House Melnikov

The House of Konstantin Melnikov, a Russian architect with a meteorite career that sadly finished early, in the 30's when he was in his 40's, the taste of the USSR veering towards pastiche. The house was one of his last build project and was completed in 1929. More info on his life and the house here.

As for the villa Malaparte, it is a case of a simple geometry, the cylindrical tower, done with straightforward technology - rendered brick walls and timber floors. It is more complex to build as it is curved but the windows themselves are remarkably simple. The brick create corbel arches to form the windows. This is what impresses me the most, the ingenuity of using almost archaic technology to produce such an exceptional building.

The resulting rooms have a quality of being bright and yet private. Light flows in from all directions but without being seen from - or seeing - the outside. This is particularly good in such an inner city situation.

Casa Malaparte

Designed by Adilberto Libera in 1937, on the crest of a peninsula in Capri (more here). The legend has it that Curzio Malaparte, the client with a lively if at times questionable politics, didn't like the architect's design and that he build it himself with Adolfo Amitrano, a local stone mason. It is difficult however to imagine a non architect coming out with such a bold and challenging - especially at the time - design. You can see plans and sections here.

It is most famous for its roof that forms a giant staircase leading to a platform that seem surrounded by the sea. It is particularly successful as otherwise the design couldn't be simpler from the outside, it is a simple box in red render with windows and a flat roof (as is not unusual in this part of the world). In other words the success comes from a simple shape that allows you to comfortably walk on the roof. The detailing is straightforward, almost traditional. The concept demonstrates that a powerful informal idea can be hugely powerful when done simply.

The other groundbreaking aspect of the design are the windows which are framed like paintings on the wall of the sea scape beyond. This is the only out of the ordinary detail as within the outer - painting - like surround no frame interrupts the view that thus looks like a giant postcard. As far as I know, this is one of the first example of a picture window; there had been glass walls before, some house by Mies van Den Rohe in Germany for example - but these are not adapted to such hot climates as they overheat. The window as a picture gives the same powerful connection to the outside but with a limited heat gain (or loss). In this way, it is a great example for our times where we need to reduce glazing to avoid wasting energy.

The best way to see it - as it is usually closed - is to watch Jean Luc Godard's film Le Mépris starring Brigitte Bardot & Michel Piccoli. 

More views of the inside on Andrea Jemolo website.

Architectural behaviorology

A fantastic lecture by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto from Atelier Bow Wow.

BIArch Open Lectures: Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, "Architectural Behaviorology" from BIArch on Vimeo.

BIArch Open Lectures: Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, "Architectural Behaviorology" (part 2) from BIArch on Vimeo.

The Okurayama flats by Sanaa

This project brings an interesting dilemma to me - it seems that by playing with form in a seemingly meaningless manner a number of qualities for the everyday life of the inhabitant are achieved. The formal complexity has created an engaging openness and great diversity of spaces. It is a highly sculptural project - it would be difficult to create something more complex of that size - and yet there are real attention to the human quality of the spaces. Each flat has its front door from the street or the courtyards. Planted courtyards are shared by the inhabitants. The flats are all different. The relationship between the public realm and communal areas private to the inhabitants of the flat is particularly subtle. It is both open to walk through and private, in similar ways to the alleyways of an old city. The narrowing and screening created by the curved walls establish a sense of privacy without the need for gates or railings.

Each flat is really an open plan hotel room, yet on two levels. Privacy for bath rooms comes from the screening created by the curves or a different height. These are more than just functional, they are spaces into which people can do other things and are indeed a large part of each flat, sometimes the actual entrance. The flats are open with windows to both the street and the patios to engage the inhabitants with the community around them.

Here are some plans and images.

On the other hand, there is so much external walls that energy loss is maximised; if you build it here in the UK most of the land would be given to insulation. This amount of external walls and complex curves also mean a high construction cost The flats are probably very difficult to use with narrow areas and mostly curved walls.

And yet, I can't escape being charmed by the sense of community the building seems to create, not unlike that found in medieval European city centres.

Apartamentos Okurayama. SANAA from edicions espontaneas on Vimeo.

Naoshima Ferry Terminal. SANAA from edicions espontaneas on Vimeo.

I am becoming a temperature nerd

Back at the farm with even colder weather and another opportunity to indulge into my new found obsession: checking every half an hour the temperature of the rooms to see how our heating system performs.

Although the weather is colder, the house behaved exactly as last time. A day to be comfortable and another day to bring it to its standard function.

The house was at 12 degree C when we arrived. It took 24 hours to bring it to its running temperature of 16 to 19 degree C depending on the rooms. After 2 days, you don't need to burn as much wood to maintain this temperature. In the morning, the house has come down to 15 to 17 and reheats within an hour of lighting the fire. The shower room even warms up to 20-21.

The reason for this time lag to bring the house to temperature when you first arrive is the concrete of the floor slabs and the stone of the internal walls. As they act as heat stores, it takes them time to warm up. Their presence is hugely beneficial as they regulate the internal temperature; they keep the house cool in summer and keep the house warm through the night in winter with the heat they have accumulated during the day.

All the rooms are comfortable. When you first arrive you stay in the room that has the range which warms up quicker and pre-warm the beds with hot water bottles so that they are comfortable right away.

When I woke up this morning, it was -5 degree C outside and the kitchen was still at 17 degree after a whole night without burning wood. It was back at 18.5 an hour later.