Mansfield by Amit Apel

Architects: Amit Apel
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Year: 2012
Photo courtesy: Amit Apel
Description:

This 5 bedroom, 5.5 baths building doesn’t quite fit into a particular box or label, rather it reflects a non-conforming spirit that explores an avant-garde vision – the most ancient of all functions: the home.

A path to the entry door deliberately takes visitors past the front façade to expose its volumes and architectural elements even before they can ring the bell. Once inside, they experience an open and spacious floor plan filled with abundant natural light that enters from the many floor-to-ceiling openings and a great central skylight over a double height space. Though the space is read as a whole and predominantly white, some contrasting black surfaces and changes in textures serve to define the different areas, while occasional woods soften the look.

The indoor-outdoor border disappears when the pocket doors slide into the walls and enlarge the space for gatherings; and the outdoor swimming pool elegantly extends to the wall and mirrors the house in the waters reflection. To add charm, landscape lighting’s are designed to emphasize the effect.

This kitchen takes the laboratory aesthetics to an extreme in which one can imagine daily molecular cuisine naturally taking place. Every room in the house has unorthodox shapes, and the corridor that connects them blurs into what feels like an exterior plaza with an inspiring view. Bathroom spaces have been stripped from their usual predictions and have matured to shapes and clad that fit with the discrete extravagant nature of the house. In such sense, private and public spaces are treated with equal design respect and attention to details.

There is one central element whose presence is quite spectacular and is virtually visible from every corner of the house. It is a gigantic suspended planter with an equally large plant that hangs about 3 feet high at the center of the stairs space, right under the skylight. It looks like a levitating tree, just surreal.