12 Cassels House by Reigo and Bauer

12 Cassels House, Toronto, Canada

designed by Reigo and Bauer

 This house is built in the middle of an urban area and occupies a very narrow footage. The goal of the architects was to design a contemporary house in a narrow space with affordable money.

In fact, this dwelling is priced at condo-range with  few primium things that never happens in condo: three independent levels, front/back yard and maximized amount of natural light from front and back.

C1 House by Curiosity/ Milligram Studio

C1 House, Tokyo, Japan
designed by Curiosity/Milligram Studio

The basic architectural design, a glass box surrounded by a walkway-gallery that connects the floor, was designed before the land was found. the basic design is defined from a user point of view, with movement and discovery as the main theme. The design is not defined by the wall and floor but by the movement of the user within the space, defined by a series of scenes  how the user will appear and disappear from floor to floor.

 The Glowing of the House is accentuated by the non-glowing walkaway, providing the sense of the depth due to the different textures under light.
Althought the walkway is projected from the body of the house in a short distance, it looks like floating and reminds me of the  Atelier Bisque, the house I posted before.

 The walkways also act a filter; therefore, some level of privacy is protected while some are exposed to the public. The location of the walkway may affect on the interior because of the level of revealing.

As seen from the axo,
the structure, itself, is very simple, assembling three different compnents; however, its impact is huge and significant.
Simple is AlWAYS strong.

Hall House 1 by Alphaville

Hall House 1, Tokyo, Japan
designed by Alphaville

This is one of the examples which show what I have in mind as my dream house.
Concrete wall, simple geometric form,
few strong use of glass for light
and vertical shifts over small footages...

This Polygonal concrete house is built for a couple and it occupies a bedroom with bathroom, eat-in kitchen, and a billiard room. What else a couple needs?

 I like the architect dealt with the sloped roof. it not only add interest to the ourline of the house but also brings an unique atmosphere to the interior space because of the gradual change in ceilign height.

Because of the uneven ceiling height, thie house is partailly two storeys therefore, the vertical circulation is siginificant. Three different floor levels hold appropriate purposes for each room which also reminds me my previous project, the Rufer house.

The use of raw concrete and minimum use of colours and decoration add the sense of modern which goes well with the occupants living in the space.

House kn by Kochi Architect's studio

House kn, Kanagawa, Japan

designed by Kochi Architect's Studio

 This dwelling is located in urban residential area in Japan. Structurally, there is a interior courtyard and terrace above it. Its partilly opened exterior wall satisfies two different groups of people. One is those who enjoy their life surrounded and protected by the wall and the other is those who want to "sneek a peak" from outside.

 According to what the architect interviewed;
he started with a box sitting on the ground in the middle of residentail area. Then, he started to cut the box in angle in order to create on opening which helps the dwelling communicate with the surroundings. That is the process how this dwelling turned out to this unique but simple form.

When the sun goes, and night comes, the impact of the form of the house gets more significant. The opened terrace more stand out compared to the massice concrete wall.

 The inside of the House kn...

pretty simple interior design and this open concept space looks functional because it can hold multipurposes.

Chaconne by Yiruma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vvv5ZQQniA&feature=related

I Love this song and it makes me imagine myself having a relaxed time at my dream house. :)

Azuma House by Tadao Ando

Azuma House, Osaka, Japan

designed by Tadao Ando

 This dwelling was built in 1976, located in a dense urban area. Regarding its high density of people and the expensive price of the footage, Tadao Ando created this dwelling in a narrow slot with rooms at front and back connected by open-air bridge through courtyard.

 
"contact with light, air, rain and other natural elements"

" In addition to providing light and serving as the focal point of family life, this small court is a spatial entity that attempts to compensate for the reduced physical space."

"In its simple but rich spatial composition, in its expression of enclosure, and in the way light gives character to daily-life spaces, this house encapsulates an image of my architecture."

-By Tadao Ando from his book 

Having unroofed stairs in the middle of the interior space?

When the weather is fine, this space will be the welcomed focal point of the house, enjoying being inside feeling the sense of outside.

but what if it rains...?

I could not imagine myself heading  living room by passing raining hallway and letting myself get wet.
Did Tadao Ando really want the rain that close?

Tree House by Mount Fuji Architects

Tree House, Tokyo, Japan

designed by Mount Fuji Architets

The outer appearnace of Mount Fuji's Tree House is very much like that of other houses in the neighbourhood, with the exception of its gently sloping, unshingled roof. ( 2nd photo).

The view from the exterior made me wonder why it is called tree house because, in my opinion, only adequate amount of tree was used in exterior.

But when I saw the photo of inside..

now i know why it is a TREE HOUSE.
The interior is simply....wood!
wooden ribs extend vertically, from a central column, towards the ceiling before radiating out and, finally, descending along the wall to the floor.
everything's wood from floor to ceiling.
I am not a fan of one-material-dwelling from head to toe; howerver, the continous use of wood creates a sense of elegance and calmness.

 This 'tree trunk' is to separate the interior into four distinctive spaces, including two living areas. The rooms are allocated spirally around this column, which reminds me the raumplan of the Rufer House designed by Adolf Loos. :D

The use of space above....

I like the idea using a ladder to reach up the space above.
I am pretty sure there will be another access to the higher level becuase using a ladder is not universal and sometimes is dangerous. However, it is kinds of romantic to have it since it reminds people the tree house of attic which is very cozy and private as well as full of secrets.

Vitrahaus by Herzog, De Meuron

Vitrahaus, Rhein, Germany

designed by Herzog & De Meuron

This is a showroom, not a dwelling but it grabbed my attention due its materiality as well as the verticality of the space created by the multi-layered structure.

Same shape of the unite is repeated in different angle, creating interesting and unique facade of the building.

 Except the end the unite, the body is sealed with concrete so there is a dramatic contrast between materials as well as the atmosphere, close and open. It accentuates the inside which can be observed from outside so it brings people inside like a magnetic.

 Before entering the building, it would be interesting standing in the courtyard looking up the units penetrating each other. The void space between units also frames unique view to the nature.

Little bit different from the outside...
Due to the change in floor levels, there are a lot of staircases but the interesting point is that they all are connected in on big curved guardrails, which looks very random comparing to the impression of the outside.

Nest Egg by dmvA

 EGG Laying on Nest?

Blob Vb3, Anywhere

designed by dmvA

What a lovely egg laying in the field!

As the land is getting full of people,
as the price is going high,
as technology is getting better...

designers need to think about the importance of the mobil house.

This cute mobil house, as it is named, is egg-like shaped so when I saw the picture of it in the field, it reminds me the real egg dropped from its nest.

There is no window but two big openings and they remind me of the spaceship or UFO i had seen from SF movies.:D

As seen from the photos, it is very compact place. Is that possible that it can hold multipurposes?

This is the inside of the EGG.
The interior wall echoes the shape of the outer wall which meanse everything in curved. The structure of the wall is more similar to the bees' comb. Square shelving are regularly located along the wall and each shelving holds different task. One is storing books while a unite of four shelvings is used a bed.  The purpose of the shelvings are appointed by its height and size, whichi, i think, is the very clever way to use the space economically.

The only concern of mine is when the openings are open in order to refresh the indoor air, there is no protection for privary AT ALL. Thru the front opening, everything is exposed to the world and the mystery is all gone. But still, it is good enought to be a nice sculpture in outdoor.

The way of Sleeping in Egg...

Since the entire wall is curved, you may not be able to sleep to lie on your back! If you have that habit, then you would better change it!

another thing,

there is no space over your head so you may bump your head to the shelving over your body.

Just be careful.

Elsie Street House by Rossington Architecture

Elsie Street House, San Francisco

designed by Rossington Architecture

The house at 161 Elsie Street is designed to fit comfortably within its context of pitched roofed, bay windowed neighbors while presenting a modern character to its form. The strict design guidelines of the Elsie Street code and the Bernal Heights Special Use District provided challenges that are not found elsewhere in San Francisco. The three bedroom, 2-1/2 bath house fits into a steep upslope lot and provides decks at three levels to take advantage of the views.

- from Rossington Architecture website.

I think this dwelling is successful in a way of using small footages by having multiple levels. As seen from the photo on side, few steps of stairs not only separate the space by function but also connect them in vertical circulation. This kind of spatail relationship makes people feel coziness and motivate to explore the dwelling not by 2d flat levels but 3d volume, considering the relationship among different levels.

Ra-goong Hotel by Gu-ga Architect

Ra-Goong, Kyung-ju, Korea

designed by Gu-ga Architect

This is a high-end hotel in Korea. It is very significant in Korean architectural society because of the increasing interest to Korean traditional architectures as well as the fact that this is the first hotel which followed the concept of Korean traditional dwelling.

 the beauty of Korea...

It is the reason it grabbed my attention. Unlike the dwellings in North America, Korean traditional houses define their boundaries in squares, which is very enclosed concept. In Korean traditional houses, it is common to have walls or fences along the four sides of the boundaries and courtyards in the middle.

In that way, the privacy can be protected while there is still the sense of openness due the central courtyard.

Also, it is very interesting when examining the spatial relationships between different types of rooms. Although each room is separated by walls, every room has direct access to the central courtyard which emphasizes the importance of the courtyard in Korean traditional dwelling.

Deam's house renovated by Chris Deam

Deam's Residence, Mill Valley, California
renovated by Chris Deam

This house is owned by the co-founder of the magazine "Dwell". Her family moved into the renovated dwelling a year ago and enjoy the sunlight of California with huge patio and greenery.

What I liked abou this house is the use of material and the technique used for new understanding of a space.

The Swing door is the one of them.
It is engineered by Sand Studio and they are clever enough to make the 2000-pound door operated by even a little girl.
Its easy access to operated helps to double the interior space by extending its boundary to the outdoor patio.

Regarding of that the the boundary of the indoor and outdoor is not important in this dwelling, the choice of the flooring material for the patio is a thign to be considerated. The owners chose this three-inch-wide pavers, which provides evenness of the concrete paito surface. This product is manufactured by Stepstone Inc. and available in various lengths and in twelve different colours.

Blauvelt-Winter Residence by Julia Snow Architect

Blauvelt/ Winter Residence, Minneapolis

designed by Julie Snow Architect

" I simply was drawn the notion of  concrete. So much  greate modern architecture has made use of it"

" The Challenge, though , was to build a modern house that didn't cost a million, but was still in the city."

How to create a personal space on a buisy urban street corner?
" In a city, your home is your urban retreat. It needs to encompass both a public and private persona."

- by Blauvelt and Winter, the owners of the house

The contour line of the house is very simple, rectilinear following the trend amongst the "modern house". Unfinished concrete walls and big window occupying the wall from bottom to tope are the main design elements of this house.

In order to create a calming private spcae on a well- trod urban corner, they designed the central courtyard. This courtyard is the focal point of the house which means to be a sanctuary.

I think this house is successful in ways of its keen sense of material, scale and propotion as well as the meeting the clients' need: creating an urban retreat in the middle of a city.

Atelier Bisque by UID

Atelier Bisque, Osaka, Japan
designed by UID architect

This residence-studio is in Minoh, Osaka belongs to an artist who makes bisque dools.

The building resembles a floating white sandwich wiht a verdant courtyard at its centre. Keisuke Maeda, the architect who designed this, said that the house is a place for life to create new communications with the help of the natural environments.

create new communications with the help of the natural environments....

That is the key point I like among the characteristics of this house. White floating wall is projected from the body of the building embracing the trees in yard. The floating wall represents the profound statement that says the residence and the landscape are not to be separated but should be cooperated in order to create the perfect house where people can live with joy.

Furthermore, there is a beauty of balancing between the simple straight form of the building and lively organic form of the nature, tree, as seen from the photo on side.

Due to the floating wall, the view at eyelevel is obstructed; howerver, it teaches people to see the view at different angles. For example, the big skylight created by the horizontal shift of the wall provides the panoramic view of the sky as well as lets the light come into the interior space. The minimumness of the design and the material accentuated the house's incorporation with the sence of nature, which makes this dwelling so unique and special.