Usonian

These urban pioneers hired Lightroom to create their new art gallery, guest house and renovate their existing residence. The concept for this project is to create a courtyard and outdoor room which has in it's center a Wrightian disembodied hearth. The fire reflects into a Barnsdall inspired Koi pond putting fire and water into a dialogue. The dappled light imbues the entire house at night. The L shaped plan reference a Usonian precedent but transforms it into a modern art gallery. More

The name Pasadena seems to represent southern California at its most settled, with traditional values firmly rooted in the quiet community, underscored by such architectural masterpieces as the Greene & Greene houses. Yet the wooded hills to the east, with their proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest, remain, surprisingly, dramatically untamed. That was the location of this house, for a fifth-generation Pasadena family of four: a large expanse of land on the edge of a wild ravine, wreathed in old oaks, with magnificent views of the San Gabriel foothills. The brief was for a substantial residence of some 8000 square feet, one that could accommodate not only its residents, but also an extended family for whom holid... More

The story of the Villa B. follows the classic scenario of construction on a bare site, at the edge of a city, in the middle of market gardens, on a strip of land that is well-oriented. Averse to the stereotypes of the private housing development on the edge of which it is located, and inspired by the image of F.L. Wright’s Usonian Houses and Case Study Houses, the designers make use of the site’s potential to apply the basic principles of the bioclimatic approach. The house quickly takes the shape of a compact whole that presents a simple timber cube very open to the surrounding landscape. The bioclimatic approach, a pure attitude to architecture Benefiting from a long experience of dry construction and timber frame construction, and... More