Study for a three sided house – Notes on Architecture 2
An interesting aspect of architectural design is that there is much that is similar between small projects and large, it is of course just the literal question of scale – and scale makes some things easier, some harder, and some considerations are the same. It is easy to find examples where scale and complexity don’t correlate in the the most obvious way. Small and large projects will have countless aspects to be be weighted and considered in depth.
The idea of a house design as an appropriate opportunity to explore an architectural idea – even a thesis isn’t new. Of course the thesis to be meaningful must prove right for the actual project itself, that is the house, but it must also speak to other scales of projects as well. Potentially bigger or smaller, and potentially for other uses.
The home as a small ritualized sequence of spaces, is a worthy place to make a broad architectural statement. In addition to scale and use, or even the possibly for an architectural thesis, considerations include those for layout as a pattern, the sequence of light and view and experience, details, materials, and relationships big and small. The list is endless, and all of these apply across the trade, across the art, at the scale of a house, a museum or a campus. There are many examples of houses as thesis – but to take just two, look at LeCorbusier – the Domino House, the Villa Savoye.