BUILDING ANALYSIS

Lieb House and Spiller House

By:Adriana AmayaEmmanuel Melendez

Robert VenturiJune 25, 1925Philadelphia, PA

Frank GehryFebreruary 28, 1929Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Vanna Venturi HouseChestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA

1964

Ghery ResidenceSanta Monica, California

1971

Loyola Law SchoolLos Angeles, California

1978-2002

Spiller HouseVenice, California

1980

Dancing HousePrague, Czech Republic

1995

Guggenheim Museum BilbaoBilbao, Spain

1997

The Guild HousePhiladelphia, PA

1964

The Lieb HouseNew Jersey’s Long Beach Island

1969

Complexity and Contradictionin Architecture

1966

Learning from Las VegasTerms : “Duck” and “Decorated Shed”

1972

0 8’FIRST FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

COMMON LIVING SPACES

UNIT A UNIT B

PRIVATE SPACES

OUTDOOR AREAS

MASSING AND LAYOUT LIEB HOUSE SPILLER HOUSE

Both houses treated the living and private spaces in different ways. Venturi in the Lieb House designed the layout thinking of the function. First, he inversed the typical layout. All common living spaces are on the second floor to take advantage of the views, while on the first floor is locatedthe private spaces and the laundry room. This last room is dedicated to the glorification of the daily chore of laundering bathing suits and beach towels (Viladas). Gehry designed a two unit house with a share court yard. Unit A (for rent) has a typical layout in where the living common spaces are on thethe first floor, the private rooms on the second and the third floor is dedicated to the outdoor space. But in Unit B the first floor is the private space (bedroom)in where the main entrance is located too. The other two floors are solemny used by common living spaces. Both units shared the garage and a common entrance from the street.

The Lieb House was designed for Nathaniel and Judith Lieb in Bernegat Light, NJ glorifying they idea of a “banal box” as a response to the site conditions. “The environment of the house is the telephone poles and wires and the constant rhythm of these cheap cottage houses plopped on their sites.” (Progressive Architecture) The house became somewhat of Venturi’s statement piece celebrating the ideas about the ordinary men-tioned in his book “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture.” The Spiller House on the other hand was designed for film maker Jane Spiller who shared Gehry’s vision in using structure as an aesthetic. Both Gehry and Spiller made it a point to let the builders know that they were not looking for a finished look through details auch as showing the structure of the skylights and keeping corner beds exposed. By doing this Gehry retained another aesthetic goal which was for the house to have a very build it yourself quality to it.

CONCEPT/APPROACH

Venturi’s choice of materials for the Lieb House was very true to his concept of the ordinary; he uses painted asbestos siding as the skin a wooden balloon frame structure and pre cast concrete for the entry stairs. This project also underwent the sustainable process of being recycled which meant many restorations had to be done; all the interior walls had to be redone because it had never been insulated along with double glazing the windows. One of the front steps was cracked during the move so it had to be recast. For the Spiller House Gehry wanted to use materials that were both familiar and cheap like using corrugated metals for the skin, Plywood for the walls and he also used a wooden balloon frame structure but exposed. Two of the sustainable ideas implemented in this project were the use of solar panels which helped maintain the hot water supply and the use of large skylights which cut down on the consumption of energy. Both of these strategies take advantage of the sunny quality of the site.

MATERIALITY / SUSTAINABILITY

Once constructed the Lieb house was not really accepted by its cottage dwelling neighbors to the point where it somewhat became an infamous project. By 2009, now surrounded by larger properties, the house was in danger of being torn down and through media exposure the house was saved by Deborah Sarnoff and Robert Gotkin, a couple who bought the house to have it transported. The house was then moves by ship from New Jersey to Long Island where it then had to undergo restorations both due to damages caused by the move and efficiency changes. In Gehry’s case his design for Spiller House went through many of changes in the initial phases because the property fell under the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission. Initially Spiller wanted the project to be a two rental unit in addition to a unit for herself however there was a two unit limit in the area. He also had to accommodate for four required onsite parking space and because of this he had to cantilever the upper stories of the north unit creating a covered parking space underneath.

Garage

SOCIAL INFLUENCES

Works Cited

Almeida, Monica. "Frank Gehry." The New York Times (2009).

"Frank O. Gehry & Asscoates Spiller Residence ." GA Houses (1982): 13-16.

"Ordinary Art Form." Progressive Architecture (1970): 106-109.

"Spiller House Venice, California." Architecture Record (1983): 84-89.

Viladas, Pilar. "Lieb House, Saved." 8 Febuary 2012. Domesticities . 25 April 2012 <http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/domesticities-lieb-house-saved/>.

VSBA. 2012. 25 April 2012 <http://www.vsba.com/>.