Located in the hot and dry landscape of Southern California’s coastal canyons, the Topanga Ranch investigates alternative approaches of living in relation to the land.
Out of the site’s hillside topography, a series of narrow contours and wider plateaus emerge, articulated as the generating lines for the project. The house’s lower zone, constructed of concrete, is conceived as being of the earth. It is covered by a planted roof, making its extend ambiguously beneath the ground.
In contrast to the earth level, the residence sits lightly above the land, conceived as a device for viewing and engaging the landscape. Three distinct volumes cantilever beyond the lower level toward the multi-directional dramatic canyon views. The volumes of the structure overlap, bifurcate, and flow into each other generating oblique and partial views between and through adjacent spaces.