Residential Architecture Integrating with its Surrounding Enironments

Collection 4 ARCH 330 – Architectural Design Theory Fundamentals Residential Architecture Integrating with its Surrounding Environments Jacob Waldbillig

Table of Contents Analysis....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Parekh House.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 The Three Bays ................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Space Planning .................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Sage House............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Space Planning .................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Exterior ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 Tye River Cabin ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Interior.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Exterior ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Comparison................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Surrounding Environment ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Climate and Site Integration .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Exterior Form ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Interior ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14 References................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15

2

Analysis Parekh House Introduction The Parekh House is an early modern home built in 1968 in Ahmedbad, Gurjarat, India. Designed by Charles Correa, an Indian architect that was strongly influenced by Le Corbusier, as many architects were in this generation. The climate of India can range from five degrees Celsius in the winter time, all the way to forty-five degrees Celsius in the summer. Due to this juristic temperature shift, Correa implemented a design concept that consists of two distinct pyramid sections that present different functions to the user for different times of the day and year (Shreekanth, 2011).

The Three Bays This house features two different sections to serve the vast temperatures of India.

First there is the winter section, located on the eastern portion of the house. This section is to be used in mornings and evenings when it’s cooler outside. As shown in figure 1, it features a reverse pyramid shape that is open to the outside environment via open terraces covered by pergolas. The western section of the house is the circulation bay, including the main entrance, stairs, toilets, and the kitchen. Lastly, sandwiched between these two bays in the summer section that is used during the daytime to retreat from the over forty-five degrees Celsius temperatures. As shown on figure 1, this section forms a pyramid shape starting from the long protected dining room up to the second floor void (Shreekanth, 2011).

Space Planning The user enters the house from the west side and is guided to the open dining room that stretches the entire length of the house. The dining room, along with the living room is separated by a slightly elevated base plane, as seen in figure 1. This

Figure 1. Parekh House - Plans and Section (Hasan-Uddin,1987).

3

helps to divide the spaces of the house while retaining the visual and spatial continuity of the space (Ching, 2015). With the first floor having two different floor heights, Correa retained these proportions as the building ascends. Giving the summer section a more protected space and the winter sections terraces more head room.

Correa designed the building to be separated based on different times of the day and year, because of this each section has a different degree of enclosure. The winter section has a primarily physical connection to the exterior, through the use of covered terraces. The terraces are open to the exterior and are defined by parallel planes and the overhead pergola, as shown in figure 2. These parallel planes create an extroverted space that directs the user to the east-west exterior views. As a result, the section has a very little degree of enclosure (Ching, 2015).

The summer section is completely covered from the exterior, minimizing the direct exposure to the sun. This reduces the heat gain of the space and allows the escape of hot air (HasanUddin, 1987). This makes this section naturally introverted with a high degree of enclosure.

Terrace

Terrace

Figure 2. Parekh House - East Perspective (E Build in, n.d.)

4

Sage House Introduction The Sage House was designed by Antoine Predock Architect out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This modern 4,030 square foot house sits upon a 1,200 acre cattle ranch near Taos, New Mexico, USA. The house suits a family of five and features an abundance of unobstructed views to the mountains in the north and east as well as the desert landscape to the south and west.

Space Planning The main approach is provided from the motor court, then the user has the choice of the public entrance or the private garage. The user is lead to the entrance under a metal trellis.

Once inside, the user is opened directly into the living room, creating an extroverted space defined by the furniture as shown in figure 5. The living room features an abundance of windows keeping focus on the Pueblo Peaks to the east. The south portion is the resident space, Figure 5. Sage House - Living Room (Giovannini, 2010) including an open playroom adjacent to three bedrooms and a additive master suite. These spaces all centralize around the playroom, establishing it as a connecting and gathering space (Ching, 2015). The playroom is also defined by the millwork and stairs to the south, as shown in figure 4.

5 4 6

Figure 3. Sage House - Floor Plan (Giovannini, 2010)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Entrance Living Area Playroom Bedrooms Master Suite Dining Area Kitchen Terrace Service Area Mudroom Garage Motor Court Courtyard

Figure 4. Sage House – Playroom (Antoine Predock Architect, n.d.)

5

Starting back at the main entrance, the user also has the choice to go left through a narrowed corridor into the kitchen. The narrowed walk through provides a separation from the living room but still retains physical and visual continuity. The kitchen has stairs on the west side ascending to the sole raised plane balcony, as shown in figure 6. Predock utilizes the space under the stairs for pantry’s as well as the microwave and fridge. The full height kitchen utilizes clerestory lighting from above as well as the abundance of glazing surrounding to not only naturally light the space, but also to provide great views in every direction, thus keeping the focus on the surrounding environment.

Exterior The main concept on the exterior form is the use of arc forms. The simplest being the shape of the building spanning from the playroom all the way around to the garage.

Predock used the shape to allow the user to be able to have ample viewing of the mountains to the north and east. Predock says Figure 6. Sage House – Kitchen “It’s all about being outside, even when you’re (Antoine Predock Architect, n.d.) inside” (Giovannini, 2010), he does a great job of connecting the users with the exterior while being in the comfort of the interior. In addition, there is arc form on top that wraps from the bedrooms to the upstairs balcony. This form is said to be Figure 7. Sage House - East Perspective “carved out overhangs that control the light (Antoine Predock Architect, n.d.) and form viewing corridors” (Giovannini, 2010). As shown in figure 8, Predock creates voids in the form that lead the natural light to clerestory windows and into the open plan of the house. These voids act as subtractive transformations from the arc form. By leaving a soffit on the underside of the voids it allows the form to retain its initial continuous arc identity. The form also ascends as it moves from south to north and acts as a cover to the upstairs balcony. With the use of two different materials between these two forms, Predock allows the forms to have two separate identities that co-exist on different levels. Figure 8. Sage House - West Perspective (Giovannini, 2010)

6

Tye River Cabin Introduction The Tye River Cabin is a twenty-five foot by twenty-five foot house designed by Tom Kundig located in the dense forest near the Tye River in Skykomish, Washington, USA. The plan is situated around a central fireplace that serves the main and second floors. The outside walls primarily consist of pivoting glass windows that open to the surrounding environment. The cabin features large roof overhangs to shelter the interior from the weather. The two bedroom, one bathroom household is descripted as “being outdoors, but indoors” (Olson Kundig, n.d.).

Interior The interior plan is Figure 9. Tye River Cabin – Night Perspective centralized around the full (Olson Kundig, n.d.) height fire place that acts as the unifying element of the house. Kundig uses an open floor plan strategy so all spaces are open to one another and to the exterior. The open plan alows the user to move from space to space seamlessly.

With the majority of the exterior wall planes being pivioting windows, it allows high levels of physical and visual continuity.

These large windows allow the house to connect to the exposed environment, while Figure 10. Tye River Cabin – Living Room also allowing the house to be natural lit for the (Olson Kundig, n.d.) majority of the day. The layout provides “a place to just get away and be quiet for the weekend” “nothing to separte structure from nature” Figure 11. Tye River Cabin – Fireplace (Seattle Times, 2007).

(Olson Kundig, n.d.)

7

Exterior

Figure 12. Tye River Cabin – Elevation (Olson Kundig, n.d.)

The form of this cabin is quite simple, an extruded perfect square with a centralized fire place. This fireplace extents high above the roof to assert the central balanced axis, as well as provide a sole vertical linear element to gather around. As mentioned earlier, the windows surrounding the majority of the cabin are pivoting. As a result, when all the windows are closed it is easy to observe the main square volume. When the windows are opened, as shown in figure 12, the square form is more difficult to observe. This is because the windows act as the exterior wall planes of the house, so when their open, the line between interior and exterior is blurred, which provides the illusion of the roof plane floating. This fits right in with Kundig’s strategy of connecting with the natural environment (Ching, 2015). The other major element of this cabin is the roof plane. Due to the openness of the cabin, Kundig decides to extend the roof overhang to protect the house and its users from the exterior. This large overhang also helps to define the space that the cabin occupies as well as draw the eye down. The extended chimney and the overhung roof plane provide the feeling of equilibrium to the observer (Giovannini, 2010).

8

Comparison Surrounding Environment Before looking at the buildings themselves we must look at what’s surrounding the buildings. This means the geography, temperature and landscape. First, in the case of the Parekh House located in the suburbs of north-west India where temperatures span from five to forty-five degrees Celsius (Shreekanth, 2011). Next there is the Sage House located just north of Taos, New Mexico, USA where temperatures can span from minus twelve to plus thirty degrees Celsius. Although the house is located in the desert terrain it has strong views of the mountains in every direction but west. Lastly, there is the Tye River Cabin located in deep forest near Skykomish, Washington, USA where temperatures can span from zero to twenty-four degrees Celsius (Olson Kundig, n.d.).

These three locations are different on every category, first looking at geography we have the desert landscape of India, the desert and Figure 13. Tye River Cabin – Site Perspective mountains of New Mexico and the forest of Washington. The geography (Olson Kundig, n.d.) of the Parekh House and the Sage House are quite similar, with the exception of the Sage House being located close to the mountains. Although India is known for large peaks, there just aren’t any that affect the Parekh House. The Tye River Cabin is completely different, a thick forest topography that helps to hide the house in its landscape as well as helping to block outside elements such as sun, wind and rain. Kundig also includes an outdoor seating area with a fireplace, this helps to liven the approach to the building. Something that the Parekh House lacks, the Sage House features a winding road that provides different perspectives of the building and the surrounding mountains (Ching, 2015).

The temperatures are also different, the Parekh House experiences the largest range of temperatures, but with similar geography the Sage House isn’t far behind in temperature range. There is no doubt that India experiences constantly higher temperatures, aspiring the design concept of the Parekh House. Once again, the Tye River house is all by itself on temperature, the only difference is that the forest has more natural elements to block the elements from the house and create a off the grid setting.

Climate and Site Integration Each of these houses focus their building concept on integration with their exteriors. First the Parekh House, which uses the strategy of separating the building into three different bays that include two different sections to protect or expose its users to the exterior at

9

different times of the day and year. Second the Sage House, which features an arc building form to focus all spaces visually to the surrounding mountain views. Lastly, the Tye River Cabin which integrates its users physically and visually to the environment through the use of pivoting windows.

The Parekh House has the most consistently high temperatures with an average of six months the year with temperatures over thirty-five degrees Celsius and an average of less than forty days of rain a year. Because of this Correa implored the strategy of created different sections of the house that expose or protect the user from the exterior environment. The summer section completely shelters the user from the rays of the sun, which helps increase human comfort. Correa also uses passive features such as louvers over the winter sections terraces and a void at the top of the winter section to help with the escape of hot air (Shreekanth, 2011).

Figure 14. Sage House - Mountain Perspective (Antoine Predock Architect, n.d.)

In comparison, the Sage house has a similar geography with the exceptions of the high temperatures of India and the mountains surrounding Taos, New Mexico. Predock designed his house focusing on the adjacent mountain range that spans from north to east to south. He achieves this through his arc form and his abundance of windows facing east. As seen in figure 5, the user has no choice but to admire the view, which provides a visual relationship between the interior space and the surroundings (Ching, 2015). As a result of the amount of glazing, comes an abundance of natural light which “adds delight to our lives providing movement, change, and connection to the outdoor environment� (Bainbridge, D.A. Haggard, K, 2011, pg. 136). With the glazing going around the entire arc form the open plan of the interior is naturally lit for the majority of the day.

Figure 15. Tye River Cabin – Pivoting Windows (Olson Kundig, n.d.)

Finally, there is the Tye River Cabin, which provides its users with a connection to the environment through the use of pivoting windows. Similar to the Sage House, the cabin has glazing around the majority of its exterior. This helps to provide the user with the visual connection, but the unique pivoting windows of the Tye River Cabin presents the physical connection that the Sage and

10

Parekh House’s lack. The Parekh House is perhaps the most different or the three houses, this is because it’s focus on the temperature rather that the experience. The location of the house makes it different as well, the Parekh house is located in a suburb. While the Sage and Tye River are located in more remote areas. Naturally these remote areas have better environment to look at (Olson Kundig, n.d.).

Exterior Form The Parekh House is designed in three bays, the winter section, summer section, and the circulation bay. Correa sandwiched the summer section in between the others and recessed it in from others, as shown in figure 16. The centralized bay serves as the major axis of the building to establish a central point of gather. This was done to protect the users from the summer temperatures that reach over forty-five degrees Celsius. The forms are otherwise simple, with the exception to the subtractive transformations to create the outside spaces of the winter section, as shown in figure 2.

Sun Rays

Major Axis

The pergola on top of the from helps to connect the three bays as well as draw the eye upwards to admire to full height of the structure.

This makes it a hierarchy by placement and size. As Sun Rays shown in figure 17, the three bays mash together with Figure 76. Parekh House - Sections (Shreekanth, 2011). similar styles to create a sense of rhythm across the front façade. The horizontal lines of he pergola also help in this regard. The pergola also acts an overhead datum for the building that defines the overall space of the building (Ching, 2015).

Figure 87. Parekh House - Front (Shreekanth, 2011).

11

In comparison, the Sage House has a very different building form. It features a single sided crescent form with a small additive form on the south. In addition, the house features a secondary form that follows the same curvature but rises from south to north. Predock created this form to gather the many views of the adjacent mountain range to the east. Due to this arc shape, as shown in figure 18, the building has no axis, instead it has a point that references the radius of the main arc shape. Hierarchy by placement, size and shape can be seen with topmost cresent form. This is because the form is placed atop the main form with an ascending shape. It also brings the sense of Figure 18. Sage House - Floor Plan datum via an overhead (Giovannini, 2010) plane that holds to overall shape. The overall shape is the same, but is made distinct through the use of “carved out overhangs that control the light and form viewing corridors� (Giovannini, 2010). These voids act as a subtract transformation that repeats around the arc (Ching, 2015).

The Tye River house has the simplest form the three houses. Kundig used a simple box form with large roof overhangs to create his masterpiece. The large overhangs act as an overhead datum that defines the buildings area, similar to the Parekh and Sage Houses.

The building also has a large fire place that extends from the main floor plane to far above the roof plane. This creates a strong sense of equilibrium that the other house lack. The Figure 19. Sage House - West Perspective largest feature on this house is the pivoting windows, that open the interior of the house to (Giovannini, 2010) the exterior. These windows act as the exterior wall planes, thus when all the windows are fully opened, it gives the illusion of the roof plane floating.

12

Interior The Parekh House has the most distinct interior the three houses. This is because Correa separates the house into separate bays and sections. Despite the separation, the interior still has an open space plan, as seen on figure 20. The Sage house uses an adjacent space layout, where one space leads directly into the next. This helps to retain the visual and physical connection between the spaces which creates a more public and open interior.

Similarly, the Tye River Cabin uses an adjacent space technique, the only different is that the spaces arrange in a loop pattern. The cabin is also centralized around a fireplace, which helps to connect the spaces.

Similarly, the Parekh House centralizes around the living room of the summer section as well as in the Sage House when Figure 20. Parekh House - Plan they centralize around the living (Hasan-Uddin,1987). room in one area and the play Figure 21. Tye River Cabin – Kitchen area in the other. The kitchens of the Sage and the Tye River houses are a point of (Olson Kundig, n.d.) comparison, with the Sage house’s kitchen being semi closed off from the living room, but open in height. This makes the kitchen a hierarchy by size as it extends full height and utilizes clerestory lighting. Similarly, the Tye River Cabin has an open kitchen expect its open to the exterior through the use of the pivoting windows, as shown in figure 21. Correa located his kitchen in the circulation bay to the west, as shown in figure 20, separated by a door. This cancels the visual continuity of the space and secludes the space from the remainder of the house. Correa located the kitchen in said location to separate the kitchen from the winter and summer sections. This allows the sections to serve their purpose of protecting or exposing its users from the outside environment (Ching, 2015).

13

Conclusion Each of these houses does a great job at integrating with their different surroundings. The Parekh House helps to shield its users from the exterior temperatures while also utilizing it for different times of the day and year. The Sage House helps to focus its user of the strong visual connection with the adjacent mountain range, while also utilizing the natural light. Finally, the Tye River Cabin integrates visually and physically with its surroundings through the use of pivoting windows that completely open the interior to the exterior. Note that none of these houses have any strategies that have to do with harvesting their surrounding environment, the houses simply respect and observe their location. The buildings also have three different forms in order to respect their environments. The Parekh House uses a simple three bay form with assortments of subtractive transformations. These transformations create the sections of the summer and winter sections of the house. The most complex of three is the Sage House, which locates its curvature to respect and admire the exterior views of the mountains from the comfort of the interior. Finally, the Tye River Cabin, which has the largest exterior connection of the three homes. The cabin uses pivoting windows to create strong visual and physical connection with its forest surroundings.

While the exteriors of these homes are different, the interiors are similar. They all implore an open adjacent space technique on the interior. Which can create openness from larger house such as the Parekh House all the way to the small houses such as the Tye River Cabin.

Figure 22. Parekh House - East Perspective (E Build in, n.d.)

Figure 23. Sage House - East Perspective (Antoine Predock Architect, n.d.)

Figure 24. Tye River Cabin – Living Room (Olson Kundig, n.d.)

14

References Antoine Predock Architect. (n.d.). Sage House Retrieved from http://www.predock.com/SageHouse/sage.html Bainbridge, D.A. Haggard, K. (2011). Passive Solar Architecture: Heating, Cooling, Ventilation, Daylighting, and More Using Natural Flows. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing.

Ching, F. (2015). Architecture: Form, Space, & Order. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, inc.

Clark, R.H. Pause, M. (2012). Precedents in Architecture: Analytic Diagrams, Formative Ideas, and Partis. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, inc.

E Build in. (n.d.). Charles Correa Associates. Retrieved from https://ebuild.in/parekh-house-charles-correa-associates Giovannini, J. (2010). Natural Wonder. Retrieved from https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/natural-wonder-slideshow#slide=4 Hasan-Uddin, K. (1987). Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Concept Media Ltd.: Singapore Olson Kundig (n.d.). Tye River Cabin. Retrieved from https://olsonkundig.com/projects/tye-river-cabin/ Porteous, C. (2002). The New Eco-Architecture: Alternatives from the Modern Movement. Taylor & Francis (1st Ed.): United Kingdom Shreekanth, P.S. (2011). Charles Correa – Parekh House. Retrieved from https://thearchiblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/charlescorrea-parekh-house/

15

The Seattle Times. (2007). Retreat at the River. Retrieved from http://old.seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw10072007/20039 16604_pacificpkundig07.html Zap, C. (2015). ‘Natural Wonder’: Sleek Sage House for Sale in Taos, NM. Retrieved from https://www.realtor.com/news/uniquehomes/sage-house-taos-new-mexico/

16