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Berryessa House: Sketches – Site layout process with field notes

01/04/1981
Architectural Design, Sketches, Layout Process

Sequence of eleven sketches made during a period of two monthes that the house was laid out on the site. The sketches are based on the recordings of the stakes used on site to mark corners of buildings and open spaces; they demonstrate the sequence of the house layout transformations, each subsequent one approximating the final setting out of the house on its site. .

Drawing:

  • 1) Field notes recording site conditions and predominant trees with indications of latent centers
  • 2) Annotations for the location of structures among the trees and of main connecting paths and stairs
  • 3) First rough layout of the house on the land
  • 4) Studying further the upper part of the lot, next to the road
  • 5) Outline plan of the house, depicting the refinement of the staking process on the land
  • 6) Building volumes, terraces and connecting stairs further developed
  • 7) Building volumes, terraces and connecting stairs further developed; ground slab levels indicated
  • 8) The recording of the house layout on the topo map, introduces adjustments to the main building volume & studio angles
  • 9) The adjusted layout shown in dotted line, overlaid over the initial layout drawn in solid line
  • 10) Preliminary design based on the adjusted layout --already shown in dotted line in the previous drawing
  • 11) Second preliminary design drawing, similar to the previous one
Content of
  • House for John and Mara Lighty 1981 to 1989
    2675 Harness Drive, Berryessa Estates, Pope Valley, Napa County, CA, U.S.A.
    Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Aug-1989
    Terraced house built for a couple; the house consists of six building volumes, gracefully positioned on a wooded slope among white oak trees, and includes the living room - kitchen volume, the studio volume, the bedroom - library volume, a ...
References
  • Design and Construction is one Integrated Making Process
    The design process of a project and its construction process are united into one continuous and intertwined making process, unfolding in a step-by-step sequence. Design ends together with the completion of the construction process. "Making" is a conception of the ...
  • The Layout Process of Buildings on the Land - Visualization at Full Scale on Site
    Each act of building needs to have a positive effect on its surroundings; to complete them, preserve their structure, make them better, by creating strong centers in them and next to them. Each new building is more alive when it ...
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