Rome Residence

by FUNG + BLATT Architects








Architects' Statement:

Sited on a gentle swath of land, Rome employs simple forms to create a dynamic interplay between interior and exterior spaces. The L- shaped house—together with its carport and connecting retaining walls—form an S around two informal courts. The sequence begins at the arrival court, ascends between a pair of concrete walls, and skirts a private court to reach the main level.

At the lower level, bedrooms focus towards a private court that is centered around a Brazilian pepper tree. A studio steps down and opens to a front patio veiled by a California pepper.

The upper level living space stretches from a cantilevered deck with city views to a family/dining area that extends out to a pine-shaded patio, future pool and gentle hill. The stair tower, surrounded by an open kitchen, punctuates this spatial continuum as it turns the turn to the master bedroom wing. Farther up the stair, a library overlooking the family area opens to a viewing deck of its own.

While the three-story stair tower allows natural light to penetrate deep into the interior of the home, it also serves as a ‘thermal chimney;’ which, along with clerestories at the mono-slope roofs, enables convective cooling throughout the house.


About the Architects:



Alice Fung and Michael Rosner Blatt

Principals
FUNG + BLATT Architects, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA

www.fungandblatt.com

Formed in 1990 by Alice Fung and Michael Rosner Blatt, FUNG + BLATT Architects, Inc. has gained international recognition for their innovative residential design. The firm has developed a substantial body of work in residential, commercial and creative work environments; and has more recently in educational and mixed-use community-based projects. Coming from backgrounds in structural design and art, their work tests the boundary between structure, architecture, and the environmental context.

FUNG + BLATT believe in the responsible use of resources, and in the expression of material and structure as an integral part of how the environment is made. Their expertise in structure and code issues allows the pragmatic parameters to be addressed early on, freeing them up to develop creative solutions and follow them through into thoughtful, engaging and integrated places of habitation. They take pride and pleasure in creating environments that endure, and that inspire flexibility and a sense of freedom.