The cost and effort required to achieve these effects are not often referenced, though Zak admits that "it takes a lot of work to make them look this simple." Other Zak houses, mainly those in California, have a storybook quality as well, slightly reminiscent of the work of another Bay Area architect, Julia Morgan—only without the Gothic reverie. Architectural levity is found in the gently tapering turrets of Garden Pavilion, the corrugated roof of Ranch House, and the lodge-like brackets of Corner House that recall those in Greene and Greene bungalows. Quite conversely, most of the Hawaii houses are beachy and exhibit a beautiful practicality. Yet these houses are all related, and should be contemplated as an evolution, from the very well-behaved Hillside House to Hawaii's Assembly House and its devilish disarray of spaces. Zak likens his architectural progression over the last decade to his shifting taste in art, from plein air paintings to the work of abstract artists like Donald Judd and Ellsworth Kelly.
Though Zak has made an intriguing evolution from neotraditionalism to a type of deconstructivism, hints of modernism reveal themselves in his more traditional houses, and shades of classical symmetry are apparent in his more minimal commissions. He names the 16th-century classicist Palladio as an influence yet is preoccupied with modern concepts such as negative space, indoor-outdoor living, and clean lines. Like most architects, he avoids being pigeonholed into one particular style, but when pressed to define his own refers to it as "modern classicism." More than two thousand miles across the sea, on the shores of Hawaii, the owners are rewarded with the same sense of home.
Form and Light
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is said to have remarked that "God is in the details," a deliciously arrogant, and inherently architectural, take on an old adage. Zak's singular designs include the siding on Ranch House, whose edges are finished with a wavy pattern, making the exterior appear, from some distance away, to breathe. Its corrugated metal overhangs, reminiscent of early homesteaded outbuildings of the West, are modernized as they jut out at stark angles.
The tropical homes designed by San Francisco-based architect Shay Zak perfectly capture the spirit and culture of the islands. Subtleties of proportion, celebration of light, and thoughtful framing of views are delicately balanced to create exceptional homes that are perfectly suited to their dramatic oceanside sites. Constructed of natural materials that are beautiful to the eye and pleasant to the touch, the structures mesh seamlessly with the landscape and age with grace.
A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised)
The gate pavilion at Assembly House, in addition to being clad in meticulously hand-set stonework, has a slim, vertical gun-slot detail facing the mountains to balance the huge floor-to-ceiling views to the sea. The "woven" stone walls that accent Stone House are an ingenious middle ground between open and closed. They long for secrets to be passed between them; they are a play within a play, a manifestation of the tinker's open fingers in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
/ Curling up with a brand new book / Pages flipping past your nose / A cup of tea, warm in your reading nook / Mark your page before you doze... Reverence for the land is not limited to Zak's Hawaii houses; it has driven his California commissions as well. He has walked each site with the clients and studied every plane, every view, to find the proper placement. He has eschewed slavish interpretations of local vernacular, yet has paid very close attention to this language, allowing the houses, though unique, to suggest that they and their inhabitants truly belong where they are. They evoke the feeling of having remained in-situ for decades among the historic farms and barns.
Tiny Houses
They light their tiki torches when they are, as they say, "in residence." And when they are not, they shut the rows of pocket doors—first the screens, then the slat blinds, then the heavy wood doors—and the houses sleep, and wait for their inhabitants to return and allow them to come alive again. Every architect has signatures; Zak's include his Hawaiian roofs, heavily influenced by the Asian pagoda style. The home's arched "eyebrow" roof resembles the wings of a great bird, in the process of retracting as it settles back down to the ground. The houses are low-slung, nestled to the point of almost invisibility and seen from the air as a series of rectilinear pods.
The sense of retreat at Stone House is underscored by the interior spaces, designed by San Francisco firm the Wiseman Group, where exquisite furnishings and soulful local art sing with subtle luxury and meld triumphantly with the architectural shell. Also fundamental to Zak's designs is the orientation of homes to their views. The California houses are strengthened by vistas of the inland topography—old oaks, Pacific Madrones, brush-covered hills, and verdant woods—but views are especially important at the seaside. With good reason, Zak is reluctant to change from the courtyard-home-lanai-pool-sea formula—one does not buy an ocean-front lot to turn one's back to it, and the seaside homes' more memorable features include the views across the great room and lanai to the pool and ocean beyond. In this book, in addition to architectural details, photographer Matthew Millman captures sweeping shots of what one looking out to open land or sea would frame with his hands, well before sinking the first shovel.
The Palaces, Stately Houses & Castles of Georgian, Victorian and Modern Britain
We perfect the attention and reach of marketing-intensive real estate through innovative and modern real estate marketing. That’s all homes for sale in Gunzenhausen, Germany we have matching your search today. Join us on Instagram & Facebook and discover more great pictures, stories and selected listings. Shay Zak founded Zak Architecture in 1996 after working for SOM in their SF,NY, Chicago and Boston offices. His Hawaii homes are documented in his 2011 book New Tropical Classics, Hawaiian Homes by Shay Zak. Shay grew up in Mill Valley CA, received a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and a Masters in Architecture from Harvard University.
Most notably in the Hawaii homes, family members and guests are given increasing architectural autonomy. When comparing the plans for the houses, a clear pattern emerges. Beginning with Beach House, one guest pavilion has snuck away from the main house, then Courtyard House is split into several freestanding buildings. Cluster House marks the first time Zak really "pulled everything apart," he says; followed by the Stone and Assembly houses, which became totally abstracted independent forms.
Besides castles and manors - old houses and character properties with soul and style. Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers with over 50 million reviews. We're featuring millions of their reader ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book. Zak's Hawaii houses mainly rest in the adjoining Hualalai and Kukio communities, on the temperate Kona-Kohala coast of the Big Island. Because he has designed many homes there, areas exist in which several of his commissions are situated together, giving certain streets more cohesion than others. In the case of the Courtyard and Stone houses, the two make for stunning next-door neighbors that play off one another with understated variations in tone.
Subtly attacking the sameness of many of the surrounding buildings, Zak strives for the sublime. This dictum has guided the locals for centuries in their quest to maintain a deep appreciation for living in harmony with nature. Zak's work thrives especially in concert with clients who honor his respect for what and who was here before, and for what and who may exist here later. Place a free historic listing ad in just a few minutes or see what we can do for you besides a real estate ad, because REALPORTICO is more than just any Listing Site.
