The standard approach for creating buildings and defining their spaces is the straightforward erection of walls on flooring, capped by roofs and ceilings. This strategy leads to exteriors and rooms whose definition is clear, but it is not the only means of doing things.
This ideabook appears at exactly what I refer to as “nesting,” where objects and spaces are inserted inside larger ones. Nesting creates interstitial zones that may or may not be inhabited. These are unique spaces that defy standard methods of designing, but as these illustrations show they can result in some rich buildings and spaces.
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Elad Gonen
This modernist house is a fundamental box that’s enveloped by a large frame. Between the frame along with boxy enclosure is a outdoor zone for seating, both on the ground floor terrace and second floor balcony. In the roof, this zone is partly full of wood slats for shading the insides and outdoor space beneath.
While the previous case nests a box within a frame, this house by CCS Architecture pieces two perpendicular bars that float in the inner corner. Here we see that taller structure’s roof extending over the lower part. Together with the rustic stuff (Corten steel roofing, weathered wood siding), it provides the impression of found architecture retrofitted for a new usage.
CCS ARCHITECTURE
From another angle, the extension of the roofing above is regarded as echoed in the lower bar, behaving as a shaded porch taking in the views.
CCS ARCHITECTURE
One last view of the design by CCS demonstrates the way the plan opens to views down the hillside; the form of the plan and the trees outside color and enclose the house. The nesting suggests how both volumes are different (living places on the left, sleeping rooms on the right) yet joined into a single composition.
Additionally by CCS, this house looks like a simple box either inserted into a gable-framed enclosure or capped by it. According to the architects, this “floating metal canopy [is used] for color … [and] links the house into Sonoma’s farm”
CCS ARCHITECTURE
In this view we can see how the overhead enclosure offers shade at particular times of the day.
CCS ARCHITECTURE
At nighttime the underside of the metal roof glows subtly. I believe in addition to colour and vernacular precedent, the canopy imparts a sense of security on the residence below, shielding the box and metaphorically from the components.
House Port LLC/Hally Thacher
Very similar in form are the PopUP houses by House Port LLC. The set of residences consists of flat-roofed PopUP cubes under a “House Port,” a larger version of CCS’s metal canopy. Here the vent encloses the whole of the cubes under, making wraparound porches.
House Port LLC/Hally Thacher
Another design by House Port inserts gabled buildings beneath the vent; the latter resembles a tube cap, shading standard suburban houses in harsh locales.
House Port LLC/Hally Thacher
A closer view of House Port’s designs illustrates how the items underneath could be spaced apart to make more interstitial spaces. In concept, the vent and cubes work independently, so they can be found relative to each other that responds to the customer’s needs: climate, view, space requirements, etc.
House Port LLC/Hally Thacher
It must be noted that House Port’s “ports” include fabric shades that can be drawn across the openings for additional colour. When open (and attached in the columns) the views are framed by the huge steel construction.
House Port LLC/Hally Thacher
One last picture of one of House Port’s designs reveals how it may be used for multifamily applications. I am able to see these wall extensions separating the different yards and house, yet also offering a link for the “port community”
LDa Architecture & Interiors
This poolhouse does not “nest” as the preceding instances do, but I see three layers functioning here: the hip roof supported by slender columns, the glass enclosure, along with a cylindrical center in wood.
LDa Architecture & Interiors
A closer look shows the indoor/outdoor zone produced by the columns and roof; how the glass walls open to link inside and out; and how the wood bathroom enclosure stops in the elevation of the glass walls, looking like an object nested inside the space.
John Lum Architecture, Inc.. AIA
Not all nesting must happen at the outside. Within this inside endeavor by John Lum a nicely crafted wood box is seemingly inserted into space using a shallow gable. The contrast between the walls and wood box is lovely, making the latter appear very unique and something to be valued and being functional.
Randy Brown
Another example of wood items inserted into a space can be seen in this house designed by Randy Brown. Contrast and compare with the previous case: Both are in wood, but this one is significantly more complex and dynamic. While I am not sure what exactly is happening here, it surely appears suitable to be the boys’ bedroom : aggressive yet playful.
Eggleston Farkas Architects
In this house designed by Eggleston Farkas, the dining area is a block that’s put into the larger house. Covered in glass on the side facing the front of the house, the space takes on a prominence next door to the entry.
Eggleston Farkas Architects
From inside we all see how one measures into the dining area and how the view of the landscape is closely controlled. This instance of nesting obviously makes the dining area a particular place inside the house.
Searl Lamaster Howe Architects
This previous case presents a grand inside overlooked by a study, which acts like a room within a room. The study’s window provides a visual link between the small and large spaces, while providing the occupant some solitude.
More: The Outside Comes Inside Under