Project #2 - Study 1: Detail and the Whole

Detail and the Whole - Windows

1. Drawings of views

This drawing includes the correct location of all windows in the house, and from watching 'Koolhaas Houselife', also select views which can be found when looking through particular windows. Although this is a fairly literal interpretation of the windows and the house, I feel it has an important link to how the detail of the way in which the window is constructed affects the views of the garden and landscape.

2. Graphic representation of views through windows

What I found particularly interesting about the windows was the way in which although from the exterior, the windows all look the same, from inside there is a great variation. While some windows view straight outwards, others point directly downwards, or taper, creating a range of different viewing experiences. The sections where the views are most concentrated link to particular places in the house, such as the elevator and front area of the childrens bedroom.

3. Model of Windows

These models follow on from my previous abstractions as it emphasises the hierarchy of viewing. This idea that although the windows are different shapes and run in different directions, there is still an intersection of views when looking from certain angles. Looking from inbetween and different directions changes what one sees.

Note: Following further development of these abstractions, better images and displays will be presented.

Project #1 Submission

Maison Bordeaux - Rem Koolhaas

Initially when you look at the building from a distance, there is a distinct sense of horizontal blocks stacked on top of one another which also incidentally emphasises the juxtaposition between light and heavy. However as you enter the house, the unique elevator leads you to focus more on the vertical. As the elevator moves up through the house, its function changes and as a result the architecture changes. The machine becomes the heart of the house. I've highlighted the vertical movement within the house in my plans and sections to contrast the heavy horizontal forms of the exterior. I quite liked the play between light and heavy as well, with the cave-like lower level, a floating yet massive top floor and then an almost invisible glass level in the middle which ironically houses the most important parts of the building.

A few photos of our group model:

Lecture #3 - Maison Bordeaux

Rem Koolhaas's Maison Bordeaux:

Designed around a very specific way of living - Koolhaas's response very architectural.

3 Houses - stacked on top of one another

Lowest - cave-like carved into landscape - most intimate life

Upstairs - divided into smaller 'houses' for children and the couple

Middle - most important yet also the most 'invisible', half inside and half outside

Light vs. Heavy - while the top floor appears to almost float, it definitely has a strong sense of being massive and heavy - contrast of materials

The machine is the heart of the house.

Elevator - creates a free section - function depends on the location of the elevator - changes meaning as it moves, in turn changing the architecture of the house.

Windows - although seeming almost random, located based on the activities within the house as well as the different people - seating height, children's height, adult height.

Dynamic Counterpoint - unusual sense of balance - looks immaterial but other aspects are deliberately heavy.

Lecture #2 - Villa Mairea

A few interesting things which were mentioned in the lecture about Alvar Aalto's Villa Mairea:

PATTERNS - spatial, material, form - not just a single pattern throughout the house, but a combination focussing on the connection between them

"internal structural scheme is the outcome of a methodical development of flexibility"

Inclusive Architecture - success depends on the extent to which the architecture accommodates the full scope of human and ecological circumstances

Flexible Order - the generation and coordination of many formal differences

The Ridge Structure - acknowledgement of the ridge - the land is level along and across the ridge, establishing a primary platform for inhabitation

Anchor - various structures such as the fireplace, stairs and chimney anchor the structure into the landscape

Excavation. Level. Elevation

A platform between the earth and the sky meeting at the ridge, connecting the interior and exterior.