crissy airfield house model by dwilgus904

"This house seeks to combine influence from Crissy Air Field’s historical and environmental site context. Using salvaged bridge structure, the house references the nearby national landmark while at the same time achieving an aesthetic that recalls militaristic construction.

Steel is portrayed in varying scales as both powerful and delicate. Reclaimed redwood balances the steel and represents the city’s outlying wilderness. A planted roof emulates overgrowth as if the structure were wreckage returning to the earth. The house sits perched atop a landscaped plinth. While this gives the house a monumental presence, the plinth also functions as a way to funnel incoming northern winds under the house and through a turbine array. Deriving energy from wind uplift references the basic principal of flight.

Formally, the front of the house promotes a sense of privacy. Windows, appearing as punched openings, are modest. A pair of tapered retaining walls guides one beneath the elevated house toward the stair and frames the view beyond. Ascending the stair, one gains an unrestricted perspective of the view north. The rear of the house opens up with a large porch that wraps nearly the entire perimeter. Full height windows and tapered roof overhangs enhance the view of the park, waterfront, and Golden Gate Bridge. With concern for preserving the park land, the challenge is to design a house that adapts to the landscape and still retains a monumental identity. This house uses material and technology to embrace the site’s history, climate, and surrounding built environment."