When the owners of a parcel of Swiss countryside wanted to build a getaway villa, they turned to Ali Tayar, a New York architect with a keen interest in the legacies of Modernism. Having worked with the client on a string of other projects over the course of 12 years, Tayar had latitude to explore untested architectural concepts. ‘In many ways, this house is almost a research project,’ he suggests.
Among these experiments was the architect’s use of carbon fibre, a material most often associated with boats. To do this, Tayar travelled to the Isle of Wight, where Gurit, the company that supplied the material, has an office. ‘They have extensive experience of using carbon fibre in boats, so we transferred that knowledge, applying it to architecture,’ Tayar explains. The result is a dark blue volume that juts out from the house. Like a boat, this skin doubles as structure, meaning that it can cantilever without needing columns underneath it.
Even the main volume, which reads as a more standard wood-frame house, explores new approaches to structure. Whereas most modernist villas make use of steel columns to let the facade hang as a skin (as Le Corbusier famously argued for with his Maison Dom-Ino project), with the Carbon Fibre House, Tayar put the façade to work, making even the window mullions carry structural loads. ‘The structural design is a reversal of this modernist idea of transferring structure onto columns to free the mullions from loads,’ he explains. In both cases—the carbon fibre cantilever and the teak volume—Tayar’s design freed the interior spaces from obtrusive columns.
Because he did not have to shape interior spaces around an array of columns, Tayar laid out the interiors without traditional corridors. Instead, he designated those areas that would be considered circulation spaces with lower ceilings, as opposed to high-ceilinged common rooms.
For his part, Tayar considers his approach as a kind of nuanced rebuttal to contemporary formalism, saying, ‘as people get bored of making crazy shapes, this is one way of editing.’
The project is aptly called Carbon Fibre House, as it uses the modern material extensively
The design is thoroughly modern, but draws on experiments on prefabrication from the 20th century
The facade panel system for example uses as a reference the plywood facade elements found in the architecture of Jean Prouve
Inside, the design is suitably functional and contemporary, blenind wood panels, carbon fibre surfaces, poured-in-place terrazzo and concrete
The two storey volume features a generous, open plan living room with a felt-lined floor on the second level
The large window units have openable panels for ventilation, allowing fresh air to circulate in the house
Heating and cooling is achieved via a coil system embedded in the reinforced concrete structural slabs
INFORMATION
For more information on Ali Tayar visit the website
-
The world’s best denim brands, according to Wallpaper*From heritage brands to luxury names and independent innovators, our comprehensive guide to the world’s best denim brands helps you find the perfect pair of jeans
-
London’s Sloane Street has been transformed into a ‘green boulevard’Iconic shopping destination Sloane Street has had a facelift, now boasting wider pavements, enhanced seating and lighting, and a massive planting scheme
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in LondonThrough use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
-
A new exhibition marks Chandigarh’s modernist legacy‘Celebrating the Capitol’, an exhibition of photographic work by architect Noor Dasmesh Singh, opens just in time for the famed modernist Indian city’s anniversary
-
Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich is a ‘miniature city’Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich aims to offer a case study in forward-thinking, contemporary architecture for healthcare
-
Step inside La Tulipe, a flower-shaped brutalist beauty by Jack Vicajee Bertoli in GenevaSprouting from the ground, nicknamed La Tulipe, the Fondation Pour Recherches Médicales building by Jack Vicajee Bertoli is undergoing a two-phase renovation, under the guidance of Geneva architects Meier + Associé
-
Modernist architecture: inspiration from across the globeModernist architecture has had a tremendous influence on today’s built environment, making these midcentury marvels some of the most closely studied 20th-century buildings; here, we explore the genre by continent
-
We visit Villa Baizeau in Tunisia, Le Corbusier’s only project in AfricaWe explore Villa Baizeau in Tunisia, Le Corbusier’s only project in Africa, through an exhibition on the project at Tunis gallery 32bis
-
Christian de Portzamparc’s Dior Geneva flagship store dazzles and flowsDior’s Geneva flagship by French architect Christian de Portzamparc has a brand new, wavy façade that references the fashion designer's original processes using curves, cuts and light
-
Jean Prouvé’s House of Better Days on show at Galerie Patrick Seguin in ParisThe Maison Les Jours Meilleurs, or House of Better Days, by Jean Prouvé is explored in a new show at Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris
-
An Uetikon house embraces minimalism, light, and its Swiss lake viewsThis Uetikon home by Pablo Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) sets itself apart from traditional Swiss housing, with a contemporary design that connects with nature
