Marimba House
This house is for a residence and a studio of the percussion musician. Four plots alongside of two streets are facing one another and in two houses on two plots, parents and grandmother of the musician are already reside. Two plots are still empty and on these remaining plots, additional houses will be planned.
I started from finding the proper placement of this house as a part of a masterplan based on the idea, one individual house on each and every plot. Eventually four houses for 3 generation were arranged around a courtyard in the center. Each house consists of a low pitched roof which is heading the courtyard and a cube formed body above the low pitched roof which is placed at the corner facing the street.
The pitched roof on the first floor is rising toward the street. It's smoothly connected to the body on the second floor. On that upper body, private rooms are placed and under the pitched roof are studios and a living room. To Studios for practicing and recording were given an opened character. Since musicians and student would visit this house frequently, I placed the studios next to the courtyard and street. And I placed a living room between private rooms and these studios that the living room could act as a loose connection of them.
The structure and interior of the house is mainly wooden, since the sound was the most important factor while considering the proper structure. Two elements are creating a relationship between the performance place and the courtyard, one is a long and low –height is 2.2m- opening toward the courtyard, and the other one is a sufficient –depth is 1.8m- awning which continues along the front facade. In addition I set a wooden folding door on the inner side of the long and low opening which serves for a visual depth. It was planned for controlling the sound reflection of glass.
I set a skylight at the meeting point of the pitched roof and the upper body. It's a passing through boundary of two architectural body by light. Through this window on the roof, good and rich natural light reaches the inner space deeply.
The composition of private rooms and a terrace on the secont floor is compact. This cube formed body is a clear contrast to the spacious first floor. Considering the most frequently used material in the neighborhood, red brick, I applied orange colored dry bit on the facade of this upper cube formed body.
The fence between the street and the site is emphasizing the vertical lines. For getting openess and keeping privacy at the same time, flat iron bars 10mm thick with 100mm intervals are aligned in diverse direction, sometimes toward the body of the house and somtimes to the courtyard.
The unique sequence of space starts from the street, continues through the courtyard, studios and the living room on the first floor, terrace on the upper floor and ends finally on the dramatically opened roof top. Not only the residents but also to the visitors –mostly musicians- could get spontaneously rich architectural images on eveyday life through this consecutive experience.
