Once besotted by the front façade, one barely needs to see any more of this urban infill house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It had our jurors at hello: “I love the exterior; I love the idea,” said one. “It’s bold, but beautifully bold, without being a curveball,” said another.
Curtain House is indeed an “idea” house, and the concept is simple but resonant. “You go to all the trouble to put all that glass on the front of houses, but then end up putting up curtains,” explains Sebastian Schmaling, AIA. “There’s an inherent contradiction between what you are trying to do—bring in light—and then you want privacy. Why not put in smaller windows, then? Because occasionally you want to open the curtains and the windows.”
The front façade’s louvers are a modern and practical riff on those offending curtains. Fabricated from a sturdy sandwich of wood with an aluminum core, they are pinned only at the top and bottom—in a precise arrangement that acts as a brise soleil for the southern exposure, while filtering views and light. “Had we used just wood, the louvers would look great the day they were installed, but then in disrepair in a couple of years,” he says.
“Someone had the guts to do something so different here, and to do it very well,” our jury concluded.
[From the Editor: To see more about the firm’s work, see their monograph, “On Rigor,” from ORO here.]
Citation
Custom Urban House
Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Curtain House
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Project Credits
Architect: Brian Johnsen, AIA, and Sebastian Schmaling, AIA, principals in charge; Matt Wendorf, Andrew Cesarz, Ben Penlesky, project team, Johnsen Schmaling Architects, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Builder: N/A
Interior Designer: Johnsen Schmaling Architects
Project Size: 3.400 square feet
Site size: 0.1 acre
Construction Cost: Withheld
Photography: John J. Macaulay
Key Products
Countertops: Neolith
Door Hardware: Inox
Exterior: StoQuik Silver DrainScreen cement board stucco system
Façade material: Geolam Soleo (louvers)
Faucets: Ruvati (kitchen); Grohe; Kohler
Glass Railing Hardware: C.R. Laurence
Interior Lighting: Juno
Kitchen Appliances: Bosch
Paints: Sherwin-Williams
Sinks/toilets/tub: Duravit
Tile: Crossville
Washer/Dryer: Miele
Windows: Marvin; Western Windows (lift-slide doors)