Hungnguyen portfolio spring2016

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth Oh

Antonio Coderch: Casa UgaldeNature’s Breath of Spain


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Context: Cultural


Jose A. Coderch’s Casa UgaldeNature’s Breath of Spain

First, it is the building’s father—the architect—that is needed to studied, not only to understand how the building was designed but also to know what experience of the architect’s life influences that design. Jose Antonio Coderch (1913 – 1984), born and raised in Barcelona, was one of the pioneers in the Spanish post war architecture. With the determination of putting Spanish’s modernism on the world’s Modernism, his designs are mostly combinations between Spanish modernism and international modernism with great influences from other modernist architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright or Mies van der Rohe. The influences, conveniently, are established brilliantly on Casa Ugalde, from the plan to the materials and the windows. He was born into an aristocratic background which influenced his architectural style later. He then attended to the School of Architecture, Barcelona. With an interruption in his education because of the Spanish Civil War, he graduated in 1940. Shortly after, he married his wife and opened a firm with his partner Manuel Valls Verges. During that time, he became friend with the famous Italian architect Gio Ponti, the father of Domus magazine and the mentor of Coderch later. He is also inspired by the return of Mediterranean architectural style. With all of those influences, he started to form his style of architecture and designing, combining the world’s modernism to the Barcelona’s traditional to create Barcelona’s own modernism. His reputation was spreading strongly and continuously around the world. With his work in the following years, he started to be recognized worldwide and invited to join several architecture groups. One of them is Group R—a group of progressive Spanish modernist architects established in Barcelona after WWII—that he was leading. Ponti, again, played a significant role in Coderch’s career: he mentored the young Catalonian architect, inspired him and presented him to the international architecture scene, where Coderch later joined the CIAM (Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne - International Congresses of Modern Architecture). CIAM was a famous worldwide movement of modernism, focusing on all domains of architecture, including designing, urban planning, landscaping, interior design and even graphic design. CIAM included big names such as Walter Giopius, Alvar Alto or Le Corbusier. Working among these architects, Coderch was greatly influenced on his design of Casa Ugalde. Moreover, it is also a prime example of other of Coderch’s influences: vernacular architecture and the Catalonian landscape that formed the strict Rationalism and Functionalism architectural style of his. In other words, since he had attached heavily to his hometown, Barcelona, he loves to design from and for the landscape there. Barcelona has been an irreplaceable architecture center of Spain and Europe, filled with famous Renaissance, Mediterranean and modernist buildings. During the 1950s, the world’s architectural stream was the modernism that Northern European architects brought, such as Mies van der Rohe from the Barcelona Pavilion whose inspiration can also be seen from the Ugalde house. Having said that, he did not only attached to the modernism and the clean, clear and heavily metal based architectural style. Coderch, with the great interest in the spatial relationship between human and buildings, is also driven by the Rationalism—a well-known architectural style invented by Vitruvius and concerns mainly about the spatial comfort of humans in buildings—and the Functionalism, which mastered and presented to him by his mentor Gio Ponti. A political event took place in Spain during the late 1940s and early 1950s—the early time Coderch’s career—was the Spain Civil War. The war somewhat set Spain behind on the world’s architectural scene which exerted a tremendous influence on Coderch to, as mentioned above, spend most of his career trying to put it back on the map. His efforts, indeed, were very achieving as he is mentioned as one of the greatest Spanish modernist architects. All the factors Coderch experienced throughout his life, from his background to his colleagues, from the world’s modernism to the political events, certainly influences greatly Coderch’s architectural designs. Secondly, it is crucial to the process of understanding a building to mention the clients and their expectations and wishes to the architect for their houses. Eustaquio Ugalde was a famous Spanish pioneer industrial engineering and a close friend to Coderch. Both of them, as proved perfectly by the house’s main ideas and vision, are sucked into the site on a hill with a view downhill and the ocean far away. Ugalde bought the site there and asked Coderch to design a relaxing weekend kind of house for him. The house was asked to be a camera that frames the picturesque view downhill to the owner, not only to maximize the purpose and the site but also to create a comfortable space for the owner to appreciate the surroundings. Taken in consideration the topography of the site, from the rocks to the cypress trees, from the view to the sun light, from the relationship to local Barcelona to the suburban hillside quality, Coderch performed his “magic” and design his masterpiece. After months of construction, Casa Ugalde was completed and appeared to be a breath-taking holiday house anyone could ever wish for.

Context: Cultural

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhContext: Geographic

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Thirdly, it is indeed the building itself needed to be investigated. First and foremost factor when an architect designing a building is the landscape, which is the most important factor that determines the parti of the building. In this case, the landscape is a hill site looking down the beach and the ocean thirty kilometers away from Barcelona. Eustaquio Ugalde bought the site out of his obsession with that view. Coderch, obviously, took into account the obsession of his friend about the site and design a pin-wheel kind of house that pin-point the human inside to the outside view. Considering Coderch’s great interest with photography, the house is like his own camera, shooting the spectacular view downhill and the blue ocean. Realizing the hill’s slops is slightly downwards to the South-West of the site, Coderch decided to build a levitating block on the second floor to the North-East side, and the downstairs garage to the South-West. This block serves as a sightseeing observatory that leans its corner on the walls that run along the sire, covering the house from the hill around it. It is considered the best example of the house to indicate the heavy dependence between the house and the surroundings. Moreover, this is also one of the best intention of Coderch to give the client the best view possible from up high and the feeling of almost flying, knowing that below the block is complete void. Also with this orientation, when the sun sets down everyday, the sunlight will shape a beautiful view from behind the block towards the view in front of it, taking the beauty of the downhill view’s glamorous to a brand new level. Furthermore, from this positioning and the most South-East block above the garage, we can so an influence from one of the famous Le Corbusier’s five points of modern house: elevated floor plan. In fact, these two blocks are elevated above the ground, saving the ground level for garage and circulation around the court and the building. Both of the blocks are supported with a five foot long walls, giving the house one of most beautiful views which is the sight from the inside to the outside with the wall seems to be right on the water-surface of the swimming pool. Furthermore, also about this particular elevated block above the swimming pool, we can see the inspiration drawn from the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe. The famous view of a lengthened patio above the swimming pool creates the vertical connection between the two horizontal monuments. During the day, the shadow casted by the block on the swimming is truly astonishing. The second inspiration Coderch gathered from the site are the three cypress trees which the building is built around and the views that are shaped to focus on the relationship between nature and architecture. The brilliance of Coderch of this idea is that he used the strong, modern and systematic use of the materials and the form of the house to be the background of the trees, framing a view as if the cypress trees are the people and the building is the landscape around that person. In addition, the complex and free-form topography around is certainly brought to the overview of the plan whose best indicator is the walls that goes around the site. This wall should not be overlooked. The wall not only serves as the barrier around the site but also replicates the topography around the house, which is easily seen on a top view with the contour lines of the landscape shown: curvy and flexible, both horizontally and vertically. It is believed that Coderch was walking and taking notes on the site before having the topography plan. The same idea can also be conceived from the roof. Although some inspiration maybe drawn from Frank Lloyd Wright’s horizontal plan style from the house’s elevations is impossible to overlook, the roof as being complex with several ups and downs, twisting points, straight lines and curves signifying the fluctuating landscape around. Base on the points mentioned above, it is impossible to read the plans of the house without the topography around it, which marked the successfulness of Coderch’s main concept of uniting the site to the design. Additionally, the local tradition of Catalonia’s architecture is also brought into the design. The whitewashed walls, along with others local materials such as tiled roof and ceramic floor, are selected by Coderch not only to strengthen the concept of bringing nature to the house, but also paint on the picture of Casa Ugalde as Spanish flag. In other words, from the selection of materials, it is inconceivable not to think of Spanish history when looking at the materials used to construct the house. Also, as mentioned in the book Coderch: Casa Ugalde House, the fact that Coderch allows us to see the real form and beauty of the strong, raw and natural materials such as tile and concrete demonstrates the influence taken from Mies once more. The author of the book, believes that with the same modern architectural concept of being “faithful to the technical and tectonic character of the building as a whole” that Mies used the “transparency of the glass and the reflections of onyx” in Barcelona Pavilion to achieve, Coderch used the “blinding whiteness of lime, which unifies and dematerialized everything in the sunlight.” Overall the house unquestionably succeeded in portraying an admirable picture where architecture and nature blended as one unique individual; and in creating a pleasant and peaceful space for the owner to appreciate it frames. The picture is so vivid one can see the site is brought into the design. The relationship is so strong that one cannot feel the difference. The space so comfortable one can mistake it for heaven. The view so delightful one can easily feel lost looking at it. The house so brilliantly design one must excessively admire and deeply inspired.

Context: Geographic

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhContext: Site Plan

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: Program Model

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: Circulation

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: Circulation

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnaylsis: 3 Plan Conditions



ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnaylsis: 3 Exterior Elevation Conditions



ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: 3 Interior Elevation ConditionsAnaylsis: 3 Exterior Elevation Conditions

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: 3 Interior Elevation Conditions

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: 3 Interior Elevation Conditions

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: Elevation Collage

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhAnalysis: Inventory

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Procedure: (Fold)

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Procedure: (Extrude)

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Procedure: (Aggregate)

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: 3 Site Solutions (Position 1)

Option 1: Levitating

All three of my architect’s retreat locations are a result of my interpretation of the pin-wheel and clustered parti of the Casa Ugalde by Antonio Coderch. This parti creates both opportunities and challenges in designing a new addition to the house. The first option, when added will bring the entire feelings one gets from circulating around the first floor onto the second floor: being in the main part of the house and going outside to enter the retreat space. The way this room is oriented also drawn from the inspiration of the guest room underneath. On the first floor, it is the guest room that is levitated on top of the garage. On the second floor, it is the architect’s retreat on top of the guest room. This orientation allows the chance for one to go outside in order to enter the room, allowing one to experience the indoor-outdoor relationship that the house was designed to create. Also, to honor the beautiful downhill and ocean view of the site, this room enhances the view by facing towards it. Moreover, this room is easily seen and accessed from the second floor’s grand hallway through the doors and windows system along that hallway.

This option is somewhat far from the second floor’s restroom, forcing a person to travel a considerably long distance to go to the restroom. Also, this room will block the view from the grand hallway on second floor, whose wall is made mostly by glass to give one a grand view to the West side of the hill. Another disadvantage of this option is the engineering part. Since this option is located on top of the porch connecting the main part of the house to the guest room, it will need additional structural support. A wall under the porch maybe needed to hold the structure up, and creates a troublesome or potentionally unsuitable element around the landscape of the house.


Option 2: Attaching

This architect’s retreat location could be perceived as provocative because of the bold move to build a room around the cypress tree. This option, as mentioned above, will also encourage the primary goal of the parti: giving the people inside the house the best view from the site. With that in mind, I created this option as another room to have that breath-taking view from the second floor. Unlike the first one, this architect’s retreat can be easily accessed from inside the second floor so it is easier to go to the restroom and such through going in and out the door entering the second floor from the roof top right next to this block. This block is also levitated and would create the feeling of blending into the house which already has two big levitating masses. Also, the big levitating block on the second floor is somewhat isolated from the rest of the house in terms of height: its height extends on both first floor and second floor. This architect’s retreat will create the connection in height from the second floor to this block with the sloped roof.

The big advantage and also disadvantage of this option is that the room is built around the cypress tree, blocking the middle part of it from the view. However I intend to build the walls around mainly with glass so that the tree can still be seen from in front of the house. This option will give the person who is inside the room the opportunity to be closer to the tree, as a symbol for the environmental feelings of Barcelona, which is a very important part of Coderch’s design. It is a more modern feeling I want to introduce to the house with this “tree-room.” For a person who likes experiencing new feelings and free-form-like structures, this option would be interesting to look into further. On the other hand, with a person who loves to treasure the traditional and systematical design, it would not be as attractive.


Option 3: Separated Mass

This last architect’s retreat is my most favorite and considerably my best option. The first advantage this option has is enhancing the interesting idea of levitating blocks with almost the exact same design of the two existing blocks. This block will be located on the lowest level of the site, towards the downhill and ocean view side, creating the three level of levitating blocks and a nice triangle with the other two blocks. It will also have the extended porch-like horizontal wall, creating a nice shadow for the pathway underneath and a space to walk over from the upper level to the roof of the block. The next benefit is that the room’s roof top can be seen from the house itself; and from inside or on top of the room, looking up, one can have a grand view of the house. With that in mind, I intend to make a roof top garden to introduce a new feeling of modernism to the design. Moreover, with this location, the room can be entered from at two sides, one straight from the garage and the other one from the stairs near the swimming pool. This creates another pausing point to encourage the circulation around the landscape, which would grant the feeling of being closed to the environment. Also, as the two previous options, this architect’s retreat indeed still honors the view and the mathematical system of the structure Coderch designed. This also allows for the opportunity to showcase the similarity of between this new room and the other two lifted structure.

On the other hand, also like the first design, the distance from the room to the nearest restroom in the house is somewhat great, creating a difficulty if one needs to go the restroom. Other downsides of this option are the fact it may block the view a little from the house itself to the ocean and the need for excavation into untouched landscape.

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Site Model

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Architect’s Retreat Concept

The White Garden Having studied the Casa Ugalde by Antonio Coderch, it is easy to realize that the designing concept of the house is mostly surrounded around the transparency, the view, the relationship with nature and the interlocking transitional spaces. Strongly inspired by those ideas, the White Garden project is designed in order to give the residence the opportunity to not only approach the nature closer with great appreciation, but also create a fascinating experience during the approach. From the location, the construction method, the material to the parti, the White Garden concepts honor the existing beauty of the house and introduces a variation of new feelings to a person exploring the space. Firstly, the chosen location will offer the residence a chance to step outside to the nature before entering the architect’s retreat. With the great value of nature, the trip may inspire the person to be creative. The orientation of the project also creates a triangular connection, horizontally and vertically, to the existing two levitating blocks, which inspired the exterior appearance of the White Garden. The levitating blocks are designed by Antonio Coderch to create a possibility for the residence to experience the feelings of being over the nature and hang out in the shaded space underneath. Taking the spine wheel parti of the house in consideration, the White Garden is placed to be the frontal hanging block that offers a grand view downhill to the beach and the magnificent ocean. The White Garden can be accessed by two ways: over the top with the bridge connecting the ground level of the house to the rooftop garden and down the ladder or down the stairs on the site to the project’s front door. Each way of accessibility provides an individual experience, feelings and inspiration. However, they all help the residence to have the atmosphere of getting closer to the Barcelona nature. Furthermore, the location of the project makes it visible from every important spot in the house, giving it a chance to have a rooftop garden that can be appreciated from the house itself. Therefore introducing the hint of modernism architecture: one of Le Corbusier’s famous five points of modern architecture: rooftop terrace. Secondly, the construction method of the White Garden comes from the aggregation procedure inspired by an extremely interesting tile’s pattern of the floor. Each module is a hollow cube with each side has only one half covered with walls. These cubes are the result of a folding method from the floor pattern. The cubes, in the project, are used in two vastly different scales: the 10”x10”x10” and 2”x2”x2”. The two big cubes are used as inhabitable spaces: the upper cube is the work space and the under one is the resting space with the restroom. There is a staircase connecting the two spaces, providing and a chance and welcoming to travel up and down through the spaces. The surroundings of the staircase, unlike in the main house, are made mostly from glass, to open up the view and giving the chance to experience the change of the view to the landscape in a vertical movement. The two main cubes interlock with each other, creating a common space to be utilized as a skylight for the cube below. This interlocking concept is influenced by the transitional space inside the house. As a result, there is a part of the second cube’s roof inside the space of the first cube which is made into a light table with drafting table on top. The residence can actually sit on the floor of the above block to work on this table, with their legs hanging down to the space of the block below, giving them a unique feeling of bareness. The working space is deliberately designed so that there is enough sunlight and wind circulation to create a comfortable space for creativity. The mirror, bookshelf/closet and the bed are also carefully placed so that the spaces are utilized best and enhance movement throughout the retreat. Thirdly, the project is built using the material from the house: rassilas (the famous Barcelona terracotta tile), glass and the smaller metal cubes painted white, stacking together. These walls of stacked cubes are placed around the project to bring in the interesting shadow, block the direct sunlight where needed and create an opportunity to make a rooftop and hanging garden along the staircase. The gardens are introduced to give the owner a chance to take care of the environment and also create a better view, from inside and outside of the project, of the bonding relationship of architecture and nature. Since the cubes are placed in a seemingly random order and the walls are placed along the traveling path of the sun, throughout the day, the shadow will change continuously which encourages the owner to explore it at anytime. Having said that, the cubes are actually stacked with a logic: each cube is rotated 90 degrees from the cube next to it, giving them an easy-on-the-eyes feeling when looked at. The juxtaposition of the scale of the cubes can create are investigated to create the possibilities of the cubes of each scale have. Moreover, influenced by Coderch’s design, glass and the color white are used aggressively around the project to invite the nature inside the space, shape the view for the person inside, and become a comprehensible background for the nature around it. On top of that, as a person in the house can look at the garden on top of the retreat, the glass roof allows a person inside the retreat to glance back at the pleasing view of Antonio Coderch’s Barcelona classic work: the stunning Casa Ugalde.

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Procedure’s Inspiration

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Site Plan with Architect’s Retreat

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Site Model with the Architect’s Retreat

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Plan Drawings

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Section Drawings

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Circulation Diagram

Ocean View

House View

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Exploded View Diagram

BridgeConnects to the house’s

ground level

Skin StructureBedroom

Restroom

Work Space

1. Mirror

2. Drafting Table

3. Bookshelf/ Closet

4. Bed

Rooftop Garden

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ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Exterior Rendering

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Interior Rendering

ARC 103 Nguyen, Hung: Ruth OhDesign: Final Model




Documents

Hungnguyen portfolio spring2016