2020 RDAA | Custom Urban House | Spectral Bridge House | EYRC Architects

Buildings can accommodate site-specific art in any number of ways, whether the object sits in a designated spot or is embedded in the architecture itself. After several conversations with their artist client, EYRC chose the latter approach. Their design scheme incorporates an art installation that permeates the entire house.

EYRC drew three monolithic structures connected by an upper-level “spectral bridge” that links the first two buildings within a glass atrium, and the rear two buildings by an exterior bridge. In between the bridges is an art lounge, where LED light bars in the floor, walls, and ceiling run on a 24-hour loop synchronized to the time of day over the course of a year. Starting as a low white light, the colors shift through the day, intensifying as daylight diminishes.

“That’s what makes it interesting; it’s not a piece of art in the architecture but integral to the daily experience of the house,” says principal Takashi Yanai, FAIA. The exterior’s black Shou Sugi Ban siding and white stucco offer a gallery-like backdrop to the art. “We chose those materials because white is a combination of all colors, and black is absence of all color,” Yanai says.

This is place-making at a high level. “I think it’s cool how in the bridge you can see your neighbors,” he says. “You recognize you’re in Venice among these traditional bungalows, you see what time of day it is, and what season you’re in. It becomes a way to measure your place in the world.”

CUSTOM URBAN HOUSE

Citation

EHRLICH YANAI RHEE CHANEY ARCHITECTS
SPECTRAL BRIDGE HOUSE
VENICE, CALIFORNIA

Project Credits

ARCHITECT: Steven Ehrlich, FAIA, and Takashi Yanai, FAIA, principals in charge, Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, Culver City, California

BUILDER: Mark Shramek, Shramek Building Company, Huntington Beach, California

INTERIOR DESIGNER/LANDSCAPE DESIGNER: Harriet Bourne, Los Angeles

SITE-SPECIFIC ARTIST: Johannes Girardoni, Johannes Girardoni Studio, Los Angeles, California

PROJECT SIZE: 4,070 square feet

SITE SIZE: 0.12 acre

CONSTRUCTION COST: Withheld

PHOTOGRAPHY: Matthew Millman Photography