Project: MU77 Residence
Architects: ARSHIA Architects
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Area: 5,000 sq ft
Photographs by: Paul Vu
MU77 Residence by ARSHIA Architects
ARSHIA Architects, a LA-based studio, have recently completed a house projecting from a steep Hollywood hillside on renowned Mulholland Drive.
The MU77 Residence is one of the newest additions to the iconic mountainscape. Its overall form was shaped by the practical and zoning related challenges which pushed the house to the lower end of the site, closer to the public road. The house as an object differentiates itself from the landscape as an alien form to its surroundings whose stark white envelope alludes to the nature of a stone having broken through the ground.
From the architects: “The house on the cusp of a fold in the Hollywood Hills identifies the differntial complexity of the steep hillside as its functional and formal generator. The stark, rigid appearance enters a dialogue with the landscape, defining itself as a real object through the process of alienation its context. This alienation is at the same time natural in the way a rock formation identifies itself through the process of unearthing. A matrix of complex parameters was identifies early in the process of design as the programmatic needs, budgetary requirements, code regulations, environmental constraints and formal aspirations gradually came to being. These parameters superimposed forces on the raw massing of the project that developed the final form through an evolutionary iterative process.”
“Programmatically, the 5,000 SF building is split into two main levels, horizontally organized along a shifted east-west axis. The restrictions imposed by the planning and building regulations provided strenuous challenges to the site planning of the project as it pushed the building downhill, over the ridge. This coupled with height and view shed restrictions, provided for a narrow and steeped profile for the building, particularly on the entry facade. “
