FONG SAM ZUNG, JOEY 3035792195 THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
ARCH2079 DESIGN3 STUDIO: TIAN YING SEMESTER1, 2021-2022
House Name: Vanna Venrui House / Mother’s House Architect(s): Robert Venturi Year: 1964 (completed) Site: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Client: Vanna Venturi Number of Inhabitants: 1 Material/Construction System: Brick Masonry plasters Number of Floors: 2, plus basement Ground Area: 900 sq ft Total Area: 1,800 sq ft (170 m2)
00 CONTENTS PARTI | COLLECTION Introduction
P.4-7
Sketch & Diagram
P.8-10
Plan
P.11-12
Section
P.13
Elevation
P.14
Photographs
P.15-16
Bibliography
P.17
PARTII |MICRO-NATURE Analysis
P.18-29
Design
P.30-45
PARTIII |MACRO-NATURE Analysis
P.46-49
Design
P.50-67
Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
01 COLLECTION
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Part I COLLECTION
Introduction
Vanna Venturi House is the first example of Postmodern architecture. Going against the norm, Robert Venturi tested complexity and contradiction in architecture. By reintroducing elements traditionally associated with houses – from a gabled roof to an arch-framed entrance – but stripping them of their original functions, Robert Venturi laid the foundations for the entire Postmodern movement.
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
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Part I COLLECTION
The house was completed in 1964, over a decade before Postmodernism got into full swing. It is perhaps best known for its facade – a monumental gable with an oversized chimney in its centre and an assortment of mismatched windows. However, these traditional elements were applied in unconventional ways. Firstly, the gable has a vertical opening in its centre, and is located on the long rather than the short side of the building, completely distorting its scale. There is also no matching gable at the back – the element is purely decorative. A square opening creates a sheltered doorway in the centre of the facade, yet the door itself stands to one side. There is also an arch that serves no purpos
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Sketch & Diagram
“Some have said my mother’s house looks like a child’s drawing of a house – representing the fundamental aspects of shelter – gable roof, chimney, door and windows,” “I like to think this is so.” - Robert Venturi
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Part I COLLECTION
Sketch & Diagram
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
3D Diagrams
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Part I COLLECTION
Site Plan
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Plans
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Part I COLLECTION
Sections
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Elevations
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Part I COLLECTION
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Photographs
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Part I COLLECTION
BIBLOGRAPHY Perez, Adelyn. “Ad Classics: Vanna Venturi House / Robert Venturi.” ArchDaily. ArchDaily, June 2, 2010. https://www.archdaily.com/62743/ ad-classics-vanna-venturi-house-robert-venturi. Davies, Colin. Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations. London: Laurence King, 2006. Amy Frearson. “Postmodernism: Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi.” Dezeen, June 27, 2016. https://www.dezeen.com/2015/08/12/ postmodernism-architecture-vanna-venturi-house-philadelphia-robertventuri-denise-scott-brown/.
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
02 MICRO-NATURE
The person of the future looks at the architecture of the past as an existing condition, a constellation of decaying objects, all part of an evolving environment. In this semester, I first explored the micronature of Vanna Venturi house by integrating a new material into the existing structure. Through house analysis, I re-imagined the house by keeping the original context but changing the house structure by integrating a new material.
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Photographs
As humans, we perceive the idea of a home different from one to another. 20
Part II MICRO-NATURE
Photographs
I explored the city to find tangible examples of “mirror” and capture them as photographs, hence have a more experiential understanding of the theme. 21
Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:50 Analysis models
Layering system
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Compressed use
Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:50 Analysis models
Asymmetry
Conflict of scale
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Analysis Diagrams
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
Analysis Diagrams
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Spatial organisation - The fireplace and the staircase are the hearth of the house which compete for space with the entrance - The interior of the house centered around the fireplace and staircase - Ant eye view is adopted to show the how different activities and services can happen around the core 26
Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:100 Analysis Axonometric drawing
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Conflicts of scale - The chimney and the entrance are ‘too big’ for the house when people look outside but in fact smaller in their real state - It is a little house that uses big scale to counterbalance the complexity - The big scale in this small building achieves an appropriate architectural tension 28
Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:100 Analysis Axonometric drawing
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:100 Material models
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Towel
Wood
Leaves
Aluminium foil
Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:100 Material Models
Towel
Scouring Pad
Chips
Tissue
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Iterations - Diagrams
Diagrams inspired by wood
Diagrams inspired by leaves 32
Part II MICRO-NATURE
Iterations - Diagrams
Diagrams inspired by towel
Design diagram 33
Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Documentation & Abstraction
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
Diagrams- Tectonic Explorations
Multiplying
Representation & Materiality
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:50 Tectonic model
Iteration 1
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:50 Tectonic model
Iteration 2
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:50 Tectonic model
Iteration 3
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:50 Tectonic model
Iteration 4 39
Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Research study (Further House Analysis) Venturi’s contradiction can also be found in his plans. According to Venturi’s own explanation of the house in his book “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture”, Venruri describes his plan as a distorted derivation of ‘Palladian rigidity and symmetry’.
Palladian Architecture: - Arranged according to a division into three in both directions - Dominant central space, surrounded by subsidiary rooms - Symmetrical & have strict proportions 40
Part II MICRO-NATURE
Research study
Venturi broke the Palladian rules and discipline in different ways: - Establishing and then destroying symmetry: asymmetrical plan, windows - Creating then denying axes : putting the fireplace and staircase together and blocking the axis of entrance (which is open in the palladian plans)
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Design Diagrams
Re-imagining by reconstrtucting elements from Palladian architecture.
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:20 Chimney model
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:100 Original House Plan
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Part II MICRO-NATURE
1:100 Reimagined House Plan
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
03 MACRO-NATURE
The countless realities of our changing environment call for a new approach to design. In order to make architecture compatible with our contemporary world, it should respond to the evolving environment by being able to accommodate the changes to come. In the second part of this semester, I revealed the idea of living with nature by responding to its natural context and surroundings. Starting from the essential diagram of the house, I re-imagined the house by changing the form and program.
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:200 Site model
“Nature” = Site context
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
Site Analysis
- Far away from main road
- Surrounded by trees
- Different from other houses in the same area
- Protective environment
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:200 Iteration models
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
Iterations - Sketches & Diagrams
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Space Exploration - Diagrams
To understand the issue of transformation, a new programme is added to the house - a studio + gallery space. One family that uses part of the house as a workplace, used by an additional 4 people.
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
Space Exploration - Diagrams
To start off, I tried to sketch different possiblities of dividing the programmes. 53
Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
Design Diagrams - Redefining boundaries
Indoor vs Outdoor boundary
Private vs Public boundary
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
1:100 Reimagined House Plan
First Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
3035792195 Fong Sam Zung Vanna Venturi House Reimagined Plan Scale 1:50
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
1:100 Original House Plan
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
1:50 Reimagined House Plan
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
1:100 Unfolded Reimagined House Section
3035792195 Fong Sam Zung Vanna Venturi House Unfolded Sections Scale 1:75
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
1:100 Reimagined House Sectional Perspective
Fong Sam Zung 3035792195 Reimagined House Sectional Perspective Scale 1:50
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
Pencil Drawings - Interior Renderings
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1 My reading to the original house is how it divide serve and servant by compressing most rooms and service to the front facade. What I did as a reimagination is to duplicate the service part to the front, redefining the boundaries of the house. Challenging and contrasting with the protective and enclosing context, I reveal what’s hidden inside the house. In the original house, there is a clear definition of an enclosing figure. But in the reimagined one, some structures are exposed to create irregular and complex boundaries between previous serve vs servant or now private vs public. These layers make the entering of the house a multiplied experience.
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
1:50 Final Sectional model
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Portfolio ARCH2079 Semester 1
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Part III MACRO-NATURE
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