of stripped back studwork. This highlights the connections that Gehry draws to the site throughout the entire design and reinforces the importance of this materiality.
Criticisms/Improvements That Need To Be Made:
Firstly and most importantly my drawings need more consistency. This includes both the consistent choice of pencil weight throughout my drawings in conveying certain ideas, and also applying consistent pressure to keep uniform line darkness and thickness. Secondly, I need to work, most probably through increased exposure and practice, to communicate more clearly in my choice of pencil thickness for certain elements and lines. To a smaller degree I should have filled in the walls of my building, in particular in plan to give the drawings more presence, and finally the writing on these drawings were too big and took attention from the more elegant, lighter pencil drawings.
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