This modern single family home fits organically into its hilly lakeside site just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. The single story home features a “look-out” basement level to accommodate for more sun-lit living spaces.
The first request made by the resident of this apartment, was to have a minimalist environment, with references to Scandinavian architecture.
The design solution that resulted is the marriage of landscape and architecture. Though the neighborhood itself is graded flat, the parkland to the north is a wild original dunescape. By restoring our idea of the original natural state to the site, we created a set of hydrodynamic dunes with penetrations that allow water to sluice through the land
High above the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts, just two miles from the New York border, a winding road ascends the ridge of a mountain and leads to a quiet gravel turn-off at the Berkshire Residence.
This Alamo Square house embodies San Francisco’s contemporary culture: modern yet enamored with the city’s rich history. The setting is Alamo Square Park, a city-owned park built in 1857 and known for its “Painted Ladies,” the row of Victorian homes captured on many postcards.
Perched above the bedrock at the shore of a remote Canadian lake, the cedar-clad Kennedy House takes formal cues from driftwood. The three-bedroom house, dock house, garage, and walled vegetable garden are linked by a series of wood walkways and decks.
They requested a house of permanent use with the special requirement that it should make it possible to live intensely the relationship between interior and exterior spaces, so appreciated by the clients. Another request expressed was that, although they were interested in a house built with exposed concrete, they wanted the presence of the wood to break that monochromatic expression.
The commission consisted of two waterfront houses, on a narrow piece of land, compressed by the sea and a cliff. Thus, the question arises immediately: how not to fall into the evident blatancy of the view to the sea, having it in front like an unavoidable scene with no mediating between sight and sea? The answer is to measure.
