Roshnara Anwar
51937
ARC 271
24th November 2014
Eames House and Studio/ Case Study House #8

After the Second World War, John Entenza, owner of the “Art and Architecture” magazine, launched The Case Study House Experiment. The aim was to build modernist houses with minimum cost and minimum effort. These houses were made as a response to the shortage in housing after the war. By “Modernist” houses, Entenza meant houses that could be pre fabricated, mass-produced and would industrialize residential construction. Initially, he selected eight architects and firms for the experiment. They were expected to design these houses to match the change in lifestyle during the post-war period. Later, these eight houses expanded into thirty-four houses. In …show more content…
One side of the house sits along a concrete retaining wall that acts as a vertical support for the whole ground floor level. The house and studio run parallel to the retaining wall, instead of perpendicular. Correspondingly, the house is parallel to the slope of the hill rising behind it. A line of eucalyptus trees was planted along the western façade of the house and one eucalyptus tree was planted in the courtyard in between the house and the studio. These were planted to give shade and privacy to the house and studio. The western façade of the house is now barely visible; only parts of the façade can be seen through the foliage of the trees, creating a contrast between the green of the trees and the primary colors of the panels on the western façade. During afternoon hours, when the sun is at its highest, the trees create a play of light and shade on the western façade and the courtyard as well as inside the house. This shifting and changing of light is what helps create an experience of time in the house. “The space in the Eames House has an interplay between the measurable and immeasurable where the notion of space is about the bridging of experience and the physicality of the home to that of the natural environment of the site.” The circulation zone in the Eames house is simply a horizontal line running from the south façade of the house to the north façade of the studio. Mirroring this circulation organically is the line of eucalyptus trees planted just outside the circulation zone and is also parallel to