Borrowed Atmosphere
Design Team: Michael Frederick | Advisors: Mark Mack
Venice, California : 2010
Venice’s small and paradoxically valuable lots were first developed as weekend retreats for wealthy Angeleno’s in the early 1900’s. Much has changed but the necessity of parking three cars on site combined with conservative zoning means that by volume only 50% of the land and air purchased is buildable. Luckily Venice has a temperate climate with little need for heating or cooling throughout the year. The house employs simple yet effective spatial manipulations to perceptually reclaim part of the lost zoning envelope as outdoor living environments, for which California is famous. These manipulations are also integrated as passive climatic mediators fulling integrating the stainability of the house. Both literally and figuratively the house borrows atmosphere which would typically be surrendered to the zoning code thus creating ecologically performative living spaces.
