Articles by Bianca Valentina Roșescu

A luxuriant forest of Jeffrey and sugar pine mixed with white and red fir covers this two-acre site at roughly 6,300 feet above sea level in the Martis Valley near the north shore of Lake Tahoe. Gently sloped, the site falls toward the south with views of the Northstar California ski resort. The simple rectangular plan is placed to minimize the impact on the site, leaving a three-dimensional screen of 115 trees 60 to 90 feet tall surrounding it. The smaller second level contains sleeping rooms.

Located in South Jakarta, Residence 57 is a merge of two rectangular masses, which compliments the irregular shape of the lot where it is situated. With a 380 sqm building area, the house is designed in tropical style, accentuating modern minimalistic architecture by using only three types of materials, which are solid wood, natural stone, and concrete.

The first idea was to renovate their previous home. But it just so happened that a week after their first meeting at our office, our customers were able to buy the home of their dreams: old holiday home at the highest point of the village, in the midst of the countryside. Apart from the phenomenal views, the plot has an extra asset: a beautiful weeping willow.

A primitive architectural intention was used to establish building and landscape through the metaphor of a ruin. The site was conceived as a large garden to hold program for daily activities. Heavy masonry walls intersect the site, carving out public and private courtyard gardens, creating new entries into rooms through garden spaces. Encouraging the inhabitants to engage with the surrounding climate, landscape and structure.

The brief was to create a home for the family that nestled in the landscape. Their previous home designed by Ian Perkins was located in a large property that provided a lot of privacy and calm, and this relocation to a smaller suburban coastal block meant a readjustment to closer quarters. Being fond of the coastal life, they wanted to maintain that feeling of lightness and stillness in their new environment – a place where they could grow old in, closer to friends and family.

Hadong Plaza which once was full of people in the 1970s lost its energy. Instead, the abandoned plaza became a parking lot as the number of cars increased. ‘1970 cultural center’ was built next to the plaza to memorize the old days, but it was not enough to revitalize the plaza again. For this small town, a place for gathering, resting, and playing is required so that various activities and events could occur by local people and tourists. Therefore, the plaza had to be transformed into “a plaza”.