Daeyang Gallery and House: Steven Holl Architects
The project was designed as an experiment parallel to a research studio on “the architectonics of music.” The idea of space as silent until activated by light is realized in the cutting of 55 skylight strips in the roofs of the three pavilions. In each of the pavilions, 5 strips of clear glass allow the sunlight to turn and bend around the inner spaces, animating them according to the time of day and season.
Views from within the pavilions are framed by the reflecting pool, which is bracketed by gardens that run perpendicular to the skylight strips. In the base of the reflecting pool, strips of glass lenses bring dappled light to the white plaster walls and white granite floor of the gallery below.
Final for my Sophomore Form Studio: Dwelling for a Photographer.
We were assigned a site and a client and some other restraints on program and size. The end result was a roughly 1000 square-foot house designed for a photographer.
The main draw of the house is its studio space, which allows the owner to work flexibly in a variety of lighting conditions. The studio is oriented to the north, bringing in consistent, diffused light all day long — ideal for naturally-lit portraiture. A gallery connects to an exterior balcony space through a sliding glass wall, which opens up even more room for entertaining or photographing clients and allows the photographer to easily roll equipment from the studio onto the balcony for outdoor photography.
Other significant considerations for the design centered around the relationship between public and private spaces arising from frequent visits of the owner’s clients and guests. To allow the owner to maintain some level of privacy, the design adds a rear entrance with direct access to a detached bedroom. (The owner would park under the studio and walk up the path to his room, while clients enter from the front of the house for convenient access to the studio). Two structural systems arose in correspondence with these different circulation paths (see diagrams) — the first: a stone retaining system used for more private areas; the second: a black-aluminum and glass system to maintain an open, inviting, and modern facade for guests. These systems intersect where program meets, for example in the kitchen and hygiene spaces that are used by both the owner and his clients. The rest of my work from this year (finally finished!)
