#ArchiTalks 44 "Dream Project"

Ok, We got the important stuff out of the way and now on to my



DREAM PROJECT


Did you ever just get so immersed in reality, that you can't even think about dreaming, except for when your head hits the pillow and you dream and if you are tired enough, you can't even remember them?

youtube Cranberries "Dreams"

I am going to do some heavy duty planning in the next couple of months and those are not so much dreams as reality so if I could have a dream project I would have...

In my fifth year of architecture school, We started a thesis class because we didn’t want to take the class that was given to us. Ideas and program were turned into concepts and  designs and then an architecture project over the course of the three quarters, with a birthing center turning into a place that wasn’t just to be a place to give birth but a place to celebrate the miracle of life year after year.  One would be born in the upper structure and then as one grew , one could celebrate the “symbol” that one was born under again and again. If I could ever make my thesis a reality, it would be wonderful to celebrate with others the beauty of architecture and spirit in a community as that one would be.

Conceptual drawings of thesis
 "A Place for the Celebration of the Miracle of Life"

But the good thing about a thesis project is the time that you are given for exploring your ideas which in real life thus far,

I have not been given the opportunity to do.

I don’t have clients who are willing to spend a lot of time for me to self-stimulate on their project. Most of the work I do is in San Diego and environs, prior to that Los Angeles and because we live in an urban environment, that is already developed, it is mostly remodels and additions on tight lots and though I have designed two houses in the last four years that have been built or are in the process of being built on virgin land, they still have setbacks and neighbors.  Ok, there is one on seven acres but we are tearing down and rebuilding on the same spot and i was given a couple different house images to draw from though the floor plan is mine with relatively little tweaking though it has to fit on the existing pad. Otherwise, it’s pretty much addition/remodels, which can be interesting  and is providing a service but as far as exploring a lot of conceptual ideas, it is extremely limiting because

It isn’t school!


If I could have a dream project it would be for me.  And this is slightly philosophical because, like all dreams, they are really about

YOU!

And as a wife, mother and architect, I find it hard to just think about me.  Though there are really quite a few times when it would have greatly benefitted not only me, but the rest of my family to give myself a break, but oh well, it is what it is and you make the best of it.

Presently, I live and work out of my house and there are a lot of benefits to doing that, especially while your children are young. When we lived in Venice Beach, I had a studio down the street from the house but I found that I wasn’t really using it that often and it wasn’t really child friendly and financially it just wasn’t working out because we were spending a lot of money on rent for our house and my studio. And that’s a business expense and not an investment and in Southern California, like other places in big cities where people want to live, real estate investment is key to survival.

So we moved to San Diego and bought a house but I said that I would not get an office unless I had bought the building that I wanted to work out of.  Of course when those buildings are a million dollars, it becomes more of a challenge.

I look at places to live that are close to the ocean because for me, looking at the water can be very calming. Granted, looking at water in the bathtub or a fountain or swimming pool can also be very calming but looking at the sea with its waves is very renewing for me.

wave video



So I was talking to a fellow CRAN member while we were at the symposium on the house tour in Cincinnati and I said, I’d like to have a vacation home somewhere like this where the property is somewhat inexpensive and you had more room to breathe. And I asked him, “do you have a vacation house? And then I answered my own question, “you live in Carlsbad, your vacation home is your home and your office is in your home so you are always on vacation,

And he said, "Right!"

And I said, "which would not be good for me, lol!!! I am not sure that I would get any work done if I had a view to look at, and I have lived in a city with neighbors and people and walls and cars and I feel like that gives me the inspiration and motivation that i need to work...

So, my dream project would be one of those typical school projects where I could have a some breathing room around me and it was all about my family.  A vacation home for now and a final destination for when I was older.

It would be a lot near the ocean that I wanted with acreage around me and bluffs but not severe drops,

I would derive a concept from the inspiration from metaphor that Charles Calvo taught us in second year at Cal Poly, Pomona and would tell a story of a family and it's house.

"What Charles taught me about Concept"

But also design with the elements of nature that influenced the site and incorporate water, olive and fruit trees and native old oaks and sage and art...

The project would reach out to these elements but stay grounded in the earth (in board formed concrete).

Board formwork for a new house project under construction

with wood framing above...

It would look out to the views and open into them.

Juran House
Carlton Edwards Architecture Interiors Design-Build

It would live off of the land and be sustainable in material and be zero net energy with a minimal 2,000 sq. ft. footprint.

The contractor would cater to my every whim... completely dedicated to the project and I could do the little things that i was capable of with no heavy lifting

this is what came up when i google imaged "good looking contractor framing a building" 
(i didn't say a man or a woman and apparently i also didn't say working hard (from Four Twelve Roofing)

The windows and doors would be steel or wood and never covered....

Windows as big as these and bigger!!! 4'x9' high Western Windows

The floors would be wood throughout and stone floors in the bathroom and as pavers outside.

these are the actual red oak floors in my house

The main living spaces would be open to the outdoors on nice days and be a safe haven on the bad ones and where the art and photographs on the walls are made by the people who spend time here..



The kitchen would have brand new cabinetry with countertops that have never been touched by human hands and appliances and be able to cook and serve family friends at the ready and present in the dining room on a big wooden table and chairs that were made to my specifications...

coffee from PAU's amazing coffee machine
on the marble conference table, perfect for pastry 

link to another firm's pretty kitchen that my clients have never let me do

The bathrooms would have beautiful fixtures set in stone with a tub that I could soak in for hours and watch the view at the same time, and a shower that would go from outside to inside and into a lap pool outside...

Kohler Veil tub

this is from one of my project's but i would make it a lot simpler
and i like round showerheads because i have a round head

The master bedroom would be my sanctuary within the sanctuary and I would be awoken by the sun in the morning and sleep by the setting of it at night.

ok, well we can all dream, right?

the setting sun over the Pacific

And I did mention that cost would be somewhat of an issue, but not a big one, right???

And my dream project would be the culmination of my dreams of the project and the life that I have aspired to, that of a mate, mother and architect, yes, a woman architect.

OK, and maybe a small studio as an accessory structure if I got bored being on vacation...

If you have enjoyed reading my "dream project" then please follow the links to other architect's dream projects...



-->Lee Calisti, AIA - Think Architect (@LeeCalisti)
dream until your dreams come true

-->Eric T. Faulkner - Rock Talk (@wishingrockhome)
Project Could be a Dream - Sh Boom

-->Michele Grace Hottel - Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
"dream project..."

-->Keith Palma - Architect's Trace (@cogitatedesign)
Lawn Chair

-->Mark Stephens - Mark Stephens Architects (@architectmark)
The Dream Project





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