HOUSE IN SANTA MONICA

HOUSE IN SANTA MONICA AN ARTIST’S HOME

Project by Karim Khayati & Di Liang Eric Owen Moss Vertical Studio (DS 4000) SCI-Arc, Fall 2020 Location - Santa Monica Canyon, CA, USA Duration - 2 months Softwares - Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD Height - 33 feet (10 meters) Floor Area - 4,500 Sqft (415 sqm) 3 Floors & 1 Underground

STALACTITE

* A Stalactite a tapering structure hanging like an icicle from the roof of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water.

CONCEPT

The project intends to design a post-COVID home that would be a free-soul space. An architecture that serves as a space for deep thinking, introspection,

imagination, daydream, and contemplation.

The house is located on a small site in Santa Monica Canyon and is boarded by the Rustic Creek. The formal language of the house takes the shape of a stalactite and is gently resting on an artificial landscape that allows water from the canal to enter the site and create water ponds where the building and landscape connect. The water is then collected and stored in an underground container which will later be used to pump water onto the west facade and the bottom surfaces of the house, creating unique urban views with waterfall effects. The structural design of the house is orchestrated by three columns rising from the landscape, followed by structural floor rings, and secondary structures.

Spatially, the 4 level house creates distinctive spaces for each program such as a living room, bedroom, contemplation space, workspace, library, wellness area, and multiple outdoor spaces. At the top floor, a panoramic balcony followed by a long ribbon window allows the user to have a full uninterrupted view of the pacific ocean and the urban landscape.

3D SECTIONAL QUALITY

* The house sits lightly on the sunken site. The formal quality of the design is emphasized by 3 connections to the ground generated from the stalactite. When the house makes contact with the site, the landscape formally adapts.

2D SECTIONS

* The house is on 4 levels; The underground being a space of meditation, the ground floor is a space for living, the first floor is a space for resting, the the third floor is a space for work and itellect.

Flexible Space

Car Parking

Contemplation Cave Master Bedroom

WC Section AA

Workspace & Library

WC

Kitchen Living Room

Waterfall

Outdoor Plaza Under the House

Underground water tank

360 Balcony +33ft

+23ft

+13ft

+3ft

+0ft

-15ft

-21ft Section BB

Workspace & Library

Waterfall Living Room

Outdoor Plaza Under the House

Underground water tank

2D FLOOR PLANS

B

Outdoor Plaza Under the House

B

B

Living Room

B

Kitchen

WC House Entrance

UG access Underground Floor Plan

Cut at -10ft (-3m)

Contemplation Cave A

Ground Floor Plan

Cut at 5ft (1.3m)

Car Parking A

B

B

Master Bedroom

WC

B

360 Balcony

Workspace & Library

B

Flexible Space Second Floor Plan

Cut at 15ft (4.5mm)

A

Third Floor Plan

Cut at 25ft (7.8m)

A

CIRCULATION

North/East iso

* The straircases of this house are either outdoors or indoors to facilitate the way residents get tthe different spaces.

X-RAY ENVELOPE

North/East iso

* The structure of the project makes the different formal languages of the project become cohesive. The structure tends to obey and disobey to the overall massings, and that is the way to blurr its identity.