.
This is a weekend house that I have just about completed and should probably go into construction sometime over the summer. I have adjusted the original design model to reflect the actual roadway conditions and modified the typography (to 12″ increments) in an effort to paint a clearer picture for the eventual contractor. Since this house is located several hours outside of Dallas, the pool of contractor’s we have to work with probably aren’t familiar with building modern houses. By extension and for obvious reasons, this model will provide additional value in describing to the contractor the intent of what we designed.
.
Another benefit to having this model is that it will help with the architectural review board who might look at the drawings, with their obvious lack of ornament, and think there isn’t a lot going on here (and they would be wrong). Having this model as a visual aid will allow us to describe the building within the context of the entire project. The basic concept behind the choice and color of the building materials we selected is to make use of locally available products (with their familiar construction techniques) but to reinterpret the specific nature of how they are used. We also studied the massing and the location of the building on site in an attempt to minimize the perceived volume from the public right of way. Since the site is heavily wooded, this house will not be perceived from the road as an intrinsic jewelry box but rather a building developed specifically for this site. Being able to demonstrate these concepts with the building placed in the midst of the existing trees on site, in real time 3-dimensionally, makes for a far more provocative and beneficial presentation to a group of people who might be predisposed to thinking modern houses are essentially boxes with overly simplified program requirements. If they only knew…oh wait, it’s my job to educate them – and my little study model here will go far in doing just that.
.
.