Marcel Breuer’s Hooper House wasn’t talked about in the week 11 lecture, though when doing research about the Breuer House it came about. Built-in 1959 in the Baltimore County of Maryland, Mr. Breuer designed this home with the help of Herbert Beckhard. The house was designed with many details in mind; the thick stone walls used to cancel noise, glass sliding walls to connect the exterior to the interior and the best part is the central courtyard that separates the house into two different wings. This use of natural elements to create an atmosphere is seen in lots of architecture now-days.
However, the combined use of glass and the courtyard helps bring in nature into a very modern home. This got me thinking about how relateable some of Marcel’s buildings are to the philosophies of Frank Lloyd Wright. They both incorporated nature into their designs, specifically talking about Frank’s Fallingwater house with Marcel’s Hooper House. Both built around a natural environment; Fallingwater built over a waterfall and Hooper House built around a courtyard, creating a sanctuary within the home.
Do homes need a separate space for nature? Can nature be built within the home; is that what a courtyard does? Can large buildings incorporate nature in the same way that homes do?
It would be interesting to see cities develope nature within them, which some cities in other countries already have done. For example, the Singapore Airport incorporates nature into the building as a way for its travelers to escape the world of traveling.
For my essay, I am focusing on the use of glass within architecture, not just windows and doors but the entire structure. I want to now include the idea of incorporating nature into architecture just how Marcel Breuer does in his Hooper House and how the architects of the Singapore Airport brought an entire waterfall to it’s interior. Talking about making the interior of a building and nature of the exterior into one.
