On Designing Houses

House design, noted by Kuma and Tsukamoto as a design project that will help architects build their reputation. Designing houses is a moment when young architects standing on a paddock, waiting for their breakthrough into building bigger projects. At least that is how it goes in Japan, and since that has been going on for several decades now; it has become a culture called the paddock culture (Contemporary Japanese Houses 1985-2005, Ma Gallery).

An example of this cultural phenomenon is Tadao Ando. Ando start off his career with small houses spread around Osaka and its surrounding area. One of his early project was Azuma House, which is simple and humble in a way, and hardly noticed as a house designed by a world famous architect, though Ando’s concrete already become a signature in the design of this house.

Azuma House with its surrounding, the house is barely noticed, right?

Minimal composition of boxes creates the house's front facade.
Don't you feel tempted to put your own sketch next to your client's front door?

Ando's infamous signature detail, light and form already appears in this house design.

In Indonesia, before all the hype of competitions of building bigger public facilities as we see recently (Tsunami Museum of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam competition, for instance), house design competitions started the wave of tradition of competitions in Indonesia, at least, that is the way I see it. Recent publications show that houses are remaining the main design objects that bring people’s attention into the world of contemporary architecture in Indonesia.

Why all the hype? One, because houses look good in magazines and publications, and it is so common that public knows how to judge which house is good, which house is “so and so”. Name few popular publications in Indonesia, and see what’s inside their pages.

Two, in building houses there are spaces for the architect’s creativity and improvisation. Sometimes, houses design is a way for an architect to try out a global concept, an ideal idea that zaps through his/her brain or a hypothesis he/she developed through researches. Here are few examples, Eisenman with his House VI, Ando with his small houses design or Adi Purnomo with his ideal of “arsitektur empatis”.

Three, because houses still the number one reason why people use architect’s service. And for this reason also, the paddock culture exists.

With all that mentioned, I guess it is time to show several of houses design I have done during my days learning about architecture. After this commercial break.