In collaboration with
Tom Hurt Architecture

1. What specific details should visitors look for when walking through your home; what makes this home unique?

The House is unique in the way it is sited respectfully around a beautiful heritage tree.   The house also accommodates pragmatic, sustainable design solutions.  For example the windows and glazing system were oriented to gain the most out of the cool northern and eastern sunlight but avoid the hot afternoon solar heat gain.  While the interior house layout is very open, it still maintains privacy for the different members of the family. The cabinetry is designed to thread the different spaces together within this semi-open plan. I think this house is also a good example of how modern architecture can be embedded seamlessly within traditional neighborhoods.

2. Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.

-Tough question, there are so many great buildings out there, but here are some that floated to the top.

-Corbusier’s Villa Savoy, in France

-The Pantheon in Rome

-Zumthor’s Therme Vals in Switzerland

-Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth

-The house I grew up as a kid in Chile, just because it was my house and it kept me warm.

3. Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work?

I have a background in music, so I see architectural design as a musical composition. I believe all decisions throughout the design and the building process contribute to the beauty of the final outcome.

As in Music, I believe Architecture is a language, strongly grounded in its history but with a firm view in the future.

4. What is it about architecture in general and modern architecture in particular that excites you enough to make it your profession?

I believe architecture can be the great white canvas, blank book or backdrop where people can build their lives to their maximum potential.

5. In 500 words or less, describe what you would do, architecturally, to Austin if you could design it to be your dream city.

I think Austin is in serious need of more great public buildings and spaces. I say more because it has two great ones, The Capitol and Lady Bird Lake, but I believe cities should have more. We need notable museums, inviting libraries, thriving boulevards (we owe it to Congress Avenue), a public transit system with great stations; the people of Austin should believe they own the city.

Austin is growing at a very fast pace and we need to make sure that that growth allows space for a variety of possibilities and ideas, and that it is not just driven by market needs. I believe we do not have to follow the market trends but that we can set the trends. This is the driving force behind our office, we focus on the needs of the client and not what the market or fashion trends or asking for.

The post Jose Minguell appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

In collaboration with
Minquell-McQuary Architecture + Design

1. What specific details should visitors look for when walking through your home; what makes this home unique

When laying out the plan of this house, we angled the living room away from the 2-story mass of the house to embrace, protect, and feature the large, Heritage Oak tree in the front yard. This created some angles, intersections, and opportunities which I hope tour visitors will notice.  The clash of geometries is casual at times and dramatic at others. It makes for some fun moments and details.

Specifically, we’d like visitors to notice: the kitchen computer-station tucked under the stair; the cabinet system that stretches from the front living window through the kitchen, down a hall, and into the flex space at back where it becomes a Murphy bed for short-term guests; also, the ‘control tower’ office overlooking the kitchen.

2. Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.

Villa Savoye — Le Corbusier, Poissy, France

Norddeutche Landesbank —  Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner, Hannover, Germany

Sainte-Chapelle — 10th Century Gothic chapel, Paris, France

Berlin Philharmonic Building — Hans Scharoun, Berlin, Germany

Casa Mila —  Antonio Gaudi, Barcelona, Spain

3. Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work?

Each architect approaches things differently  — very much like everyone has different handwriting. We share the values of many of our talented colleagues who have created so many great buildings, in Austin and elsewhere, in the last 10-15 years. But there are 100 different good ways to approach the same design task, and we will surely follow different threads than our colleagues simply because each task is a creative and complex one.

In finding a good solution to a building, we try hard to challenge ourselves beyond our first impulse or solution that comes to our heads. We used to make many models by hand to explore design solutions.  We didn’t build them too perfectly because that would prevent us from cutting into them – and thus violating them – when we thought of improvements to our designs.  With today’s digital modeling technology, we build fewer physical models, but we have to remember to challenge the work we do. We try counterintuitive solutions just to see if it leads us somewhere useful. A lot of the way we work is trying to keep our working palette flexible and changing, so we see as many options in front of us before we make a commitment to follow any one of them.

4. What is it about architecture in general and modern architecture in particular that excites you enough to make it your profession?

Architecture started out for me as being a fulfilling exercise working with space and aesthetics, a “formal” exercise (as architects tend to call it). Over time, it began to involve, more and more, into sensorial things such as the look and feel of materials and color.

But, after many years, I’ve come to appreciate and become more attuned to the experiential component to the work, something more linked to people’s personal responses to places. Over time, we notice new things about places and see sub-stories about why people are drawn to some spaces and reject others.

Sometimes with a new job, we can compare our job to going for a walk in a forest and choosing a place to rest, or set up camp. But in doing this, unlike a camper, we are able to add to that ‘landscape’ with the building we are designing. We get to shelter our favorite place on the site and then build a virtual landscape around it, with places to share with others or to escape to, all the while, carving out light and views as we feel appropriate for the spaces.

I think the modern part of this is that, with modernism, we have more freedom to create shapes that are not rooted in a design tradition. These shapes allow us, sometimes, to create richer spaces. Modernism gives us more tools to fashion this mixture of building and outside spaces, of virtual and actual landscape.

The trap that some architects get into is bounding themselves by the aesthetics of modernism itself – which is contradictory to the movement’s intent. “Modernism” can become just another design tradition – a look. But seeing it this way can distract us from doing a good job at creating great places and experiences.

5. In 500 words or less, describe what you would do, architecturally, to Austin if you could design it to be your dream city.

I like the river, Ladybird Lake. To me, it is the soul of Austin, and we get much from it.  But we could reap even more from it than we do.

I would like to see a series of cafés, restaurants, reading (or iReading) spaces, and art spaces peppered along either side of the lake. And they should have silent electric ferries connecting them to each other across the lake. The hike and bike trail could be extended and improved east and west of its currents bounds, and it could be threaded through these many places where people could come and absorb the serenity of the lake. With elaborate and smart landscaping, the integrity and natural experience of the hike and bike trail could be kept intact and strengthened through such a project. The silent ferries would need to yield to the water craft that already allow the lake to remain serene: the canoes and sculling boats.

A bit further north, at I-35 and 11^th Street, Austin should have a wide bridge  – with an avenue in the middle and pedestrian-friendly stores on either side (also on the bridge) – crossing the freeway gash through the city.  This bridge, like a modern-day Pont Vecchio in Venice, would be naturally at street level on either side of I-35, and would meaningfully connect East and West Austin again. This would be a great place to re-stitch the city back together again. To the west, 11^th Street would need to be redeveloped to be a part of this new active, pedestrian, and bike-friendly connection to East Austin. To the east the redevelopment has already begun.

And then there are simple things like having a good light-rail transit system for the city. Watching the trains on the Mopac bridge slowly cross the Colorado River, right in the heart of Austin is, for me, a beautiful and uniquely-Austin experience. From our cars on Loop 1, we see this with the backdrop of more bridges stacked away in our view. Someday there may be other people-filled trains sharing the other bridges with the cars, bikers, and pedestrians.

As Austin grows and becomes denser and busier, we need to protect the Colorado River as it slowly sweeps through the city, its velvety surface reflecting the changing city around it. It is our most cherished asset and the place to build on more dreams for Austin.

The post Tom Hurt appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post Ryan Bollom appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The GoodLife Team and Launch787 are incredibly excited to work with iPic Entertainment and iPic Theater, located in the Domain, as the presenting sponsor for the 2013 Austin Modern Home Tour!

“We are excited to be a part of this year’s Modern Home Tour in Austin,” says Hamid Hashemi, President and CEO of iPic Entertainment. “Modern architecture and design has always been a vital aspect of our locations. As one of the presenting sponsors, we proudly support modern design and sustainability in the Austin community.”

iPic Theaters’ luxurious take on the movie theater experience is anything but ordinary, pulling out all the stops to offer movie goers an over-the-top night out. Featuring multiple seating options, each better than the next, guests can choose to watch the big screen in ultimate comfort in Premium Plus seating with reclining chairs, pillows and blankets, and in-theater dining service or Premium seating featuring plush over-sized chairs with individual trays to conveniently bring food into the theater. iPic’s dining concept, Tanzy Express, offers guests innovative cocktails prepared by world-renowned mixologists and chef-driven cuisine.  All seats can be reserved ahead of time on iPic’s proprietary reservation system on www.ipic.com

The post After Party hosted by iPic Theaters appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The project also incorporated digital technologies which were leveraged to both efficiently fabricate and erect the primary structural steel, as well as to design and document the 3-dimensional “Iron Turtle”.

The Texas Cantilever is an Austin home for a University of Texas School of Architecture alumnus designed and built by another alumnus. It is a cost-efficient, formally singular and green construction.

In addition to a compact 2400 s.f. of conditioned interior space there is 1000 s.f. in the covered space on the ground floor and in the master bedroom porch, as well as 800 s.f. of outdoor deck space on the second floor.

The post 6502 Grover Ave. appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post 1715 Giles appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post 5002 Delores appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

1114 E. Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 892-9473
info@goodlifeteam.com
www.goodlifeteam.com

Go to the Modern Home Tour Gallery

Presented by:

The post GoodLife Team Office appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

1. What is it about architecture in general and modern architecture in particular that excites you enough to make it your profession?

I like the Winston Churchill quote: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”  My childhood home was a converted grain elevator in the Pacific Northwest so to me this idea is about expanding expectations and questioning what is possible. Architecture excites me as a means to challenge us to create better communities and societies and to seek solutions that are not necessarily tied to the past.

2. Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work? 

My work is playful not precious. It is important to create spaces that can really be lived in and that in turn enrich the lives of the occupants. Homes should be both functional and fantastic, inside and out. This house is sculptural in a way that I hope is inspiring while the materials, textures and colors keep it comfortable, warm and inviting.

3. What specific details should visitors look for when walking through your home; what makes this home unique?

This house is centrally located, low maintenance, energy efficient, water efficient, disabled accessible, and is designed to comfortably accommodate an extended family structure and live-in care if necessary. It is really the combination of details that are unique and the house is a great example of addressing a developing housing need. As the population ages these features allow greater independence and a higher quality of life while reducing or even subsidizing everyday expenses. Combined with thoughtful design, features like the Solar PV Panels and Rainwater collection can reduce utility expenses for people on fixed incomes. The mother-in-law suite with its small kitchenette can be used as a guest apartment, for live-in care, or as a rental generating income and providing a social safety net. Built on a vacant lot in an existing neighborhood, the Bouldin Creek Ranch is certified LEEDs Platinum and rated 5 Stars by Austin Energy’s Green Building Program all while being extremely livable.

4. Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.

Olson Kundig:  Rolling Huts – Reimagining “shelter” in a modern & nomadic world.

John Lautner:  Sheats-Goldstein Residence – Making the world a better place since 1963.

Rick Joy:  Tubac House – The materials, siting, and massing make this house geologic art.

Andersson Wise:  Stone Creek Camp – Modern and natural. I want to go to there.

MJ Neal:  Wolfe Den – Beautiful example of the potential of an urban infill home.

The post Alex Finnell appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

1. What specific details should visitors look for when walking through your home; what makes this home unique?

There are a couple of things about this house that that make it unique. First is that it is an addition to an existing arts and crafts bungalow. The existing house has it own charm and atmosphere which I did not want to disturb. The addition, which roughly double the size to the house, touches the existing house and alters it only minimally. The lot goes through the block from street to street which meant that the addition could have its own entry and identity from the ‘rear’ street, in fact, from the primary street you can not tell that the house has an addition. Where as the old house has a darker introspective arts and crafts feeling the new addition is open and bright with a strong connection and views to the exterior.

The addition wraps around a an Oak tree that is protected by the new City of Austin Heritage Tree Ordinance and consequently created a large area in the backyard that we could not build on. In response to this, the addition snakes around the tree and a cantilevered deck brings you right up to the trunk while also protecting the root zone. The two-story addition contains an Dining Room, Study, and a Restroom on the first floor and a Master Bedroom and Bath on the second floor. Views and windows open up into the tree canopy and out over the neighborhood rooftops to the north.

2. Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Franceso Borromini

Unitarian Church Rochester, Louis Kahn,

Flower Kiosk Malmo Cemetery, Sigurd Lewerentz,

Parc de Buttes Chaumont Paris, Haussmann and Alphand

Woodland Cemetery, Gunar Asplund

3. Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work? 

I like to approach each project with a fresh set of eyes and try not to bring preconceived ideas to a new project. For every project we bring years of tested design and building experience and we know what works and what does not work, however it is important for me to try to treat each project as if it is the first one and to bring the same energy, intensity and focus to each project as if it were the first project.

4. What is it about modern architecture that excites you enough to make it your profession?

The post Murray Legge appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The clients, a young professional couple with a baby, wanted an open and flexible home, an environment in which to start their family that compliments this new phase in life. We designed the house to act as a dynamic visual archive; custom-built wood shelving wraps and shapes flexible zones for living, simultaneously displaying cherished mementos and framing the active performance of everyday life.

Sustainable Features:
Responsive to our Texas climate, the house utilizes deep overhangs to protect the facade from sun exposure and to create large covered porches for relaxation. Skylights positioned over the porches allow the sun to penetrate the facade during the winter but block its harsh rays during the summer. The outermost walls are painted standing seam metal, a robust and durable siding, with cedar box frames projecting from each window to provide additional shading. Overhangs on the north and south facades protect more vulnerable yellow-pine-clad walls from sun and weather, setting the tone for a softer, more intimate atmosphere on the front and back porches.

The house continues to prioritize sustainability on the interior. The double-height living room and kitchen space promotes passive cooling through the ‘stack effect’ — hot air rises and vents out of high positioned windows, drawing cooler air into the space. Daylighting is carefully calibrated throughout and powered illumination is typically only required at night. Spray foam insulation applied to the roof, walls and floors minimizes thermal bridging, and a solar water heater uses the sun to provide hot water. All of these features significantly reduce energy costs.

Custom Detailing:
In order to keep the material palette simple and green, we custom-built many details into the house. This allowed us to create richly textured, efficient spaces. Every countertop is custom-poured and polished concrete. We designed integral sinks into the bathroom counters, which read as singular weighty objects that contrast the lighter wood tones. In the master bathroom, polycarbonate boxes serve as open medicine cabinets, letting light flow through the bathroom even into the secluded toilet room. The master shower, half indoor and half open to the sky, also brings natural light and a feeling of the outdoors to the everyday experience of the clients. We designed and built these custom details and furniture pieces to be playful and to compliment the architecture.

The post 1615 Garden Street appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

rvrw is designed to capture the spirit of place.  it is designed to excite the human experience.  it is designed to frame the rising moon and bring the outside in. solar and geothermal systems are incorporated to minimize reliance on the grid and to harness abundant energy available to the site.  rvrvw is designed to allow access to the tree tops from the comfort of a conditioned environment with special attention given to air quality.  it is designed to highlight views of a wonderful downtown as well as the river that runs through it.

-simple forms and simple finishes

-basic & accessible building materials

-few moving parts

-incorporate all previously acquired collections of art, furniture and artifacts

-retain existing early 20th century structure

-incorporate geothermal and solar power

-bring the outside in

The post 1801 Riverview appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post 300 Academy Drive appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post 504 East Annie appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

Patrick Wong Photography

The post 1868 Drake Ave appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.

The post 212 W. Live Oak appeared first on Modern Home Tour Austin.