Car Park House

A combined car park and terrace covers the roof of this hillside house in Los Angeles. The designer designed the single-story home for an actor. It is situated on the edge of a steep slope, so the floors are arranged from top to bottom, with an entrance on the roof and rooms on the level below.

A recessed balcony offers views of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north east of the city.

A bridge connects the roof with the street, providing an entrance for both cars and pedestrians.

 

Source from http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/15/car-park-house-by-anonymous-architects/

A house with a strong angle of the roof

 Source: http://www.archello.com/en/project/c-2

This project sets up on the sloped hillside, which is similar to our Winchester assignment.  The surroundings are absolutely fantastic so the approach to the house through the forest was the first inspiration. The designer  wanted to go through the house before entering the house itself. So entering through a bridge that crosses the house you reappear still outside with a striking view to nature. The forest appear like a privilege landscape visible from the house, a “borrowed nature”.

The designer uses this huge abstract  shape that rising from the ground because of the steep angle of the land. The strong angle of the house was also guided by the requirement of winter conditions, the heavy load of snow slides from the roof. 

The light seems to be coming from every where, between the ceiling and the walls, the volumes are enlightened by long invisible windows, it has almost a religious feel creating a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. The changes of the light outside create subtle changes in the interior all day long: natural lighting becomes the artist of a live performance. 

A Simple Box House

Source: http://www.johnpawson.com/works/palmgren-house/

A few days ago,  I went a wrong way about the understanding of a designer. I wanted to create something different project from everyone else, therefore i prefer to catch up people's attention from the prospective of the shape rather than focus on  the function of interior space. Actually, volume, function of houses, light, surroundings and materials  are important for Interior Architecture designers. It is particular vital that we should pay more attention on the function of space, light or materials to highlight this project when we have the similar shape.

This house on the shore of Lake Drevviken takes the form of a simple box, with an enclosed courtyard at the back and a terrace to the front. It is not a complicated shape of this house and not simple. Although the shape of this  house seems to be several cube that connect to each other and all  walls are printed to white, it is not lose its appeal. There are different pictures in the season of winter and summer. In winter, when the lake freezes over and the site is blanketed in snow, the pale volume is all but invisible. In summer, viewed from across the water, the elevations are fragmented by foliage. Inside the house is designed to be as open as possible to views over the lake, with spaces framed in simple surfaces and in a pale tonal palette.

                                                            Source: http://www.johnpawson.com/works/palmgren-house/

Sustainable System — Ground-Source Heat Pump

Ground-source heat pumps extract latent heat from the ground via a borehole or net work of underground pipes. The heat is transferred to a mix of water and antifreeze carried in the pipes and then converted,through the heat pump, into thermal energy for heating hand hot water. Technically this is not renewable energy, as electricity is needed to power the pump, but that electricity amounts to one-third of the total energy produced, so the excess could be termed renewable. The pump can also be powered by solar energy or another renewable form.

 underground pipes

 use it for heating hand hot water

For Example

source : http://www.archdaily.com/352658/fox-house-pique-architecture/

This home sits on a bluff overlooking rolling sagebrush meadows in Oregon’s High Desert with views of the Cascade Mountains dominating the western horizon. The request for a net zero house necessitated extensive use of photovoltaic panels, ground source heat-pumps, careful consideration of day lighting and shading strategies, and a super-insulated structure.

Advantages

- System is easy to maintain and lasts at least twenty years.
- Lower running costs than oil, liquid petroleum gas, coal and electric heating     system.

Disadvantages

- The temperature generated - 50℃ is too low for a regular radiator to heat a room.        Heat pumps work better with underfloor heating, which can achieve room            temperatures of 25-28℃ from water temperatures of 45-65℃.
- Can be installed only where the ground is suitably soft for digging a trench or borehole.
- Higher running costs than mains gas heating.

Light research—House in Muko

This is A mezzanine-floored residence consisting of a single-roomed space, located on a fan-shaped site. In the evening, the warm light penetrate through the block of walls and contrast to the the cold color concrete building. 

This building likes a big window-blind that explores block of concrete walls and connects glass between them. The movements of the sun can be felt inside the house all throughout the year. Light coming from the east strikes the louvered boards before entering the house and reaching deep into its interior. Direct sunlight from the south traces a shower-like path of lines as it penetrates into the building. Light coming from the west reflects off the walls of this house with an open stairwell before entering it. 

The fluctuating light coming from the sidelight projects delicate scenes on the floor to invite one's consciousness to the depth of imagination.

I like this project because it break from traditional buildings, instead of taking advantage of dynamic wall, sunshine and lamplight to create comfortable atmosphere inside and  outside.

source: http://www.archdaily.com/345763/house-in-muko-fujiwarramuro-architects/

HALO: Swedish Students’ Solar Decathlon Entry

Resently, I have been studying sustainable house which can achieve use nature energy in order to save unnecessary waste. Then i found this project-Designed and built by 25 students from Chalemers University in Sweden, HALO is a socially sustainable home for four students, running on renewable energy from the sun. HALO was designed using one underlying concept: shared space is double space.

 

The shape and name of HALO was inspired by the optical phenomenon that takes the form of a round shining circle around the sun. 

 

 

The round shape of HALO’s structure provides maximum interior area while minimizing exterior perimeter, reducing heat loss potential. While the total area is low, and interior space only 60 m², the students are offered large common spaces and smaller private areas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The roof is constructed of monocrystalline silicone photovoltaics laminated in thin acrylic plastic and coated with a high strength polymer. The cells were then applied to 10 mm thick double wall polycarbonate sheets which act as the waterproofing membrane for the roof. The solar panels are not just attached to the roof, they are the roof. Solar cells are often perceived as a limitation, due to strict module measures. HALO shows a potential for solar technologies to be truly integrated into the architectural design of a house. 

Green and Sustainable Buildings

This is especially true today as society faces challenges of global warming, peak oil, and water scarcity. So " green " and "sustainable" are become the key words for modern architectures. How energy a building will save, how much less pollution it will produce,what sort of materials were chosen, and what affect on the health and comfort of the occupants is expected seems to be main questions that people care about. As following project, i mainly focus on green and sustainable house, which can achieve long-term use and save energy and realise environmentally friendly.

There are two ways can achieve what i mentioned above. Generally, there are two ways could utilise solar energy in construction: one is passive solar, the other one is active solar energy. The so-called passive solar buildings are refer to the use of solar energy to provide indoor heating without other mechanical device to provide energy. The passive solar system is a process of transform nature source, which relys on conduction, convection and radiation heat to implement the collection, storage, distribution, and control of solar energy. On the contrary,the active solar buildings usually use of machinery to collection, storage, distribution to control solar heat.It needs two elements for passive solar system: one is to use the direction of transparent material (glass or plastic, etc.) or the dark materials to collect solar energy, the second is collection, storage and distribution of solar energy heat to receive maximal solar energy.