Article published in ‘Architect Victoria’ Spring 2010 about my experience of living in a home/studio designed for us in the late 1960s by Robin Boyd
SUSTAINING THE HUMAN SPIRIT
“The object of a design, in architecture, as in anything else, is to say or do the essential thing as simply and directly as possible . . . the essential thing is the higher quality of living for which the building provides, the something more that turns a building, however slightly, into an expression of the human spirit.”
Architecture is always about the practical and the poetic - and balancing them appropriately.
We spend most of our lives inside buildings and respond intuitively to the cues they provide but we remain largely unconscious of how they affect the way we function and ‘feel’. In these times, our focus must be on appropriate use of resources to sustain the environment, but perhaps when architecture also sustains the human spirit, by keeping it in touch with nature, it also makes us want to sustain our planet. Robin Boyd designed our house over forty years ago, before the oil crisis and the focus on sustainable use of resources.
With the simplest rectilinear forms and a minimal palette of materials he created an environment which embodies the essence of our values and the way that we wanted to be in the world; it speaks of creative possibilities, connectedness of family and work and the importance of nature to our lives. Robin was an empathetic designer, he was not only concerned to meet his client’s functional brief but, as the architect John James said, he also seemed to have a profound insight into the psyche of his clients.
Though the house makes a strong, unequivocal design statement it also provides a calm, warm welcoming container for all our activities and the stuff of our lives. The house is essentially an interior space; externally it presents a solid shell to the world. Entering through this facade heightens the emotional impact of stepping into a large space and seeing through to an expansive view of the natural environment beyond. Visitors often stand transfixed on the threshold with a mixture of pleasure and puzzlement. Notions of being inside or outside and ‘shelter’ are challenged by the internal gardens and overall translucent roof whilst the openness of space challenges ideas of privacy.
The building invites response – to move through, up and down – to experience the fluidity of space. Each platform generates its own sense of place through volume, elevation and degree of enclosure. Over the years this diversity of settings has proved endlessly adaptable for the widest range of experiences. A space connected to the entry has generous top lighting for office/studio. A more intimate space has been used for relaxing, dining, computer-based work and the tallest space adapts for formal dining, project meetings, large scale prototype making and photography, hot-air balloon making and flying, children’s large scale block building and swinging on a seven metre long swing. The highest platform for sleeping is like a nest with an elevated view into the canopies of trees nearby. In this way Robin answered our brief for an interconnected environment to sustain our personal and professional lives.
Not only does the building adapt endlessly but the ambience is constantly and unpredictably changing through interaction with the natural environment in which it is immersed. A sunlit, peaceful environment can quickly become threateningly dark with huge trees thrashing in the wind and deafening noise from rain and hail on the roof.
Children, of course, revel in the novelty and possibilities of such a kinesthetic,multi-sensory environment. Observing my own and others children in the house over many years has profoundly shaped my understanding about children and how they learn; their curiosity, insight, imagination, wit and playfulness are evident as they immediately interrogate every aspect of the building and then settle into a chosen activity – often sustaining an intense engagement for long periods of time. This experience has taught me about the vital relationship between children, learning and design of the physical environment. It has also given me a spatial language, and emboldened my use of space in my specialist design practice of creating learning environments for young people.
Contemporary approaches to schools and schooling are characterised by ‘connectedness’ of people, curriculum content, real and virtual worlds, time – and space. Over many years I have collaborated with some remarkable educators and young people to analyse the principles and beliefs underlying contemporary pedagogy and then to create appropriate supportive physical environments; an ‘inside-out’ approach to design. The resulting environments embody many of the characteristics of our house: a generous, convivial ambience, a wide variety of discrete, purposeful settings interlinked to form a fluid space - a ‘landscape of possibilities’. But also a strong cohering environment which forms a ‘classic’ background for the ever changing layers, or ‘second skin’ which reflects the backgrounds, interests and works of a particular community of learners.
In these environments, which support spontaneity, choice and movement, people can be themselves, develop close and democratic relationships, experience rich, complex learning and most importantly have some control over their lives which is vital to individual well-being. Each setting has a discrete character and is purposefully designed to support particular experiences including quiet, active, intimate and large group, passive and experiential learning. Visual connection between all settings enables members of the community to feel connected and to know what is happening, though they may be deeply immersed in a variety of concurrent activities. Close connection to external natural environments gives the possibility to extend many experiences outdoors and to see nature as a source of learning and delight.
In the Puzzle of Architecture¹, Robin likens the architectural project to a jig-saw puzzle. Initially numerous disparate pieces are spilled out, and the challenge is to bring them together in a built environment which has integrity; a strong cohering idea which contains the essence of the project. I find it intriguing to look at our house as an example of Robin’s thinking – in this building I believe that he found an enduring, and therefore sustainable, solution which continues to support and delight us after more than forty years.
Mary Featherston 2010
1 Robin Boyd ‘The Puzzle of Architecture’ Melbourne University Press 1965