Project Description
Custom Home / Over 3,000 Square Feet / Citation
Inspired by the captivating qualities of an existing stately pine tree on the site, Los Angeles–based Modal Design, led by Daniel Monti, AIA, created a house that tucks under and around the old-growth branches. The pine’s broad canopy forces the functional areas of the 3,100-square-foot house to the front of the lot, where three bedrooms are stacked above the entrance, office, and garage. A curtain of folded, Cor-Ten steel panels—perforated with circles of various diameters—forms a porous barrier between public and private space. The metal screen also creates patterns of dappled light on the interior floors and walls. Circular disks left over as byproducts of the CNC water-jet cutting process were reconstituted as a balustrade enclosing the stair that climbs from the first to the second floor. “The perforated screens are bold and decorative – and what’s commendable is they took it from the outside to the interior,” juror Joel Sanders, AIA, said. “The other nice thing is the circular pattern is not reduced to such a small scale that it blends together in shadow on the floor, so the graphic quality is clearly maintained,” added juror Josh Shelton, AIA. “That’s part of the fun—that play of light.” —Vernon Mays