hexagonal peg in a round hole
Pittman Dowell Residence
Well, after much poking around for a design to turn my crank, I have settled on this beauty. It seems I'm on a residential kick! There are several facets of appeal for me here. Number 1, is the fact that my initial reaction to the design was rather displeased, I skimmed over it. It looks like a weird shattered flying saucer, I thought. But, after looking at a few other residences that didn't quite get my juices going, I came back to this little rebel house, and fell in love. The geometry, the views, the facade of the roof that articulates the floor plan, the drama.... I could go on and on. It was designed for a gay couple who were currently living in a 1950's Neutra home but needed more space, and just so have happened to have a giant lot (that was originally intended as 3 sites) and a site to spare! So the challenge for the architect was to create a totally unconventional house, deliberately breaking all the rules about residential house design while referencing and/using the original Neutra house as a counterpoint. Job well done I say. The Neutra reference is subtle in some places, I see some edges deliberately extended, and these large windows remind me of the levering shutters at VDL house. The courtyard is gorgeous and the bathroom is a real shocker, but it's pretty amazing. The unexpected and the unconventional join forces and the result is a show-stopper.
La Crescenta, California
Michael Maltzan Architecture
Well, after much poking around for a design to turn my crank, I have settled on this beauty. It seems I'm on a residential kick! There are several facets of appeal for me here. Number 1, is the fact that my initial reaction to the design was rather displeased, I skimmed over it. It looks like a weird shattered flying saucer, I thought. But, after looking at a few other residences that didn't quite get my juices going, I came back to this little rebel house, and fell in love. The geometry, the views, the facade of the roof that articulates the floor plan, the drama.... I could go on and on. It was designed for a gay couple who were currently living in a 1950's Neutra home but needed more space, and just so have happened to have a giant lot (that was originally intended as 3 sites) and a site to spare! So the challenge for the architect was to create a totally unconventional house, deliberately breaking all the rules about residential house design while referencing and/using the original Neutra house as a counterpoint. Job well done I say. The Neutra reference is subtle in some places, I see some edges deliberately extended, and these large windows remind me of the levering shutters at VDL house. The courtyard is gorgeous and the bathroom is a real shocker, but it's pretty amazing. The unexpected and the unconventional join forces and the result is a show-stopper.
This last shot shows the original house looking down at its new brother. Read the original story:
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