curb appeal | Real people don't hire architects...?

Posts Tagged ‘curb appeal’

The feel good factor of unbridled color.

October 10, 2017

Save

Basic town house found in any town USA

Better than a tiny house? – This is the face of many pseudo urban commuter suburbs in the US. Not such bad places really, especially if one seeks the untroubled reverie of commonality, the refuge of normalcy in uncertain times. By many standards the place is actually a pillar of luxury. Who, with jobs, kids, grandkids, and stuff, could argue with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a big kitchen, actual dining room, “whatever” room, off street parking and a security system too. Why then, in the face of such naked functionality, does this place leave some of us feeling mildly depressed? I don’t think that I really want to know why, or more likely want to face it.

Admitting that color feels good! Rather than subject the reader to more dreary investigations, I thought it would be a lot more fun to look at what makes many of us feel good! That, of course, would be bold, bright, primary, unapologetic color.

Colorful historic downtown mixed use.

Save

Colorful townhouses.

Advocating for reinstatement. I often wonder why we have removed it from our visual life, demoted it to a position of the unsophisticated, even crass. I for one would like to see it reinstated. I wonder what the home owners association would say if the home owner in the photo above were to apply for approval to repaint the house as per below? Approval or not, it definitely makes me feel a lot better about the house.

Defying the HOA

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged architectural colors, architectural theory, curb appeal, design ideas, home owners, property values, vernacular architecture | Leave a Comment »

Making a Case for Anomalies

July 18, 2017

Holy Cow! This looks a like the concept house in the header, begging the question; “do I own it or change it?”

Artistic Logic – Where do I start with this one? The temptation is to say what makes a home owner do things like this, until I think, “maybe the homeowner didn’t do it.” Maybe it was a builder? Probably not. Those guys are all about conformity and resale value. What/wherever the idea came from doesn’t matter. I looks pretty strange to most of us. Yet, I hesitate to criticize, because I somehow find artistic logic in what was done. Honestly, I see things like this in modern art museums all the time. There has been a kind of purists pursuit of geometry while totally ignoring everything else. The effect is humorous. It makes me smile which is not such a bad thing for a house to do.

Typical Vernacular House.

Vernacular Building – It also points to another interesting question. Is the split level house a form of “new” vernacular? What does that word mean? Wikipedia says it is “an architectural style that is designed based on local needs, availability of construction materials and reflecting local traditions..,” without the use of “…formally-schooled architects.” There are text books written on the subject, but I like this definition. It sums up how I think about vernacular building (notice that I did not call it architecture, but that is a subject for another day). The definition almost, but not quite, fits the split level place. There is a utilitarian and historical implication associated with vernacular buildings that often manifest as a foundation for some future style, or expression of a recognizable over riding unity. The split level house meets the utilitarian criteria but hardy the historical one. The log cabin meets them both.

Noteworthy? – Psychologist define many different ways of learning. I suppose that perception is particular to each individual and that mine is visual. Often, I see something noteworthy without any idea why. Only after some time and conscious analysis does the meaning reveal itself. For me the split level house is like that. It sent a message that read; ” I may be an anomaly but I am also an individual who is unconscious of, and therefore uninfluenced by, architectural and stylistic mores.” The message is totally unsophisticated. It redefines how we think about building and points toward a fresh approach to design, the pursuit of which being the reason for this this blog.

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged architectural anomolies, architectural theory, curb appeal, design ideas, home owners, new architecture, primitive hut, timeless standards, vernacular architecture | 2 Comments »

“… three, two, one, lift off house.”

February 27, 2017

Authors note: Original article is written for and posted in Aspire Design and Home. You might want to check them out, or just read it here.

house rocket

Rocket Launch – Since I am already on the subject of houses on hilltops, I might as well take a look at this one. Something strange happens to ones perception of space when approaching a tall house, up a hill, with pointy gables. It starts to feel like one is approaching a rocket launch. The flat facade of the building adds to the effect because there is no intervening element to catch the viewers attention and stop the upward motion. This is reinforced by the driveway wall which also points, behaving like a one point perspective, drawing the viewer’s eye toward some infinite point on the horizon.

Single Visual Element – A bit of academic analysis clearly gives us to understand that, from a design standpoint, the house in the photo really starts at the street. It is one with the driveway; a single visual element, dominated by an extremely strong profile, defined by vertical lines which terminate in arrows pointing skyward. Have you ever driven through a farm town and seen the silos next to a railway? The only thing missing from the photo of the house under consideration is the train.

Transformation by Decoration – Also worth considering is that rows of tall flat facades, springing directly up from sidewalks, show up in residential buildings in places like Paris, Vienna and New York. These buildings are transformed, by dint of decoration. Variations in the size, placement and celebration of openings, add complexity to the extent that one barely realizes they are tall, which begins to suggest that height might be something to cultivate rather than disdain, as I was at first inclined to do.

Why so Awkward – Likewise I am led to ask, if not the height, then why so awkward. The answer, of course, is that on some level most of us understand that the unity of form and purpose evident in the row house, the silo, and even the rocket is missing in the suburban residence. We end up with what I call a “fusion tract house,” sporting a garage door, a couple of gables, and the arched part of a “Palladian” window, all forced into a shape that does not suit.

Architectural Form – If this home owner were my client I would, without going too far into value judgements, simply ask if this tall silhouette is one that he/she would choose to put in a typical suburban neighborhood in “any-town” USA. If the answer was yes, then I would advise that the homeowner embrace the concept by loosing the “home depot” doors, windows, and finishes in favor of a stark functional version, organized to reinforce the architecture. If, on the other hand, the answer was “not so much,” I would recommend either a different site or a different architectural form.

Bridget Gaddis, is a Licensed Architect and LEED Accredited Professionnal practicing nationally, and locally in the Washington DC area. She holds professional degrees in both Architecture and Interior Design and has a comprehensive background in commercial retail design, planning and construction. She has many years experience working for well known architects, developers and retailers. In 2011 she started Gaddis Architect an independent practice in Alexandria, VA. In addition, Ms. Gaddis has an interest in residential projects and is the author of “Real People Don’t Hire Architects,” a blog about houses.

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged architectural theory, builder house, cartoon, colonial houses, curb appeal, design ideas, fusion tract house, home owners | Leave a Comment »

Very Frank Lloyd Wright?

November 1, 2016

Recently a reader ask for my opinion on a project. We shared numerous images, had email discussions and a phone call. I think we opened several design possibilities worth a discussion here. Follow along with the discussion and add your “two cents” in the comments section. Maybe someone out there has even better ideas than those offered here.

: Existing House

Existing House – The reader was planning a complete remodel of an existing “Mid Century Modern” house. He sent me images of the existing house, some renderings of what he was planning to do, as well as a really great original booklet with plans of similar house designs from the same historic period which can be found here.

: Design proposed by reader.

Reader’s Question – His initial question was about the windows. He sent me the proposed design shown above and asked me, in particular, what I thought about the sash windows, including decorative glass and external shutters, that are between the garage door and the chimney in the image. He also asked me for comments on the use of color. I sometimes think that clients need a hook; a way of tacitly enjoining a larger critique. Clearly, I couldn’t begin to think about details like window styles without first examining their context, which in this case involved a two part observation. I thought, “this design is very Frank Lloyd Wright, and it is actually quite nicely done.”

Save

Frank Lloyd Wright: Mid Century Modernist? – The crux of my observation about Wright is in the question about whether or not he can be grouped with the “Mid Century Modernists.” The answer is that it is done all the time, but Wright was more. He was an influencer with deep roots in the historic transition from the Victorian to Modern world. Evidence of this transition can be seen especially in his early work and it is important to this discussion because the design proposed by the reader evokes this link which, I think, justifies the design and provides an answer to his question about the windows.

The Design Process – Before I go into examples, (if you are bored by theories just skip this paragraph) I should offer a disclaimer about the design process in general. Most, if not all, design is a product of selected influences found in the greater environment in which it appears. In short, ideas do not occur in a vacuum. This is not to imply that we remember the source of these inclinations. It only means that we somehow carry various visual impressions around in our psyche and pull them out when needed. This is true with large stylistic movements that show up in the built environment, and especially when considering an architect as well thought of, and with such far reaching influence as had Frank Lloyd Wright. I am pretty sure the reader who designed this remodel gave little thought to the source of his ideas, and, when he finally decide to look, came up with the previously mentioned booklet; providing an example of how the “Modern Movement in Architecture,” which had originated with Wright and others, manifested in commercial track housing looking exactly like the house that the reader was proposing to fix. This was interesting for sure, but of little relevance in view of the proposed design which was good on it’s own merit not a little because it was specifically suggestive of Wright’s early work, whether the reader knew it or not.

Citing the Evidence – I did some research and came up with these examples. They go a long way towards explaining why I thought the readers design was “very” Frank Lloyd Wright. I picked them because they contained elements in common with the proposed design as noted below each image.

: The Lake Forest house, like our existing example, has a shallow roof pitch and is the only one in the group with a typically “modern vibe.” Not to be overlooked is the massing which is a contrast of strong horizontal and vertical volumes – also in our example design, and large expanses of glass.

: The Oakpark house still looks Victorian but Wright assimilates the half timberd facade at the gable with his signature modern massing, both of which are present in the readers design.

: The casement windows in the Oakpark house feature regular rectangular divisions which might suggest a solution to the window problem posed by the reader.

: Robie House provides a great example of how Wright used decorative glass in a highly stylized manner which was completely coordinated and related to the interior design as part of the building as a cohesive piece of art. This suggests that unless such a level of design can be achieved it would be best for the reader to stick with a more regular approach and revise the windows shown in the proposed design.

: FLW’s house and studio, like much of his work, demonstrates more modern volumetric massing but otherwise maintains a link with Victorian origins. The classical windows with Tudor style diamond glass suggest a viable solution to the readers window problem.

: Finally this Oakpark house, although mostly Victorain except for the massing, has simple offset geometry on the glass, which may provide the best solution for the reader’s window design problem so far.

Save

Suggested Revision

Possible Solution – Just to restate the problem – in case you forgot already – the reader asked me to comment on the two sets of sash windows with the decorative glass and external shutters that are shown in his proposed design. Based on the research, and assuming the reader intended to install in the existing openings, I recommended that casement windows be used instead of sash, which are almost never used by Wright and generally not strongly evident in “Mid Century Modern” houses from this era. I further suggested that a simple geometric muntin pattern offset from the mullions like those in the last research example above would work. The reader did not ask me about the garage door, nevertheless I suggested he change it to a simple door with horizontal divisions which I thought worked better than the existing which had fielded panels and “colonial” references.

Artwork by Reader

Let’s Not Forget the Color – Finally the reader sent me this fun bit of artwork and ask me what I thought of the color. The greenish color of the existing tile roof seems unique to this house and, I think, adds personality. The rest of the natural colored materials are working and support the new design. Trim and the garage door are best colored to disappear. Check out Wright’s Studio above. Continuing a bit of green might be used to attract attention to the front door but it is not really necessary.

Special thanks to Angelo Corriea, a builder from our Northern neighbor, who sent me this project, but really didn’t need my help as he created a nice design on his own. Also, for you serious students of design, it might be worth checking out the connections between Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson, and Louis Sullivan.

Bridget Gaddis, is a Licensed Architect and LEED-accredited Professional practicing nationally, and locally in the Washington DC area. She holds professional degrees in both Architecture and Interior Design, and with a comprehensive background in commercial retail design, planning and construction has completed projects for such for such well known brands as Chloe, Zegna, and Bvlgari. Her career began in tenant coordination and site planning for two well-known Cleveland developers, followed by six years in store planning for a national retailer. After a move to New York City in 1997, she spent the next years working for architecture firms specializing in retail projects. In 2011 she started her own practice in Alexandria, VA. Ms. Gaddis is the author of two blogs dealing with architectural subjects.

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged architectural theory, curb appeal, design ideas, finishes, Frank Lloyd Wright, modern architecture, modernist, remodeling | Leave a Comment »

Vertical Siding Makes a House Look “Modern”

August 3, 2016

If I told you that these two houses were essentially the same house, what would you think? Would you say “no way!” They don’t look anything alike. One is quite pretty and contemporary. The other is dated and very ordinary. Anyone can see that they are very different.

Are they not stick built boxes with low pitched roofs and asymmetrical street elevations? Do they not have two stories with horizontal siding on the upper level and garrison style colonial shapes? Are they not about the same size and maybe even construction quality? Are they not basically the same?

What makes them look so different? Why does the green house appear modern and relevant and the blue one look like a 1965 colonial tract house that has seen better days. The answer is more simple than one might think, which is encouraging because it means that there is a fix. It is about the finishes. Before going there, let me say that I have no idea about the origin or remodeling history of these two houses. Whether the finishes are newly added or original matters not at all, as it is about the materials that were used and how they were applied.

If we make a single list of materials that are different on the street elevation of both of these houses we end up with some vertical siding, white shutters and paint. Really, that’s all! Can such a small kit of parts be applied with such divergent results? The answer, of course, is yes. Consider, for the sake of discussion, what would happen to the blue house if we threw out the shutters, added a contrasting color to the “pop out” dormer and and reversed the first floor siding so that it was vertical instead of horizontal. Anyone brave enough to undertake it, could end up with an amazing update.

Oversimplification? Perhaps! It does, though, drive home the main reason for this discussion, which is that vertical siding makes a house look modern. Most architects will say, when used with care, it confers a stylistically modern persona and reinforces an up to date image.

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged colonial houses, curb appeal, design ideas, finishes, home owners, modern architecture, modernist, remodeling | 2 Comments »

De-Shuttering Our World

March 21, 2016

I can’t look!

I really wonder if I missed some important rule of architecture when I was in school, or maybe there is something in the building code, some new requirement, or could it be something in the culture, or maybe technology? That’s it, they must be functional? I doubt it though. Not anymore.

No and no!

What does that leave? Is it honestly possible that consumer preference has demanded that every mediocre house built in the US since 1950 must have at least one set of shutters, functional or mostly not, on a window that is visible from the street? Sometimes it seems that way.

Do you want to know something about shutters, about function, types, sizes, history? It is stuff I am not going to talk about here because it has already been done, many, many times, so check out the Old House Guy. Shutters, we are told, are a great way to beautify a home because they provide lots of visual impact for not much cost. They can also, he continues, very easily ruin (and usually do) its entire appearance, a point with which I wholeheartedly agree.

Yup

Not so you say? Look at this cute little house. Think how it would look without the bright shutters and notice how nicely they are tied in by the use of equally bright accents at the door. Bye the way, the variegated roof doesn’t hurt either.

This is a yes!

What about this house? These shutters are adding design to an otherwise very ordinary house. They set up visual rhythm, add order and interest. I want to go inside and find all of the windows equally spaced and lined up in the same room.

The problem is that for every thoughtful application of shutters there are 50 that miss, or never attempt to hit, the design mark. The materials of Mid-American single family housing, stick built in mass after the WW II, and continuing today in miles of new urbanest town houses, have remained the same. Only the planning has changed. There is a very unpleasant visual tension between the very old fashioned, historic kit of parts and the contemporary form of the whole. Nowhere is that tension more evident than in the application of decoration, the most obvious being shutters. The pervasive wood clapboarding, shingles, brick, pre-manufactured windows, doors, architectural elements and trim used everywhere today might better fit on a wing of Monticello than on a new apartment in a builder development.

This appears of little concern to much of the purchasing public, who are perhaps too uniformed to ask for better. I would suggest that visually pleasing results may be achieved when the parts support the whole, when the clapboarding becomes a horizontal element reinforcing the shape of a wide low ranch, when the a decorative element completes one side of a partially open gable, when a change of finish material turns a short window into a vertical element, maybe even when a shutter signals a message. Here are a few ideas offered as inspiration in my effort to de-shutter our world.

: Yup

: Definitely a yes!

: Yup and really yup!

: For sure, easy too!

: Yup

: Could be a yes!

Save

Images in bottom gallery are from http://www.flickr.com and used under creative commons. Please contact us for links.

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged architectural theory, colonial houses, contemporary style, curb appeal, design ideas, home owners, property values, remodeling, small architecture projects | 1 Comment »

Architecture: Making Function Follow Form?

February 24, 2015

Passive Solar House A

I am a big fan of passive house design. I buy books about it, read blogs about it, go to trade shows about it, watch other architects design about it, go to open houses about it, and mostly dream about it. Somehow my architectural visions always ends up looking more like house B than house A . Reality, on the other hand, usually ends up looking the other way around. Why, I ask myself, is this? As I am fond of mentioning, did not Louis Sullivan, after all, poetically state.

“Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change, form does not change. The granite rocks, the ever-brooding hills, remain for ages; the lightning lives, comes into shape, and dies, in a twinkling. It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.”

In theory, and in reality too, there can be no doubt that form does, indeed, follow function. For architects, a problem only presents itself when we don’t like the way said form ends up looking. In this case there is really only one real choice. Modify the form. That can be done legally by changing the function, usually by making it more complex. We see that the South facing sun room in house B also serves as an entry with architecturally agreeable results. Pure function, as demonstrated in the green house attached to house A, can be a bit hard to take. What is an architect to do? I say, change the way it looks, legal or not.

Passive Solar House B

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged curb appeal, green building, modern architecture, modernist, solar heat, sustainability, sustainable design | 1 Comment »

Extreme Craftsmanship Required

May 17, 2014

Corrugated Aluminum House in Sweden, published in Designboom, by förstberg arkitektur och formgivning. Follow the links to see the entire house.

What could be more relevant: sleek modern design, industrial materials? So why does our very real everyday built environment not often share such an aesthetic? When it does, why must it end up looking “home made” like the house in the photo below, as apposed to the polished mechanized version above? And granted, my photo below is bad, but not bad enough to account for the difference

The sign in front of the building says “Design Build Finance”

So why do the quality places seem only to appear in expensive trendy areas, hidden away in private retreats, alas on the pages of Dwell? To start with, a close look at the house in Sweden reveals that is a a timber frame. In the US the skill of cheap stick building has been refined to the level of excluding everything else. Any other structural system ends up costing more. But it is not just the structure that is different. It is the quality of the finishes, which in the Swedish house are perfection; no distorted or warped trim, unfinished edges, mismatched windows, off the shelf garage doors, or unfinished wood there. Not to mention the strangely proportioned design and very commercial need to install windows in the roof.

There is a lesson here. Extreme craftsmanship is required if industrial materials are to be used successfully. If funds and/or confidence are in short supply, then I say opt for tried and true methods and put your efforts into a superior design. I know!!! Why not hire and architect?

Save

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged builder house, curb appeal, custom home, industrial materials, modern architecture, proportion | Leave a Comment »

Le Corbusier Fancy

January 4, 2014

There is a type of chair often referred to in design school as a “Sheraton Fancy” and if one is inclined to look further into it, they would find that Thomas Sheraton was prone to pillage his predecessors to the extent that not a little of some history of architecture reference book shows up in his very elegant furniture designs, published in his book, The Cabinet Maker’s and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book, and then not only copied but frivolously embellished forever after. These houses somehow brought Sheraton to mind, as if they might first have been conceived in a chronology of 20th century architectural styles that were finally reassembled in a silly but nevertheless pleasing way. I like these houses. They are modest little jewels in a sea of…. well you know ..

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged curb appeal, dead architects, design ideas, Le Corbusier, modernist, Post Modern Architecture, Sheraton Fancy, timeless standards | Leave a Comment »

Post Modern Wild West

December 17, 2013

I am often attracted to architectural projects that cross artlessly over the line between stylistic and strange, which they mostly do by crossing imaginary lines between style and style. Strange is a holistic sort of term, like hot or big. No one ever thinks to ask why a thing is big. They just know that it is. It is like that with strange, which the house in the photo most certainly is.

Once defined in such terms, a thing tends to acquire value based on the degree of bigness, hotness, strangeness, etc. that it demonstrates. This house, for example, probably falls somewhere in the middle on the strangeness meter. I expect that it could be a hard sell to an intellectual or sophisticated buyer, not so much to someone looking for features and even less so to an eccentric with a special agenda.

My interest is to discover whether analyzing the design has the ability to change our perception of it. Without question the flat blue facade with the angled square window conjures up “postmodern” contraptions the likes of which Michael Graves may forever lament. It collides with the not so subtle reference to rustic Western towns set in rugged terrain, consisting of unpainted wooden buildings in rows made rigid by flat facades, and counterfeit by perfectly aligning parapets. Not to be overlooked is the fact that what we really have is a two story colonial box with dated modern style windows. Ok! I take it back. Analysis only makes it more strange!

Posted in Architectural Criticism, Architecture, Design, Hire an architect., Residential Design | Tagged colonial houses, curb appeal, Parapets, Post Modern Architecture, vernacular architecture, Western Style | Leave a Comment »

Real people don't hire architects…?

Posts Tagged ‘curb appeal’

The feel good factor of unbridled color.

Making a Case for Anomalies

“… three, two, one, lift off house.”

Very Frank Lloyd Wright?

Vertical Siding Makes a House Look “Modern”

De-Shuttering Our World

Architecture: Making Function Follow Form?

Extreme Craftsmanship Required

Le Corbusier Fancy

Post Modern Wild West

Why & Where

Email Subscription

Categories

Archives