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Architects: Eran Binderman + Rama Dotan
- Area: 550 Basement
- Year: 2006
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Photographs:Oded Smadar
Text description provided by the architects. After purchasing the plot for the construction of their future home, the owners reached the difficult point of deciding who's gonna be the architect. They decided to initiate a competition. The chemistry was immediate. We (the architects) presented four possible alternatives, including home models and programs. The first program was selected immediately, and the rest was history.
The process of working on the house was very clear throughout all its stages. The owners shared the desire to create a home that will give a sense of freedom and space with maximum modesty and warmth. This created the idea of a "Mediterranean village" which is rooted strongly in the slanted ground surrounding it. The lack of formality was the foundation stone of the whole design. (One of the images was the idea of designing the perfect T-Shirt).
The creative process involved regular meetings in which we, the architects, proposed a "tasting menu" per meeting for the purpose of experimenting materials, spaces, shapes and textures. At the end of each "meal", decisions were taken and digested for the next meeting ahead. Gradually, in this way, the "village" was created. The Architectural work was refining and cleaning the ideas, in order to create the most accurate product possible.
The house consists of three wings very strongly connected to the garden; Public (togetherness), private (play and sleep) and service (functionality). The connection links between the wings allow the "togetherness" and the "apart" in relation to the amount of people in the house. Natural light and nature penetrates to every corner and blur the boundaries between inside and outside.
The spacious entrance through an olive grove allows freedom of choice. At the end of the entrance path, which passes through fish ponds, stands a metal handmade artisan gate. Behind this gate, an inner Mediterranean courtyard opens up revealing the interiors. At this point the visitor can wander off where he pleases. There is no formal entrance and there is no front door. The main space opens immediately with the endless pool and the horizon.
The main space is the living area gathering the family and friends. It contains a large library and different seating areas surrounded by 360 degrees of green. It is built as an individual pavilion sitting in the garden. While seated in it, the house completely disappears.
The kitchen is the center of the house- as in a typical Israeli home. The dining is in this space without a formal detached space of its own. The food coming out of the stove goes directly to the table seated under a huge Moroccan "thousand stars" lamp.
The children rooms were designed as "play" area. They all reach out to the garden offering private outdoor areas. The shared space is all about play and fun.
The master suite is an island of calmness and quiet. The sleeping area is all monochrome materials. The back of the bed wall is made of carpentry laser cut to project back the image of the garden. The vegetation reaches and touches the space. The Area in the back: bathroom and dressing were each designed separately functioning individually.
The basement is all about surprise and is derived from the lounge and clubbing world. The idea of the underground world existing in parallel with the calm Mediterranean village above was intriguing.
The garden was planned once as a total design but also very particular and site specific. The high slant of the topography was challenging. We proposed different ideas of using the garden and designed each area according to its use: Entertaining, Bonfire, play area, Animal house, an orchard, dining, detached pavilion, yoga etc…
The dressing of the house and its interiors were all about creating a collection. Furniture and art were chosen from different companies and styles all working together in harmony. The materials used were of a very wide palette with quite a lot of experimentation was done in the process.
The main challenge was liberating the process and ourselves from the known process thus forming a new and personal vocabulary to this project.
