SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP


Designed with an orientation for the sun, with earthen floors, stonework for vines to climb on, and a warm duct system to control temperature and humidity, the Greenhouse House encapsulates the relatedness of man to nature, a symbiotic living together of organisms of low or high order in a union somehow expected of us in this unique and blessed biosphere.   -  John M Johansen

GREENHOUSE HOUSE

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My wife, the daughter of Walter Gropius, holds that "houses are far too important to be left by clients in the hands of architects." She is quite right! As an architect, I listen first of all to what my client wants, and this oftentimes provides a springboard for my ideas. The Greenhouse House, was built for the Ellsworth family in 1976.  Among the numerous clients I have asked, "What do you want to enclose yourself with?" I remember most clearly the unambiguous response of Sally Ellsworth, who answered "plants."  Now a greenhouse house, if you're serious, is designed not for people but for plants. This means orientation for the sun, earthen floors, stonework that interior vines can climb on, and most important, a flexible, warm air duct system that controls a temperature and humidity suited, not to humans, but to plants. The living-and dining rooms are laid out within this greenhouse, the "spatial symbol" of this house. This central glass space prompts the ‘dialogue of inside and outside:' as described by Gaston Bachelard in his Poetics of Space. The relatedness of man to nature is encapsulated in this house. Although animals or birds in an aviary might carry the idea further, the message here is that of symbiotics.   - John M Johansen

SYMBOLISM           PHILOSOPHY           RESIDENTIAL DESIGNS  -  MAJOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS           EXPERIMENTAL           THEORETICAL          OTHER WORKS          BOOKS & DVDS          SITE MAP          CONTACT

HOME          CHRONOLOGY          ABOUT THE ARCHITECT          CHILDHOOD          EDUCATION          EARLY WORKS          ARCHITECTURE          NANOARCHITECTURE          TEACHING POSITIONS          AWARDS

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