Case Study : STUDIOHOUSE-F451
Text: The Conditioned Outdoor Room-BERNARD RUDOFSKY
The contemporary world, perpetually urbanizing and transforming as it is, calls for a holistic approach to the pertinent issue of the relationship between the natural and the built environment by architects and urban planners. No one can deny that the recent trends and developments in technology have resulted in complex relational logics that connect nature with the urban context.
Studio house by F451arquitectura aims to explore the connections between architecture and landscape, particularly by merging the site’s landscape with architectural design, forming positional, metaphorical and environmental relations between them. The landscape is integrated with the house, as it’s different volumes unfold from the sloped topography in different ways; alignment with the terrain in the middle, emerging from it in the volume of the studio and detaching from it in the side of the house. Nevertheless, this integration appears to be investigated in the design only in a spatial/visual manner rather than a functional one (e.g. absence of patio). With reference to the metaphorical relational logic, Studio house develops a hybrid design that is based on the combination of the modern house typology and the industrial house typology, which is accomplished by spatially distributing the different functions that it accommodates (house, studio, guest house, garage e.tc.) in autonomous, but interrelated volumes. In addition to this, the design implements energy efficiency solutions, through a green roofed corridor, which provides the structure with thermal insulation to the structure, as well as with double orientation, lighting and ventilation to all featured spaces.
The relational logics formed between the natural and artificial environment are also evident in The Conditioned Outdoor Room by Bernard Rudofsky. In this text the author underlines the dangerous trend of disconnecting the living environment from nature. People have always attempted to conquer natural phenomena, by creating a climate controlled inner environment that is almost unattached to the natural environment. Using various examples of the architectural elements of the garden and in analogy to the Pompeii ruins, the author indicates the urgent need to shift the architectural and climatic focus on the outdoor environment. Thus, the courtyard archetype calls for a revision in the contemporary urban environment.
As a future research, I would be highly interested in researching the new relational logics that are established through advanced architecture, as well as exploring these in a broader scale, focusing on the notion of glocal, a new term that refers to the integration of the global and local environmental aspects in architecture.