Why the Stretto House?

Bella Bartoks Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta- the sound of Steven Holl's Stretto House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfdubIhGqLY










During the Summer Vacation I came across a small book of Steven Holl's watercolours. I'd never heard of this architect and was struck by the way his paintings clearly represented form and mass and their articulation of light and colour. When I saw the Stretto House appear at the lecture as an exemplar, I immediately knew that this was the house I wanted to research. The explorations of Holl and the Stretto House remind me that architecture is a complex medium that can expresses itself best when realised with an honesty of intent, a search for clarity, and a found simplicity.

The Site Plan

Cabin Adagio

Cabin Adagio is situated at the foot of Parti Peak and to it's North West, in Urban Utopia. The concrete block walls and roof act as an environmental filter in this sub-tropical environment. Window positioning seeks to capture prevailing North East afternoon breezes in summer whilst minimising the effect of direct sunlight on the slab floors during this time of year. Alternately, the cabin contains warmth provided by the fireplace in winter given the cold nights. The linearity of the structure is inspired by Steven Holl's Stretto House.
Commodity is achieved with flowing yet defined spaces inside the cabin. All spatial relationships within Cabin Adagio support reflection. The separate abluting area serves the cabin and it's detachment from the main structure allow this space to breath.
The experience of reflecting in Adagios wandering, internalised rooms, and the presence of the hearth, seek to provide delight. Light is introduced at different intervals of the day with the placement of the windows, whos frames replicate those of Holl's in the Stretto House. These offer potential references to abstract minimalist art. The musical term Adagio denotes a composition that is to be played with a slow tempo. The form of Cabin Adagio strives to accompany the inherent tensions of the Stretto House.

Diagramming

Exemplar Analysis: Glenn Murcutt/ Innovarchi/ Steven Holl

Stetto Plans, Sections, Elevations & Perspectives

As an environmental filter, the Stretto House lends itself to the sound of running water over four pre-existing small concrete dams on the site. The house co-operates with the site- the floor plan directs visual alignment towards the dams and the movement of water along the stream. Structurally the thermal mass of the block walls and concrete/tiled floors are appropriate to the humid sub-tropical climate of Dallas, Texas.

The commodity of the house combines the required functionality for living needs with the clients desire for the structure to contain, and appropriately view, their valuable art collection. This is achieved with the strict spacial arrangment generated by the Stretto floor plan and the ever present infusion of light throughout the heavy concrete block structure.

The delight in Stretto is rendered by the architects interpretation of form and structure through phenomenology:

"..from initial concept to finest detail our aim is for idea and phenomena. In a way the concept that derives a design like the Stretto house disappears completely in the phenomena of the physical reality and yet intuitively the abundance of the idea may be felt" (Holl 1996:9).

Theres an inherent choreography of sensory experience in and around the Stretto House. The mass and orthogonal quality of the plan and walls touch the curves and bends of the roofs. Underlying the scheme is Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Cadella, from which was derived the brief for Stretto.

Holl, S., & Steven Holl Architects. (1996). Stretto House : Steven Holl Architects. New York: Monacelli Press.