MICHAEL ON DESIGN

The environment within which I grew up fostered an awareness and appreciation of accidental design. Those un-designed spaces like the house I grew up in, the local tavern or corner restaurant where so many memories, were indelibly etched into my memory. ‘Beautiful’ spaces aren’t always designed. Sometimes they seem to happen all by themselves - as if by accident.

Object based design leads us towards beautiful places in which wonderful things MAY happen. By shaping spaces around the activity rather than the object, there’s a much better chance wonderful things WILL happen there.

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In 2005, a Harvard college colleague took me to his newly purchased suburban site just outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and asked me if I’d design a house for him and his young family. It took me about 1 second to say yes, I’d love to!

See the project plans >>

This new home responds to the wonderful year round climate in Puerto Rico and heavily wooded, sloped back yard of the property.

We began by building 3 natural stone walls running the length of the property. We envisioned that these walls were always here and we’d build a house around them by placing glass walls perpendicular to the stone walls. This makes the house transparent, front to back, and anchors it to the landscape.

Glass, stone, plants and water: this was going to be the palette.

Reflecting pools between the house, garage and forecourt add to the lightness of the structure and reflect moving water patterns on the underside of the roof. Blue lights under the bridge highlight the bridge’s etched glass and water below. Nighttime is spectacular.

By using an inverted gable roof, the views from all areas in the house are expanded to the tree tops and beyond. The cantilevered roof shades the house from the harsh sun and conceals solar powered electrical systems from sight. Beyond the patio and outdoor kitchen is a cantilevered lap pool which extends along one of the stone walls into the woods.

On the left side of the house, attached to the garage is a service corridor that contains the maid’s quarters, laundry, mechanical and storage rooms. These areas lead to the kitchen, dining areas and the children’s playroom. Continuing to the right, on the other side of the kitchen is a large 2 story living area. The far wall of the room is now polished concrete.

The back wall is 2 stories of glass capturing the magnificent views of the jungle beyond. The front to the living area is raised 24” to create a smaller reading and entertaining space. Above this space is a bridge leading to a home office.

Upstairs there is a large master bedroom suite and 3 junior suites, one for each of the children. A single glass enclosed stair connects the 2 floors.

One of my favorite pieces of the house is the pool. Originally designed to cantilever out from the level part of the property into the jungle beyond, it has a glass bottom with blue lights shining through the water onto another tall stone wall.

Gorgeous. Brilliant. Dramatic.

PDF Floor plans are all below…..

First Floor

Second Floor

Front Elevation

Rear / Side Elevation

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I create motion and drama everyday. In fact if I’m not building this into my spaces, I’m not creating architecture. Come to think of it, I’m not sure if there can be architecture without motion.

Take the pyramids of Giza, for example. On the surface one would think, there they are immovable, indestructible static examples of one of man’s greatest engineering achievements. While we’re at it let’s throw in Picassos’ Guernica, Grand Central Station in New York and your bed room.

I can’t speak for other designers but when I talk about motion I’m referring to your perception of the space or object as you move around it. Although Michelangelo’s Pieta is a ‘frontal’ sculpture, it’s recently been shown ‘in the round’. There is so much more to see as one walks around it. It becomes more ‘alive.’ One’s understanding of it is so much more deep when many sides are seen in one viewing.

The pyramids of Giza look very different at sunrise than sunset, up close and from a distance, in the dark or in the blazing midday sun. Suddenly what appears to be a static, fixed object becomes dynamic and full of drama as one walks around it, or views it from different vantage points.

Although Picassos’ Guernica is a large flat stretch of canvas, one tends to ‘read’ it from left to right. As if a story is being told. The horrors of war, the futility of destruction are dramatically designed on the canvas. Go bask and see it again and more information becomes available. Read about the history and process of it’s creation and it becomes even more live.

Finally your bedroom. Although it has the same pieces of furniture in it everyday, it looks and feels different when the morning light streams in through the blinds, or at night, reading with a small book light.

Motion is everywhere. As you walk through your house, take a minute and become aware of the things in it and how they look different, how the motion of your eyes over the objects change your perception of them. Everything you see is constantly in motion therefore everything is dramatic.

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New England Home Magazine recently asked me “What would your perfect dining room look like for the holidays?” It got me thinking…

My perfect dining room isn’t a room at all. It’s an area on the first floor with a big old overdone mahogany table with probably one or two mismatched chairs for the big occasion. It’s near the food storage and prepare (we don’t call them “kitchens’ in our designs). It’s also near the gathering areas where there are comfortable chairs, sofas, books, family pictures and an entertainment and information center. (We used to call them family rooms, but they’re really places to hang out on the back of the house.)

The dining area has lots of windows overlooking the backyard, vanilla painted wainscoting and a high beamed ceiling. The walls are painted a very pale color, one that no one can really put their finger on. The old dining table is very long for the occasion, the family has brought out the special ‘scenes of ancient Rome’ china, and the Waterford crystal goblets to reinforce suitable behavior from the young ones.

It smells like home cooking, is warmly lit by concealed lights reflecting off the artwork and dark furniture. You know it’s perfect when the glasses are raised and everybody’s smiling.

What would your perfect dining room look like?

Click here to read more magazine articles >>

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Japanese Gardens are quintessential ‘Architectural Promenades.” Every step through the garden is calculated to control when and how you see what the designer wants you to see. In some places you HAVE to look down or you might step into the water. When you look up there is something magnificent to see and is best seen from the bottom up.

Even in the hills surrounding Rome, great villas were built to the East of the city to prepare for the drama of returning Emperors. When the sun was low and the light just right, Emperors would begin their glorious march down the golden hillside through the dramatically lit triumphal arch with the blazing golden Tuscan sun shimmering off their freshly polished armor. What a scene it must have been.

Classic ‘Architectural Promenade’ entices and delivers, teases, and delivers, promises and delivers. Although nothing is actually moving in the house, you are pulled through it with ‘visual carrots’ that keep the eyes and body moving.

Let me give you an example of what’s referred to as an “Architectural Promenade’. I recently completed a new residence in Marblehead. The lot is deep but very narrow. The ‘Promenade’ begins while driving down the street. All the houses are set back about the same distance and there are no fences, hedges or walls along the sidewalks. We replicated this with our house to ‘complete’ the streetscape.

 As you turn into the driveway, the garage is on the right and turned to keep the garage doors off the street. Above the garage is the guest suite so the building doesn’t look like a garage, more like a small gambrel roofed home. At the end of the driveway you see the main building of the home and under a deep roof overhang is a gorgeous hand varnished mahogany door with a brilliantly polished handle. Just to the left of the door is a bay window that frames a view of the stone fireplace and casual seating area.

The promenade is so intense you HAVE to touch this handle, push open this heavy door and see what’s inside. This is architecture in motion. The expectations are set, glimpses of what’s to come have peaked your interest and you have to go in and experience the space.

 Upon entering the front door you see the entire family living and entertainment area and the kitchen to the left. Just as you stop to enjoy the view you notice that more ‘teasers’ are in place. There are French doors on the other side of the family area that lead to the trellised sundeck and garden beyond. You can’t quite see all of the deck and garden but enough to make you want to see more. Behind the kitchen area and through a large heavily cased opening is a dining area.

Look around you own home. Where are there design teasers? How can you heighten the sense of anticipation for your guests? If it’s not exactly what you want it to be, consider….

• - Adding some flower beds to the front of the house

• - Changing the front door

• - Installing the most expensive handle you can afford

• - Putting some low level garden lighting along the walk way

• - A new and interesting doorknocker

These small things will heighten your guests’ sense of ‘Architectural Promenade’ and put in motion the architecture of your home.

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In my mind it’s about listening, respecting and keeping an open mind: every home is designed for someone.- Listen to what your clients are saying.

- Listen to what their needs are and listen to your inner self.

- Respect the building you’re working on.

- Respect the landscape on which it’s located and always respect your clients.

And finally always keep and open mind. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve blown off an idea because I didn’t think it would work only to find out it was very cool solution.

Thoughts?

[Tags: mmdg]

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