A Modern Design
February 18, 2009
What kind of house do you build for people who for want nothing, nothing, that is except for a simple country retreat to house a growing collection of modern art ? This was the question posed to HHF architects when two art loving clients presented a large plot two hours from upstate New York with the brief that their country retreat should be as simple and as clear as possible, reflecting their desire for a home with a simplicity of materials that would reflect their love of art and the beauty of the land on which the house was to be built.
The answer is perhaps, on the surface, simplicity itself. HFF architects have delivered a project, without overstatement, based on a series of large and small, interconnecting spaces on the ground floor, and a series of intimate private areas on the second, wholly reflective of their clients 'gallery' brief.
Constructed using a timber frame and clad in simple corrugated steel sheeting, the Tsai Residence is on first inspection a series of four corrugated boxes sitting on a hill. It is this simple organisation of the framework of the house which acts as a counterpoint to the abstract way in which the interior spaces are arranged once you enter the property.
It is this interior placement that allows the house to breathe with light, and due to both the size of the project, and the core idea that the house is a home for the display of art, light is used in the same way as a modern art gallery, and openings within the four structural 'boxes' allow for the great views of the countryside afforded by the buildings position within the landscape and a light which doesn't detract from the art displayed inside.
Central to the interior of the property is a column constructed of mid-blue engineered brick, which houses the fireplaces for the rooms (including an exterior fireplace for a sheltered terrace) of the house and also acts as the centrepoint from which the interiors can then flow.
What is particularly impressive when it comes to the design of the fabric of the house is both the clever placement of natural and artificial light, and the simplicity with which the core materials of wood, plaster, brick and glass are used to create the interior detailing of the building. The minimalist kitchens and bathrooms and wooden clad stair columns further illustrate this simple design aesthetic.
Whilst the house appears to be simplicity itself, designing a home on this scale, without being overbearing on the spaces within, is no mean feat, and the approach of HHF architects has shown an ingenious restraint in both the scale of this most modern of homes and the natural beauty of the interiors within. As for what to build for the clients who want for very little, repeat after me, wood, plaster, brick and glass !
To see the house click launch gallery at the top of this page.
HFF architects can be found at http://www.hhf.ch
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