lakeside statement
Heroic and green. This home is designed to respond to the sun’s location, optimal lake views and the prevailing winds on Lake Washington. The curved wall is more than a bold statement; it is the source of air flow that naturally ventilates the house in the summer while providing a source of solar heat and natural daylight during the winter.
There is deep meaning in the design, meant to honor the family of the owner and Erich Mendelson, a famous expressionist architect, who designed the family’s pre-World War II department stores, lost when they fled Germany. The house is a both a tribute to that past and a promise to the future, knitting together themes of art, nature, and sustainable design.
INSIDE | Out
The central curved Rheinzink wall and skylight on the outside are both functional and sculptural. Catching the south daylight, they become the canvas for artist Ed Carpenter’s glass installation "A Painting of Light," reflecting the ever changing prism of daylight.
Location: Mercer Island, Washington
Photographer: Edwardo Calderon
Work completed while working at Olson Kundig Architects
Publications:
Lewis, Christina. “Daylight Savings.” The Wall Street Journal, 24 March 2006, W10. Print.
Stang, Alanna, and Christopher Hawthorne.“The Green House: New Directions in Substainable Architecture”; Princeton Architectural Press, June 2005. 126-129 Book.
Alaska Airlines Magazine; “Designing the West.” July 2005