No Compromises:
My house designs must perform a balancing act: They must stand out as distinct, intriguing pieces of design, but they must do so without alienating an everyman sensibility. In other words, centrally located wash rooms, ample closet space, keen consideration for traffic flow between domestic hot spots, a mind for how the laundry gets done, and proper mechanical provisions are all vital to the design.
Vital Statistics:
Main Level Living: 1,188 sq. ft.
Main Level Utility: 56 sq. ft.
Gallery Level Living: 1,022 sq. ft.
Gallery Level Utility: 54 sq. ft.
Upper Level Living: 800 sq. ft.
Upper Level Utility: 90 sq. ft.
Lower Level Utility: 354 sq. ft.
Lower Level Garage: 504 sq. ft.
Total Living Area: 3,010 sq. ft.
Total Utility Area: 554 sq. ft.
(Figures are approximations rounded off to the nearest whole number.)
Preliminary Drawings:
In the drawing above, two major themes compete for prominence—the large gallery level and upper level rotunda crowd the central open living area. The kitchen and main entry are each located in the corners of the main level, disrupting traffic flow within the main living space.
In this second attempt to parr things down into a workable design, the central living space blends with the kitchen, enhancing the flow between them but reducing the functionality of each. Also, the main entry is still estranged from the heart of the plan.
Size and Scale:
In total, the final plan differs from the preliminary drawings by about 500 to 800 square feet. It's important to condense rather than expand, the principle being similar to the mechanical efficiency of a motor and the goal of deriving the most power from the smallest cubic capacity.
MEANING & INSPIRATION:
Tisch'Ravi is an anagram for Archivist, a concept that defines the major feature of this plan, a fifty foot gallery of bookshelves
and curios cantilevered along the entire length of the main living area. Used as a display space, a library, and a study nook, the gallery complex is part of
an interlocking split-level design that maintains open interaction between floors. My goal is to reconstruct the split-level house plan—to depart from a
traditional staggered arrangement by wrapping the levels around one another,
making them part of a cohesive system by using open rails and stairways to divide them. At right is a look the basic plan. These scale templates show each
of the main drawings from which the whole project is extrapolated—the bones anticipating the flesh. The original board is more than two feet in length,
providing ample surface area to draw scale plans side-by-side, refering to each within the same work space. Individual drawings are then scaled up into larger
versions, and each one is labeled accordingly. What you see here is a revised set of drawings, something close to a final proof
containing numerous fine tuning bits and a full sweep of considerable changes. It's unnecessary to show the first set of plans,
but I will provide a look at my conceptual drawings—the first floor plans that established the major themes for the design.
FLOOR PLANS:
Main & Gallery Levels: The first concept to discuss is shelter. Tisch'Ravi's main living space is tucked within the heart of the plan. While the living space benefits from numerous sources of light, there are no conventional windows fronting any of the walls or partitions that define its area. A long row of horizontal windows situated above the bookshelves serves as an illuminated pediment for the gallery, the library cove benefits from the light of two tall, thin windows approximately 18 feet in height, and the adjacent dining room has two traditional windows. On the upper level (plan to follow) there is a large window framing a loft situated above the main entry, while the enclosed hallway of the couple's quarters has three decorative stained glass windows that look down on the open central living space. All of these different elements help light the main living space, but they do so in ways that preserve its closed-in aesthetic. Looking at the gallery complex and the upper level, which is indicated by the long-dashed line, the living space is physically wrapped up in the center of the house. And yet, this promotion of shelter does not preclude an open plan as the gallery level and upper level are both open to the living space. The plan is formally closed but visually open, a trick that produces dynamic play between each designated area.
Gallery & Upper Levels: Each of the three generously sized bed rooms has its own balcony, two of which are covered, and the whole network of private rooms is served by a system of lofts. For the second and third rooms, the cantilevered gallery complex flows behind a large fireplace into a covered hall that peeks out at the main level, while on the upper level a comfortable loft occupies the space outside the entrance to the couple's quarters. The precept at work is to provide bed rooms with measured privacy, but situate them off open, flowing spaces; this counters the traditional practice of stuffing bed rooms along dark, narrow hallways. Winding and wrapping levels around the central, open living space comes about through a division of stairways. A traditional split-level matches the top of one stairway with the bottom of the next, whereas Tisch'Ravi has a substantial amount of open loft space between each stair, creating a journey from level to level. There's a downside of sorts with Tisch'Ravi's sense of dynamic travel from public to private spaces, which has to do with proximity between the couple's quarters and the kitchen, a perfunctory trip that will occur at the ends of almost every single day spent in the house. I often focus on keeping these two spaces close to each other—a true convenience—but in this case the journey trumps convenience as the two are a considerable distance apart. Note that laundry service to the couple's quarters is aided by a small lift near the vanity, obviating the need to heft clothes any substantial distance.
Main & Lower Levels: The lower level is a partial foundation divided into four utilitarian sections. A circular stone hallway provides a sense of balance and direction, with doors leading straight ahead—in line with the lower stairway—to the twin garage. The 18 foot auto bays are large enough for automobiles of decent size, but will reject an oversized truck; a 6 foot central space down the center facilitates loading and unloading. To either side of the lower hall is a large room for mechanical use and a medium sized room appropriate for wine storage. Particular to traffic flow, keeping the garage entrance aligned with the stairway and main level hall eases daily travel from the car to the kitchen, aiding the portment of groceries. If the wine cellar is also used as a store room, then the distance to carry groceries is reduced even further. The same considerations involve the placement of the main level side entry leading to the covered terrace, and the proximity of the wash room to the main entry, the kitchen, and the central living space.
FINISHED & CUT-AWAY ELEVATIONS:
Façade: Tisch'Ravi is deliberately simple in its sectional design and roof plan. A main gabled section houses the central living space while three hipped sections extend to the fore. Stylistically, the plan suits a traditional mode of presentation. At a glance, there's little extravagance to the outward appearance, and the façade's simplicity doesn't hint at the building's interior arrangement. This concept of visual concealment fosters our theme of shelter, enclosing the central living space behind each of the fore extensions. The asymmetry of the interlocking levels is largely hidden by the straight character of the exterior, in particular its long and low frontal aspect.