Residential Design

Volume 2, 2017

A business-to-business magazine focused on the collaborative process and talented work of residential architects and custom homebuilders.

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FIRST LEVEL SECOND LEVEL influenced Bauhaus, book design, typography, architecture, and much more. He apprenticed with artist Kazimir Malevich, which shows in both of their oeuvres. They were leaders in the art movement known as Suprematism, characterized by manipulations of geometry and a limited palette of colors. What emerged from these varied ingredients was the inspiration for Tetra House, as the project became known. Tetra means four in ancient Greek, and describes the inter- secting quadrilateral shapes Thomas and Viraj devised to contain Richard's four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath, 2,800-square-foot program. "The project," says Thomas, "is very Cartesian. We pride ourselves on pulling together different elements that create an interesting narrative. We don't have a common style that spans periods. We like to explore a language and then move on. Keeping mind, of course, what is appropriate for the cli- ent, the site, and the project." Playing With Blocks In plan, the main house is somewhat T-shaped on the first level and, because of one of those projecting quadrilateral shapes, or boxes, it's L-shaped on the second level. It holds three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, an open kitchen-dining room, a family room, and a playroom. The longer axis for both floors runs roughly north-south. At the front of the house, a carport is tucked under that projecting box, and a casita is positioned just to the east of it. It contains a bedroom, a full bath, and some extra storage. The casita's location assures privacy for the main house and controlled, largely internal views for the first level. Between the two buildings is an elevated courtyard that steps down to a swimming pool. Because the program is stretched out among these intersecting building blocks, the house reads bigger than it is. Thomas and Viraj rotated the entire plan a few degrees on site to capture skyline views of the city for the second floor and VOL. 2, 2017 RESIDENTIALDESIGNMAGA ZINE.COM 35

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