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Creating space
The way a metropolitan region looks, with its office high-rises and shopping centers, and especially its houses, starts with visions at architectural firms. When builders craft suburban homes or five-story condos, it's the architects and building designers who give them the look that stands for decades. Always, it's open for debate, scorned as sprawl or admired as a beautiful place to call home. Even experts argue vigorously on the emerging landscape of how we live. Four local practitioners recently met with The Bee to talk about our houses and how they're changing, about the role of the TV and a trend to smaller homes. They talked about global warming and classic older neighborhoods and what they think of the landscape they are creating. They are: Vance Graham, partner at El Dorado Hills-based GBH Partners; Alicia Moniz, owner of Sacramento-based Moniz Architecture; John Packowski, marketing principal of PHA Architects of Sacramento; and Kerrin West, partner in charge of BSB Design's Sacramento division. Graham and Moniz are licensed architects; West and Packowski are designers. Collectively, they design suburban houses and planned communities, urban housing and brownstone-like condos. Going small, loving large Moniz: That's what really has become a problem: The size of peoples' wardrobes, all the computer equipment, all the TVs. There's too much consumerism. I have older clients, people right now, who want to pare down. And they're making that a real focus. How can we fit ourselves into 1,500 square feet? ... Well, how many special rooms do you need to watch TV in? How many things do you need to store? How big of a wardrobe do you need? Just get rid of stuff. Packowski: In the 1940s we started out with the little 600-square-foot house. After World War II that was too small. Then we're at 800, then 1,200. What's our average now? 1,800-1,900? It was 1,400 only 10 years ago. People are really starting to have conversations about what's going to happen to all of these big homes we've built around here in the last 10 years. What about 10 years from now and 15 years from now, when the people who wanted those don't want them anymore? More importantly, the kids coming up absolutely don't want them. What the hell are we going to do with all these houses? Power of the flat screen Packowski: The placement of the television in the room now is so flexible. The television has replaced the fireplace as the centerpoint of the rooms now. Most interior designers will say it's one of the most challenging things to deal with from an interior design standpoint. If the TV becomes a focal point, it's difficult for art and things to be placed in a room. Moniz: I still struggle with designing rooms that have fireplaces and TVs. The flat screen has helped. You can put it above the fireplace. I have seen some things advertised where, magically, it looks like a piece of art and then it turns into a TV. You can't get around it. TV is the main part of our culture. So you're still stuck with trying to have at least one room in the house where TV viewing is the main function. And you have to design furniture and walls and windows so there's a spot to mount the TV. West: The reality is there's no niches anymore. There's no point for them. People can put TVs wherever they need to. They'll watch movies on a laptop. They get the technology and the viewing wherever they need to. Solar gets a foothold Packowski: I'm probably the only fan of global warming that's out there right now, and I've been preaching this for about a year. It sometimes takes crisis to bring change, and whether it is, in fact, real or not, global warming has affected the buyer and consumer in ways that nobody could have imagined as quickly as it has. All of a sudden, more and more people understand what the term LEED means (the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system). ... The fact that (home builder) Lennar made
the commitment to do 1,600 to 2,600 solar homes in the (Sacramento)
region is, well, the odds of that even happening is slim to none at
$15,000 a house. All of a sudden now it's becoming de facto. |
