This was an emotional one for me and everyone inolved. Thanks to Grant, Carol, and Jeff Sanders for letting me invade your world. I didn't know Doug Garofalo, but he's very present for me, the city, and UIC. Hope everyone enjoys this probe into this great project.
Thank you for sharing this journey. I enjoyed it and look forward to hopefully more in the future. Also thank for everyone involved for letting us come along the ride. Cheers
Interesting to finally see the inside of that house at the beginning. It's in my hometown. Used to drive by it all the time. I remember my parents would always tell me that everyone in that neighborhood threw a FIT when the house was being built.
I was just thinking that I wondered how this was received by the neighbors. Most places they would probably have a fit. Good thing they didn't get their way...a loss for the NIMBYS
Great video, interesting design problem. One lesson not addressed is the importance of planning for aging, possibly disability. In architecture school we all loved changing levels, but as someone who became disabled at 40 knows they can be very challenging. Thankfully I lived in a loft - zero steps. Planning for the client aging needs to be part of the program when couples build an expensive forever home.
I've been thinking this for years, especially as the Baby Boomers reach the end of their lives. My parents had this kind of in mind when they bought a large two-story house in their 40s. Twenty years later my late mother ended up in a wheelchair due to a brain tumor and having the master bedroom on the first floor made life so much easier: a few thousand dollars of modifications and a cheap ramp from Amazon later, and she could stay in the house while my father and siblings cared for her. If I ever build a house from scratch I will *definitely* include at least 36" interior doors and no front steps or ones where a ramp is easily installed.
Thank you so much for this! I'm teaching architecture in the Philippines and have been struggling to convince my students the importance of physical models (since they love working purely on their computers) hahaha Imagine my excitement when Grant started pulling out all these physical models of the house to explain the concepts behind the design
Hello sir! I'm an architecture student from the Philippines, I agree with you. Models are a great, tangible representation of the building, and it gives the client a much better "window" of sorts, like a view to the architect's mind and eyes and all the reasons why they came up with such designs. Also they're fun to build, just absolutely time consuming
I had architecture in highschool. It was not anyting major, but it's a good way for anybody to make a portfolio for taking the master at college. And I agree 100%, having the ability to understand the shapes and the scale is such a valuable tool, and why use the fancy paper for it, that's for the stuff you show the costumer as an end product, carbord, glue and transparant paper sketches, that's the way.
Becoming an architect Step one: Learn how to say Le Corbusier Step two: Have an engineer friend in order to do all the work Step three: While the engineer is doing the work stay in your room and paint backpacks with coal Step four: Have all the credit for the work
This is such a great channel to learn about architecture. Your editing and voice overs make it such a joy to watch. As an industrial designer looking to learn more about the design process of architecture, these videos are so valuable!
It's brilliant. Quite a lot of the buildings examined, I don't actually like, but I always feel my appreciation and understanding is increased by the presentations. There is so much food for thought.
Great video Stewart. Working with a local architect we just finished a renovation of our house, while it was trying at times It was a great experience. While we were not working on the scale or budget of the people in the video the results were great. I should note that many people told us we didn’t need an architect, a builder would be fine…we needed an architect. Though I never once saw our architect point at anything.
Stewart, I've been watching your videos for a few months now, and whatever the subject matter they are never less than good, and usually brilliant. I'm personally not crazy about much of modernism, but you are an excellent explainer, conveying thoughtfully and sympathetically what the architects are trying to do and how these buildings 'work'. It's always an interesting and positive experience, intellectual but never pretentious. Many thanks, and please keep them coming.
At first I was skeptical about the addition to the back being round. But then, I instantly fell in love with it due to the spot that gives the secret view to the street... So simple, yet so interesting!
I was blown away by the original design of the house, and fascinated by Grants study model of the pyramid tent encapsulating spherical voids. I love this video style by the way, you helped tell a great story here.
Superb video. It's not uncommon in undergraduate courses in architecture schools in Europe to ask students to design an extension to an iconic house, ideally one the students can go visit at the outset: e.g. Villa Mairea, Villa Savoye... even a Palladian villa. A good way for the students to do a deep reading.
Beautiful tour of both the process and the project. Doug was my favorite studio instructor when I was at UIC and it was emotional to see him highlighted here. It's a great project from an amazing person and it's really gratifying to see his work both honored and also challenged. Life goes on and so does design. Well done.
Really enjoy this Stewart! As a story about a specific architect and a specific building feel, this video feels especially human-scale and relatable. I'd love more like this!
As a non-Architect but as someone who loves Design this was a great video Stewart, really pulled me in with the whole narrative and backstory of the house. Great stuff.
What a great client!!! Very trusting, well spoken, and understanding of the process of design. Not to mention brave with her space and her resources. Designer duo Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam say every project needs a straight, an angle, and a curve. Triple check!
only an architect would say a round wall irons out complications. material choice is a factor but for the builder a round wall is more difficult. i love the brutalist aspects.
Great video as as always. Unfortunately I'm not such a fan of the addition to the house. I really don't think the curve works. It's like how facelifted cars never look as good as the original. They just don't "fit". I don't think an addition is a terrible thing, but it needed to be angular in my view. At least the owner likes it though.
Honestly I kinda like how the addition is different from the main house, additions will often look like they weren't intended in the original design, but this way the addition supports the changing preferences of the original architect, it tells a story of how the tastes of him and the family that live there changed over time
I’m making notes for when I graduate. If someone wants me to design a house for them, I’ll tell them it’s so complicated that it would be easier to buy the block next door, knock down an existing home , and build there instead. If they fall for that, I’ll know I’ve hit paydirt. As for being wildly passionate about angles, then later equally passionate about circles, it reminds me of my sister’s obsession with boy bands. Or the cat, who is absolutely enamoured with a salmon flavoured cat food right up to the day I buy 2 dozen cans of it, then it’s suddenly inedible.
Very glad I came across this video. I've always casually thought architecture was cool and I really liked seeing the thought processes involved. I tried to find more of this house online but I couldn't, so I'm glad I at least got to see it here.
Wonderful video on a house I know well, since my work is featured in it! The word that comes to mind when thinking of this project of Grant Gibson, and Jeff and Carol Sanders is fearlessness!
Stewart, I discovered your channel a few months ago, and have enjoyed several lost in time binge sessions catching up. An architect nerd to the Nth Degree, or architerd (not sure if that works) all my life, my earliest newspaper memories were excitedly flipping to the “Home Plan Of The Week” feature in the Weekend Edition of the Vancouver Sun. Have always been fascinated by buildings big and small, and much of my photography is of modern and vintage buildings and homes with every photo taken imagining what it would be like to be inside that structure. I would have pursued architecture as a career except for a crippling fear of math and complete inability to draw a straight line. This was by far my favourite episode, and it had a lot of competition. The masterful way you set the video up with the photos of the house as built, was the perfect primer to understand the problems adding on to it would create. Questions about artistic integrity, structural consistency, the role of the homeowner, geometry! and although not delved into, I’m sure the mixed feelings the current architect must have had working, and changing his mentor’s work, indeed his masterpiece. So much to think about after watching. I also appreciate you didn’t muddy the clarity of what the video was about by making any spoken comment about how comfortably, (or uncomfortably) the house sits in that neighbourhood of very traditional looking homes. I can only imagine the controversy and rampant NIMBYism that must have accompanied its original design and construction. A recent project of mine are photo essays of Vancouver neighbourhoods with a significant inventory of original development from pre-WWl, between wars, and post war mid century modern. I’ll often include an infill that is thoroughly modern in concept, finishing and massing. It’s almost always one that I feel has found a way to fit in and augment the street, maybe give it focus, is fun, or sometimes it’s one that in my opinion stops your eye and destroys whatever sense of streetscape or community the original development created. I don’t find very many like that, however viewers of my essays are vitriolic in their damnation of almost every single one of the modern intrusions. And I can easily imagine their reaction to spotting this house in one of their drive by explorations. Whole other topic I know, and one you may have already covered in a yet to be binged episode, but I’m very intrigued by how architects handle or mitigate this pressure, some of which I’m sure is civic government inspired or used as a political football; and maintain their vision, integrity, and the wishes of their clients, in the face of what can be ferocious opposition. Which in our new and not improved atmosphere of uncivil water boarding and threat making can only be getting worse. Thanks for creating such excellent content.
Awesome follow-through on last week's look at models. The story here makes Gibson's consideration of these models all the more personal: thinking not only about the progression of ideas but lives represented in his iterating on the home hits me with a great feeling of thematic resonance.
An architect and an engineer are reviewing plans for the human body. The architect says "What do you think of my design?" The engineer says "Why did you run the waste disposal line next to the recreation area?" There's no better description for the thought in my mind when I saw this house. Architects love wasted space, hard to heat, hard to clean and maintain designs. The "Circles inside of a pyramid" portion of the video illustrates this exceptionally well. 5:29 "They contain the house, but they also make it impossible for you to ever alter those sides of the house." This is architect speak for "I designed it to be almost impossible to upkeep, repair, or modify, and they actually paid me for it, lol." It's a beautiful toy. Except it's unmaintained concrete facade this many years later is not even beautiful. It's pock marked, irregular, and sterile, there's no life to the exterior. It's like the opposite of Xeriscape. Rather than molding your creation to fit into the environment, you chose to put a post-modern office building in a residential zone. It's the architectural equivalent to the Cybertruck, angular, flat, grey, and lifeless.
Yes, architecture is most often for the architect rather than for its dwellers. This is why many schools are renaming their architecture courses to "architectural design". Will it produce a positive effect in which architects will be more inclined to design for people? We'll see (probably not).
I have to say my opinions on the round addition aren't too great. I like the angles of the house a lot. I like the shape. I personally would like to see that just extended back out a bit more for their new space. But that's just my opinion and I don't live there, so whatever they feel is the right choice is the right choice.
Thank you for another great video! I am sadden to just found out that Garofalo has passed away at such young age. I was his student back in early 90. He was a great mentor.
I'll be honest - while the interior of the house is really nice, the exterior of this house in my opinion is absolutely ghastly. I am not a fan of brutalist concrete structures, especially when they contrast with neighbouring structures or with the landscape. Looking at the comment section I feel like I'm in a minority here - I wonder what the neighbours thought when the house was built
I have to agree. I actually love brutalist architecture, but there is time and place for it. Architecture only reaches its' full potential when it's in harmony with the surroundings, but this house instead sticks out like a sore thumb. It does zero justice to the neighbourhood and the neighbourhood does zero justice to the building. Unfortunate.
@@y-yyy I mean to be fair, I highly doubt there will ever be such a neighborhood where every home is a well designed brutalist monolith of a structure. The average American neighborhood will hardly ever be able to accommodate such unique, interesting building designs.
Yes. In that last SkyView I thought to myself that I would have wanted the adjoining lots to go with the house and I'm a fan of brutalism architecture.
I've been appreciating that limitations can lead to really great solutuons; stuff that wouldn't get to exist if the limitations weren't there. Great video!!
Great video! I spent most of my career as an architectural historian studying old buildings, both architect-designed and vernacular. One thing that became clear in my studies is that *all* buildings undergo a lot of change over their lifetimes (unless they are torn down shortly after construction). These changes can be well done or poorly done, but they will happen. In the hands of a good architect additions or alterations add immensely to the character of the building. This is an excellent example of that. I would have liked to see more about how this Gibson handled the changes in level that seem built-in to the structure of the house. I get concerned that far too many architects, past and present, design buildings that admit almost no possibility for change as the needs or preferences of the inhabitants change. I used to love buildings with dramatic and unusual changes in levels. Now that I'm at an age where stairs can be a real problem, I especially identify with these owners' need for living on one level.
Thank you! Glad you like the video. Yeah, I could have done a better job of explaining the sectional organization. There is a gentle slop on the exterior that takes you down to an entrance to this level. Also, I totally agree with your assessment that buildings are living organisms that change constantly.
I find unusual spaces really interesting, including odd and unexpected angles. My critique is always with raw concrete exteriors. They look unfinished, usually collect dirt and organic debris, which then oxidizes black. It makes for an ugly, dirty, unfinished exterior that get worse and worse over time. I don't like them.
I find that this adds to the natural beauty of the material and enhances the character. Just like moss growing on a brick wall or the change in colour of corten steel. Its the aging that make it feel natural. That would definitely not work on a painted house
Stewart, check out E. Fay Jones’ masterpiece on Agusta in Springfield MO Similar circumstance to this JC home, the owners were living in a Don Russell home next door, bought the adjoining lot and after a few years of construction time, moved 500 feet East, Ha!
5:0210:08 Interesting to hear about Grant wanting that angle on the walls facing away from the road, and then actually seeing it. I thought that was an interesting element of the house. Those walls sticking out and creating a recessed look, was very appealing to me.
5:34 I love how he says "the mistake is that the back is so open that you can add to it" as though the intention was to create an immutable fortress, and they left a gap in their defenses. I don't know if he intended for it to come across that way, but I feel like that really gives me a different insight into how they designed the concept, and it's so different from how I think about art. I also love how Grant has previously built concepts that use hard angles to encapsulate round, organic looking shapes. As the owner says, it really is almost like the house was waiting for this addition and, unknowingly, Grant has been preparing for years. There's something so nice about that.
I enjoyed the video, however, it was a bit head scratching - first the architects loved angles, now he loves circles. Why? It reinforces the arbitrary nature of design and how fashion can overwhelm a project.
There is no objectivity. Only experience. A person gets from art what they bring to it so like yes things are effectively arbitrary. Doesn't mean they are wrong or bad though. The right answer in art is that one that is best for people. In this case the residents I suppose. So if they like it then it's good.
Architecture is almost as subjective as food: Some people crave broccoli and Brussels sprouts; others gag on it. Is it wrong? Also, taste changes throughout life. Tastes are acquired merely by exposure sometimes. No 10 year old sips coffee or beer and loudly exclaims "Nectar of the gods!" As for the site formed concrete exterior of this house, it is certainly not MY cup of tea.
Beautiful and informative video as always. TY. What a horrific home. Those poor neighbors. It’s worse than a Calatrava disaster. But at least it was privately funded.
I live in the same city as this house, I've always wanted to know more especially since it's such a stand out in the neighborhood it's in, ty so much 🙂
Great video. This is my first video of yours I've watched and I had to because I immediately recognized this house in the thumbnail. Anytime I'm in that neighborhood I love driving by to look at it as well as other houses in that area.
I would love to see the finished addition! It would be awesome to check in with Grant & the owners once it’s done and show us the completed version (if that’s feasible for you all!)
Just discovered you this weekend and somehow happened to watch like 5 of your videos. Really interesting channel. This one though... talk about a cliff hanger! We all want to see how it looks finished!
Graham Kerr, the famous Galloping Gourmet was once asked by one of the members of his studio audience: "How do you say Meat Loaf in French?" His reply was, "You don't."
I sort of feel like every architectural plan for a house should include the design for possible future additions, whether ultimately constructed or not. The house should stand on its own without an implication of an addition, but I think this is a way to provide more value to the owners/builders by considering both the future of the structure as well as the future of the occupants.
2:25 I live near that church he designed. That's an overly flattering angle. Viewed from the street or the train on the NEC the building looks like a fortified warehouse that might be a church (or the HQ of a cult).
I'm sorry... That's a CHURCH? I thought I misread your comment, went to the timestamp and couldn't believe my eyes. That's certainly the most unusual choice of a building for a church that I've ever seen. Very interesting. Now I want to see the interior, like is it just an enormous empty rectangular hall? Off to Google
Walking by the house every day, first thing I got to say is: Thank You! Very inspiring! Missouri does need more of that. My dog though hates the temporary gravel driveway, I say its a small price to pay.
This reminds me of doing cord progressions in music. Keeping to your normal "tools" will always sound good, but it's kindda boring. Adding some spicy dissonance will make it more interesting, but harder to consume. Dissonance is the question, but it needs an answer. So a good middle ground is going for that dissonance, but resolving it to "home" at the end. If you dont it feels incomplete. This building was made to feel incomplete, with it's raw concrete and angles. It now found home.
This is my favorite video yet. Like how it shows one way a design process is done. Great for clients themselves to learn how to communicate their vision to architects
Having spent some time examining the bunker house and how it offends everything around it, my suggestion for an addition would be several pounds of Sem-Tex. I feel sorry for the neighbours.
I kind of don't understand what all the struggle was about. I look at all design as a way to set up and then divert or expand expectations. A final voluptuous curve at the central focal point of all those planes seems like exactly the thing to do! Very nice work.
If Grant's love of circles is so stronly reflected in the addition; how much is the solution genuinely answers to the site or do we just constantly relay our biases? How much should the project be it's own, related to the client, site etc vs how much of it be the designer's will and personality. Both the house and addition are excellent btw.
That's a good question that I think everyone might answer differently. I think every good architect has a few recurring problems they are working on that are independent of a particular project. This is what allows an architects work to cohere and be seen as participating in a larger discussion about what's relevant today. That's balanced with the particular needs of a site, program, and client, which make every project unique. Some might refer to the lingering tendencies as an architect's style, but that's a pretty limited way of looking at it. Few architects today would say they have a style, but most would probably say there are common themes throughout their work.
How cool. I know exactly where that house is. My hometown, near where I grew up. It's design was not widely liked when it was built. I however think it's great!
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This was an emotional one for me and everyone inolved. Thanks to Grant, Carol, and Jeff Sanders for letting me invade your world. I didn't know Doug Garofalo, but he's very present for me, the city, and UIC. Hope everyone enjoys this probe into this great project.
Thank you for sharing this journey. I enjoyed it and look forward to hopefully more in the future. Also thank for everyone involved for letting us come along the ride. Cheers
Your best video!! Could watch 1,000 of those. Thanks. Super enjoyable!!
I had the pleasure of being taught by Grant in gradschool at UIC. What a great look into the past, present and future. Excellent video Stewart!
Interesting to finally see the inside of that house at the beginning. It's in my hometown. Used to drive by it all the time. I remember my parents would always tell me that everyone in that neighborhood threw a FIT when the house was being built.
Well of course they did. It's an abomination.
@@chuckschillingvideos Agreed
I'm shocked that people don't like having a Halo base built next door.
I was just thinking that I wondered how this was received by the neighbors. Most places they would probably have a fit. Good thing they didn't get their way...a loss for the NIMBYS
@@scpatl4now "Good thing they didn't get their way." Bruh this house is ugly as fuck, its an eyesore.
Great video, interesting design problem.
One lesson not addressed is the importance of planning for aging, possibly disability. In architecture school we all loved changing levels, but as someone who became disabled at 40 knows they can be very challenging. Thankfully I lived in a loft - zero steps.
Planning for the client aging needs to be part of the program when couples build an expensive forever home.
I've been thinking this for years, especially as the Baby Boomers reach the end of their lives. My parents had this kind of in mind when they bought a large two-story house in their 40s. Twenty years later my late mother ended up in a wheelchair due to a brain tumor and having the master bedroom on the first floor made life so much easier: a few thousand dollars of modifications and a cheap ramp from Amazon later, and she could stay in the house while my father and siblings cared for her. If I ever build a house from scratch I will *definitely* include at least 36" interior doors and no front steps or ones where a ramp is easily installed.
This is what I call a house by architects for architects.
Yes, ugly af and ready for the cover of Architectural Digest where no one tells the emperor that he has no clothes!
... And certainly not for the home's neighbors.
German Bunker.
No, it's a house by architects for rich idiots.
A house out of context but a great house for a magazine lol
Thank you so much for this! I'm teaching architecture in the Philippines and have been struggling to convince my students the importance of physical models (since they love working purely on their computers) hahaha
Imagine my excitement when Grant started pulling out all these physical models of the house to explain the concepts behind the design
Hello sir! I'm an architecture student from the Philippines, I agree with you. Models are a great, tangible representation of the building, and it gives the client a much better "window" of sorts, like a view to the architect's mind and eyes and all the reasons why they came up with such designs. Also they're fun to build, just absolutely time consuming
I had architecture in highschool. It was not anyting major, but it's a good way for anybody to make a portfolio for taking the master at college.
And I agree 100%, having the ability to understand the shapes and the scale is such a valuable tool, and why use the fancy paper for it, that's for the stuff you show the costumer as an end product, carbord, glue and transparant paper sketches, that's the way.
Becoming an architect
Step one: Learn how to say Le Corbusier
Step two: Have an engineer friend in order to do all the work
Step three: While the engineer is doing the work stay in your room and paint backpacks with coal
Step four: Have all the credit for the work
This is such a great channel to learn about architecture. Your editing and voice overs make it such a joy to watch. As an industrial designer looking to learn more about the design process of architecture, these videos are so valuable!
Thank you!!
It's brilliant. Quite a lot of the buildings examined, I don't actually like, but I always feel my appreciation and understanding is increased by the presentations. There is so much food for thought.
@@simoncattle1434 Agreed, similar thoughts. If you never look you'll never see.
Great video Stewart. Working with a local architect we just finished a renovation of our house, while it was trying at times It was a great experience. While we were not working on the scale or budget of the people in the video the results were great. I should note that many people told us we didn’t need an architect, a builder would be fine…we needed an architect. Though I never once saw our architect point at anything.
does that member sticker read "MAX FLEX"??
Stewart, I've been watching your videos for a few months now, and whatever the subject matter they are never less than good, and usually brilliant. I'm personally not crazy about much of modernism, but you are an excellent explainer, conveying thoughtfully and sympathetically what the architects are trying to do and how these buildings 'work'. It's always an interesting and positive experience, intellectual but never pretentious. Many thanks, and please keep them coming.
Thank you so much for the kind words.
At first I was skeptical about the addition to the back being round. But then, I instantly fell in love with it due to the spot that gives the secret view to the street... So simple, yet so interesting!
I was blown away by the original design of the house, and fascinated by Grants study model of the pyramid tent encapsulating spherical voids. I love this video style by the way, you helped tell a great story here.
That's the best compliment you can get from a client. It completes the design.
Superb video. It's not uncommon in undergraduate courses in architecture schools in Europe to ask students to design an extension to an iconic house, ideally one the students can go visit at the outset: e.g. Villa Mairea, Villa Savoye... even a Palladian villa. A good way for the students to do a deep reading.
Beautiful tour of both the process and the project. Doug was my favorite studio instructor when I was at UIC and it was emotional to see him highlighted here. It's a great project from an amazing person and it's really gratifying to see his work both honored and also challenged. Life goes on and so does design. Well done.
Thank you!
I live near this house actually. It's in my neighborhood. I've always been curious about it and I love the look. Thanks for the video!
Really enjoy this Stewart! As a story about a specific architect and a specific building feel, this video feels especially human-scale and relatable. I'd love more like this!
Neighbors must love him. Everyone has this nice midwest cottage style. This guy drop a giant concrete brutalist deuce right next to it.
Nice midwest cottage style? You really are bland over there lol
"Midwest cottage style" Hahahaha the most "cottage" thing about those brick effect mc-houses is how cookie-cutter they look
@@Dorsidwarf They also look like houses instead of a structure the DoT would use to contain a pile of salt, so they're got that going for them.
As a non-Architect but as someone who loves Design this was a great video Stewart, really pulled me in with the whole narrative and backstory of the house. Great stuff.
What a great client!!! Very trusting, well spoken, and understanding of the process of design. Not to mention brave with her space and her resources. Designer duo Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam say every project needs a straight, an angle, and a curve. Triple check!
That house is a complete eyesore against a natural landscape like trees and rivers. Brutalist architecture will never satisfy me
"He inspected the work. This involves a lot of pointing." 🤣
If there was a design video of the year award, this might win it
only an architect would say a round wall irons out complications. material choice is a factor but for the builder a round wall is more difficult.
i love the brutalist aspects.
Haha good point.
Right in Japan Tadao Ando use a lot this concrete walls and the concrete cost are high price.
Great video as as always. Unfortunately I'm not such a fan of the addition to the house. I really don't think the curve works. It's like how facelifted cars never look as good as the original. They just don't "fit". I don't think an addition is a terrible thing, but it needed to be angular in my view. At least the owner likes it though.
It also takes more then 2 years to build!?
I hate the round addition. That man is rolling around in his grave
Honestly I kinda like how the addition is different from the main house, additions will often look like they weren't intended in the original design, but this way the addition supports the changing preferences of the original architect, it tells a story of how the tastes of him and the family that live there changed over time
I do agree! The circular form doesnt look like a good fit there! 👎
@@jay_stne I completely agree
I’m making notes for when I graduate. If someone wants me to design a house for them, I’ll tell them it’s so complicated that it would be easier to buy the block next door, knock down an existing home , and build there instead. If they fall for that, I’ll know I’ve hit paydirt.
As for being wildly passionate about angles, then later equally passionate about circles, it reminds me of my sister’s obsession with boy bands. Or the cat, who is absolutely enamoured with a salmon flavoured cat food right up to the day I buy 2 dozen cans of it, then it’s suddenly inedible.
Very glad I came across this video. I've always casually thought architecture was cool and I really liked seeing the thought processes involved. I tried to find more of this house online but I couldn't, so I'm glad I at least got to see it here.
Wonderful video on a house I know well, since my work is featured in it! The word that comes to mind when thinking of this project of Grant Gibson, and Jeff and Carol Sanders is fearlessness!
Stewart, I discovered your channel a few months ago, and have enjoyed several lost in time binge sessions catching up.
An architect nerd to the Nth Degree, or architerd (not sure if that works) all my life, my earliest newspaper memories were excitedly flipping to the “Home Plan Of The Week” feature in the Weekend Edition of the Vancouver Sun. Have always been fascinated by buildings big and small, and much of my photography is of modern and vintage buildings and homes with every photo taken imagining what it would be like to be inside that structure. I would have pursued architecture as a career except for a crippling fear of math and complete inability to draw a straight line.
This was by far my favourite episode, and it had a lot of competition. The masterful way you set the video up with the photos of the house as built, was the perfect primer to understand the problems adding on to it would create. Questions about artistic integrity, structural consistency, the role of the homeowner, geometry! and although not delved into, I’m sure the mixed feelings the current architect must have had working, and changing his mentor’s work, indeed his masterpiece. So much to think about after watching.
I also appreciate you didn’t muddy the clarity of what the video was about by making any spoken comment about how comfortably, (or uncomfortably) the house sits in that neighbourhood of very traditional looking homes. I can only imagine the controversy and rampant NIMBYism that must have accompanied its original design and construction.
A recent project of mine are photo essays of Vancouver neighbourhoods with a significant inventory of original development from pre-WWl, between wars, and post war mid century modern. I’ll often include an infill that is thoroughly modern in concept, finishing and massing. It’s almost always one that I feel has found a way to fit in and augment the street, maybe give it focus, is fun, or sometimes it’s one that in my opinion stops your eye and destroys whatever sense of streetscape or community the original development created. I don’t find very many like that, however viewers of my essays are vitriolic in their damnation of almost every single one of the modern intrusions. And I can easily imagine their reaction to spotting this house in one of their drive by explorations.
Whole other topic I know, and one you may have already covered in a yet to be binged episode, but I’m very intrigued by how architects handle or mitigate this pressure, some of which I’m sure is civic government inspired or used as a political football; and maintain their vision, integrity, and the wishes of their clients, in the face of what can be ferocious opposition. Which in our new and not improved atmosphere of uncivil water boarding and threat making can only be getting worse.
Thanks for creating such excellent content.
This channel is a delightful smorgasbord of the classic conceits of rich people and their architects.
Really liked this view into an active project! Talking with architect and home owner was really cool.
Awesome follow-through on last week's look at models. The story here makes Gibson's consideration of these models all the more personal: thinking not only about the progression of ideas but lives represented in his iterating on the home hits me with a great feeling of thematic resonance.
Great observation. Not intentional, but certainly latent. Thanks for sharing!
An architect and an engineer are reviewing plans for the human body.
The architect says "What do you think of my design?"
The engineer says "Why did you run the waste disposal line next to the recreation area?"
There's no better description for the thought in my mind when I saw this house. Architects love wasted space, hard to heat, hard to clean and maintain designs. The "Circles inside of a pyramid" portion of the video illustrates this exceptionally well.
5:29 "They contain the house, but they also make it impossible for you to ever alter those sides of the house." This is architect speak for "I designed it to be almost impossible to upkeep, repair, or modify, and they actually paid me for it, lol." It's a beautiful toy. Except it's unmaintained concrete facade this many years later is not even beautiful. It's pock marked, irregular, and sterile, there's no life to the exterior.
It's like the opposite of Xeriscape. Rather than molding your creation to fit into the environment, you chose to put a post-modern office building in a residential zone. It's the architectural equivalent to the Cybertruck, angular, flat, grey, and lifeless.
Yes, architecture is most often for the architect rather than for its dwellers. This is why many schools are renaming their architecture courses to "architectural design". Will it produce a positive effect in which architects will be more inclined to design for people? We'll see (probably not).
How beautitul concreet can look. And shape of the house looks simple and fits. Love the location as well.
I have to say my opinions on the round addition aren't too great. I like the angles of the house a lot. I like the shape. I personally would like to see that just extended back out a bit more for their new space.
But that's just my opinion and I don't live there, so whatever they feel is the right choice is the right choice.
Its a cliff actually. The video does not show it but it is a drop off.
I hate the round addition. That man is rolling around in his grave
@@sevilleweathington6931 I wonder how long it took him
To convince the owners to go with his new style…
Thanks for the story
Really when person tells the events make you live that moment
Wow! I love the straight through passage dividing the basement! Genius! Extremely novel design, not seen in homes where I live. A must watch.
What a tight fit into 'regular' neighborhood. Very special design from the outside for sure.
That was excellent. What could have been a nightmare turned out to be a triumph. I learned something.
Glad you enjoyed it!!
what a FANTASTIC video. thank you Stewart!
Great video, a new fresh style. It was a pleasure to get to join you in following a real project coming to life.
I love the “story telling” part of your videos. Great job. I just subscribed.
Thank you for another great video! I am sadden to just found out that Garofalo has passed away at such young age. I was his student back in early 90. He was a great mentor.
I never had him but wish I had more of a chance to get to know him.
Arcs, curves and circles are great complimentary elements for designs that includes dynamic shapes and angles.
That addition turned out sooo well, congrats!!! 🥳🥳👏🏻
Doug Garofalo was an amazing architect and an even better human being. Great to see Grant growing into a similar role.
god what a beautiful house. I know that style is not for everyone, but there is nothing warmer to me than cold, sharp
concrete.
I'll be honest - while the interior of the house is really nice, the exterior of this house in my opinion is absolutely ghastly. I am not a fan of brutalist concrete structures, especially when they contrast with neighbouring structures or with the landscape. Looking at the comment section I feel like I'm in a minority here - I wonder what the neighbours thought when the house was built
I have to agree. I actually love brutalist architecture, but there is time and place for it. Architecture only reaches its' full potential when it's in harmony with the surroundings, but this house instead sticks out like a sore thumb. It does zero justice to the neighbourhood and the neighbourhood does zero justice to the building. Unfortunate.
@@y-yyy I mean to be fair, I highly doubt there will ever be such a neighborhood where every home is a well designed brutalist monolith of a structure. The average American neighborhood will hardly ever be able to accommodate such unique, interesting building designs.
Brain farts should be allowed to dissappear
Yes. In that last SkyView I thought to myself that I would have wanted the adjoining lots to go with the house and I'm a fan of brutalism architecture.
If I were a neighbor, I’d have been a little upset to be living next to a warehouse
".... this involves a lot of pointing." - dry, subtle and enjoyable self-deprecation!
I've been appreciating that limitations can lead to really great solutuons; stuff that wouldn't get to exist if the limitations weren't there. Great video!!
Great video! I spent most of my career as an architectural historian studying old buildings, both architect-designed and vernacular. One thing that became clear in my studies is that *all* buildings undergo a lot of change over their lifetimes (unless they are torn down shortly after construction). These changes can be well done or poorly done, but they will happen. In the hands of a good architect additions or alterations add immensely to the character of the building. This is an excellent example of that. I would have liked to see more about how this Gibson handled the changes in level that seem built-in to the structure of the house.
I get concerned that far too many architects, past and present, design buildings that admit almost no possibility for change as the needs or preferences of the inhabitants change. I used to love buildings with dramatic and unusual changes in levels. Now that I'm at an age where stairs can be a real problem, I especially identify with these owners' need for living on one level.
Thank you! Glad you like the video. Yeah, I could have done a better job of explaining the sectional organization. There is a gentle slop on the exterior that takes you down to an entrance to this level. Also, I totally agree with your assessment that buildings are living organisms that change constantly.
I find unusual spaces really interesting, including odd and unexpected angles. My critique is always with raw concrete exteriors. They look unfinished, usually collect dirt and organic debris, which then oxidizes black. It makes for an ugly, dirty, unfinished exterior that get worse and worse over time. I don't like them.
That's just patina. Time is dirty.
You can get a power washer and clean it, there's chemical formulas made specifically for cleaning concrete.
I find that this adds to the natural beauty of the material and enhances the character. Just like moss growing on a brick wall or the change in colour of corten steel. Its the aging that make it feel natural. That would definitely not work on a painted house
very cool house, not personally my style but definitely cool.
Stewart, check out E. Fay Jones’ masterpiece on Agusta in Springfield MO
Similar circumstance to this JC home, the owners were living in a Don Russell home next door, bought the adjoining lot and after a few years of construction time, moved 500 feet East, Ha!
5:02 10:08 Interesting to hear about Grant wanting that angle on the walls facing away from the road, and then actually seeing it. I thought that was an interesting element of the house. Those walls sticking out and creating a recessed look, was very appealing to me.
Beautiful video, thanks for creating and sharing this with us!
5:34 I love how he says "the mistake is that the back is so open that you can add to it" as though the intention was to create an immutable fortress, and they left a gap in their defenses. I don't know if he intended for it to come across that way, but I feel like that really gives me a different insight into how they designed the concept, and it's so different from how I think about art.
I also love how Grant has previously built concepts that use hard angles to encapsulate round, organic looking shapes. As the owner says, it really is almost like the house was waiting for this addition and, unknowingly, Grant has been preparing for years. There's something so nice about that.
It's great the get a glimpse of the process. Really nice vid.
Thank you so much!
I enjoyed the video, however, it was a bit head scratching - first the architects loved angles, now he loves circles. Why? It reinforces the arbitrary nature of design and how fashion can overwhelm a project.
There are no right answers in architecture, only right angles
There is no objectivity. Only experience. A person gets from art what they bring to it so like yes things are effectively arbitrary. Doesn't mean they are wrong or bad though. The right answer in art is that one that is best for people. In this case the residents I suppose. So if they like it then it's good.
Architecture is almost as subjective as food: Some people crave broccoli and Brussels sprouts; others gag on it. Is it wrong?
Also, taste changes throughout life. Tastes are acquired merely by exposure sometimes. No 10 year old sips coffee or beer and loudly exclaims "Nectar of the gods!"
As for the site formed concrete exterior of this house, it is certainly not MY cup of tea.
Beautiful and informative video as always. TY. What a horrific home. Those poor neighbors. It’s worse than a Calatrava disaster. But at least it was privately funded.
I love this channel. Every second of it.
I live in the same city as this house, I've always wanted to know more especially since it's such a stand out in the neighborhood it's in, ty so much 🙂
Great video. This is my first video of yours I've watched and I had to because I immediately recognized this house in the thumbnail. Anytime I'm in that neighborhood I love driving by to look at it as well as other houses in that area.
I would love to see the finished addition! It would be awesome to check in with Grant & the owners once it’s done and show us the completed version (if that’s feasible for you all!)
That's a great idea! The owners definitely wanted us to come back out. It would be nice to do a follow-up video...
Love these videos soo much. More more more. Thanks
Just discovered you this weekend and somehow happened to watch like 5 of your videos. Really interesting channel. This one though... talk about a cliff hanger! We all want to see how it looks finished!
10/10 everything on this video
Stewart thank you so much, i truly enjoy your videos
Oh wow.....i just found this channel. Great production quality. 👏 well done sir
Nice look into the whole design process.
Graham Kerr, the famous Galloping Gourmet was once asked by one of the members of his studio audience: "How do you say Meat Loaf in French?" His reply was, "You don't."
This is like Song Exploder for architects. keep it up!
Stewart this was freaking awesome. Well done
I sort of feel like every architectural plan for a house should include the design for possible future additions, whether ultimately constructed or not. The house should stand on its own without an implication of an addition, but I think this is a way to provide more value to the owners/builders by considering both the future of the structure as well as the future of the occupants.
Awesome video! Thanks for making
Beautiful form
2:25 I live near that church he designed. That's an overly flattering angle. Viewed from the street or the train on the NEC the building looks like a fortified warehouse that might be a church (or the HQ of a cult).
I'm sorry... That's a CHURCH? I thought I misread your comment, went to the timestamp and couldn't believe my eyes. That's certainly the most unusual choice of a building for a church that I've ever seen. Very interesting. Now I want to see the interior, like is it just an enormous empty rectangular hall? Off to Google
Walking by the house every day, first thing I got to say is: Thank You! Very inspiring! Missouri does need more of that. My dog though hates the temporary gravel driveway, I say its a small price to pay.
I really liked this one, it had the real quality that can be absent in some abstract videos.
This reminds me of doing cord progressions in music.
Keeping to your normal "tools" will always sound good, but it's kindda boring. Adding some spicy dissonance will make it more interesting, but harder to consume. Dissonance is the question, but it needs an answer.
So a good middle ground is going for that dissonance, but resolving it to "home" at the end. If you dont it feels incomplete.
This building was made to feel incomplete, with it's raw concrete and angles. It now found home.
the drone shots were 🔥
This is my favorite video yet. Like how it shows one way a design process is done. Great for clients themselves to learn how to communicate their vision to architects
Having spent some time examining the bunker house and how it offends everything around it, my suggestion for an addition would be several pounds of Sem-Tex. I feel sorry for the neighbours.
I kind of don't understand what all the struggle was about. I look at all design as a way to set up and then divert or expand expectations. A final voluptuous curve at the central focal point of all those planes seems like exactly the thing to do! Very nice work.
When you witness the beauty of Architecture being brought back to reality and fulfill a mission...
Great video 😊 , i'd love to see more of this format '' short documentary / interview ''.
Your channel is like Netflix for architecture 👌
Thank you! Experimenting with all sorts of formats. I’d certainly like to head more in this direction.
@@stewarthicks it felt like an episode ''Abstract'' 💯
I really love your videos. They are well done.
Similar to some house here in Okinawa! I love it!
That is one heck of a house!
Always nice these tours!
Fantastic take on a retrospective of Doug's work and the continuation of the vision. Thanks for putting it together.
In our suburb there is a similar detached house. All black. The neighborhood call it: The crematorium.
me as an architect: hmmm i think ill stick with squares and quadrangles
Great video. I would watch a follow up. Would be cool to see how Grant's office has come along.
I'm sure the engineers who have to actualize this crap love you for it.
as someone working on his license, it is a beautifull house
Great video as always Stewart :)
If Grant's love of circles is so stronly reflected in the addition; how much is the solution genuinely answers to the site or do we just constantly relay our biases?
How much should the project be it's own, related to the client, site etc vs how much of it be the designer's will and personality.
Both the house and addition are excellent btw.
That's a good question that I think everyone might answer differently. I think every good architect has a few recurring problems they are working on that are independent of a particular project. This is what allows an architects work to cohere and be seen as participating in a larger discussion about what's relevant today. That's balanced with the particular needs of a site, program, and client, which make every project unique. Some might refer to the lingering tendencies as an architect's style, but that's a pretty limited way of looking at it. Few architects today would say they have a style, but most would probably say there are common themes throughout their work.
Any artist makes to their art style. If you obsess over replicating someone elses, the end result will likely be worse than if you stuck to your guns.
Well done.
How cool. I know exactly where that house is. My hometown, near where I grew up. It's design was not widely liked when it was built. I however think it's great!
what a great story!
Cute ending very wholesome