Critique and Commentary 2 ............................................................................................................................................................Architecture, Dwelling and Home 6 .............................................................................................................................Villa Rotonda, Vicenza, Italy, Andrea Palladio 10 ........................................................................................................................Schröder House, Utrecht, Netherlands, Gerrit Rietveld 14 ..........................................................................................................Cabanon, A Small Cabin by the Sea, Côte d'Azur, France, Le Corbusier 16 .................................................................................................................... Le Lac, A Small Lakeside Villa, Switzerland, Le Corbusier 18 ..........................................................................................................................................................Curutchet House, Argentina, Le Corbusier 20 ..........................................................................................................................Robie House, Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright / Frederick Hart 22 ...........................................................................................................In Praise of the Plans of Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses / Mohammad Mohammadzadeh 26 ..................................................................................................................Villa Mairea, Gullichsen Residence, Noormarkku, Finland, Alvar Aalto 30 .......................................................................................Simpson-Lee House, Mount Wilson, New South Wales, Australia, Glenn Murcutt 34 .....................................................................................Feder-Lin House, Amagansett, New York, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects 36 .............................................................................................................................................The Luminous Architecture of the Hudson Valley / Steven Holl 39 ................................................................................................................................................................Selected Watercolors by Steven Holl 40 ...............................................................................................................................................Ex of In House, New York, Steven Holl 50 .............................................................................................................................Planar House with Lawn, United States, Steven Holl 58 .....................................................................................................................................................Horizon House, United States, Steven Holl 64 ...........................................................................................................................Nail Collector's House, Essex, New York, Steven Holl 72 .........................................................................A Condition of Light, The Houses of Steven Holl, A Conversation between Philip Jodidio and Steven Holl Books and Publications 76 .............................................................................................................................................................................Walden, Henry David Thoreau 78 .................................................. Places as Memory, Poems from 1953 to 1996, and Sentences on the Subject of Home, John Hejduk Writings and Translations. Manuscripts will not be returned. Please keep a copy for yourself. Writings will be edited and shortened as necessary. The opinions of the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine. Reproduction is permitted with citation. Cover image: Watercolor of Manchester House, Steven Holl. Address: Shariati Street, below Hosseiniyeh Ershad, before Hemmat, Dibaj Alley, No. 6, Unit 6. Tel and Fax: 26400980-82. P.O. Box: 15875-7151. Email: info@memarmagazine.com. Website: www.memarmagazine.com. ISSN: 1684-7490. Memar Channel: @memarnashr. Publisher: Memar Nashr Institute. Director: Reza Amirrahimi. Advisory Board (in alphabetical order): Kamran Afshar Naderi, Azita Izadi, Zohreh Bozorgnia, Negar Hakim, Armand Deror, Babak Zirak, Mehdi Alizadeh, Habibeh Majd Abadi, Mohammad Mohammadzadeh. Technical Director: Azizeh Dorfeshi. Graphic Designer: Shirin Faqihi. Advertising: Zohreh Haji Ali. Distribution: Ameneh Deldar. Copy Editor: Azita Izadi. Assistant Editor and Proofreader: Hanieh Mansouri. Financial Director: Sedigheh Taqinia. Administrative Director: Giti Vaqqari. Internal Director: Leila Askari. Procurement: Ali Abolfathi. Lithography: Johari. Printing: Sanobar (South Sabalon Street, Damavand intersection, No. 9). Binding: Moein. Distributor: Nashr Gostar. Print run: 1,300.
Publisher of architectural thought, art, construction, industry, and urban planning. Farvardin and Ordibehesht 1399. Price: 30,000 Tomans.
Architecture, Dwelling and Home. Architecture need not do more, and must not do less, than assist man in his homecoming. — Aldo van Eyck. Dwelling, in the qualitative sense, is a fundamental human condition; when we identify ourselves with a place, we devote ourselves to a way of being in the world. Therefore, dwelling demands something of us as well as of our places. We must have an open mind, and places must offer rich possibilities for identification. — Christian Norberg-Schulz. Human dwelling is poetic. — Martin Heidegger. The lamp behind the window is the eye of the house [...] a lamp behind the window is waiting [...] only by virtue of its light does the house become human. — Gaston Bachelard. Translated by Reza Amirrahimi, from Understanding Architecture, Robert McCarter, Juhani Pallasmaa. Buildings are designed and built for vastly different purposes: from mundane and utilitarian functions, such as production and warehousing, to purely mental and symbolic aims, such as monuments and historical memorials. But the most fundamental — and the most delicate — task of architecture is the function of dwelling. The analysis of human dwelling reveals the complexity of innumerable dimensions: practical and symbolic, manifest and hidden, physical and mental, which are interwoven in buildings and the experience of them. Naturally, a dwelling is shelter against inclement weather, protection against hostile forces, and a useful means for carrying out the actions of daily life. But the home affirms personal identity and functions as the center for organizing the life of the individual. The home is the axis mundi, or Omega Point — a concept attributed to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin — denoting an ideal point of perfection from which the world can be rightly experienced as a unified existence. Gaston Bachelard writes, "It [the home] is an instrument by which we confront the cosmos." He even assigns a metaphysical function to the humblest cabin. Without the conscious knowledge of its inhabitants, the home organizes and directs their actions, perceptions, memories, thoughts, and dreams. As Bachelard observes, "Our house is our corner of the world... it is our first universe, a real cosmos in every conceivable sense of the word." He continues, "... the home is one of the most powerful forces for integrating human thoughts and dreams." This fundamentally potent quality causes the philosopher Bachelard to question the Heideggerian view of man's fundamental disillusionment with being thrown into the world, and to say, "Before man is 'cast into the world'... he is placed in the cradle of the home. And always, in our dreams, the home is a great cradle." One of the essential tasks of the home is to provide a sense of balance and continuity for its inhabitants through this type of protective imagery and symbolism. "The home establishes a body of images that gives man proof, or the illusion, of stability." As long as we grow within the domestic domain of our home, we are not thrown into the meaningless, structureless, inhuman world. But in a negative life situation, the home, instead of being a symbol of protection and order, can become the very embodiment of human helplessness, and can embody loneliness, rejection, exploitation, and violence. Building and home are two evidently different concepts: a building is a material, spatial, and architectural concept, whereas the home is a unique domain and the product of the act of dwelling itself. The home is replete with mental meanings, symbols, memories, and images. The home is also a collection of rituals, habits, rhythms, and routines of daily life. In every conceivable sense, it is an extension of its inhabitants. Consequently, the home cannot be a designed object of the architect; rather, it seems to have seeped forth from the actual act of dwelling. This description of the home seemingly belongs more to the domain of literature.