Arch. Myriam B. Mahiques Curriculum Vitae

Monday, November 7, 2011

A controversial house design by Zaha Hadid in La Jolla, San Diego



I live close to La Jolla, maybe 2 hrs trip. This is a beautiful coastal city in San Diego, and its architectural style is like any other city in California, Spanish and post modern emulating Spanish. Most valuable for me is the landscape, the architecture is not interesting, from my point of view. With some exceptions, like The Salk Institute by Louis Kahn. So, it´s curious for me that the City Council has approved the request of a house design by Zaha Hadid, an enormous one, and we´ll see what happens next with the neighbors´ opposition. This is true that many decisions from the City Council are based on politics.


Salk Institute by Louis Kahn. La Jolla, California. Wikipedia.org. Picture by Jim Harper


From Archpaper.com:
Despite strident appeals from some neighbors, it looks like Zaha Hadid is coming to San Diego.
The city’s planning commission on October 20 approved a request to have Hadid and San Diego firm Public demolish an existing house on 8490 Whale Watch Way in La Jolla and replace it with a 12,700 square foot residence with four bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an indoor pool.
The project, which has been described by the firm as an “introverted sculptural structure,” displays Hadid’s trademark focus on elegant plasticity. Sitting on a tight half-acre site, its roofline will curve up like the prow of a ship, making it easily identifiable and marking the boundary between inside and outside. Hadid’s office has posted renderings of the project on its web site while London-based Rove Gallery has posted an artwork by Hadid called “La Jolla Residence.” (...)The La Jolla Community Planning Association would not comment on whether it planned another appeal, but if that were to happen the next step for the project would be approval by city council, an environment that Public Brown admits is much more challenging. “There’s nothing about city council with a design attitude,” said Brown. “It’s 100 percent politics.”

Read the full article:
The pictures of Zaha Hadid´s project have been downloaded from the article at Archpaper.com

3 comments:

  1. Ahh okay, so it is because of politics that makes it controversial. Hmm..the design is unique.

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  2. The most basic thing that you can learn from them when it comes to home interiors and gardens is that beneficial changes do not have to be expensive or difficult. Surprisingly, the first bit of advice for home interiors design is not related to design. Just keep the place neat and tidy. Clutter takes up space and if you are feeling cramped then just close your eyes and think how appealing a bed looks when it is made and how you wish someone would make the bed when it is not.

    Orangery

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  3. Mark, I agree with you if we talk about interior design, but, in this case, this house would look weird in the landscape of San Diego. Have you ever been in San Diego? If so, maybe we can discuss some thoughts. I´d like to see the house and its environment myself when the time comes, for now, I¨m sharing the news. Best regards,

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