Friday / January 23, 2015 / 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Low/Rise House: Launching a Multidisciplinary Design Office
AIA Chicago, 35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 250, Chicago IL 60601
SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop is a collaboration between Architect Dan Spiegel and Landscape Architect Megumi Aihara - a husband and wife team who founded their office together in order to design the Low/Rise House for Dan's parents in Menlo Park, CA. Dan and Megumi are building their practice as a transdisciplinary design firm, operating at the nexus of architecture, landscape, and urban design. This mix allows SAW to work across scales (from the tactile object to the city) and timelines (from the immediate to the ecological) at the onset of a project. SAW works to identify the blind spots between disciplines and take advantage of the hidden opportunities therein.
The Low/Rise House integrates elements of the ranch house and farm tower as tools of environmental performance and social interaction, deployed to create variable density, natural ventilation, solar energy generation, day-lighting, and immersion into the site. At the same time, the project of the house enabled an investigation into the changing nature of suburban housing in Silicon Valley and beyond, an opportunity to evaluate a childhood home through a professional lens, and a time for reflection upon the complexity of intertwining family and business at the outset of a practice.
Bring your lunch; beverages provided.
