A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

Villa Busk in Bamble, Norway by Sverre Fehn, 1990 Sverre Fehn's career has spanned five decades, but it was not until he received the 1997 Pritzker Prize that he gained international renown. This private residence, built in his native country like much of his work, is typical of his buildings in their relation to site, strong materiality, and blend of modernity and regionalism. Much like Finland's Alvar Aalto, Fehn's buildings have a timelessness that arises from these qualities. Villa Busk straddles a ridge, adjacent to a valley that runs to the nearby Oslo Fjord to the south and west. The plan is arranged along a linear spine, oriented east to west, rising to the latter end of the house, following the natural terrain (a tower and storage shed break from this linearity). This gesture describes that main theme of the house and Fehn's work in general: the strength of nature and man's subordinatio...

Thermal Spa in Vals, Switzerland by Peter Zumthor, 1996 Last week's dose transcribed an essay by Peter Zumthor, "Teaching architecture, learning architecture" . This week we look at Zumthor's Thermal Spa in relation to the main ideas in that essay: the sensuousness of materials and architecture as a balance of emotion and reason. Located in the architect's home country of Switzerland, the Thermal Spa in Vals exemplifies Zumthor's recent work and is an ideal building to analyze. The bath house is a simple rectilinear structure, constructed of a local stone, gneiss, formed from the same heat that warms the water of the baths. In plan, the building is organized around a rectangular outdoor pool and a square interior pool, with auxiliary spaces (showers, toilets) contained in small block adjacent to the pools. The separation between indoor spaces is minimal and...

"Teaching architecture, Learning architecture" by Peter Zumthor, excerpted from his book Thinking Architecture published by Lars Müller Publishers in 1998 Young people go to university with the aim of becoming architects, of finding out if they have got what it takes. What is the first thing we should teach them? First of all, we must explain that the person standing in front of them is not someone who asks questions whose answers he already knows. Practicing architecture is asking oneself questions, finding one's own answers with the help of the teacher, whittling down, finding solutions. Over and over again. The strength of a good design lies in ourselves and in our ability to perceive the world with both emotion and reason. A good architectural design is sensuous. A good architectural design is intelligent. We all experience architecture before we have even heard the word. The roots of architectural unde...

Private Residence in Chicago, Illinois by Tadao Ando, 1998 Tadao Ando's first major American commission (after a small gallery design in the Art Institute of Chicago) is a private residence (1998) in the Lincoln Park area north of downtown. The design and construction continue the Japanese architect's consistent body of work with its focus on simple geometries and the relationship between light and space. Ando's work remains aesthetically identical from country to country (having also built in Europe as well as Asia), with context dictating very little except orientation relating to sun, wind, and views. Mainly reinforced concrete, glass, and steel, every building Ando constructs bears these trademarks, with differences arising in composition and spatial progression. This private residence is no exception. Situated on a 75-foot wide triple lot, the house does not attempt to blend in with its neigh...

Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, NY by Steven Holl and Vito Acconci, 1993 Opened in 1993, the facade renovation for the Storefront for Art and Architecture was constructed on a budget of only $45,000. Architect Steven Holl and artist Vito Acconci 's concept for the project of inside becoming outside is achieved by composing the facade with hinged panels. Each panel's unique shape, relationship to other panels, and open or closed condition creates, when combined with environmental conditions, a different facade each day. The design takes its concept and finds a clear solution within a small budget, but the project is also indicative of much of Holl's work in its focus on creating space through detailing, proportion, and the manipulation of light. Pie-shaped in plan, the design opens to the street on one facade; the ...

Casa Lavados in Villarrica, Chile by Mathias Klotz, 1995 Born in 1965 in Santiago, Chile, Mathias Klotz has built extensively in his native country, mainly in single family residences. His work illustrates a strong combination of modernity and vernacular tendencies. A balance is created through the use of local materials and construction techniques with a modernist approach to planning and looking at space. Casa Lavados is a good example of these design sensibilities, though indicative of the unique approached required when designing a house for a family. Constructed in 1995 and sited on the slopes of the Villarrica Volcano, the Lavados house's main occupant who wanted a place to live after retirement where he could welcome his children and grandchildren without disturbing his independence. This requirement is achieved through a vertical distribution of spaces, separating the guests from the inhabitants. The de...

Carlson-Reges Residence in Los Angeles, California by ROTO, 1996 Michael Rotondi and Thom Mayne's partnership in the firm Morphosis created a balance between their two design approaches; emphasizing aspects of construction and theory respectively. When Rotondi left Morphosis and formed ROTO , with Clark Stevens, the exploitation of a building's construction and its inherent process leading to this phase became the focus of the new firm. The Carlson-Reges Residence is indicative of ROTO's unique client interaction, design process, and construction: in this case a design build with the client as builder, a loose experiential modeling coupled with stricter geometrical analysis, and minimal construction documents with much on-site improvisation. The residence is located in an old electric company cabling structure north of downtown Los Angeles. Having lived there for a long time, the couple have amassed a c...