“It’s quite different from a normal house. “The brief was based around functions and the notion that this always needed to remain a beach shack,” says Jeff. “Whilst there’s a definite Aires Mateus program, the simplicity and complexity of the building is all based around the crucifix form off the centre of the site defined by a skylight, and four spatial aspects which are based around Villa Rotunda in Venice by Andrea Palladio, laid over the tatami grid of the Katsura Palace in Japan.” – Jeff Provan This discovery of like-mindedness is something that has guided the design development and construction of the project so seamlessly that there have been very few changes since the first drawings arrived in Jeff’s inbox in 2019. Jeff and Mariko had discussed the need for a beach house with spaces to cook, work, sleep, rest and wash, a 5-pronged concept Manuel had long embraced in his own work and with students of architecture he teaches back at home in Lisbon. ![]() “This idea of designing spaces to be lived in was very interesting ” states Manuel when he speaks of the very first conversations around how Mori House would later emerge. Jeff and Mariko Provan engaged Portuguese architect Manuel Aires Mateus whose work as been likened to “building ruins of the future.” This intent resonated with Jeff and Mariko’s aspiration for an enduring beach house that would yield to an aesthetic harmony within its coastal landscape whilst unifying the trilogy of Jeff’s passion for architecture that wears in as opposed to out, Mariko’s Japanese origins and sentiments and Manuel’s aptitude for realising buildings that respond to the conditions of time, inhabitant/s, environment and use. The vision for Mori House began through a collaboration between architect and client. A cruciform layout, informed by centuries old structural icons, converges with an intuitive conceptual approach honouring the practice of living and its particular intricacies in the context of an Australian beach house. Architecturally, the emerging building has its genesis in ancient built forms. ![]() ![]() On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, a collection of cubist form in-situ concrete is beginning to take form.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |