Stretto House: Steven Holl
Introduction
The Stretto House by Steven Holl was designed on the basis of two main ideas: material and Bela Bartok’s Music for Strings. Holl maintained that it was imperative that these two concepts run parallel to each other. (Holl p. 8, 1996) The focus on materials is a personal consideration of Holl’s; all of his projects place emphasis on this aspect of architecture. The articulation and selection of materials is so important to Holl that models based on materials are developed before the ideas and design concepts are settled upon. He considers materials to be significant to the design because of how they affect the character of the architecture. He feels these material selections begin to inform the ideas from the onset.
Initial Concepts and Impressions
The way that the house project began was ideal. One of the clients had grown up in a Frank Lloyd Wright house and had a long standing familial history for appreciating quality architecture. This client had an intuitive understanding of the importance of aptly sequenced space, articulation of structure, infiltration of light, and attention to construction detailing. These qualities brought the client to Holl’s office. The special relationship that formed between the client and architect proved beneficial to the final design and building construction. (Holl p. 8, 1996) Initially the proposed site was in Dallas at Turtle Creek. Holl suggested that this site was too small for what the client had in mind and they visited other options. Finally, they chose a site with which they could retain the majority of the landscape and included a stream with three concrete dams and ponds. Holl was immediately influenced by the sounds made by the water overlapping and ultimately included this into the design. (Holl p. 8, 1996) The team began design with the concrete block and metal roofs that serve as a sort of material vernacular in Texas. Due to the climate in Texas, it was essential to incorporate sun shading and opportunities arose to play with light and shadow. This excited Holl. The next design factor was derived from the sounds of the overlapping streams. Holl saw this as a sort of physical “stretto,” which is a musical term meaning the imitation of the subject in close succession is answered before it is completed. He also believed this musical concept could evolve into an idea about fluid connections between architectural spaces. He then selected Bartok’s piece because of its extensive use of stretto. (Holl p. 8, 1996) (Diagrams p. 23)
House Design and Bartok
It is a four movement piece that has a distinct division between the heavy sounds of the percussion and the light sounds of the strings. The piece has materiality through instrumentation where the house has an analog in light and space. This is expressed in the following formula, where the musical expression is to the left and the architectural is on the right:
Material x Sound = Material x Light
Time Time (Holl p. 8, 1996)
The house is in four sections in correspondence with the four movements of Music for Strings. The heavy sounds are expressed through orthogonal masonry, while the light sounds are depicted by a curvilinear metal. These metal roofs overlap masonry “spatial dams.” In the main house “aqueous space” is created by the following measures: floor plans pull the level of one space through to the next, roof planes pull space over walls, and an arched wall pulls light down from a skylight. The materials, poured concrete, glass cast in fluid shapes, slumped glass, and liquid terrazzo, and their detailing continue these spatial concepts. (Holl p. 8, 1996) The plan is completely orthogonal and the section is curvilinear in the main house. However, in the guest house the plan and sectional shapes are inverted, where the plan is curvilinear and the section is orthogonal. This shift parallels the inversions of the subject in the first movement of the Bartok piece. (Holl p. 9, 1996) Upon arrival to the house through the driveway that bridges the stream, the visitors enter at the stone courtyard with a “melting ice” fountain. There is a view through the main entry here that reveals the overlapping spaces in the house. There are also glimpses of the gardens along the perspective of the major rooms. A gradual fluid movement goes through the spatial dams, which is propelled by the curving roofs. In addition to the roof shapes, the ideas of heavy and light are expressed on the exterior with masonry and metal. (Holl p. 9, 1996) The interior cogency is maintained by slightly revealing the construction method with material and detailing. The interior spaces were designed as a series of overlapping perspectives, which furthers the thought of fluidity. Throughout the interior and exterior designs and in Bartok’s score, the Golden Section (1:1.618) was used to fine-tune the proportions. (Holl p. 9, 1996) The thin roofs in perspective are overlapping prior to spilling out over the pool-court as shading resembling a parasol. The last room in the sequence is empty and is flooded by the ponds; it is a flooded room without pragmatic function. It becomes the center of two sequences of space, one from the landscape and one from the aqueous space of the house. (Holl p. 9, 1996)
Construction Principles and Concepts
Throughout the scheme, the materials and method of construction follow the concept of heavy
orthogonal and light curvilinear. The spatial dams are ground-face block double-wall construction, where columns were poured into the cavity when structurally necessary. The design of the roofs are both concave and convex. The team made a model and mocked up a full-size coping detail in the office in order to better understand the roof conditions. The roofs are only seven inches thick in accordance with the heavy/light concept. (Holl p. 9, 1996) After much investigation, the structure was made from standard six inch steel pipes that were bent by computer-driven magnetic-induction technology. When a long space was necessary, the wall thickness of the pipe was increased internally so that the roof thickness was not affected. After the bending, the pipes – which were later refer to as noodles – were numbered and delivered to the site. They were then erected and field-welded with fish-mouth joint because it was quick labor. The noodles were braced in steel pockets within the masonry walls. (Image: Stretto House 2) It was here that the heavy/light and orthogonal/curved ideas were expressed structurally. (Holl p. 9, 1996) The exterior materials were hand-sanded aluminum and acid-reddened brass that yields an organic patina on the metallic areas. This balances the concrete block that is trimmed in Texas limestone. As for the interior finishes, one of a kind woven wool carpets depict musical scores on top of the black stained concrete floors. Curved glass light fixtures were individually designed to celebrate particular areas in the house. In the kitchen, the heavy/light and orthogonal/curvilinear concept is noted in the wire pulls of the cabinetry. (Holl p. 9, 1996)
The Design Philosophy
The goal of Steven Holl and his firm is to focus on idea and phenomena. For his team, the overall idea is like a chain of causes and effects that works with functions and physical elements. It is integral to the design and must be depicted throughout. “Unlike a beginning in form, the concept transcends the abstract, organizing the experiential phenomena. The pleasure of architectural experiences – the phenomena of light and spatial sequence, textures, smells and sounds – is irreducible and ultimately enmeshed with situation, season, and time of day. In a way, the concept that drives a design like the Stretto House disappears completely in the phenomena of the physical reality and yet intuitively the abundance of the idea may be felt." (Holl p.9, 1996)
This musical peice is where Steven Holl got his Architectural inspiration from. Take notice of the use of violins, “light and curvy materials) and the Drums, “heavy masonry materials”.
The building is divided into four parts (Variation of theme)
Opposites of heavy (percussion) and light (Strings)
Site Plan
Floor plan- Ground Floor
Floor plan- Level 2
Roof Plan
North, South Elevations
Section A
3D Exterior view
