FROM WOOD TO ARCHITECTURE |
House Into
Espoo, Finland, 1998.
Design: Jyrki Tasa
is located on a steeply rising rock on the seafront in a sparsely developed area in Espoo. The floor plan of the house is triangular. One side opens toward the west affording an extensive view over the sea through the large windows. It is dominated by an undulating eave, a triangular terrace that splits the building and tall, diagonal pillars. The other sides are almost enclosed and come together at a rounded corner.
The structure of the house consists of a steel frame with attached timber studs and beams. The western side of the building rests on pillars and there is room for cars underneath. The timber beams of the terrace roof are supported by steel columns and beams. The walls are clad with white painted, vertical timber cladding, timber battens providing a strongly profiled surface, and pine plywood.
The entrance is at the rounded corner, which contains a sharply curved stair, a three-storey work of art of steel and timber. It has been constructed of folded plywood slabs of varying radius, supported by light steel rod and wire structures. The entrance hall and staircase form the hub of the house, linking its spaces together; from there you can perceive the organisation of the house. The interior walls are mainly lined with pine plywood. The floors and kitchen fittings are of cherry wood.
The architectural expression stems from the tensile and poetic nature of steel, and the warmth and beauty of wood. The house embodies the notion of a total work of art; the work includes the interiors, and some of the furniture was especially designed for the house.
Photos: Jyrki Tasa, Jussi Tiainen