Houses 90 preview

Houses 90.

Houses 90.

A house is more than a shelter or place of refuge that protects its inhabitants from the elements. The most rewarding houses provide this protection, while simultaneously allowing a considered connection with the outside world. Often, space is not simply divided between interior and exterior, but rather, a series of interstitial spaces serve as a buffer zone between the two. The placement and type of windows (fixed or operable) is another way of controlling this connection.

Paul Porjazoski of Bent Architecture suggests “the magic of architecture is in defining that balance between protection and prospect. The balance between the home as a shelter and cocoon, and allowing its inhabitants to look out.” In the Kew House, Paul and his team have aimed to strike this balance – even down to smaller details. For example, a solid balustrade on the street frontage provides privacy, but a small glass panel or “peephole” in it allows a framed view down to the driveway and the street.

The cover of Houses 90 features the Stewart House by Chenchow Little Architects, which also pursues a balance between protection and prospect. The white-brick house hunkers down into its bushy surrounds, while opening up and framing views of the dramatic landscape.

At Richard Stampton Architects’ Czech-Seidel House, the front garden is framed like a painting with a large, fixed picture window looking into the courtyard from a living space. Fresh air is accessed via a small operable slot opening adjacent to the picture window.

Chelmer House by Bligh Graham Architects focuses on a protected outdoor space, where the living areas spill onto the garden via a low deck hovering just above a landscape of gentle terraces. In this instance, the outdoor space is celebrated, but still controlled by the shape of the house built around it.

This issue also includes houses by O’Connor and Houle Architecture, Greg Natale Design, Zen Architects, Alexander Symes Architect in association with G+V Architecture, KPDO and Chamberlain Javens Architects and Kieron Gait Architects. We profile the highly refined homes of Sydney-based Collins and Turner Architects, and discover the first house design by MCK Architects. Finally, we revisit one of Guilford Bell’s late works that demonstrates a pared-down simplicity that comes from years of refinement.

Katelin Butler, editor

Purchase print issues.
Subscribe for six issues delivered.
Digital edition for mobile devices and computers.

Follow Houses on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Source

Archive

Published online: 31 Jan 2013
Words: Katelin Butler
Images: Derek Swalwell, John Gollings, Scott Burrows, Trevor Mein

Issue

Houses, February 2013

Related topics

More archive

See all
The November 2020 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia. November issue of LAA out now

A preview of the November 2020 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia.

The May 2021 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia. May issue of LAA out now

A preview of the May 2021 issue of Landscape Architecture Australia.

Most read

Latest on site

LATEST PRODUCTS