Client:
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Davis
Program:
Two-bedroom residence and painter's studioArea:
4,000 square feetMaterials:
Wood frame, galvanized corrugated steel, plywoodProject
Team: Frank O. Gehry, C. Gregory Walsh, Jr., Stephen Dane
After
the artist Ron Davis asked Gehry to build two separate buildings for
his home and studio on three and one-half pastoral acres in Malibu,
a dialogue developed between the two men on perspective, geometry, and
perceptual illusion, issues increasingly central to the work of each.
The collaboration between the painter creating the illusion of three-dimensional
space and the architect reducing space to the virtual perspective of
the picture plane grew convoluted and eventually was simplified. The
building was ultimately conceived simply as a container for movable
things, a singular, barnlike structure that would sit on the landscape
and confront the terrain in an uncompromising way. Inside, the space
would be adaptable to the artist's life and work. In the end, a trapezoidal
shell with a strong sculptural relationship to the earth and flexible
spatial organizaiton inside incorporated both studio and living quarters.