Project Name: 118 "Artist Getaway Studio"

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Project Description

Credits

Program/Scope

The design of this project was for an artist/person that would use the house whenever his travels brought him to Los Angeles, hence "getaway." The program was very minimal containing only a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom (around 450 square feet). The objective of such a small project was that it was to be built at 1" = 1’-0", to allow students the opportunity to explore building techniques and details to be built as if one would build it in real life.

Solution

The design of the "getaway" house drew inspiration from case study houses such as the Kappe House, where the spaces were open and visible thus blurring boundaries and making the spaces seem bigger. There are three zones to the project, the first being the service with the entrance and bathroom being on the same level and the kitchen being slightly higher. The second is the living zone with an open space that can be used and changed for whatever occasion, and a patio/balcony where one can walk outside. The last zone is the bedroom zone with the bedroom and a balcony.

The roof of the house consists of ceiling louvers that control the amount of light that enter throughout the day, and also allow one to view the stars at night. The various zones are designed with the tectonic of series of folded planes that serve to tie the spaces together and to elongate them.

Due to the nature and degree of detail in the project, the project proved as a good testing ground for the use of the computer. To my own surprise, I astonished to see how similar the design explored on the computer related with the finished product. Since there are still many advocates that say that the computer is an unreliable tool that can be used to easily manipulate one’s view/perception of a space.