GREAT TURNOUT AT “TERRA FIRMA & THE IMPRINT OF ARCHITECTURE”

On March 26th of this year, Principal Yo Hakomori presented his lecture Terra Firma & the Imprint of Architecture as part of the USC Architecture Faculty Sightings SP25. Engaging with students and faculty of the school of architecture, Hakomori discussed the significance and impact of topography on the spatial and formal qualities of architecture. Recent StudioHAU projects, including the High Desert Residence and the Art Site Hotel and Resort, illustrated the ways in which the natural and built environment can be connected when manipulating the ground plane.

The High Desert Residence is designed for near-net-zero energy consumption in the high desert of Southern California. Seamlessly working in symbiosis with the desert climate, its combination of low-tech passive systems with high-tech active systems redefines the California courtyard typology as a habitat for sustainable living. Beyond functionality, the architecture and gardens of the house create figural forms in the desert landscape that frame the panoramic desert landscape and hillside and accentuate the ephemeral beauty of natural phenomena.

Art Site Hotel and Resort located on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean will be a new destination resort with a focus on art and nature.  The hotel and resort development will highlight the production of art as an interactive medium, all in relationship to hotel amenities and its natural surroundings. Here, art isn’t merely observed but embraced as an entity intertwined harmoniously with its natural environment.