PROJECT INFO

Scope: New Single-Family Residence

Location: City of Los Angeles

Size: 5,600 sf

Status: Finished Construction

PROJECT description: 

The project’s enveloping geometry attempted to address the public’s desire to restore the magnificent views of Mulholland Drive as much as it propelled the aspirations of the client. Its sunken nature provides not only a clear outlook of the San Fernando Valley for the tourists and onlookers, but it provides a penumbra of relief from the west lashing sun. In addition to creating a stepped and integrated profile for the building, the resulting platforms were each used as a deck surface, sequentially from the lowest level to the roof deck. The cool roof material not only provides energy-saving features, but it also provides a monocoque aesthetic that emboldens the roof for being the most visible feature of the house from Mulholland Drive. The deliberate use of extravagantly wide stairs enables the thirty-six-foot ascension to become a transparent stroll, largely unnoticed.

The project is located within a block of Lautner’s iconic Chemosphere and Errol Flynn’s infamous ranch. A triangular conspiracy, that is bent on affecting the history of this stretch of the road. It is furthermore entrapped by mysterious mansions that seem to play part in the larger context of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, cast with movie stars in roles of their real life. The complexity of Lynch’s movie was a certain influence on this project, as it had set the precedence for its structuralization. This is not apparent in the routine observation of this road from the perspective of a tour bus. This is a complex and concealed order that “invites multiple readings, rewards repeated viewings, and contains frequent allusions to itself”. The project became a manifestation of such an order, walking a fine line between truth and deception in this beautiful but dangerous netherworld.

MU91