The Art of Building a Badass House
Mindful Design #15
Chemosphere House, Los Angeles by John Lautner - image: Arcaid images, Alamy
Welcome to the Mindful Design newsletter #15!
It’s the end of the year and we’ve got something for you! It's absolutely free with no strings attached. For the next 2 months, our Badass Houses Series is available for free to everyone! If you’ve ever thought of building a house of your dreams, this series allows you to learn about some of the most amazing houses ever built, how they work, and what it takes to design and build your own custom house. Well, let’s clarify that some more: not just a custom house, but a Badass House!
If you’re an architect in need of CDP points, the series is also available as a paid-for accredited course, which will earn you one full Category 1 point! You can enroll here.
So, what’s a Badass House?
Badass is a term we chose to cut through the noise out there. We’re flooded with images (fake and ’real’) of amazing-looking spaces, but do we understand what’s behind them? Do these images represent life or are they just staged, photoshopped fantasies that look good on someone’s portfolio? We feel it is time to reconnect with what makes architecture great by looking beyond the image.
A badass house is made with an attitude that turns problems into opportunities. This means taking on a problem and turning it inside out to find a solution. It does not mean stupidly throwing money at it, but being rigorous, creative, and excited about solving something well.
A badass house makes you say: “Wow, I am glad I built this!”
A badass house makes your friends say: “Wow, you got this just right!”
If you are thinking of building a custom home, this series will help you gain insights into some of the most spectacular (both fancy and humble) homes ever built and how they work. The series is a paid-for course, but we’re keeping it free of charge for the next two months.
What’s the series all about?
The Badass Houses series really came out of a need to gain a deeper understanding of some of our favourite buildings. By studying and drawing them a world of wonder opened up, one that reminds us of just how freaking cool architecture can be. We want to share what we discovered with you! Each of the six webinars explains one of the key aspects of designing and building a custom home using a careful selection of inspiring examples, some only known to insiders. We take you behind the scenes and beyond glossy images to show you what architecture can do and how it works, doing away with the archi-speak*. Each example is illustrated using easy-to-understand drawings, made especially for the series. We also speak to experts on topics ranging from green roofs to lighting to contracts and even art collections.
Here is a taste:
Sketch: Thorsten Deckler
Image: Julius Shulman Photography Archive
This is the Chemosphere House, also shown in the title image. It’s become one of the most iconic houses ever built. People liken it to a UFO, but that misses the point that John Lautner (who designed it) came up with a highly pragmatic approach to building on a site deemed too steep to build on. Perching the house on a single column was the most practical solution making the impossible possible whilst saving on costly, invasive foundations. This is what Badass is all about, solving a problem in a creative way that not only saves money but also creates an overall character and atmosphere.
While this example is outrageously daring, there are other examples in the series that are humbler but no less spectacular, like this small house Albert Frey built for himself in Palm Springs.
Sketch: Thorsten Deckler
Image: Palm Springs Art Museum
This house solves the problem of how to create a compact one-bedroom house that’s not cramped and feels like it's part of the landscape. Frey does this by designing a ‘broken plan’ with a massive boulder screening the bedroom and topping it all with a metal roof with wide eaves for shade and shelter. Instead of blasting away the boulder or ignoring it, Frey uses it as a defining feature in an immersive experience of living in the desert.
Hours of content
The series is structured into six episodes, each about 30-40mins long followed by a recorded Q&A:
Intro
We use the work of John Lautner to introduce the concept of Badass. This guy (trained as both architect and plumber!) designed some of the most memorable houses on the planet, yet too many people (and architects) have never heard of him - prepare to have your mind blown!
Connecting to Site
This episode is all about how to not f*ck up a beautiful site. We look at projects in France, Brazil, and Sri Lanka and share some of our own experiences of how we turned bad situations into good ones. We also talk about what to do if your site is utterly unspectacular.
Going Green
We consider sustainability on a practical and psychological level and how to use nature to elevate daily life. We look at examples in the extreme climate of Arizona as well as local South African responses. We also talk to Kenneth Allen & Josebus van Zyl, environmental engineers at Greenplan, and landscape architect Vanessa Davies.
Inside the Cave
In this episode, we talk about one of the most misunderstood and perhaps under-utilized aspects of architecture: light and shadow. We also speak with lighting designer August De Wet about artificial lighting. After this episode, you’ll look at the world differently and notice how light can stress you out or make your day (and night).
Art and Architecture
In this episode, we look at how art can enhance architecture and vice versa with examples from Mexico and South Africa, including the amazing Edoardo Villa house in Johannesburg. We talk with an art curator about South African art and how to start a collection that not only brings you joy and expresses your personality, but is also an investment.
Build the Dream
In this episode, we talk to a highly experienced contractor about how to win at building your own home. This episode is all about contracts and the different relationships that go into building a custom home. It’s technical and dense, but it will put you miles ahead of anyone else out there thinking of building a house.
What people say about the series:
“The talks are fantastic, we need more of this. Loved your drawings and enjoyed the conversation.” Monica, Johannesburg
“Fantastic! Love the message of acknowledging and connecting to the environment – also for non-architects!” Susanne, Munich
“Thorsten is a wonderful communicator and storyteller of the secret lives of buildings & cities and the creative processes that make them happen. Like a Carl Sagan of Architecture, Thorsten seeks to unveil the beauty of the built cosmos with drawing, illustrations, stories and lectures. This series is stellar!” Rion Willard, London
Access the free course:
Access the CPD course:
*So, what’s Archi-speak?
“Large, made-up words that architects and designers use to make themselves sound smarter than you (you being the client or the confused observer of design). It does nothing to inform or enlighten the consumer of architecture and mostly serves to numb them into obedience or self-doubt.” - the Urban Dictionary
Saying it better
Since taking several courses in the Gordon Method of communication, my life and practice have changed significantly. Archi-speak makes even less sense now that I’ve learned what effective communication is all about. Asking questions and listening have become the cornerstone of how we work as a mindful design practice, helping us form positive relationships with everyone involved in making a building.
Happy Holidays!
We hope your year comes to a graceful close, and even if it screeches to a chaotic halt, that you can spend time with the ones you love. We also hope you enjoy the Badass House series.
Let us know what you think by replying to this email.
If you are ready to start your journey to becoming a badass home builder and owner, we have some more resources for you.
Love,
Thorsten
Help us spread the love by sharing this newsletter and following us on social media!
Thorsten is an ardent, (ok, compulsive) sketcher. Since he was a kid, drawing helped him get through personal crises and fall in love with the world and with architecture again and again. Here’s a page from his latest sketchbook, looking at the amazing Platt Residence by Will Bruder. Follow Thorsten on Instagram @thethinking_hand to see more sketches.
