Explore Toyo Ito's LOST Masterpiece [U House]
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- What if you could visit some of architecture's most famous but unbuilt or demolished structures?
The U House is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of Pritzker Prize winning architect Toyo Ito. It was designed specifically to nurture his sister and two daughters after they lost their father to cancer. Decades later, the house sat empty once the family had eventually moved on from the grips of their grief. In 1997, the house was demolished to clear the site for sale and today the building only lives on in memory, drawing, and images. In this episode of Architecture with Stewart, he reconstructs the U House to simulate what it would have been like to visit in real life. After a forensic investigation and a close analysis of its program and geometry, he builds a 3D model and navigates it in the real-time render engine Enscape and offers a link for you to explore as well. What hidden treasures are lurking inside this important building lost to the wrecking ball?
Link to explore the U House: api2.enscape3d.com/v1/view/78...
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:07 The Timeline
02:34 Background of the U House
03:50 Analyzing the U House
07:27 Rebuilding the U House
08:32 Exploring the U House
10:45 The Takeaways
Architecture with Stewart is a RUclips journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
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What are your thoughts of the U House? Are there any other unbuilt or demolished buildings you would like to see rebuilt, analyzed, and explored?
Some of Kazuo Shinohara's houses would be nice. Maybe Tanikawa house, Umbrella house, Ashitaka house, etc... so many good houses. Good videos by the way
I always found it interesting how the mother’s gap and broken corner from daughter’s corner was the most poignant element of the house. More so than the figurative shape of the ‘U’. After reading the story behind the house, the design came across so alive on paper.
I’ve always wondered how Frank Gehry’s Lewis Residence would have been from the inside, if built.
Love the Mackintosh Chair placement!!
There’s just something oppressive about the house. Like it’s not a space for people. And the elephant in the room is a gigantic empty courtyard which is the space of the father. The missing father. He will forever be missing. Around whose life (or death or absence) the mother and daughters have to circle endlessly. It’s some combination of walled-in cloister, mausoleum, and death-row corridor.
Now what would’ve been interesting is to see a transformation of this building by opening up some of the interior wall and allowing life into that courtyard as a form of transition back to the world of the living for the mother and the daughters.
The various iterations of the ellenwoude estate
Surprisingly similar story to a modernist De Stijl icon, the Shröder house in Utrecht by Gerrit Rietveld in 1924, built for a young widow and her three small children. The interconnected flowing space reflected the grieving family's need to feel close-knit, always within sight or sound of each other. Fortunately, it proved more flexible (including sliding and revolving panels), survived beyond their bereavement, was lived in by the client all her life, and is now open for visitors.
Interesting. I didn’t know that backstory.
Hey Stewart, great job. As a person who is not an architect, I still felt it was interesting and I learned something about it. Thank you.
I must say I really like the idea of the house, especially the double windows between the two ends of the "tube" are very thoughtful for the intended purpose of the house. But overall I have the impression that the house is very restricting, it feels kind of narrow and breathtaking for me.
Your 3-D animation is a great service to people who are interested in how buildings actually work. I like courtyard houses, but that one was very oppressive. It felt like I was a cow being forced through chutes to a dead end. The quirky windows added interest but the lack of ability to see outside gave an unpleasant experience.
I would say the courtyard itself symbolizes the presence of those people that were no longer present. When someone is no longer there, how do you make them felt? Someone was there but they aren't anymore, there's a void where someone was before. The courtyard is that void, that the inhabitants literally has to walk around to reach each other, like they had to walk around a living person with a physically large body. Doing that promenade around the house, the inhabitants will be instantly reminded of their loved ones that was no longer there, just because they had to walk around them, with the entire house formed by their presence.
Yes! The living or resigned to the awkward horseshoe loop of mourning.
This house gives me some eerie vibes, maybe because of the curved shape without knowing its end, the relatively dark spaces or/and the closed of and sterile appearing courtyard.
This is fantastic work and thank you for it. That aside, this place does remind me of Le Corbusier being mad at a customer wanting to have a couch.
wonderful. LOVE this video, thanks for putting these online! :)
Brilliant, such a great animation of that interior, particularly like the intro to the tour and the descritiption of it inviting you to explore.
Your channel was one the best discoveries I made this year.
Nice analysis and I love the series of videos. I live in Tokyo and have sought out many of the older innovative houses from the era of the bubble economy. This one has been a missing link. I've always assumed the courtyard was closed off as a purposeful act to convey a sense of loss rather than any kind of flaw. It placed a limitation on the house's use for conventional living, a nearly inaccessible void at the heart of the project. The circle also has great significance in Shinto and it's interruption seems poetically significant. I suspect the demolition served the purpose of completing the act of grieving. However, I am speculating and would love know more. I see some additional research in my future. A great resource is Thomas Daniels book "An Anatomy of Influence" published a couple of years ago by the Graham Foundation. Shinohara's earlier "House on A Curved Road" still stands and is equally significant but as far as I know inaccessible. Thanks again for the great videos. UIC seems to be thriving.
Thank you for the suggestions!
Absolutely lovely. Thank you for your work.
Great analysis Stewart! I learned a lot of new stuff.
You are such a talented RUclipsr. I can’t wait to see how your channel grows in the future! Keep it up!
absolutely love this series, so under appreciated! goodjob,
Brilliant project and video!
This is my new favourite RUclips channel, keep up the good work🖖
Thanks for letting us experience what we can no longer do!! I understand the project so much better now thanks to your diagrams!!
What an excellent video!! I love this toyo Ito project, I already subscribed to your channel
Some folks would think that this building had failures that led to its demolition. If anything, it's the opposite. This house did exactly what it was intended to do. By all accounts, that's what makes it a successful building. It's demolition didn't mean that the U-House failed. It served it purposed. To see something like this is always bittersweet. But that's just it. It's first, bitter, then sweet. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Great video, Stewart! I really enjoyed it. It´s really interesting to be able to get into the house and have the experience of the spaces, even if it´s in a virtual way. I also loved your timeline. I'm going to share it with my students because we were working with timelines a few weeks ago. They are Spanish speakers, but I found it particularly clear even if they don´t speak English
Gaby, glad you thought so! Thank you for sharing.
Initial thought, I thought what the point was with the shape. Then, when the circle, then the square and golden rectangle came into the scene-made me understand how brilliant this actually was. Thanks!
Love it and especially your effort... ❤️❤️
Great video. Thank you!!!
Thanks!
This was a fascinating video! It would certainly be a gift to mankind if you continued what I am sure is painstaking work to re-create, or to create, buildings that are gone or never constructed. I am the son of an architect and my father was fascinated by the design theme that would be later called mid century modern. I am fascinated with modern design no matter the era. I discovered you through the RUclips rabbit hole and I absolutely love your videos as they are professional, calming and highly educational.
Really enjoyed this video. It's interesting to see how tight the interior feels when walking through it even though in plan it seems rather ample. I'd love to see a similar exercise with the Maison Bordeaux by Rem Koolhaas
This video is fantastic. A building like this truly exists as much in narrative comprehension and utility as it does in physical space, like how the word realization means both to fully comprehend and to make something real the building is only truly “realized” when you understand it’s purpose and story in addition to seeing it. The building literally forces you to navigate around an absence. I can understand how it would feel like a cage over time given its story, and so I think it is okay, perhaps even necessary, that it was demolished.
I never knew this story about the U House. Having this knowledge opens up many discussions about architecture and how we see it. Here in Cyprus architecture is percieved as something permanent and for the ages. My guess it's a residual sentiment from living surrounded by antiquities. Ancient buildings are preserved and admired while in many cases stifling new developments. Finding out about such an important building being demolished after it served it's use, is a very fresh idea. It begs the question of wether we need to spend all the time and energy on conservation when we can digitize buildings. Im not talking about demolishing the Parthenon for example but it is now possible to capture the essence of a building by digitizing it and then visiting it in VR for example. Food for thought.
I like analysis on buildings and houses. My arch history teacher taught almost exclusively in this style. Fascinating class but REALLY tough tests.
this is great! thank you!
Love your work
Very cool. Thx man
Thanks, great effort
Great video as always.
I can not help but think the residence is itself a place for death.
Much like a tomb,it's occupants locked in to be forgotten about.
I didn't know this much could be said about a building. While it's true that in my art's history class we did speak about some buildings (like for example the German Pavilion in Barcelona) the teacher overlooked the ones that interested me the most which were mostly by Le Corbusier, so it would be cool if you speak about him in some video. To be honest I just started watching your channel because I wanted some clues to make better Minecraft buildings and while it's not exactly your connect I do find it each time more interesting, so thank you!
Love the placement of the MacIntosh chair by itself against the wall at 12:17.
I initially thought this video on a U-shaped, apparently simple house would not be so interesting. Boy, was I wrong! I now think Stewart makes EVERY video entertaining and captivating. The 3D model made an impression on me too.
Other demolished buildings to be featured next could be the The Crystal Palace in London and the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, the Singer Building and the City Investing Building in New York.
This house was awe striking and much of a debate topic during History class. Teacher said it was a functional building, but the function was for the family's spirit. Thanks for this video, great job!
=One Love=
-A
Love the video!! Hats off... Just amaizing. I have been thinking about doing something similar... This is the best way to actually experience and reflect on architecture. I just wish you would have stayed on the photos for a bit longer... To. Let them sink in. And added more interior shots.. To get the feeling of the space. Overall an awesome job. I love buildings which have a monastic feel, but this is something else entirely, I feel it just puts you into this space where you have to confront your feelings. I understand how this could have resonated with the owners. It's powerful, expressive. I wonder what life would they have living in it. Like what would they do? Would they sit or cook food or wake up and go to the courtyard. Sit at the chair maybe. Thought-provoking though.. Like those liminal spaces in one of the previous videos. Hey that reminds me, I think you should put up a discord server like archimarathon. It's a good place to have a discussion. Maybe some collaborative work... I would love to do a 3d of a building, and experience and visit it virtually. Specially when we are stuck at home through the pandemic.
Great vid! Recently watched a RUclips vid on “homes of wealthy” in Tokyo, most on the west side of town. Many are “feudal” in their street presence of tall walls and gates, and “safe” courtyards in the middle for the residents. The U House seems Brutal in it’s starkness design and purpose as you mention at vid start, and the courtyard is not a tsubo niwa gardens I saw in Kyoto, designed to bring calm and nature into a private space in a big city. Thanks!
My initial impression was one of fascination . The formal simplicity of the house, of the various spaces arranged around that central courtyard are conceptually and visually engaging. But the thing about buildings is that they are much more than just ideas and arrangements, they are experiences for the body and the mind. My mind is intrigued by this, but my body, when I look at the images and view the model feels constricted and imposed upon. From inside, the house feels heavy, even though it is so engaging in plan. While I love the skylight and windows, and how they play with the light, they too seem restrictive and tight. But perhaps this is the feeling the family needed at that point in their lives, to feel like they where inside a protective space that held them close and covered them like a heavy blanket. If that is the case, then perhaps it is not such a shame that they house was destroyed in the end. Perhaps they tore it down more because it had served its very specific function, and the family, individually and as a collective needed to move to another place in their lives and open themselves back up to the world. An interview with the family might reveal the viability of this idea. Regardless I would rather think that the house no longer was needed, and needed to be taken down, rather the land was worth more without the house and that it was a simple matter of economy.
It might be a bit sacrilege, but I wonder if you could "remodel" the model, and transform it from a "heavy" to a "light" house, from a house that feels oppressive to a house that feels expansive. There is something wonderfully playful about how the spaces relate to one another. You might want to get permission from Ito, just as a sign of respect, if you do this.
Speaking of Light houses, I would really love to see Ralph Rapson's unbuilt Greenbelt house. I could never understand why that house was not built as a vacation home or a retreat of some sort. I don't think it works in suburbia, where it was initially located, but in a larger, more rural space, it could be quite spectacular. It is perhaps my favorite case study house, and certainly the most challenging of Rapson's designs.
Another suggestion would be the 1962, Neutra design of the Maslon House in Palm Springs that was torn down in 2002. I never saw that house, and would like to know if the tear down was the tragedy that it appears to be.
Love your videos Stewart! Keep up the Great work!
Such a thoughtful piece. Thank you for sharing.
Congratulations.. a really great analysis and presentation. I hope you make more analysis about the work of le Corbusier, F.L.Wright, Alvar Alto,...Alvaro siza, Campo Beaza..all of them haha,
Bringing a whole new meaning to “lets visits the open house”.
This courtyard enclosure for a residential building is a very, very old concept going back to Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Mesopotamia.
However, a big difference is that the courtyard was the main source of light for the surrounding rooms, so there were lots more windows. And the courtyard usually had a basin for catching rainwater and plants, not a desert-like scrub grass.
Love it!!!
Hi Stewart, love your videos. There’s definitely a dearth of quality architecture channels on youtube! Can you tell me the type of pens you use for your sketches? They look very comfortable to use.
The interior seems like it's all hallway that doesn't lead anywhere. This and the unbroken, impenetrable exterior is super depressing. Conceptually, it delivers the message that life is pointless, only leading to the relief of death where you're finally buried or burned in the courtyard... a bug circling the drain.
This is one of the houses that's being used as a case study currently in ARCH105! It's not my case study, but it's a super interesting house with an interesting backstory too
Ahh, I like the journey that the house went on, and demolition sounds like a perfect end given why it was created in the first place. In story terms it very much as a beginning, middle and end.
Yes, changing the interior U to glass would have been amazing. But what an orchestrated movement! Amazing. It could have become an art gallery.
Excellent idea Stewart realising modern archaeology. Will forward this to some of my colleagues whose teaching methods and content could do with an update! One advantage of modelling it yourself is that you circumvent copyright issues. Was that something you were concerned with? Gonna dust off the VR headset and explore your model. Best regards.
Hello. Copyright is part of it, but also just thinking about what makes sense for the medium of RUclips. For instance, if I can't visit a building due to travel restrictions or lack of funds, it makes the video much less powerful than if I could film inside. I feel like focusing on buildings that no one can visit allows me to offer something unique.
I like the overall concept but I agree it is pretty oppressive and closed off, and it makes perfect sense knowing that it was made for a family in mourning... An update to the design with larger window areas and a more open patio would probably make it a much more inviting space.
Thanks for this video. I really like Ito's work. This reminded me of a house by Shigeru Ban. Villa at Sengokubara. Yes this house is quite different but I love courtyard houses. It's a shame NA's don't build these types of houses. In the case of the Shigeru Ban house it's got a beautiful copper? cladding that wraps the whole exterior, including the roof, with a glass interior facing the court yard. It kind of looks like a flag pole. Check it out!
Hello! Amazing video and you perfectly dissect all major points (subbed immediately after). I'm an architecture student working on the precedent study for this house, and I was wondering if you could help me with a couple of issues I was having. I found many plans online, however I have no idea how to determine the dimensions as no drawing has clear dimensions or a scale bar. Also, where can I find the complete image from 7:38 ? I really hope I don't bother you too much with this. Thank you!
Very cool video Stewart :) by the way, you need to renew your Rino subscription lol you had "80 days remaining"
Shhh
Neat idea of building 3D models of unbuilt or never-built edifices. How do you get the plans and elevations?
On the one hand, I feel like we all learned something today. On the other hand, I always loved courtyard houses and wasn't expecting this video to make me feel so sad.
What a rollercoaster of emotions! I'm glad we learned something along the way and we found a meaningful topic.
This reminds me of a conch shaped house in the city centre of Tokyo, in the Ushigome area. When I tried looking for it on maps I couldn't find it though unfortunately.
the placement of the dining table is giving me nightmares!
Honestly my only thought with the visualisation was to wonder why on earth anyone would want to live in that space at all , and were it not for the familial relationship between the architect and the occupants I'm certain they would have left it far faster than they did.
Its an understandable temptation within professions , particularly the artisitic ones ( if I can generalise ) to over intellectualise their craft. Consequently it is easy to lose oneself in the symbolism and geometry etc. but really if an architect is not asking himself at every opportunity "is this a space I can happily live in" he is not doing his client any favours however well received the result may be by his peers.
Cool idea, this could be a thing.. virtual tour of unbuilt building/ structures.. the pro n cons..
It is a thing. Check out the LOST playlist!
@@stewarthicks Thanks for creating this channel and unraveling the complexity of architecture into a wholesome bite size subjects with each video.
Hope that you venture into Lebbeus woods and wes jones works in future videos. Love to hear your take. TQ.
cool video. i think this house is very cold in winter and very hot in summer.
I wish if you can discuss architecture of Luis Barragan or richardo Legorreta
Have you seen the Triangle house in Japan? I think that it is in Tokyo. It was built to zoning code to fit a small triangular lot and to feel as big as possible.
An interesting exercise……..but unliveable!
I so enjoy your videos.
I do, however, have a very different point of view on this house.
I do not believe it was ever intended to be a home. ( Its demolition expresses this to be true )
I believe it was a tomb,that of the dead - not the living.
One must remember that in many cultures, the grieving are to be forgotten.
Perhaps the widow and her child did not so much recover in this building.
They most likely escaped.
Never misplace elegant decorum as kindness and care.
I am looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos.
I agree with "sanctuary began to feel more like a cage", as the house seemed to be a bespoke asylum prison, for an infamous psychopathic killer.
it would probably worth a lot more these days if it wasn't demolished given how famous ito has became
What is the fume-hood-like thing low on the exterior wall? Is it a very low window that lets some light up into the house but blocks all view?
I think it might be for cross ventilation? I think it has an operable window in it...
Yeah very brutal for a house 😯
Exactly. It can't stay until, unless he put windows in it. It could've been renovated with curved glass. Inside and outside. What he could've done is in the smaller places, make glass ceilings. It's so fcking dark! That's a terrible space to recover from loss. One needs to breathe, not sufficate.
Hey Stewart, I might have missed it in the video but where did you get the exact measurements of the building? I need to make a model of it but I just can't seem to find the measurements
Love that the japanese are able to build like this. The outcome as a home would have failed immediately and im sure the occupants were in shock at what uncle Toyo gave them. Still, iconic
It remembered me of a roman teatre.
I wish I was here too
Hm, the model does not load for me on chrome, any tips? Interesting video!
9:40 it reminds me on the Japanese movie INCITE MILL.
My only concern is that an overhang roof would be interesting.
could you test it?
I like the Animation it's a little bit strange at first but invite me to explore it
My visceral reaction: this building struck me as a modernist mausoleum, rather than a place for the living to live.
Hey Stewart which software you used for walk through.
Enscape
can tell about the material used in u house
House resembles panopticon, may be that is why it was demolished.
It looked uncomfortable to live in.
I need floor plan and elevations with dimensions. Please help boss. Need it before monday
That's a great purpose designing and building for a certain use for a restricted time period-although(!) no matter how much I like concrete and brutalism I'd prefer to see a house like this being made with natural materials. I guess the huge environmental impact concrete has wasn't a factor in the 70s, but still.
Wonder how that U-shape works acoustically. Might be some fun/weird artifacts.
How much do you as an architect plan, calculate and design with sound in mind?
Agreed, it would probably kinda strange in there.
Dang so that is Rhino huh.
I am glad that some people wax nostalgic and are entranced with this demolished house. This being said, it was a rather perfectly dreadful piece of shite that took itself way too seriously. Most folks would not want to live next door to something like this...let alone inside it.
Hello, we are french students in fine art school (in Angers). For architecture project, we work on the white u house and we are intersting in your 3D Model because we can't find the dimensions of this house. Is it possible to contact each other to speak about our project ?
Thanks by advance for your answer !
Emma and Axelle
Looks like a prison.
With some windows to the central garden this house would have been better.
Uummmm(captain obvious looks around)......it's a toilet bowl! Can't unsee it! DO NOT think im a simple-minded individual. I am a Penn state grad. Busin.&finance minor psych. Don't hate on me. I LOVE this channel. I think Stewart is so cute and he is obviously very well educated. I know I'm gunna get alot of bad comments for saying this, but sorry not sorry. I still loved watching the entire piece and appreciate the life and struggles of the family coinciding with the life of the structure, very Wabi Sabi. My suggestion for a future episode, i know it's a departure from the more modern aspect of your structures. Referred to as The Gray Towers in Milford Pennsylvania. It is the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, first director of the United States Forest Service and twice elected governor of Pennsylvania. Highly recommended to anyone in the area to visit. Keep up the good work Stewart 😉ya cutie
Visit in Flushing, Ny
I’m the 1000th like 🎉
The 3D rendering exposes geometric rhetoric to a level of reality and the interior fails this first hurdle. A far richer 'closed-box' internal courtyard is the Tadao Ando Row House at Sumiyoshi, where the courtyard imposition transforms each space it serves. In this animation each space feels compartmentalised. It is as if the architect's perception of his client's grief imposed a prison-like stranglehold on the conception. Architecture of this nature either gets demolished or preserved as a shrine. The family moving out must have felt like a relief.
you could put it in the metaverse
reminds me of the giant toilet from the simpsons episode where hoemr donates a kidney to his dad
How is the Koo Chen-fu Memorial Library Not a direct copy/rip off of the Johnson Wax Building in Racine WI by FLW?
Agreed as is this project a take off of Ando at Sumiyoshi, bent round at one end yet a similar closed box!
Incredibly closed off, dark, cold, monotone color, full of concrete are common straits of a modern Japanese house nowadays. It reflects the overall psychology of Japanese society, super privacy and closed off.
It's not a mine. It's a tomb.
I love everything you do here… But I find those transitions between the photos and the model to be so visually jarring. Also the music or sound effects tend to be a little distracting. Otherwise
, I really enjoy all your research and insights and all the work that goes into creating the videos… Especially the history of the architects and the timeline… Not to scale😉
I on the other hand find the music chosen very often flows well with the visuals. I will assume that the compositions for these videos are either original works by an electronic composer or possibly from stock piles of available background music. The beautiful thing about modern technology is that you can usually read the close captions and turn down the volume if you don’t care for the music. I am also fascinated by automobile design and if I’m perusing American automobiles from the 60s and 70s the choice of music is horrible in my opinion - loud rock guitar and and crashing distorted bass - so I mute it.
@@redjupiter2 I will listen again with fresh ears!
That house looked like a nightmare for wheelchair users and moving things in and out.