PITSOU KEDEM ARCHITECTS WORKS AND PROJECTS
PITSOU KEDEM ARCHITECTS WORKS AND PROJECTS
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A HOUSE OF AN ARCHITECT RAMAT HASHARON, ISRAEL 2010 - 2014
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the house that Pitsou Kedem designed 003 for his own family is how low and dark its spaces are. Unlike the double-height and brightly lit living rooms that he has designed for others, the living room in this house is lower in height even than standard residential floors today, and the house’s surrounding walls appear to be designed to shield it from the sun rather than enable it to enter. From the outside, as well, the house appears to be rather low—in part, because the children’s floor is partially sunken below ground. This aspect, like the chosen building materials, was due to Kedem’s wish to fit in with his surroundings—the Neveh Magen neighborhood in eastern Ramat Hasharon, designed by Zeev Rechter in the 1950s. The neighborhood’s original houses are mostly low in height, and made of concrete and exposed sand-lime bricks, and feature ribbon windows. In Kedem’s family home, bare concrete is evident everywhere—in the exterior envelope walls, in the projecting beams at the front (topped by bands of 1950s-style revolving vertical louvers, for protection against the sun), and in the cast roof slab, which extends beyond the house’s footprint, to provide shade over the backyard. However, the sand-lime bricks are replaced with elements of a more contemporary variety—blocks of bare concrete, painted white. These were used to construct the various interior partitions, as well as the two central walls that house the stairwell. The white aesthetic continues in the ramp that links, in zig-zag fashion, the entry in the low courtyard at the entrance and the living room in the upper floor and the high courtyard in the back. The ribbon windows that characterize the neighboring houses are echoed here in ribbon windows that surround the house on all sides, set within the gap between the ceiling and the surround walls, and expand into a large window that looks out onto the nearby grove of eucalyptus trees. Added to these are several circular openings of various sizes punched into the concrete walls and roof slab, some of which regulate the entry of sunlight into the house, while others provide play areas for the children.
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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DETAIL
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FLOAT HOUSE SAVYON, ISRAEL 2012 - 2015
The primary consideration in the design of this house was the request of the clients, 039 who had recently returned from a long period in the Far East, to create a sense of floating. To this end, a variety of elements were used, from the walls and roof to the treatment of the site itself. Thus, throughout the house the presence of an extensive network of water channels and pools can be felt—from the moment one enters the house, on large floor slabs placed on top of the patio pool (which is overlooked by the various rooms); through the swimming pool which extends from the entrance as far as the heart of the yard; and beyond, to the low water channels surrounding the bedrooms. All of these are sheltered beneath the house’s pagoda-like roofs, over the living room and the sleeping quarters, which appear to be floating over each other and over the surrounding glass walls. Some of their supports are hidden within the walls; others were split in two in order to appear lighter. To enhance the sense of lightness of the concrete “pagoda” roofs, their edges were made of triangular steel truss covered with cast concrete, to create the illusion of a roof that is thinner than it really is. In addition, virtually all the walls in the middle of the house—where the living room and master bedroom are situated—are of glass, providing a wealth of views between its various parts. In some instances, spaces are separated with no walls whatsoever. For example, the study area is separated from the living room by means of a wall-free and roofless patio.
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WEST ELEVATION
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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ELEVATION
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DETAIL 01. Fixed alumonium strips Aluminium profile 5x7/28cm 02. Aluminium cornice 03. Fixed alumonium strips Aluminium profile 5x7/28cm Align with the wall below 04. Expanded net + plaster 05. Electric scroll shutter 06. Sliding aluminium window 07. Drainage system 08. Exterior floating floor system
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SB HOUSE TLV, ISRAEL 2012 - 2015
A large, three-stories-high, bare-concrete wall receives those approaching the 075 entrance to this house. A single opening in the center of the wall is reached via a walkway stretching over a sunken yard. Only after crossing this entrance is the wall’s true character revealed, as it is in fact physically separate from the house, connected to it with steel beams alone. The space between the wall and the house is articulated by means of a sunroof and staircase leading to the various levels: the children’s rooms in the basement, which opens onto a sunken garden, and the master bedroom on the second floor. On the second floor, a walkway extends above the living room, linking the study—a glass box set in one corner—with the master bedroom at the opposite corner. Vertical wood blinds filter the sunlight along the entire level. A bare concrete roof covers the top level, folding over the two parallel external walls and extending downward to shade the yard and swimming pool. Stopping short some three meters above the ground, it appears as though it is floating.
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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DETAIL 01. Metal capping 02. Metal UPN 400 beam 03. Electric external blinds 04. Interior scroll curtain 05. Fix aluminium window 06. Suspended ceiling 07. Metal panel coating
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GROUND FLOOR PLAN
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SPILT HOUSE SAVYON, ISRAEL 2016 - 2018
In this house, the sunken courtyard—which traditionally is situated along the 121 perimeter of the lot, to provide light into the basement level—is the dominant theme. Measuring 25-meters long, 5-meters wide and almost 7-meters high, it sits in the heart of the structure and divides the square house into three bands: a bedroom section, which faces the street; another comprising the living room and master bedroom, facing the rear yard; and an internal, two-story courtyard that extends the full length of the house. The two sections of the house are connected by two walkways at the upper level. One leads from the main entrance to the house, overlooking the entire house, with the living room and courtyard at one end and a long hallway linking together the children’s rooms at the other. The second walkway connects the private wing with the public one, and also incorporates a staircase that extends down to the basement. A repeating grid of solid wood and iron panels (measuring 200x30x4 centimeters each) clads the walls of the courtyard and of the entire house, and folds into the roof of the yard for shading purposes. All the windows and doors are incorporated within this grid, including the main door to the internal yard and onwards to the living room, and the transition doors from the master bedroom and family room to the perimeter yard (where the concrete envelope extends four meters beyond the house footprint, to create shade). The grid is repeated also in the plastered walls of the internal patio (which hide, among other things, the master bedroom), and in diverse variations in a range of details throughout the house—such as the wine bar and the wall facing the street.
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SECTION B
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PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM
LOCATION PROJECT DATE PROJECT MANAGER AND CONSTRUCTION TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM LOCATION PROJECT DATE PROJECT MANAGER AND CONSTRUCTION TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM LOCATION PROJECT DATE PROJECT MANAGER AND CONSTRUCTION TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY
A HOUSE OF AN ARCHITECT Pitsou Kedem Architects Tamar Berger Hagar Arad Tsvi Noa Groman Pitsou Kedem Ramat Hasharon, Israel 2010 - 2014 Asaf Lupo Oren Eldar © Amit Geron © Eti Buskila IN PRAISE OF SHADOWS Pitsou Kedem Architects Irene Goldberg Hila Sella Pitsou Kedem Savyon, Israel 2010 - 2014 Asaf Lupo Oren Eldar © Amit Geron © Eti Buskila FLOAT HOUSE Pitsou Kedem Architects Irene Goldberg Raz Melamed Pitsou Kedem Savyon, Israel 2012 - 2015 Asaf Lupo Oren Eldar © Amit Geron
PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM LOCATION PROJECT DATE PROJECT MANAGER AND CONSTRUCTION TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM
LOCATION PROJECT DATE TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT ARCHITECTURE TEAM LOCATION PROJECT DATE PROJECT MANAGER AND CONSTRUCTION TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
HOUSE BY THE SEA Pitsou Kedem Architects Irene Goldberg Tamar Berger Pitsou Kedem Shavey Tzion, Israel 2012 - 2015 Asaf Lupo Oren Eldar © Amit Geron © Eti Buskila SB HOUSE Pitsou Kedem Architects Hagar Arad Tsvi Irene Goldberg Tamar Berger Pitsou Kedem Tel-Aviv, Israel 2012 - 2015 Oren Eldar © Amit Geron © Eti Buskila J HOUSE Pitsou Kedem Architects Nurit Ben Yosef Pitsou Kedem Hertzelia, Israel 2012 - 2016 Asaf Lupo Oren Eldar © Amit Geron © Eti Buskil
PROJECT ARCHITECTURE
SPILT HOUSE Pitsou Kedem Architects Co with Tamar Berger
TEAM
Tamar Berger Pitsou Kedem Savyon, Israel 2016 - 2018 Oren Eldar © Amit Geron
LOCATION PROJECT DATE TEXT PHOTOGRAPHY
141
PUBLISHER
AMAG
COLLECTION
Double Square Books
TITLE
#02 WORKS AND PROJECTS
1ST PUBLICATION
2020 April
RUN NUMBER EDITOR EDITORIAL TEAM
ISBN LEGAL DEPOSIT PRINTING
OWNER VAT NUMBER CONTACTS FOLLOW US AT
1000 numered copies Ana Leal Carolina Feijó Filipa Figueiredo Ferreira João Soares Tomás Lobo 978-989-54620-4-9 469160/20 www.lusoimpress.com
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PITSOU KEDEM ARCHITECTS WORKS AND PROJECTS