Transformable House

[jparchitectus]

With Mobil homes a hot topic here usually I thought this project might be of interest as another discussion. Homes that can transform once in place. THe idea of being able to transform your own house - Interesting .

[jparchitectus]

Transformable House
Sagaponac, N.Y.
Kanner Architects

A Jewel-Like Gift that Wraps and Unwraps for Convenience


For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above.

The "transformable" house is functionally a summer house that can "open up" and "close down" when the family comes and goes. Its cubic form is intended to make the simplest and most minimal statement, a quiet reflection of the wooded grove it sits within. Abstractly, it reflects its surroundings’ materiality and scale. As one approaches from the 200-foot-long driveway, the house appears as a refined element in the midst of the clearing, sets off a ripple effect of diverse textures, and evolves into a metaphor of the forest.

To maximize natural light and lift the house above the surrounding woods, the structure is raised on a stone plinth, where it takes on the character of a large cabinet. Exterior surfaces are manipulated—sliding, swinging, and pivoting vertically and horizontally. The adaptable nature of the exterior shell activates the house. Reorganization of the surfaces results in varied spatial and visual solutions.

The exterior is pure in its formal geometry and is contrasted by a complex interior with split-levels, high ceilings, and a sinuous circulation system. As one moves inside, the complexity of the interior volumes becomes apparent. The space can only be revealed when one enters and opens up the cube—it’s like unwrapping a gift with a surprise within.

Formal name of building:
Transformable House

Location:
Sagaponac, New York

Architect's firm:
Kanner Architects
10924 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024
T:310 208 0028
F: 310 208 5756

Care of Architecture Record

[jparchitectus]

Rendering - 2

[jparchitectus]

Plan - First Floor

[jparchitectus]

Plan - Second Floor

[jparchitectus]

Plan - Third Floor

[jparchitectus]

Check out thier website for more interesting works.

[primocordara]

Very much like the "Gucklhupf", a design exercise by arch Hans Peter Worndl





"Built as part of a summer festival based on the theme of "strangeness". It explores the nature of opposites - strange versus familiar, stillness versus movement, habitation versus travel, the safety of the refuge of home versus the condition of distance in the home - expressed in a decievingly simple object. It was built by the architect according to constantly changing plans with the intention of creating a building in continual transformation, and was not intended to be permanent architecture."



GucklHupf

Mondsee, Austria 1992-1993

[lavardera]

I like the house, and the renderings (except for the sorry repeat on that grass), but it seems to me that these are big doors. To me open/close is not transforming enough to carry such an idea.

[jcruiz]

Could be interesting to be able to design a so flexible house, in that one, you could be removing things , like in a knife of the Swiss army. Once thought this idea for a project of cultural center in Zapallar, due to the site was extremely narrow . Then the idea was to be removing panels in form of fan, and little by little were forming a public space to be used just in summer season, taking control of the street. Unfortunately that only remain in the idea, because later I stop working in that county hall.