This is a particularly beautiful project especially in the promise that this typology could offer for urban environments. The palette of materials is reduced in a way that emphasizes the force of the architectural form and I find that there is a debt owed to the Villa Tugendhat in the plasticity of the forms. One detail that I very much appreciate is the mass of the roof serving as a -tray- for the garden above.

The only observation that I would make is that it seems that a formal opportunity may have been missed with the fireplace chimneys and flues. It would seem that the idea of the polished cylinder is to render this element invisible. There is always an opportunity to go the opposite way, to emphasize the element and integrate it to the plastic form of the structure. The best way to disguise something is to make it plain and visible – hiding in plain sight. Likewise, it seems to me that the satellite dish and the antenna are heroic opportunities for a little artistic addition (realizing that the client stuck that equipment up there). Finally, the economics of the fenestration shows up a little – bouncing between extreme elegance and slightly clunky commercial glazing. Certainly that must have been a budgetary constraint.

The entrance court and garage arrangement is massively successful. I don’t know how it could be more elegant than it is.

Terry