QT HAUS

QT HAUS was a project for a Sydney-based family who had an affinity for skiing & summer weather/ they found a stunning place to land in Fernhill, Queenstown, New Zealand/

this was a magical project with a fantastic & stunning site/ the process was made even more enjoyable by the close relationship we enjoyed with our client/ two years of my time with Hillery Priest Architecture was spent developing the concept design then constructing this project with Sue Hillery & Richard Priest/

themes investigated here: view; sculpture; and the act of placing an object in the landscape

views were important to the client, but in QT they are considered - a strong theme at HPA/ the best moment is lying in bed with a framed view across Lake Wakatipu to the Remarks/

sculpting the building to address form & function is shaped in part by the track of sun for daylighting & climate control, reflected in the roof form "flick" & "nodes"/

the literal nature of digging out & excavating away the site to place the house is both an act of sculpting & placing/ these acts were translated into the new construct through physical aspects of wall depth & sense, material, but also interior plays of zones, divides & fissures/

here, the simplicity, boldness & strength of form Richard brings to his projects is balanced by the textural & sculptural moments Sue loves/ with a great client - this means an excellent design & built outcome

photos below taken as a collaborative project between Jo Wickham & Dion Gosling for Studio106Photo

Architecture as Art across the Cinematographic Lens

this is an incredible animated piece by Alex Roman

it captures the power & emotive presence of our built environment/ the possibilities of the experiential place

detail : light : texture : scale : motion : e-motion : life : landscape

architecture / photo / film


The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

A_Framed

don't these simple house-types remind you of summer holidays, the escape from the city & noise; the sense of freedom, simplicity &; sandy feet!


Love the black form of this one sitting in the landscape/

architect Andrew Geller turned the old idea of the A-frame house into a new fashion in 1955 when he built an A-frame house on the beach in Long Island, New York known as the Reese House/ named for the distinctive shape of its roofline, Geller's design won international attention when it was featured in The New York Times on May 5, 1957/

although many have been tried & re-shaped, LOVE!!! the return to a simple, contemporary kick on the A_Frame theme out of an investigation into the folding planes we find in the landscape/


this one by William O'Brien Jr. of Cambridge, Massachusetts/

Oh... to find a retreat like this in the CITY!!!!....

Is the Photographer the Real Architect?

Check out the review & trailer of a new documentary of Julius Shulman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS. It raises some interesting points, as noted in an article in Another Magazine/

It proposes, Julius Shulman, who died last year at 98, may have been the most influential figure in modern architecture - yes, not an architect, but a photographer! Although he never designed a building, he "created" thousands of them - the way the great Hollywood directors used to create stars - by immortalising them on film/

Architectural photography implies a certain fidelity to reality. While Shulman's images are faithful, ultimately they are to an ideal - it is an ideal of living; modern yet natural, relaxed yet composed, facilitated by architecture/

Designer Tom Ford remarks: "often, the houses in real life are not nearly as beautiful as Julius' pictures."/

Shulman, it seems, was in the business of creating dreams - a theme reinforced by Visual Acoustics. It was Shulman, more than any architect, who sold the dream to mainstream America

When we walk in a house or building, we experience the volumes, the textures, the light; the whole package. Photographs capture moments, specific compositions & overlay the emotive; the dream.

Is photography the 4th experience for architecture? No longer a means of record, great photography is a key to experiencing architecture