Glenn Murcutt

(Browell, 2006)

Born: 

1936 in London, England

Education: 

University of New South Wales (Architecture)

Influence: 

Mies van der Rohe and Pierre Chareau

Glenn Murcutt was familiar with architecture and building from his youth. He learned a lot about design and materials through his father, Arthur Murcutt, who worked as a builder and developer in Sydney.  With his father, Murcutt saw the Farnsworth House of Mies van der Rohe and the Dalsace House by Pierre Chareau, which he carefully studied and withdrew inspiration from. Fromonot (1995) writes that Murcutt is also indebted to his father for being introduced to the large wood and corrugated iron agricultural sheds of the Sydney region; a style of architecture that would influence his palette in the coming years.

Fromonot (1995) states that Glenn Murcutt travelled across the world, studying architecture in Mexico, the United States and Europe, but it was Murcutt’s professed empathy for the characteristic Aboriginal concepts of land and culture that became his key influence in design. The Aboriginal communities and how they made their shelters out of limited natural resources fascinated Murcutt, and influenced his architecture to be functionalist and reflective of the natural world and its expression in the local landscape.

Today Glenn Murcutt is Australia’s most internationally famous architect and a lecturing Professor of architecture across the globe. Murcutt has received many architectural awards for his work including the prestigious 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize (Murcutt, n.d.). 

Marika-Alderton House: The House

Chosen Exemplar House

Name: Marika-Alderton House

Architect: Glenn Murcutt

Location: Yirrkala Community, Northern Territory, Australia

Date: Completed in 1994

(Fromonot, 1995)

Designed for the artist Banduk Marika and her family, this house by the sea in the Northern Territory presented Glenn Murcutt with multiple challenges. Davies (2006) states that the problems were both technical and cultural, how to create a tolerably comfortable domestic environment in the selected climate without relying on culturally alien technologies such as air conditioning. To make the challenge more interesting, the site was also liable to be battered by hurricane-force winds and surge tides.

The house is entirely built without glass and according to their orientation the walls are composed of broad plywood or slatted tallow-wood shutters that can be tilted outwards to take advantage of the cooling sea breezes. The outside of the structure is covered in vertical fins that prevent the morning and evening sunrays from reaching the outer wall while also assisting the natural cross ventilation process as written by Fromonot (1995).

Davies (2006) writes that the Marika-Alderton House is an entirely prefabricated building, made by a couple of yacht builders in Sydney. This is an economical building, almost agricultural in character that caters for the Marika family and responds to the climate in a completely sustainable and functionalist manner.

Glenn Murcutt’s idea of “to touch the Earth lightly”. 

Floor Plan for the Marika-Alderton House

Elevation for the Marika-Alderton House

Section of the Marika-Alderton House

Site Plan for the Marika-Alderton House

Interior Volumetric Sketch of the Marika-Alderton House

Marika-Alderton House: Environmental Filter

“It is as if these leaves of iron had fallen from the eucalypt trees to touch the earth lightly” – Glenn Murcutt.

(Fromonot, 1995)

The Marikia-Alderton house acts as and environmental filter by adapting to the hot, tropical climate of Australia’s Northern Territory. Craven (1999) states that by using a variety of sustainable design techniques such as wide eaves to shelter from the sun, pivoting tubes along the roof to expel hot air and vertical fins to direct cooling breezes into the living spaces (as shown in the below diagram) the Marika-Alderton house naturally filters the elements through sustainable design.

The above image shows the cross ventilation of the Marika-Alderton House. 

According to Dovey (1996) the Marika family wanted the house to be designed to frame the natural surroundings such as the mangroves, the sea, the billabong and the waterhole. Murcutt also designed the house to minimise its impact on the environment by respecting the path of the wind, while at the same time making the occupants aware of the winds presence. Fromonot (1995) discusses how Murcutt filters the fluid and luminous essence of light throughout the interior of the building, using the flow of natural sunlight to unify the spaces.

The Marika-Alderton House is Murcutt’s concept of a flexible shelter that filters the surroundings through its environmentally conscious design to create an atmosphere that brings the outside inside.

(Fromonot, 1995)

Marika-Alderton House: Container of Human Activities

(Fromonot, 1995)

The Marika family required a dwelling that would allow them to interact with the surrounding environment, along the central hall of the Marika-Alderton House, tilting plywood panels can be raised and lowered like awnings to achieve this connection. As can be seen in the above image by Fromonot (1995), the shutters tilt down to allow for more shade as needed, they filter percolated light into the space, allow airflow when open, tilted or fully closed, and create an additional opening for interaction.

The Marika Alderton house was designed to accommodate more than one family by being a house that can be developed and expanded to allow for various activities indoors. The bedrooms are to the Southwest of the house as it proves to be the coolest part of the building in the evening which allows a much more comfortable sleeping arrangement. Whilst the working spaces are located in the Northwest corner of the house which is coolest for morning activities as analysed by Henderson (n.d.).

(Fromonot, 1995)

Marika-Alderton House: Delightful Experience

(Fromonot, 1995)

Glenn Murcutt creates a delightful experience within the building through his analysis and sensitivity to both the specific weathering patterns of the immediate site and of the greater climatic region. Henderson (n.d.) states that ventilation in such a hot tropical climate becomes the dominating factor in creating a comfortable and enjoyable place of inhabitation.

(Fromonot, 1995)

The Marika Alderton House also creates a delightful experience for the occupant through its shear simplicity and functionality. The house responds directly to the surrounding environment through various sustainable techniques, creating a desirable atmosphere in a hot tropical climate. It is this approach that also instils delight within the occupant, not the cosmetics of the structure, but the pure efficiency of the completed design.

Exemplar Houses

Exemplar House #2

Name: Great (Bamboo) Wall House

Architect: Kengo Kuma

Location: Beijing, China

(Kengo Kuma & Associates, 2002)

Environment:
The Bamboo Wall House is a building that responds to the environment that surrounds it, this is the source of its beauty. Hans (2009) celebrates the sites “intricate undulation” and the symbol of the Great Wall of China that Kengo has captured in the bamboo house that serves as a filter for the natural surroundings by allowing the elements to effortlessly pass through the structure.

Interaction:

According to Extravaganza Design (n.d.) the Great (Bamboo) Wall house consists of an entrance hall, kitchen, closet, living room, bathroom, guest room, laundry room and staff room. Kuma varied the thickness and spacing of the bamboo canes throughout these rooms in the house, creating walls which provide a different level of fluidity from one space into the next, allowing occupants to do activities indoors and experience the outdoors at the same time.

Experience:

The website, Travel with Frank Gehry (2009) describes the use of bamboo and simplicity in the construction of the house has a direct connection to Chinese and Japanese cultures, creating a meditative atmosphere by channelling breezes, light and creating a sense of weightlessness. The light enters between the varied stalks of bamboo making the occupant feel as though they are experiencing the local forests of Asia as shown in the above photograph. Kengo describes his architecture as a “frame of nature. With it we can experience nature more deeply and more intimately”.

Exemplar House #3

Name: Sunrise Beach House

Architect: Wilson Architects

Location: Sunrise Beach, Queensland, Australia

(CSR Building Products, 2008)

Environment:

The Sunrise Beach House doesn't only frame the ocean, it is also connects to the sand, beach vegetation and the weather by acting as an environmental filter. This beach house avoids the preoccupation to hug the boundary to maximize sea views as stated by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (2008), instead a sequence of ocean vignettes are playfully screened and framed against the house and landscape.

Interaction:

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (2008) describes the boundaries as blurred lines between the house and beach where intimate spaces and expansive views align, connecting the private and public spaces to create the illusion of infinite space. Allowing occupants to interact with the environment from within each section of the Sunrise Beach house.

Experience:

In this house the landscape, particularly the well placed pandanus trees, creates the place, according to the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (2008) and the structure of the house creates secluded areas that capture the experience of the environment within the dwelling. 

Cabin: Environmental Filter

Site analysis of Kelvin Grove

The Murcutt Cabin has been designed as an environmental filter, maximising the natural elements that are fundamental to the Kelvin Grove site, which are detailed in the above site analysis. The diagrams below show how the cabin harvests the breezes through opening walls so that cross ventilation cools and airs the interior, as observed by Fromonot (1995) in the Marika-Alderton House. 

The Murcutt Cabin not only acts as a filter for exterior elements, it also frames the environment from an interior perspective. Wall segments of the cabin are positioned to open the spaces to the most substantial views of the surrounding parklands, while immediate vegetation assists in blocking views of the neighbouring apartments and local traffic.
The wall segments also act as eaves as shown in the diagrams below, during the day when the walls are opened, the harsh summer rays are blocked out from the interior spaces, while in winter the warmth from the rays is welcomed inside. At night or during the day, for the eastern or western sides of the cabin, the walls can be closed to stop all unwanted solar rays from entering. 

The Murcutt Cabin replicates the environmental design aspects that are fundamental to the Marika-Alderton House by epitomising Glenn Murcutt's ideals of climatically responsive architecture.

Firmness Analysis Exercise

Cabin: Container of Human Activities

Bubble and Zoning Diagrams for Cabin design

The Murcutt Cabin acts like more of a frame than a container, providing privacy for internal activities while also maintaining an open and direct connection to the external surroundings. The cabin allows for various activities to be carried out within, for example, the living space and first floor areas of the cabin are interchangeable providing variety to the indoor experience. The cabin also offers the basic features of a home, such as a bathroom and kitchen with the living room acting as a bedroom at night by using a futon.

Matrix Diagram for Cabin design

The cabin is composed of two large water tanks, circular in form, that allow for a free following internal design and 360 degree views of the landscape. The circular shape of the cabin gives its occupants complete control over the direction they wish to face and the types of activities they might wish to execute. 

The Murcutt Cabin offers its occupants a platform to view the external world in its entirety while at the same time providing them with the privacy needed to go about their daily activities. 

Commodity Analysis Exercise

Cabin: Delightful Experience

Sketches of Cabin and its interaction with the outdoors

The Murcutt Cabin instils delight in the occupant through various architectural design techniques. The most appealing technique is how the entire structure opens like a flower to the surrounding environment, whilst at the same time disappearing into the landscape revealing only its structural framework. 
The cabin in its open state allows the natural elements to playfully interact throughout the structure; the breeze floats from one side to the other, daylight plays on the rigid timber panels and corrugated steel surface and the sound of birds echo gently within the more secluded spaces. 

Developed sketches of creating a delightful experience

The Murcutt Cabin connects directly to the Australian climate through choice of materials, such as the two water tanks and timber frame, and its sustainable design techniques. According to Glenn Murcutt and his Marika-Alderton House, it is a combination of the above elements that create a delightful experience within architecture. 

Delight Analysis Exercise

Final Cabin Design

The main architectural features of the Marika-Alderton House were analysed and integrated into the design of the Murcutt Cabin which is shown below through a series of sketches and plans.

References

Australian Institure of Landscape Architects. (2008). Sunrise Beach House. Retrieved from http://www.aila.org.au/projects/qld/wilson-sunrise/default.htm


Browell, Anthony. (2006). Glenn Murcutt [Image]. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from 
http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/collection_info.php?searchtype=advanced&searchstring=:::::1:&irn=1218

Craven, Jackie. (1999). Architect Glenn Murcutt Creates Natural Cooling [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://architecture.about.com/od/houses/ss/marikaalderton.htm

CSR Building Products. (2008). Watercolour: Sunrise Beach House, Sunshine Coast. [IMAGE] Retrieved from http://www.viridianglass.com/Case_Studies/Vision/vision12-2/default.aspx
Davies, Colins. (2006). Key Houses of the Twentieth Century: Plans, Sections and Elevations. Marika-Alderton House (pp. 214-215). Laurence King Publishing, London.
Dovey, Kim. (1996, July). Architecture for the Aborigines. Retrieved from
http://www.architecturemedia.com/aa/aaissue.php?issueid=199607&article=13&typeon=3

Extravaganza Design. (n.d.) Bamboo House of Kengo Kuma Japanese Architect [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.homevaganza.com/bamboo-house-of-kengo-kuma-japanese-architect/

Francoise. (1995). Glenn Murcutt works and projects.Thames and Hudson (Eds.), Formative Years (pp.12-50). Great Britain, Thames and Hudson Ltd London.

Hans. (2009, October 23). Great (Bamboo) Wall by Kengo Kuma & Associates [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://cubeme.com/blog/2009/10/23/great-bamboo-wall-by-kengo-kuma-associates/

Henderson, Kerri. (n.d.) The Marika Alderton House [Online PDF]. Retrieved from
www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/.../Henderso.pdf

Kengo Kuma & Associates. (2002). Great (Bamboo) Wall [Image]. Retrieved March 7, 2011 from http://kkaa.co.jp/works/great-bamboo-wall/#1
Murcutt, Glenn. (n.d.). Glenn Murcutt Portfolio. Retrieved from
http://www.ozetecture.org/oze_NEW_portfolio_glenn.html

NK. (2006, February 26). Great (Bamboo) Wall [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://inhabitat.com/great-bamboo-wall/

Travel with Frank Gehry. (2009, December 14). Great (Bamboo) Wall by Kengo Kuma [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://travelwithfrankgehry.blogspot.com/2009/12/great-bamboo-wall-by-kengo-kuma.html