| Featured Architect: | View all Featured Architects | |
| Florian Maurer | Architect Site 11, Box A, Comp 5
sellModern features architects from around the world who concentrate on modern work. This month's featured architect is Florian Maurer. Florian Maurer, MAIBC, LEEDTM AP, is principal and sole proprietor of Florian Maurer Architect. He practices architecture in Naramata, BC and Lana, Italy. His previous firm Florian Maurer Architect Ltd. of Whitehorse, Yukon (now Kobayashi Zedda Architects Ltd.) has received national awards for their work with Yukon First Nations and sustainable design. His house in Naramata recently received a BC Wood Works Award, a 2005 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Architecture, and a 2005 North American Wood Award. True to his European roots he believes in an architecture that expresses structural, functional and economical integrity, and seeks to find beauty and meaning in working with these elements only. His own experiments with the the Post Modern design approach were short lived. Maurer House, Naramata, BC Site and Restraint Bedrock, pines, grasses and sagebrush, a sweeping view West over Okanagan Lake. The owners spend their lives outside whenever possible, their indoor space requirements are moderate. The design had to surrender totally to land and climate, forget preconceived ideas, start from a blank page. It had to be affordable. Roman Concept 4 separate buildings wrap themselves around a central garden, create privacy from the road, snake their way between the pines, highlight the grey bedrock slab, form intimate spaces. The outdoors are not "space left over" after putting a house on the site, but are the main point: a rural interpretation of the Roman courtyard. It reflects the clients' priorities and mandate to preserve trees, rocks and landform. The main house straddles the bedrock ridge and offers a choice of moods viewed through its glazed walls: the dramatic panorama of Okanagan Lake to the West, the tranquillity of the sheltered garden to the East. Form Follows Commonsense No blasting, logging, site remodelling took place. Native plants were preserved, lawn was avoided, existing trees offer shade, instant mature landscaping, and stabilize slopes. The septic field is where drainage, soils and slope made it logical. The buildings look like they have always been there, they flow with the land. Roof overhangs, building placement, trees, limit sun on the black tiles in summer, use it for solar gain during winter. With the afternoon lake breeze blowing through the opened house it makes air conditioning unnecessary. With 175 m2 the house is a dwarf in a neighbourhood of monster houses What good is the greenest building that is twice as large as it needs to be? It is like buying a hybrid car and driving twice as much as before. Green design is about much more than just energy saving, it means a change in how we see our role on Earth and among each other. This is why not having an intruder alarm is part of this design's Green strategy, as is eating what grows in the garden. The large glazed areas were not negotiable. Simplicity All materials deliver value: the glulam structure doubles as glazing support, spacing achieves maximum glazing economy and avoids a secondary roof structure. Simplicity of form, lack of roof intersections, standardized detailing paid off: With state-of-the-art "Low E" glazing, German sliding glass doors and tilt-turn windows, Italian tiles, high quality and efficient building systems, glulam structure, costs were $225,000. The design proves a point about the value of architecture that should be heard by developers and home builders. Art This house is owner designed and built, right down to light fixtures, bathroom mirrors and furniture. It says that Art is about creation, not acquisition. It argues the value of rigorous unity of structure and finish, of form and content. It uses the arguments of economy, sustainability, soundness, and function. In its light and sketchy elegance and mature use of technology and resources it makes an important and timely statement. |
|
