Le Corbusier designed a model of a house with an open floor plan in 1914-1915. This plan was to help reinvent modern architecture and suppling a blank canvas for new interior design ideas. Along with creating a simplistic base plan, the Domino House brought new steps for the designers to follow, such as;
- The use of pilotis: a series of posts that allow circulation under the building.
- A free, open interior plan
- Free facade design
- Use of horizontality: elongated horizontal windows.
- Use of the roof: a terrace or garden.
This lecture made me realize I have modeled almost all of the houses that I have designed unconsciously using, as well as admiring, some of these five steps. However, there are some buildings that follow the Domino House Steps that, from the exterior look more like a school rather than a home. Is this where schools got the idea for long horizontal windows? For example, the use of elongated horizontal windows within Maison Cook’s, Boulogne-sur-Seine gives off the appearance of a high school when it is a residential building. (See photo below for reference) The elongated horizontal windows were designed to create equally lit rooms from natural light while each floor could also have the same selective view of the outdoors.
Maison Cook, Boulogne-sur-Seine, 1926-27
Having said that, Maison Cook did fulfill the last step quite well. Take the use of the roof and creating a terrace to enjoy the outdoors while having the privacy on top of your own home. When this step was introduced, it gave me the question of, was this the era where roof-top gardens were invented? Did they come before and give Le Corbusier the idea of making use of the roof?
Maison Cook, Boulogne-sur-Seine, 1926-27
On a separate note, you can see that the first step was used within Cook’s home. In the photo above, the pilotis are sticking out, showing what is holding the ceiling of the terrace up.
