Modern California House | Solar Umbrella House | Venice | California |

Nestled amidst a neighborhood of single story bungalows in Venice, California, the Solar Umbrella Residence boldly establishes a precedent for the next generation of California modernist architecture. Located on a 41’ wide x 100’-0” long through lot, the Solar Umbrella addition transforms the architects’ existing 650 square foot bungalow into a 1900 square foot residence equipped for responsible living in the twenty-first century. Inspired by Paul Rudolph’s Umbrella House of 1953, the Solar Umbrella provides a contemporary reinvention of the solar canopy—a strategy that provides thermal protection in climates with intense exposures. In establishing the program for their residence, which accommodates the couple and their one child chose to integrate into the design, principles of sustainability that they strive to achieve in their own practice. The architects carefully considered the entire site, taking advantage of as many opportunities for sustainable living as possible. Passive and active solar design strategies render the residence 100% energy neutral. Recycled, renewable, and high performance materials and products are specified throughout. Hardscape and landscape treatments are considered for their aesthetic and actual impact on the land. The Brooks Scarpa Residence elegantly crafts each of these strategies and materials, exploiting the potential for performance and sensibility while achieving a rich and interesting sensory and aesthetic experience.......more

Metal Skin House | Venice Residence | Venice | California | Kevin Daly Architects

The primary design challenges were to reconsider the building structures and allow shared use by an extended family while maintaining varying levels of privacy. The two story façade facing the courtyard became entirely glazed, which is in turn shaded by a folding, perforated metal skin that rests on an aluminum exoskeleton.

This perforated skin and supporting aluminum armature is mirrored across the courtyard by a folding enclosure surrounding the garage apartment. Only these building surfaces extend into and float above the courtyard. Primarily designed as sun shades, they provide privacy and filtered natural light into the main living spaces of the house and apartment. In addition they form the support structure for balconies that extend from the master bedroom of the main house and the apartment to allow family members to see each other across the property......more

Skywave House in Venice | Anthony Coscia

Anthony Coscia designed his Skywave House in Venice as a place to live, work, and explore ideas.
A curved sheet of steel provides shade and protection, and walls of glass open up to dense plantings on the 40-by-120-foot lot.
Step inside, and you can take in the 90-foot-long interior at a glance, with its open stairs leading to floating platforms, glass-walled rooms, and sliding doors. There’s a palpable sense of openness, and the abundant natural light, reflections, and green vistas obliterate the divide between inside and out.
Coscia Day Architecture + Design have spent two decades designing inventive houses, smart commercial spaces, and restaurants like Natalee Thai, Azia, and Xi’an in Venice and Beverly Hills.
In each of these projects, the architects started with a simple model before using computer software to model a sculptural enclosure that wraps around its occupants as fluidly as a robe embracing a body.
Indeed, one inspiration for the Skywave House was an exhibition of Issey Miyake’s A-POC garments made from a single, laser-cut piece of cloth. The immediate point of departure was a small model of a desk the architects were working on: a floating wing atop a glass shape....more