Dammann II House
"Wabi" *, privacy/security, sense of shelter, flexibility, economy, spaciousness were the criteria to be met by this private residence for a family of four on a sloping lot.
All of these were satisfied simultaneously by the simple stepped spaces , depressed into the ground, opened only to the south and east (also view side), and being unified with a simple uninterrupted sloping cover - using basic crude materials.
The result was "wabi" in western terms - a positive expression of non-slick architecture.
Split pavers set in sand allows flexible re-arrangement of the continuous skylit garden (composite #3) as it draws one in and through the space. Uniformity of level heights with movable stair modules allow for alteration, contraction, or expansion of level dimensions.
Energy is conserved by depressing the building, also.
* "(The Japanese concept "wabi") is the form produced by in-sufficiency or self sufficiency, and it is thus associated with expressions of the simple, the rustic, the unpretentious, the imperfect." ...Engle
Type of Construction
Photos
