Solitude in Nature

privacy.

transparency.

Throughout my study of cubes and light, I discovered the beautiful transparency that can occur when cardboard is cut at the right angle. The corrugation allows light to pass through completely, causing the cube to almost disappear from sight. My house for a salt maker will be made of different sized cubes for each room, each with different wall thicknesses to control how much privacy is earned inside to the occasional passerby. At eye level, the corrugation allows any sight of the internal display to be completely blocked from view. However from above, the light passes through to light up the inside as if there were nothing there.

Drawings of the Salz Platz

For the past two weeks I have been working on technical drawings to represent my project. The Drawings shown here are perspective, plan, and section respectively. The smaller structure on the left is a place for storing the SaltMaker's tools, gear, and work clothes. The structure on the right is where he will reside. I put these on opposite sides of the ravine to seperate the workplace and the living place. There is a small pedestrian bridge linking the two that will go over a small dam that will collect seeping salt water running down the ravine. The cables connecting from the structures to the ground are made of a fine web of nylon fibers in an aluminum casing. This will cause a capillary action that will pull the salt out of the pool and it will collect on the cables. This is where the SaltMaker gets his supply of salt. A final model is soon to come.

Elevation

This is my elevation for the salt maker's house. The exterior is made of wood (and soon will be shaded on the bottom to give them depth.) The roof will be made of copper sheets, approximately 18 inches wide each. This view is looking from the creek side of the house.

Salt Maker On The Edge

The design is simple. Have a minimal amount of space to support a salt maker and his dog. The plan was to create the feeling of two solid masses that would suspend a light and airy bridge that would allow for magnificent views of the cliffs and surrounding preserve. The house will incorporate two solid, concrete ends that will suspend a very light wood and glass section which will allow for the amazing views. While the house is only around 400 square feet, this will supply all the space one needs to live comfortably with his dog. The man is in love with nature, so the house is either made with materials that are from the surrounding area or are formed by those same materials. In the middle section of the home, there is a lack of materials to allow the salt maker to feel more in touch with the nature he loves so much while still being inside.An adjacent building will be his work area and also allow for the salt storage. More to come as I adjust the design...

Beginning Stages of the Salt Maker's Residence

When designing the residence for the Salt Maker, I prioritized the importance of preserving nature due to the location of the site and the Salt Maker's qualities. I chose to use the cave for the location of the residence. My initial ideas set the location of the bedroom in the back of the cave, just like a residing animal. I used the shape of the cave to progress from there. I want the residence to be simple and blend with the cliff face, causing a unified relationship with the natural monument.

I think it is important to create and document multiple questions throughout the designing process. Questions of design and meaning accelerate personal understanding and reasoning of the design. Also, questioning how to represent your design, such as what materials exemplify the ideas of the design, can help explore all avenues of potential. A question I am experimenting with is how to model the cave face. Creating many iterations is the only way to answer these questions, like I have started to do with roof design.

The Salt Maker's Cabin

In the process of designing a residence and workshop for a Salt Maker, I felt it was vital to put myself in his position and imagine what design elements he would want incorporated into his residence in order to incorporate his personality into the program. While studying his personality, I made the decision to make his residence a modern style cabin. Upon picking a site, the top of the cliff near the waterfall seemed best as it provides incredible views of the entire preserve and surrounding mountains. I allowed the contours of the land to develop the structure's form, and made the most recent plan one floor in an effort to save on square footage and make the residence practical. The focus of the home has become about practicality, maximizing the amazing views, and incorporating solar panels into the roof design in an effort to keep the Salt Maker off the power grid.

The first set of photos shows the first study model of his house on the chosen site, and the second shows the beginning of a set of roof iterations that I am currently working on. Each roof would be elevated at an angle of 30 degrees, face directly south, and would be supported by timber framing.

Thoughts On The Salt Maker

In the process of designing a house for anyone, in this case the Saltmaker, I think it is important to make a study model. Once I had an idea of what the basic scheme or layout of the house was, I needed to see it in three dimensional form in order to see what worked, and what I needed to work on. I spent a few hours making this study model and it has greatly helped me visualize what needs to be done to improve my project.

First Project for Second Semester, The Salt Maker

This is the first project of the second semester. It is a residence for a "salt maker". The project will conclude the first week of March.