Two faced

I scribbled out a little sketch showing the general concept I'm looking into:


The idea is to find a site which allows for a private but open outdoor area to the south, shielded by the house whose "back" is turned to the road and the north winds.

The glass explains much of the reasoning.
The functions of glass windows/doors...

good	bad
View the beautiful outdoors	Can reveal unsightly things
Provides an entry/exit	Lessens indoor privacy
Allows sunlight inside
Allows in solar heat energy	Heat is sometimes unwanted (summer)
Can be opened for fresh air	Has very poor insulating properties

Each of these "good" functions are amplified many times when used in the pictured setup, while many of the "bad" are mitigated. Therefore, it makes sense to me to almost exclusively place windows on that one side.

Another concept I'm looking in to is placing an earth berm toward the north of the house. Since I'm not concerned with windows on that side, and earth is a readily & freely available material, walling the house with it could add significantly to the insulation and privacy.

Sloping the roof - part 2

Determined that shape must make a difference, I mulled over the roof styles further, and I'm very intrigued with this one:

Here are my reasons:

Simplicity
The entire roof is a single face, which will make construction simple and inexpensive, maintenance rare, and runoff very manageable.

The Sun
This design favors one large wall over the other three, just as the sun shines from one cardinal direction more than the other three. This coincidence could be used to maximize solar gain, while minimizing cold and breezy north facing surfaces. By filling the large side with windows, the sloping eaves would welcome all of the winter sun while shading the home from the summer sun.

Large outer wall
Typical roofs leave the greatest height in the house along the middle. This roof puts that height along an outer wall allowing the height to be used by dramatic windows (like mentioned above.) Ceiling height is only really impressive when it is drawn attention to.

Yes, all this attention on one wall does leave its short counterpart without much to offer, but certain rooms don't require tall ceilings, hot sunlight and good views, like bathrooms and storage


What do you think? No, it's not much to look at yet, but remember we are still just theorizing.

Where the heart is

I came up with this blog as a means to expose my thinking, and embrace critique. It has been extremely helpful hearing all of your comments. I realized though that I haven't communicated my lifestyle and values very well, which in turn has made it difficult for readers to contribute relevant direction. Before going further, I'm going to try to clarify some things, for you as well as for myself.

First, the practical:

• The house will home my wife, myself, and several (future) kids.
• I am an artist/computer artist and my wife is a dancer.
  
• We plan to live there for the rest of our lives.
• I intend to have a large role in the construction of the house. but...
• I only have basic construction knowledge. but...
• I love to learn and love to work with my hands.
  
• The house will be secluded, in the woods. (Central CT)
• Aside from the land, I am aiming for construction costs to end up around $150k

And the theoretical:

• I believe that enormous value can be found by rethinking design/lifestyle traditions, and I am open to these thoughts.
  
• I value long term efficiency over short term savings.
  
• I am a bargain hunter, and believe that better things can always be found for less money if the time is taken, and highly value efficiency.
  
• I love the thought of self-sufficient lifestyles.

Overall, I am just looking to get the most lasting & functional bang for my buck. Although I love beauty and design, I'm not worried about the aesthetics yet, because I believe function comes first, and I don't want to be swayed by my lust so to speak.

Here are some houses that inspire me: (gut reaction, not ideals)


This blog is just a central place to muse upon ideas, not necessarily a progression. Thanks for all your comments, please keep them coming!

Sloping the roof

I had previously boiled the purpose of a home down to the simple "form containing livable space" definition. A key factor in a space's livability is in its protection from the elements. I've briefly mentioned considerations in protecting from the cold by reducing surface area and shaping the house around a cube, but a cube's flat top isn't the best way to to protect from precipitation, and therefore I'm inclined to let some of the worries about water leakage fall off the side of the house by way of a sloped roof.

This is where it gets interesting because unlike a cube where there is really only one way to shape it, a "cube" with a sloped top can be shaped many ways for example...

But what's really the difference? They each can have similar slopes, and the difference in surface/volume ratio that I talked about earlier is insignificant. Do these shapes and roof styles possess any inherent advantages over each other? At this point siting becomes an important factor, but let's assume that any site is available.

My quick evaluation:

• 2, 3 & 7 have more ridges which add to the complexity & cost
• 4 & 5 are simpler, with 4 being the simplest.
• 2 & 7 are symmetrical, while 1, 3, 4, 5 & 6 offer unique properties to different sides while adding to the sense of 'front and back'
  
• 1, 2 & 3 are very conventional, while the rest are more unique.
  

What else makes these very different styles different? Why choose one over the other? Please leave your comments...

The other side of a cube

I had raised the discussion over at GardenWeb and received some great practical critique of my thinking, and of this idea of a cube shaped house. Some of the mentioned drawbacks are:

1. "Flat roofs leak easily"
2. "A box house isn't very appealing"
3. "Think about snow load"
4. "Other things (especially site) are more important than shape"

Here are my current thoughts on each of these points:

1. Flat roofs leak easily
Yes they do, and yes there are ways around it like covering the roof with a thick and solid PVC membrane, growing a "green roof" with a good drainage system etc.. But these techniques are complex and outright contradict my philosophy of design in which I strive to harness simple natural principles rather than using high tech solutions. So then, I should choose to abandon the perfect cube and value a slight tip of the roof allowing gravity to freely pull water off my house over a savings in surface area.

2. "A box house isn't very appealing"
I disagree. Simple shapes can be very appealing. A special kind of care needs to be put in to it, but if you give the right designer just about any functioning form, he/she will be able to make it appealing. To point out a commonplace example, take Apple's iPod. It is a simple rectangle, and by that description could be quite ugly, but a brilliant designer chose a precise rounding of the corners, a pure and glossy uninterrupted finish, and controls that appear harmonious with the form, and he created one of the most appealing designs of the century. Conversely you can take a simple shape and with the right proportional ornamentation make something magnificent (think Colosseum or Parthenon.) I personally find nothing less appealing in architecture than looking at something and seeing profligate design decisions uninformed by function (ala the McMansion roofline).

3. "Think about snow load"
A good point since the house will be in Connecticut and we receive a couple good snowfalls per year. A nice steep roof would shed some snow pounds, but I don't think we get enough snow here to justify such a tall roof alone, so the snow weight consideration will come back up when it's time to do the structural engineering.

4. "Other things (especially site) are more important than shape"
We don't have a site selected yet, but we will be looking for something very private, probably quite wooded. Aside from that, I would like the house plans to help determine the kind of site we choose, and that is why I'm working out some rough ideas first. Who knows, I may need to start over once the land is bought, but the exercise in design can only help the whole process.

p.s. sorry it's been so long since the last post. life comes in waves.