January 2020
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, c.2019 [1]
The end of 2019 marked my third year living in the US. The pace of the year was the quickest yet, and undoubtedly one of the best. A settled lifestyle allowed for my travels to be more regular and wide-ranging. These adventures have been an energising series of moments that I cherish for the ideas they have provoked.
In lieu of a ‘Jake’s Top 10 Buildings of 2019’, I wanted to delve deeper into my architectural experiences from the year. Focusing on more than just the buildings themselves, but also the context in which they exist. It was a year where I focused less on the hero-shot of the architectural icons and more on the greater geographical, social and economic conditions that allowed them to the realised.
Kahn House, Richard Neutra, Telegraph Hill c.1939 [2]
My architectural passions lie in residential design. This typology, unlike galleries or restaurants, is hard to visit. In 2018 I sent out five letters to a series of houses across San Francisco, asking if I could visit at a time of the owners convenience. Thankfully one of these houses responded positively and I was able to spend a Saturday morning drinking coffee and eating some of my mother’s fruitcake with the owners of Richard Neutra’s Kahn House on Telegraph Hill.
Given this success I expanded the letter strategy to the whole of the US, posting over 50 letters late in 2018 to houses that I was hoping to visit. Aiming to rather than take a photo from outside these houses, but instead get inside and talk to those who live and love these dwellings. Thankfully this strategy succeeded with numerous positive responses finding their way back to me. The answers concentrated on two cities, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Prompting two separate trips that allowed for unrivalled access to some of the houses that originally prompted my move to the US.
Sheats Goldstein Residence, John Lautner, Los Angeles c.1963 [3]
I ventured to Los Angeles in February. The trip centred on a private visit of the iconic Sheats Goldstein Residence by John Lautner in the Hollywood Hills. This spectacular house lives up to the jaw-dropping photos and movie scenes in The Big Lebowski.
The houses aggressive concrete shell is being engulfed beautifully by the landscape of the site. The house feels like a rock cavern, providing sheltered refuge to enjoy the views out across Los Angeles. This sense is due to the lush integration of the landscape into all aspects of the house. Allowing the dwelling to feel more like a pavilion in the forest, than a house. The contrast of the rough and sharp concrete construction with the greenery took this project as a living experience to a level far higher than expected - there is much more depth to this project than just the hero-shots. Visiting this house was one of the clear highlights of the year.
Neutra VDL Studio and Residence House, Richard Neutra, Los Angeles, c.1964 [4]
The trip also included a return to Silver Lake, one of my favourite Los Angeles suburbs to attend a tour of Richard Neutra’s VDL Studio and Residence. The VDL house has a magnetic street presence that captured my eye back in 2017 and prompted a re-visit to get inside this wonderful project. This house is showing the age of some of its technological inclusions and room scales. Overall it is still a project that I was able to draw a lot from. I would encourage a tour of this house, especially when coupled with an exploration of the numerous Neutra houses in the immediate vicinity around Silver Lake.
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry, Los Angeles, c.2003 [5]
The final stop of the Los Angeles week encompassed a substantial change of scale, with a tour of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. My natural inclination is to not love the majority of Gehry’s work. I often feel his work is unnecessarily complicated, uncomfortable to inhabit and lacking contextual integration. One could make the case that the Walt Disney Concert Hall is guilty of all three of these concerns. My experience was nonetheless a little spell bounding. I found the concert hall to be most alluring. I approached on foot and was taken aback by how strongly it commanded its site.
The buildings monolithic complex form seems to suit the busy street tarmac that encompasses the site. With this project Gehry has created a building that is its own entity, sitting powerfully, as if it is a spaceship that has landed on this vacant site in Downtown Los Angeles. Most surprising to me about this building was how enjoyable it was to inhabit. The intricacy of form energises the interior spaces in a successful manner that I have not felt in other Gehry buildings. This occupant experience climaxes at the beautiful terrace garden that offers one of the more pleasant urban public open spaces possible.
Trenton Bath House, Louis Kahn, Trenton, c.1955 [6]
The success of the LA Trip prompted a second adventure to Philadelphia later in the year. The trip focused around visiting four projects across suburban and rural Philadelphia. The first project that I had the pleasure of visiting was the Trenton Bath House by Louis Kahn. This project was one of the more unique of the year and prompted it’s own article on this blog titled ‘Thesis Houses’. Following a perfect start to the day in Trenton a turned the car around and ventured in a different direction both geographically and stylistically to the Vanna Venturi house in Chestnut Hill, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia.
Vanna Venturi House, Robert Venturi, Chestnut Hill, c.1964 [7]
I was drawn to Philadelphia mainly by the work of Louis Kahn. His emphatic rigour towards achieving aesthetic harmony produced several spaces that are as close to architectural perfection that I have experienced. Given this intrinsic bias for Kahn’s work I was also curious to get a greater understanding for those who stylistically came after him. Thankfully the owner of the Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi, one of the original protagonists of the post-modern movement, responded to my letter. Much like my experience at the Walt Disney Concert Hall I enjoyed my visit more than I had expected.
The Vanna Venturi house intentionally tries to break classical norms in fun and creative flourishes. This simultaneously annoyed part of me, whilst also setting me at ease. A person intrinsically does not want to live in a sterile gallery. Venturi’s playful gestures added to a sense of warmth that helped to make this house a home. I personally feel that there are manners to achieve this that are not as jarring as those that were executed by Venturi, but it is hard not to acknowledge that there is something in what Venturi was trying to convey.
Weiss House, Louis Kahn, East Norriton c.1950 [8]
The day of architecture in Philadelphia than returned to its original purpose with two visits to privately owned Louis Kahn houses. The first was the Weiss House in East Norriton on the outer fringes of Philadelphia. Kahn completed the house in 1950 and the house was awarded the AIA Gold Medal. This house was one of Kahn’s earlier residential commissions and shows signs of the clarity that would eventually reveal itself later in his career.
The projects southern orientated floor plan and void spaces make for a dwelling that feels intrinsically connects to the exterior spaces. It is evident that this project aided in developing Kahn’s affinity for the benefits and playfulness of natural light and a rich material palette. The house is nearly celebrating its 70th birthday and is starting to show some extensive signs of maintenance requirements. The owners of the house were a joy to visit and made for great hosts, however sadly they are not in a position to invest in the long, costly list of upgrades. A sad fate that is not isolated to this house alone.
Esherick House, Louis Kahn, Chestnut Hill, c.1959 [9]
The final house visit of the day, the Esherick House by Louis Kahn, was a pure joy. My qualms with the Weiss House earlier in the afternoon were firmly rectified in this piece of residential perfection. The house was completed in 1959 as Kahn’s design ideology was finding clear focus. Kahn was able to refine his rich concepts thanks to the houses simple, complexity free, one bedroom brief. Thankfully this piece of wonderful residential architecture is in the hands of two true design patrons, who are caring and giving renewed life to a house that will continue to inspire all.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, c.2019 [10]
The year was rich with architectural experiences. Although the defining aspect of 2019 was the broader exploration of the natural splendour that the US offers. The majority of the key public holiday long weekends were filled with adventures to a National Park.
One of the earliest natural forays of the year was to Big Sur. The roadtrip began with a visit to the house of Bernard Trainor, a fellow Australian compatriot, doing amazing work as the Principal of Ground Studio Landscape Design in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Bernard has carved out his own piece of paradise in the hills looking over the township of Carmel. We had the pleasure of enjoying the transition from a warm afternoon through to golden sunset in Bernard’s yard. The play of colours, the layering of spaces and the casual connection between functional spaces was stunning to see executed in such a perfect manner. This experience changed my expectations of how greatly the artistry of the landscape design can transform the overall experience.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, c.2019 [11]
The year of natural beauty included travels to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Crater Lake, Lassen Volcanic, Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree National Parks. The more I explored these awe inspiring regions, the more it clarified the perfection that can be achieved in the natural environment. It is nearly impossible to not be inspired by the unparalleled beauty of these regions. The manner in which these spaces are able to mould scale, proportion, vistas, textures and plantings is mesmerising. Embedded in these parks are the rulebooks for creating inspired spaces. These are truly places I will never get bored of revisiting to refresh my inspiration levels.
Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin, Ellsworth Kelly, Austin, c.2018 [12]
The steady stream of visiting family and friends was a great reason to regularly visit new cities and areas of the US throughout the year. Early in the year I visited Austin, Texas, with a couple friends, one of which had recently lived in this vibrant city. We try to do our best to act as tour guides to our guests in San Francisco. Making this ‘locals’ guide of Austin even more enjoyable. Each new city I have visited throughout the year, such as Phoenix and Palm Springs, further exemplified the diversity that exists across this contrasting country. The geographic, cultural and economic differences in these areas highlights the ability for architecture to shape these outcomes in manners that I had not previously thought to explore.
House NA, Sou Fujimoto, Tokyo, c.2011 [13]
The varied nature of the year took a sharp rise thanks to an impromptu work trip to Tokyo. While the trip was quick, the experience will be long lasting. The itinerary was widely contrasting, and extremely enjoyable – a theme that I have noticed throughout my recent travels. There are numerous items that I previously did not consider as variables, that I witnessed in differing ways to sculpt a better outcome. In Tokyo it was the density, style and energy that I found quite intoxicating. The success of this was achieved using an intricately dynamic clutter. The tight scale made the city one of the more enjoyable walking cities I have experienced – allowing for my few days as a tourist some of the busiest architecture days of 2019. Already looking forward to visiting Japan again.
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, c.2019 [14]
As much as the travel has been amazing, the true underlying joy of 2019 was living and working in San Francisco. There is no other city like it. The almost European style streetscapes overlaid with the supercharged hustle of Silicon Valley culture makes for a city that is truly mesmerising to live in. Weekends in the city were usually spent aimlessly walking the rolling hills of the many differing suburbs of the city. These ventures would unlock new vistas, new houses and distinctive sections of San Francisco. Once you become accustomed to the hills it is an amazing city to walk. The steep slopes that appear around most corners along any trip also includes a beautiful viewpoint across the city. Something that I really enjoy for its ability to dissolve the density of the city – allowing my rural upbringing to be far more content with the three storey scale of the city.
Tomales Bay, California, c.2019
Last, but definitely not least, a huge shout out to Elyse, my new fiancee. She was the driving force behind the move to the US and subsequent endless list of activities. She has become the most architecturally informed non-architect in the US and I value her input into all that I do. We both cannot wait for the adventures of 2020 to unfold.
Image Sources:
Grand Teton National Park, Authors Own Image
Kahn House, Getty Research Institute, Photographer: Julius Shulman
Sheats Goldstein Residence, Modern Design
Neutra VDL Studio and Residence House, yatzer
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Architizer
Trenton Bath House, greenlinedesignblog
Vanna Venturi House, wttw
Weiss House, Authors Own Image
Esherick House, Curbed
Carmel-by-the-Sea, Authors Own Image
Yellowstone National Park, Authors Own Image
Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin, Authors Own Image
House NA, ArchitectureAU
Golden Gate Bridge, Authors Own Image
Tomales Bay, Authors Own Image