Architecture
Modern Architecture
Ribbon Houses, Wrapped in Style
Bold Continuous Lines Unify Floors, Walls and Ceilings
Contemporary architecture does not tend to incorporate the architectural elements of traditional architecture (arches, the Classical orders, pediments, etc.), but certain recurring features can be found in buildings that break from the past. One consistent formal maneuver is what many people call a ribbon: a continuous surface that melds floors, walls and ceilings.
Given the predilection for flat roofs in modern and contemporary architecture, most of these ribbons make right-angle turns. Projecting from the glass or other walls behind them, they may function as sun shades, but for the most part they are formal devices that stress continuity and break down traditional hierarchy. They also resemble symbols, inadvertently creating 2s, 5s, ?s, and S-shapes.
Given the predilection for flat roofs in modern and contemporary architecture, most of these ribbons make right-angle turns. Projecting from the glass or other walls behind them, they may function as sun shades, but for the most part they are formal devices that stress continuity and break down traditional hierarchy. They also resemble symbols, inadvertently creating 2s, 5s, ?s, and S-shapes.
The rear of this house provides views of the Los Angeles basin via outdoor spaces on two levels. Upstairs the floor surface turns up and over to become a roof/ceiling that helps shade the balcony and interior. This ribbon travels in the other direction as well, giving the impression of a flattened question mark.
This house by Kanner Architects features C-shaped ribbons that are shifted relative to each other. The red-stucco rendering of the floor/wall/roof ribbons makes the continuity of these surfaces in three dimensions very strong.
Another project by Kanner Architects uses a ribbon to articulate the balconies overlooking the beach. Shaped like the number 2 in the foreground, the house behind it is similar, but its terraced section makes the ribbon less legible.
This is one of only two sloped-roof-ribbon projects I found on Houzz. The plan is two rectangles perpendicular to each other, each with roofs that wrap down the exterior walls. The section on the right is also a deck with a large overhang overhead requiring a slender column to support.
The second sloped-roof ribbon works similarly to the previous photo but is elevated above the glassy ground floor. Here the continuity of surface seems to meld contemporary and traditional architecture.
The previous photos use ribbons to articulate individual floors within two- to three-story houses, but this example uses a wall-roof ribbon across two floors. Its deep overhang provides shade for the expansive top-floor glazing, and the wall extension helps root it in place.
This one-story example aligns the deck with the roof overhang above. These combine to give the house a strong horizontal expression; the wall on the left ties these planes together for formal and structural reasons.
In this last example, a ribbon is part of a complex composition, such that it is not the overriding expression; neither is it as deep as previous examples. Here the ribbon stars behind the willow tree as a wall, then turns to roof, back to wall, and ends as a low roof. A close-up ...
... reveals the articulation of the wall below the ribbon as translucent channel glass, hence the shallow overhang. Here the ribbon is subtle, but it effectively transitions from high to low.
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