This blog contains useful information of home design as well as news about my projects and my architectural practice.

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS ADD RICHNESS

8/30/2012

Given that my husband and I are both architects, it’s not surprising that one of our favorite things to do on vacation is to see architecture. Earlier this month we took a trip around Lake Erie that included Detroit, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Cleveland.

Here are some of the architectural details that I captured on camera during our trip. Details are to architecture like jewelry is to an outfit: they add richness and interest.

CRANBROOK HOUSE
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

A place to sit in the garden - defined by columns, flowers, bushes and a brick pattern embedded in the walkway. Notice the relaxing symmetry.

The ornate stonework acts like a frame around the beautifully carved entry door.

A friendly shade of blue and a round window add a bit of whimsy to the greenhouse door.

A thoughfully-composed assemblage of patterns, shapes and textures - notice the contrasting band running above the arches

CRANBROOK ART MUSEUM
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

A simple metal bench cantilevers over the sidewalk.

Notice how the stair treads transition from being rounded to being straight at the end. Notice the contrast between the smooth steps and the rough wall.

Metal trim is used to frame the window and separate contrasting styles of brick.

THE DARWIN D. MARTIN HOUSE BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
Buffalo, New York

The Roman bricks used in the Martin House are more costly than standard modular bricks. Notice how the horizontal joints are recessed, emphasizing the horizontal lines of the building.

Planters like this are a trademark of Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style homes. They add a touch of nature to the building, as well as creating a focal point.

This contemporary railing outside the Martin House visitor center is made from common 2x4’s and metal posts.

The mausoleum which Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the Martins (located at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo) uses simple geometric shapes in a bold but ordered way.

CLEVELAND, OHIO

A park building in Cleveland - I like the way that the roof trusses were continued outside to support the overhang protecting the entry.

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WORKING WITH NATURE

8/14/2012

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It’s a shame that when we design and build our houses, we don’t give more thought to how we can make use of the assets and features that our building site presents us with. It is common to orient a home to views, if one is lucky enough to have them, but it is less common to consider the effects of the sun, the wind, the topography, landscape features and vegetation.

A home that is stretched out in the east-west direction, with windows on the south, can make use of passive solar heat gain in the winter. Appropriately sized overhangs keep the sun out in the summer when it’s not wanted. Even a home on a small lot can use its site to its advantage by putting the most-used spaces on the south side and reserving the north side for garages, bathrooms, storage and other utilitarian spaces. This works best when the front or back of the lot faces south. If developers designed subdivisions with the sun in mind, streets could be laid out so that every lot could have a sunny orientation.

Putting windows on two sides of every room allows not only for better lighting of the space but also for cross-ventilation, which can be further enhanced by orienting windows toward the prevailing summer breezes.

When choosing a floorplan, it’s important to think about how it will fit onto one’s particular site, especially if the site is a sloping one, which is best suited to a multi-level home. Think about how a car will approach the house, where the garage will sit, the route that visitors take from the driveway to the front door, which rooms should get the best views and the most sunlight, where decks and patios will be, and which rooms will have doors to the outside. Think about features such as trees or rock outcroppings, and how the building will fit around these, perhaps using them as exterior focal points by placing windows so that these features are visible from important rooms in the house.

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BEAUTIFUL MATERIALS SHINE IN A SIMPLE DESIGN

8/2/2012

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The beauty of stained cedar siding and soffits

When you’re working with beautiful materials, it’s often best to keep a design simple so that the beauty of the materials can shine through. Tracy, my client for this project, wanted a rustic look for her framing studio, a small building on a rural site where she can garden and pursue her framing work.

Her chosen exterior materials: cedar board and batten siding, stone veneer, reclaimed metal roofing used as siding (obtained by the builder, JG Development of Mount Horeb) and a standing seam metal roof. Interior materials include cork plank flooring, reclaimed pine trim and sheet metal stair risers.