James Ryan DAB310 Studio 7: March 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PROPOSED CABIN

Obviously for my cabin to reflect the qualities of the exemplar house of which i chose, Casa Tolo, the buildings orientation needs to be quite linear hugging the side of a mountain. I have chosen to play with this linear function and adapted two extra rooms on the side of the main living area. This allows the spatial quality to grow within the house and also supply extra rooms for human activities. These two extra rooms, one being a second study, and one being a bedroom, also create extra balcony space 'garden terrace' of which Alvaro may use to soak up the sun and reflect. Not only the views from the balcony's are outstanding but with 1 large window pane on each of the rooms facing north, the view is exceptional all from the comfort of your chair/bed.

By facing the building north, this exposes it to the gentle rays of sunrise which shine through the big windows at a slight angle. This is for the cooler months as it heats the rooms on cold mornings. It also provides protection from the south-west storms and strong winter winds.

There are several main characteristics of which i have designed within my proposed cabin which correlate directly to the three themes, a house is an environmental filter, a house is a container of human activities, and a house is a delightful experience. These features going into more depth on the corresponding posts.

SITE PLAN

INITIAL CABIN THOUGHTS/SKETCHES

From analyzing the Casa Tolo exemplar, there are several important factors to consider whilst designing a cabin for the architect. A house is an environmental filter, a house is a container of human activities, and a house is a delightful experience. Going through, each of these themes and deeply researching the characteristics, which is posted on this blog site as diagrams, I have been able to transfer the house's qualities and features to my proposed cabin design. With these features in place, the cabin represents the qualities and influences of which the Casa Tolo contains.

The ventilation amongst this region is also very fitting for the proposed climate and surrounings. As the building had large planes of glass and not actual windows, I have created a set of louvers on the side each room towards the top, adjacent to the balcony's this allows cross ventilation through the use of natural wind and also lets the heat from the inside out has it raises to the top of the room and leaves through the louvers.

A HOUSE IS DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE

Delight - A house is a Delightful Experience

- Materials/structure

Exposed concrete creates an idea like that of massive stones appearing naturally on site, as if it were the remains of a distant culture or even some sort of bunker.

Timber stairs mirror image the concrete stairs on the exterior to further unveil the linear fucntion of the house.

- Sensory Experiences

Sight, as the house is bulit on a mountain range and is a steep linear building, there are several critical views from both the inside and out. The living room, study, bedroom and each balcony overlooks the bottom gully of the mountain, providing an experience of being in the Forrest.

- Aesthetics

The house consists of stained timber floors and doors, these contrasts with the white walls which enhance the sense of space within the skinny building.

The white walls correlate with the exterior concrete and the concrete floors are edged by a warm lightly coloured timber floor.

References

Feireiss K & L 2006, Architecture of Change.
Sustainability & humanity in the built environment, London.

Fundacao de Serralves 2009, jorgetsvaresmsn youtube video,
viewed on 20 March 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJqEnZHK_Ys

Pearson, Clifford, A 2006, 'In northern Portugal, Alvaro Leite Siza Vieira cascades Casa Tolo down a steep slop through terraced gardens, Architectural Record, vol. 198, issue 4, pp. 128-135.

Casa Tolo 2005, A Weekly Dose of Architecture, New York,
viewed 13 March 2010, http://www.archidose.org/May06/050806.html

Casa Tolo 2004, Concrete,
viewed 13 March 2010, http://www.concrete.net.au/CplusA/issue5/casa.php

World Changing, 2009, Architectural gem of the day: Casa Tolo,
viewed 25 March 2010 http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008408.html

FG+SG 2006, Alvaro Leite Siza Vierira,
viewed 12 March 2010, http://www.fernandoguerra.com/tolo/

A HOUSE IS A CONTAINER OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES

Commodity - A house is a Container of Human Activities

- Functionality

The exterior stairs that create a link between the patios mirror the intereior stairs whic have the same fucktion of linking the internal spaces of the house.

From the top of each set of stars, they link different rooms stating at a study to kitchens, living room, dining area and further down to bedrooms, toilet and powerplan.

- Public and Private Zones

The creation of a pedestrian link between the paths of the upper and lower levels provcide two separate ways of entering certain rooms for either public use, i.e balcony's and living/dinning rooms, and private for study and bedrooms.

- Adjacency

Between each room they are basically built on top of each other and linking them with a set of stairs make the rooms all adjacent to each other. Linking outside and inside to each separate and own balcony creates a nature like experience with the surroundings.

A HOUSE IS AN ENVIROMENTAL FILTER

Firmness - A house is an Environmental Filter

- Climatic Filter

The building absorbs quite a lot of sun in the morning which makes the house gain heat, this can be very comforting throughout the colder months of Portugal. Throughout the warmer months, the earth cools the house down as half of the interior space is plugged into the ground.

Casa Tolo also has a natural and rather ingenious design feature , Alvaro implemented 1m square concrete pavers for added weather protection and thermal insulation.

- Micro Environment

The architect embraced it using the slope as the home's main characteristic. The home begins at the top of the hill and slowly reveals itself as you descend down the outdoor staircase.

Each room spills onto a concrete roof, becoming a terrace which is concieved as an outdoor garden room. This provides several outstanding views of the mountain leaving you thinking your apart of it.

The choice of exposed concrete creates an idea like that of massive stones appearing naturally on the site. Expressiveness is extracted from a continuous structure of reinforced concrete.

- Macro Environment

The building faces north and allows it to receive optimal solar exposed throughout the day, also leaving you to enjoy a particular natural view.

Sunrise shines through at an angle to heat up the house and as the orientation of the sun progresses the direct light shines down on the pavers.

EXEMPLAR DRAWINGS

TUBAC HOUSE - Research

References

Archipedia 2007, Tubac House,
viewed on 7 March 2010, http://www.archipedia.org/buildings/tubachouse

Inventor Spot 2006-2010, Innovative Architecture of the Tubac House,
viewed on 7 March 2010, http://inventorspot.com/architecture_tubac_house

Youtube 2010, Rick Joy's Tubac House,
viewed on 7 March 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TYzaN8RMvQ

Google Books 2010, Rick Joy: Desert Works,
viewed 7 march 2010, http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dU70go5Q4zgC&oi=fnd&pg=PT11&dq=Tubac+house&ots=95WT78Oifd&sig=vPd5x5v7GAvbHUv2-hLTbycQ_fY#v=onepage&q=Tubac%20house&f=false

BALAAM RESIDENCE - Research

References

Australian Institute of Architects 2009, Balaam Residence,
viewed on 5 March 2010, http://www.architecture.com.au/awards_search?option=showaward&entryno=2007040378

Shaun Lockyer Architects 2009, Award Winning Brisbane Architecture Design,
viewed on 5 March 2010, http://www.lockyerarchitects.com.au/project.php?project=balaam

Blog Spot 2010, Modern Residential Design,
viewed on 5 March 2010, http://modresdes.blogspot.com/2007/11/arkhefield-balaam-house.html

Arkhefield 2009, Design Approach,
viewed on 5 March 2010, http://www.arkhefield.com.au/projectdetail.php?id=163&cat=1

Rattenbury K., Bevan R. & Long K 2008 , Architects Today, New York.

CASA TOLO - Research

This building directly relates to the 3 primary themes - A house is an environmental filter, a house is a container of human activities and a house is a delightful experience.

The house has been inserted into the decending hill as if it were apart of the natural surroundings, throughout the building process, 2 trees were removed. It embraces the natural enviroment by using the slope as the homes main characteristic. As you can see in the pictures it is surrounded by trees and srubs, Alvaro had to design his building to blend in with the surrounding environment.

The house features two natural forms of insulation, one being cooled in the warmer months using the earth which surrounds it on three sides. It further contains concrete pavers for added weather protection and thermal insulation. The way Casa Tolo was designed to belnd in with the environment was by the choice of ecposed concrete as it portrays massive stones appearing naturally on the site.

If you like waking up to gentle soft rays of the sunrise than you will never leave Casa Tolo. The bulding faces north and allows it to recieve optimal solar exposed. More importantly he designed the bedrooms and placed them into the earth on 45 degree angles, this lets the room shine a large amount of sun inside the room early mornings.

The functional use of the house is exceptional. The exterior stairs mirror the interior stairs which have the same function of linking the internal spaces. From the top of either the interior or exterior stairs they link each different room which will be further shown in diagrams.

Between each room they are basically built on top of each other and linking them with a set of stairs make the rooms all adjacent to each other.

The house also features timber stairs which mirror image the concrete stairs on the exterior to further unveil the linear function of the house. As the building is built on a mountain range which is quite steep, there are several critical views from both inside and out. The iving room, study, bedroom and each balcony overlook the bottom gully of the mountain providing and experience of being apart of the forrest.

James Ryan DAB310 Studio 7