http://standing.com The architecture of Alastair Standing's office Sat, 03 Sep 2011 12:42:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://standing.com/1054 http://standing.com/1054#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:43:25 +0000 Alastair http://alastair01.webfactional.com/?p=1054 Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment   The site for this project is on the corner, top three floors of a building with spectacular views of the East Side and downtown Manhattan. It uses a very simple idea with some intriguing implications. The view axes are plotted as a grid. A new grid relative to the city grid, as described in space. Fixtures and furniture that register static viewpoints are placed on this grid. The cones of view from these viewpoints are located in space; defining interior window sizes for rooms that contain fixtures (bathroom and kitchen) anywhere along the cone. An obvious problem created by this strategy is the accidental merging of public and private space. Ultimate privacy is achieved by electrostatic glass that turn opaque at the flick of a switch.The switch becomes the general concept for privacy . The master bedroom shares space with the main living area and is separated by floor to ceiling sliding doors which when closed change the state of the space to private. The entry view reverses the privacy strategy. Where a public view point creates a cone of view straight trough the guest bathroom. The one way mirror works as a mirror inside the bathroom, the sink is placed in front of it and the medicine cabinet beside it. This time though the collision of public and private space requires that the electrostatic glass be connected to the lighting and turns opaque when the light is on. The outside/inside play becomes extreme at the entry where the view is framed in a wall that uses materials and form that suggests being on the outside of a building, looking in.The wall colors throughout the space are picked from the palette of the view. The red and beige are found in buildings that can be seen from the windows, in the local context. Lighting is laid out on a view grid and the stem fixtures cast a continuous line shadows on the ceiling that at night is a memory of the view axis by day     ]]> http://standing.com/1054/feed 0 http://standing.com/1074 http://standing.com/1074#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:42:30 +0000 Alastair http://alastair01.webfactional.com/?p=1074 The site presented such problems as no light and no view. This project provided an opportunity to explore ideas of virtual imagery (reflections).The primary objective was to open the space to the sky and once introduced to keep the light “moving” until it could be refracted with the greatest benefit. This was accomplished with a large glass roof, glass block floors and a white stone floor. The stone floor formed the ground surface for a conceptual courtyard. Defined by the stripped brick and “borrowed” wall of the neighboring building to the north. This “courtyard” is the living area and the focal view for the studio.   Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment The bedrooms are elevated on the glass block floors allowing light and ventilation to come from the skylight. Some light will be reflected off the mirrored end wall and some light will pass straight through to the floor below. Unless it needs to be used be an occupant then a shadow will be cast. The floor becomes the vision window for the space. Privacy is controlled by a combination of vision and diffused glass block. When ultimate opacity is required then rugs are laid down. The artificial light for the lower spaces is concealed below the bed platform in the bedrooms and is filtered by the color of the glass.The large suspended one way mirror serves a number of purposes. Primarily it is used to reflect light from the sky, deep into the space. A consequence of this is to make a virtual window that partially inverts the horizontal elevation (created by the skylight) to a virtual window seen from the work space. The reflecting properties of one way mirror allow the light to be shared with the living space. So that the sky (itself an illusion) can be seen from beneath the large mirror.The combination of high and lower spaces is intended to continue the scale of the existing loft volume but form more intimate spaces for living. The bedrooms are connected by an aluminum bridge that bisects the 16′ high central space adjacent to the work space.     ]]> http://standing.com/1074/feed 0