Hasta La Ideas

The three-fingered plan of this rural Californian retreat by Mork-Ulnes Architects is oriented to frame views of a mountain ridge, vineyards and a local landmark named Eagle Rock (+ slideshow).

Mork-Ulnes Architects, which has offices in California and Oslo, designed the Moose Road house as a simple getaway for two young couples, using low-cost engineered materials such as plywood and oriented strand board.

The house’s sprawling volume stretches out across its site like a splayed glove, setting up apertures towards the various landmarks whilst avoiding the roots of several nearby oak trees.

“The main challenge was to frame these three separate views while at the same time, preserving each existing oak tree on site,” explained architect and studio founder Casper Mork-Ulnes.

A solution the architect and team members Greg Ladigin and Andreas Tingulstad came up with was to raise the building off the ground on steel stilts. This also helped to frame the best views through the three floor-to-ceiling windows.

The outer skin of the house comprises a layer of steel siding. Interior walls are lined with birch plywood, while floors display the chipboard aesthetic of oriented strand board, which has been cleaned with a lye soap solution.

“To cut cost as well as meet sustainability goals of the clients, the building was designed using standard-sized, off-the-shelf sheet goods to minimise waste,” said Mork-Ulnes.

Entrance to the house is via a small porch that steps down to meet the ground. This leads through to an open-plan living room and kitchen that offers the view towards Eagle Rock – a rocky outcrop named after its resemblance to an eagle’s head.

Bedrooms are located within the two smaller wings and are screened behind self-contained toilet and closet units that are glazed at the top to allow light to filter through each space.

Furniture was added sparsely to prevent the interior feeling cramped, but includes a selection of burnt wood pieces by San Francisco artist Yvonne Mouser.

Photography is by Bruce Damonte.

Here’s a project description from Mork-Ulnes Architects:

Moose Road

Three locally known land formations can be seen from the site of this project: “Eagle Rock”, a mountain ridge, and the valley of vineyards below. The main challenge was to frame these three separate views while at the same time, preserving each existing oak tree on site.

The three fingers extend precisely in between the existing trees, each oriented toward a land formation. The house was constructed on steel stilts to avoid severing tree roots. 

To cut cost as well as meet sustainability goals of the clients, the building was designed using standard sized, off-the-shelf sheet goods (unfinished plywood and OSB) to minimise waste. The building was accomplished with a tiny budget (by California standards) at under $190 per square foot.

Architecture firm – Mork-Ulnes Architects
Project Design Team – Greg Ladigin, Casper Mork-Ulnes, Andreas Tingulstad
Contractor – Crossgrain Co. Inc.
Structural Engineer – Double-D Engineering

Site size: 16 acres
Building size: 1,140 square feet
Construction cost per square foot: $190

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frames the Californian landscape appeared first on Dezeen.

This black wooden house in Austria by Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher Architekten is raised off the ground on wonky metal stilts to frame views of the landscape and allow room underneath for a sheltered garden (+ slideshow).

Austrian firm Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher Architekten designed S House for a pair of school teachers in Vorderweissenbach, northern Austria, who asked for a floor area of 130 square metres arranged on a single storey.

There was no requirement for a basement floor, so the architects were able to position the building at the highest point of the sloping site. The front of the structure meets ground level, while the rear is lifted several metres into the air.

Rooms are arranged on a U-shaped plan that wraps around an elevated terrace. Bedrooms and a study run along one side and the other half contains a large living, dining and kitchen space.

“We tried to combine the requirements and the qualities of the plot in a very cost-effective design. The U-shape of the house made a very familiar and protected terrace with stunning views,” architect Dietmar Hammerschmid told Dezeen.

The architects gave the building a timber structure, meaning construction could be completed in just four months.

Exterior walls are clad with roughly sawn spruce and were painted matte black using traditional Swedish Falu Rödfarg paint.

“We chose the black paint because the U-shaped building has a very large surface and a dark building integrates better into the surrounding landscape,” added Hammerschmid.

Wooden floors run through the house, while large windows frame views towards the surrounding hills.

Here’s a brief description from Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher Architekten:

S House – Vorderweissenbach

Initial situation was a steep, rather small plot of land with excellent views.

The owners required a cost-efficient house with a maximum of 130 square metres of living space. A basement was not necessary. These requirements led to the decision, to base the whole building on pillars.

The U-shaped floor plan responds to the neighbouring settlement. Living rooms and bedrooms are oriented to a terrace that offers great views of the surrounding hills.

Because of the chosen typology the natural terrain could be untouched over the whole plot.

In the garden the building offers a large, weather-protected area.

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Pachl Seebacher raised up on stilts appeared first on Dezeen.

Seattle studio Olson Kundig Architects has produced visualisations imagining the fictional scenes before and after a freight train carrying toxic chemicals haphazardly plunged into a lake where artist Jack Daws was building a house on stilts (+ slideshow).

As part of a project entitled The House That Jack Built, Olson Kundig‘s images accompany an account written by Jack Daws of an imaginary series of events whereby the artist tried to build an enticing retreat, but ended up with a refuge in a perilous environment.

The story tells of how Daws had become disillusioned by architects’ invasion of the art world and reacted by trying his hand at architecture.

Inspired by the houses of Seattle architect Tom Kundig, the artist planned a cabin at the centre of Walden Pond, Massachusetts, and built it on 24-metre stilts using tiles and rails pilfered from a local railway. This action destabilised the railway and led to the crash of the train.

Images and a model of the building are on show in the Mercer Gallery of Walden 3 in Seattle, presented as if the events genuinely took place.

“The installation is meant to be a starting point for self-reflection and a critical inquiry into contemporary society, engaging such topics as reincarnation, artistic attribution, admiration, false identity, thievery, tribute, injury and environmental degradation to ruin,” reads the exhibition text.

The fictional tale also extends to the exhibition opening, where architect Kundig is reported to have taken a punch at Daws over the attempt to rip off his style. This scene is also visualised in a rendering.

The House That Jack Built is the first project by Olson Kundig Outpost, the firm’s new visualisation studio, and forms part of the Itinerant Projects series of collaborations between the architects and various site-specific artists.

Here’s more information from Jack Daws and Olson Kundig Architects:

The House That Jack Built

Conceptual artist Jack Daws, in conjunction with Olson Kundig Outpost, present a new work entitled The House that Jack Built. The work will be featured at the Mercer Gallery at Walden Three from January 17 through March 16, 2014.

The House that Jack Built is based upon The Pond (a somewhat mystical account of my foray into architecture), Daws’ firsthand account of his efforts to build a cabin in the middle of Walden Pond only to have a freight train loaded with toxic chemicals plunge into its waters. The installation includes Daws’ story, a large-scale model of the cabin, and accompanying images depicting the pond before and after the environmental disaster. The installation is meant to be a starting point for self-reflection and a critical inquiry into contemporary society, engaging such topics as reincarnation, artistic attribution, admiration, false identity, thievery, tribute, injury and environmental degradation to ruin.

For Daws, and ultimately the subject of this exhibition, trouble began when he acted upon his growing irritation at architects for steadily eroding the boundaries of art and for taking art commissions he believes should be reserved for artists. His defiance led him to try his hand at architecture, and designing and building his own cabin – taking inspiration from the work of noted Seattle architect, Tom Kundig. Daws positioned his cabin, made from pilfered railroad ties and rails from a nearby railway, atop 80-foot steel rails in the middle of Walden Pond. Tragically, his theft of the rails led to the devastation of Walden Pond. In the post-accident image included in the exhibition, the wreckage of a freight train carrying toxic waste is shown spilling its contents into the idyllic setting.

Known to bend rules, Daws has made his mark challenging authority and tackling complex social issues. With The House that Jack Built, Daws threatens to challenge the boundaries of what an artist should be doing, and the territory they have no business meddling in. “I don’t care what my detractors think,” said Daws. “La historia me absolverá.” Greg Lundgren, executive director of Walden 3 adds, “Walden 3 prides itself on encouraging the artists it presents to take risks and challenge conventional wisdom. We do not censor their work or discourage their passions. But Jack took us to the absolute end on this one.”

Two new ventures for Olson Kundig Architects have supported this installation: Itinerant Projects is the firm’s new installation program which will locate four migratory collaborations in site-specific installations across the globe; and Olson Kundig Outpost, a new creative production studio that supported Mr. Daws with photography and visual effects.

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a house on stilts above a polluted lake appeared first on Dezeen.

Designer Robert Gaukroger has completed three wooden classrooms on stilts in a forest clearing in the Lake District, UK. (more…)