ARCH 345 Architecture Design and Technology II
Wentworth Institu te of Technolog y
Department of Architecture
Spring 2005
“By looking at how people lived, I quickly discovered that all the small gardens were filled wi th tool sheds
and hobby sheds, and old cars stood there and pleasure crafts, etc. So I designed a town plan and a house
type that accepted that, within their own area, people could do as they pleased in their leisure time without
upsetting their neighbors and without having an y special easement. Such a house and such a town plan
respected this assuming the individual right to enjoy private life; but at the same time the re sulting part of the
town was then to have a common character as seen from outside so that it became a small community.”
Jørn Utzon, Houses for Skane (A southern province of Sweden),1953
PROJECT 2: A House (Passive Syste ms)
Exercise
Design a house, to be constructed on an imaginary plot of land, located on an urban corner block in an
American city with a hot-arid climate and latitude of 33 degrees. The lot’s area is 2,500 squ are feet, with
dimensions of fifty by fifty feet. The lot opens to the street on two sides, and is enclosed on the remaining
two sides by eight-foot high masonry walls belonging to the neigh boring houses. To the south there is a 30-
foot high tree. In the summer months, a prevailing cooler breeze comes from the mountains to the north. See
the attached diagram for more information.
Premises
According to zoning guidelines, the house’s max imum footprint is 45% of the lot. It is possible to excavate to
a maximum of ten (10) feet below ground and to construct to a height of twenty (20) feet above the street
level.
According to the site and the program, it is imp ortant to consider the positions of the party walls as
opportunities for the design. The house should also take advantage of vertical relationships between
superimposed plans with double- or triple-height spaces and the potential of interior courtyards for
illumination, ventilation, and recreation. The intention is to give spatial consistency to the projec t, while also
developing ideas about controlling the elements.
Program
The following elements should be accommoda ted in each design:
• The house for a family co mposed of two parents with one young da ughter and son. One parent is a writer
who needs a home-office of 400 square feet con taining a library of eight hundred (800) books. It is
desirable to have an independent access this study-office.
• The house must have a covered place for an automobile and a parking spot for one motorcycle.
• Vestibule and closet
• Half bathroom for visito rs
• Living room
• Dining room
• Kitchen
• Pantry
• Laundry room
• Master bedroom with bath room
