Construction Innovation

Sullivan House: Fireplace nook details

1995

Building Detail, Wall Treatment

A wood-paneled fireplace nook, where upholstery is built into the hardwood arms of the structure.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, David Soffa

Content of

Project

Sullivan House 1990 to 1994

Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1996

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Steve and Susie Sullivan

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Eleni Coromvli, Katalin Bende

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$260,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control

House reconstruction design and construction management. Concrete, redwood, fruitwood, plaster, terrazzo tiled floors and hand made metal detailed interiors.

Contents

Photographs

The Sullivan House: Fireplace nook details - Photographs 01/01/1996

Interior View, Focus on Details

Photographer:

David Soffa/C.E.S., Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

Color

View of the fireplace nook with upholstered couch.

References

Scientific Research

Strong Centers in all Levels of Scale

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Structure Preserving Transformations

A building can only amount to something as a living thing when the various physical elements which appear in it are profound centers. The dominant feature of the process that is working correctly is that new centers are formed, and ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Three - A Vision of a Living World 2005

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

697 pp

“A Vision of a Living World”, the third volume of “The Nature of Order” series, presents, for the first time, a full spectrum of Alexander’s and CES built and unbuilt works. The book describes hundreds of buildings, plans, neighborhoods, drawings, ...

Book Chapters

Chapter 14. Construction Elements as Living Centers, 6/ Unfolding Building Details from the Fundamental Process

Publication,

Book title:

The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living World

Pages:

456-476