Cover image

Planar Villa

The planar structure of the house-a series of integral colored concrete walls-has a “wrinkled” texture via a photo reduction of the cliffs opposite the house across a river. The free planar forms of shifting ice shards on the river inspired the plan and section geometry. The interiors capture this spatial energy in shifts in sections and double height spaces. Two thirds of the sectional volume of this residence is underground.

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Tucked into the hillside, the geothermally heated and cooled house has green roofs and state-of-the art climate technology. A subterranean swimming pool with a tennis court above defines the east arrival with a special path in the saddle-shaped landscape. The interior of Cabreuva wood feature cabinets, fixtures, door handles, and many thoughtful details by the architect.

Years
2003–2017
Status
Complete
architect
Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl (principal, design architect)
Noah Yaffe (partner in charge)
Marcus Carter (associate, project architect)
Maki Matsubayashi (assistant project architect)
Esin Erez, Francesco Bartolozzi, Kimberly Chew, JongSeo Lee, Jackie Luk, Gary He, Magdalena Naydekova (project team)
Martin Cox, Annette Goderbauer, Edward Lalonde, Nikole Bouchard (project team, schematic design)
landscape architect
Edmund Hollander Design

Timeline

Watercolor Image