Malibu Nights
Malibu Nights: An Ecological Response to Environmental and Human Volatility. Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction Student Poster Competition: MIT Student Nominee. Project: Studio work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fall 2006.
Professor: Andrew Scott
A combination of earthquakes, mud slides, and fires destroy celebrity homes in Malibu, California every year. Robust architecture is necessary to resist these natural hazards but threatens to overwhelm the land with its scale, destroying sensitive habitat and ecology in the area. In a landscape that is geologically and climactically volatile, is it possible to design large, luxurious residences with environmental responsibility? This luxury home built in the hills above Malibu attempts to balance the requirement for large scale intervention with minimal impact on the ecology of the site –positing the notion of architectural ecology as a branch of sustainability. Considering architecture as habitat for both people and nature may promote design opportunities as well as ecologically sensitive buildings. A delicate glass belly suspends from the “bar” that bridges over the gulley --a concentrated location of habitat for plants and animals. This belly is an inverted viewing platform from which to view the 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean, the orange glow of insomniac Los Angeles or less conspicuous inhabitants of the night.
Professor: Andrew Scott
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A combination of earthquakes, mud slides, and fires destroy celebrity homes in Malibu, California every year. Robust architecture is necessary to resist these natural hazards but threatens to overwhelm the land with its scale, destroying sensitive habitat and ecology in the area. In a landscape that is geologically and climactically volatile, is it possible to design large, luxurious residences with environmental responsibility? This luxury home built in the hills above Malibu attempts to balance the requirement for large scale intervention with minimal impact on the ecology of the site –positing the notion of architectural ecology as a branch of sustainability. Considering architecture as habitat for both people and nature may promote design opportunities as well as ecologically sensitive buildings. A delicate glass belly suspends from the “bar” that bridges over the gulley --a concentrated location of habitat for plants and animals. This belly is an inverted viewing platform from which to view the 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean, the orange glow of insomniac Los Angeles or less conspicuous inhabitants of the night.