house for a Builder II

The third object in the Nine Square Grid studies is also a compact family house located in the Latvian seaside town of Saulkrasti. The brief shares the same context, set of limitations and task as the house for a Builder I and thus can expand on the strategy through a different spatial structure. Its introverted outer shell directs the language of space making inwards and elaborates on a very specific personal experience.

• Commission – undisclosed.
• Programme – family house.
• Location – Saulkrasti, Latvia.
• Building area – 110 m2.
• Status – design concept in 2018.

The Character of the Place

Initial situation, Saulkrasti, 2018

The character of the place can once again be described by a suburban setting that defines the built condition. While being in the city feels a certain way, the edge of the urban is a far more fragmented and personal context. Each plot is introverted and closed; each locale is deeply individual.

Strategy

Situation plan

The site where the Builder intends to build his second house establishes itself in the context of rational individuality. It is located next to the house for a Builder I. The built fabric creates a pattern of introverted objects, allowing the Builder’s dwelling to accept this narrative and to formulate a strictly personal emotional condition within the object. The building becomes an actor within the built suburban condition. Its design strategy – a continuation of the object-oriented approach that ponders about the inherent character of a dwelling within an autonomous structure. Like house for a Pastor and house for a Builder I, house for a Builder II is an internally curated space that uses the Nine Square Grid strategy to form a spatial and functional composition.

Chosen spatial structure

Nine Square Grid

Compositional and programmatic organization

The object continues to build upon the compositional pattern of the Nine Square Grid. While the building creates a similar external dialogue as the neighbouring house for a Builder I, rendering the outer volume as a relatively mute object, internally both buildings present contrasting spatial structures. Direct centrality is substituted for zonal clarity between the private and the open.

Spatial Organization

Floor plan

The programme is laid out in functional blocks of private and living spaces. Private rooms are located at one end of the building while living rooms at the other. Both areas adapt to the shifted scheme of the Nine Square Grid. An entry point is placed in-between the two zones, creating a passageway through the threshold space between the closed and the open. Poetics of space are encountered at the junction of sections where the open and the private engage. Centrality shifts to appear at the moment of clarity. The upper aperture fills the threshold area and feeds the open spaces as well as the adjacent closed spaces. Marginal in appearance, the opening achieves an indirect space-oriented centrality.

Façade and Geometry

The external volume is organized in a similar manner as the previous two projects and follows the already established notion of essentiality and proportion. The general rhythm of open and closed façade segments secures visual cohesion and eliminates unnecessary details. Its upper half is once again a separate element that unifies the roof and chimney structures. With an uncluttered and quiet appearance, the object finds itself comfortable with the setting of modern vernacular rationality.

Façade proportions

Structure

Aldo van Eyck’s Sonsbeek pavilion in Arnhem, the Netherlands, 1966

Being somewhat primal in its material composition, the structure stays faithful to the clarity of spatial articulation. Presence of exposed material details the living spaces onto which meanings can be projected. The threshold area becomes fluid with the adjacent spaces, it’s rawness becomes agile. Aldo van Eyck argues that “Whatever space and time mean, place and occasion mean more.“ ¹ His sculpture pavilion in Sonsbeek Park, Arnhem (1966) serves as a direct inspiration to occasionality within the house for a Builder II. With the introverted nature of private spaces in mind, living areas are shaped for the moment. The wall bends not only create specific spatial entities within the unified whole, they also ensure the continuity of flow and structural integrity.

¹ van Eyck, A. (1960/2008) “Place and Occasion” in Aldo van Eyck: Collected Articles and Other Writings 1947-1998, eds V. Ligtelijn and F. Strauven (Amsterdam: Sun Publishers), p 471.