Fougeron Architecture

Opposition/Composition

Anne Fougeron

Princeton Architectural Press, New York

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Editors : Nicola Bednarek Brower and Thomas Cho

Designer: Jan Haux

Special thanks to: Bree Anne Apperley, Sara Bader, Janet Behning,

Megan Carey, Carina Cha, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Russell Fernandez,

Linda Lee, John Myers, Katharine Myers, Margaret Rogalski, Dan Simon,

Andrew Stepanian, Jennifer Thompson, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and

Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press—Kevin C. Lipper t, publisher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fougeron, Anne.

Fougeron Architecture : opposition/composition / Anne Fougeron. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-56898-990-7 (alk . paper)

1. Fougeron Architecture (Firm) 2. Architecture—United States —

History—20th century. 3. Architecture—United States—History—21st

century. I . Title. II . Title : Opposition/composition.

NA737.F676A4 2011

720.92’2—dc22

2010047580

© 2011 Stephen Flavin / Ar tists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 12

(bottom)

© 2011 Rober t Irwin / Ar tists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 12

(top)

Sean Bailey 178–82, 185–87

Richard Barnes 18, 20, 23–26, 28, 29 (top), 30 (left), 31–33, 44, 53–54,

55 (top), 56 (top), 57, 69–71, 76–77, 81, 84–85, 88–91, 93, 95–101,

front and back cover

Marcin Brzezicki 17

Grey Crawford 35 (top), 36, 40, 142, 145–47

Joe Fletcher 122–23, 127, 150–51, 152–53 (top), 154, 155 (top), 156–57,

158, 160–63, 165–69

Jacek Gaczynski 66 (top), 102, 106–8, 111–13

Andrea Higgins 29 (bottom)

Tom Johnson 65

Jay Jones 176–77

Ethan Kaplan 170, 172–74

Kimbell Ar t Museum, For t Wor th, Texas / Ar t Resource, NY, 13 (top)

Viktor Kaposi 11 (bottom)

Doris Lohmann 11 (top)

Matthew Millman 34, 35 (bottom), 37–38, 41–43, 130–31, 133–37,

139, 140–41; Reprinted with permission from Metropolitan Home

magazine. Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.

64, 67, 72–75, 77 (right), 78–80, front f lap

Pietro Russo 115

Tim Street-Por ter 46–47, 49–51, back f lap

Rien Van Rijthoven 116–17, 119, 120–21, 125

© Alber t Vecerka/Esto. All r ights reserved. 58–63

Jim Whitehead 103

Contents

Foreword Hitoshi Abe

Preface

Acknowledgments

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde: Modernism in the Traditional American City

1532 House

21 House

440 House

Fuel Lounge

Tehama Grasshopper

Tension/Transformation: Forces of Nature

Jackson Family Retreat

Buck Creek House

Design/Democracy: The Political Terrain

Parkview Terraces

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate Projects

Eddy Street Administrative Off ices

San Mateo Call Center

MacArthur Health Center

Culture/Context: Twenty-First-Century Civitas

Ingleside Branch Library

Hosfelt Gallery

City of the Future

Project Credits

Select Bibliography

Off ice Credits

Biography

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16

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde: Modernism in the Traditional American City

A successful work of ar t is not one which resolves contradictions in a

spurious harmony, but one which expresses the idea of harmony

negatively by embodying the contradictions, pure and uncompromised,

in its innermost structure.

—Theodor W. Adorno, Prisms

Theodor W. Adorno, Prisms (London: Neville

Spearman), 32.

17

The new modernist interrogates the urban landscape with the critical eye of the

Victorian flaneur, acting as both innovator and investigator of social forces. Yet this

sharp inquiry never attempts to resolve the city’s contradictions. The roughness of

Mr. Hyde is now allowed to appear alongside the refinement of Dr. Jekyll.

In fact, the new modernist liberates all split personalities—old and new,

public and private, interior and exterior—through rigorous yet idiosyncratic

designs like the remodeled Maison de Verre. Embracing and heightening such

visual tensions engages the city dweller’s fascination with exposure. Acting as

a form of the intriguing and incessant communication we crave, these designs

allow us to see and be seen in multiple ways.

Thresholds change meaning in this world of ambiguous boundaries. Gone

is the single entryway guarding a solid Victorian facade. The outer skin protecting

our inner space now becomes translucent, admitting access to city and nature.

Traditionally private rooms—where we undress, bathe, reveal—are now provoca-

tively displayed. Even our horizons become playfully distorted by reimagined dis-

tinctions between ceiling and sky that challenge our perception of limits.

In each of Fougeron Architecture’s designs, light acts as the transforma-

tional Jekyll/Hyde elixir, a form generator. It dissolves corners and walls, separates

old and new, and revises notions of inside and outside. Entering not just through

windows but from walls and surfaces above and below, light imbues space with

multiple, changing identities, illuminating the complexity of modern life.

Pierre Chareau and Bernard Bijvoet, Maison de

Verre, Paris, France, 1932

17

18

San Francisco, California, 2006

This new San Francisco residence and studio, inf illed on a twenty-f ive-foot-wide

lot, reverses the reading of the city’s Victorian houses with a completely porous

front facade. Its broad bay window intentionally invites passersby to look into the

street-facing painter’s studio and beyond—the sight line continuing through the

studio and the three-story home in the rear to the backyard. Open slats replace

siding, breaking the street wall while subtly echoing its rhythm.

The design incorporates two sectional moves. A horizontal one introduces a

cour tyard between the front and rear structures ; a ver tical one brings the ground

f loor, which includes the garage and bedrooms, down to street level. These two

design elements create a powerful interplay between inside and out and between

different levels of the house and studio. Light and transparency shape dramatic

interior and exterior spaces.

This is a rare typology for San Francisco homes, whose lots are usually too

shallow to accommodate an open cour tyard. It promises a solution to a major

problem in most city residences. Often deep and lit only from the front and back,

they are invariably dark in the middle. On the contrary, the 1532 House has seven

outdoor spaces, all with distinct qualities and views. Decks, walkways, and gardens

unfurl around the living areas, heightening the visual complexity of the structure

and its site.

The second f loor of the house—an open f loor plan with kitchen, dining,

and living areas—is punctuated by a two-story staircase and is on grade with the

backyard. The third-f loor suite consists of a master bedroom, bath, and study. The

bedroom’s bay window opens up a spectacular view of the backyard and the city

park beyond, repeating the form of the glass bay at the front of the studio, which

captures a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The 1532 House is inseparable from its context. From every vantage point within,

residents are visually connected to the incredibly varied urban landscape without.

1532 House

19

this pagetop: Aerial view

bottom: Courtyard pattern

oppositeFront facade

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9 8 77

7

4 6

1

1

2

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0 32'Open ground

Open deck

Solar energy equipment

1 Deck

2 Living room

3 Master bedroom

4 Artist’s studio

5 Garage

6 Street

7 Courtyard

8 Main house

9 Rear yard

this page

Site, plan, and section

opposite

Central cour tyard

Circulation axis

Open space

22

this page

Master bedroom

opposite

top: Open-space studies

bottom: Conceptual diagram

overleaf

Living room

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Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

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EntryDeckBridgeLiving roomBedroomMaster bedroomAr tist’s studioGarageCour tyardKitchenStudy

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Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

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EntryDeckBridgeLiving roomBedroomMaster bedroomAr tist’s studioGarageCour tyardKitchenStudy

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Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

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9 9

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EntryDeckBridgeLiving roomBedroomMaster bedroomAr tist’s studioGarageCour tyardKitchenStudy

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0 16'

this page

Floor plans

opposite

Bridge overlooking cour tyard

28

this page

top: Staircase detail

bottom: Weaving-rail inspiration: client paintings

opposite

View along circulation spine29

this page

left : Bay window and wood screen detail

right: 3-D rendering of bay window and

wood screen detail

opposite

Front facade

1

2

3

4

56

7

8

910

11

Garage

Studio

10

11

1 Steel framed, built-up roof and metal fascia

2 Wood clad parapet wall

3 Roof deck

4 Wood screen assembly

5 Insulated wood framed wall

6 Metal L3 x 2 frame

7 Sloping glass roof and continuous stop

8 Insulated field glazing

9 Wood framed, cantilevered structure for bay window

Parallam at garage door head

Matching wood shiplap siding over facade and garage door

1

2

3

4

56

7

8

910

11

Garage

Studio

10

11

1 Steel framed, built-up roof and metal fascia

2 Wood clad parapet wall

3 Roof deck

4 Wood screen assembly

5 Insulated wood framed wall

6 Metal L3 x 2 frame

7 Sloping glass roof and continuous stop

8 Insulated field glazing

9 Wood framed, cantilevered structure for bay window

Parallam at garage door head

Matching wood shiplap siding over facade and garage door

31

32

this page

Central cour tyard

opposite

View from backyard

33

34