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House Morgenstern
Linksfield Ridge, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Edoardo Daniele VILLA: Artist
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Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | House Morgenstern Edoardo Daniele VILLA: Artist | | ||||||
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Click to view map Coordinates: | The house is situated on a rocky site on the northern slopes of Linksfield Ridge, Johannesburg. To the south, the land rises steeply, giving protection from the cold south winds. Northwards, the site falls some 300 ft. (91.44m) towards the pleasant foreground of trees, suburban gardens and swimming-pools, and to a panoramic vista, stretching practically all the way to Pretoria. The site, over an acre (4 047m sq) in extent, with a frontage of 120 ft. (36.58m), lies about 10 ft. (3.05m) below road level and has a narrow north-facing plateau, upon which most of the principal rooms and the east garden are strung out along the edge of the precipice. In the western corner where the land falls steeply away, the topography permitted the planning of rooms on three different levels. A lower terrace, 20 ft. 0 in. (6.1m) below the plateau, forms the site of the swimming-pool and change rooms. For the rest, contour paths and stone steps lead a meandering way through interesting rocky outcrops and indigenous vegetation to the lower reaches of the stand. Planning is for informal living; a harmonious indoor-outdoor relationship and a desire to achieve a feeling of spaciousness even in confined areas, the various zones of living, dining, study flow freely into one another and planted courtyards, brought into the heart of the house, complete the indoor spaces and bring the garden inside. Partitions and fittings are stopped short of or glazed up to boarded ceilings, to achieve a visual continuity of the surface overhead. Walls are mainly of natural stone quarried and dressed on the site and built up into thicknesses ranging from 1 ft. 6in. (460mm) to 3 ft. 0 in. (910mm). The entrance court and children's internal and external play spaces are paved with marble mosaic, patterned with an inlaid design, executed by Portuguese craftsmen from Madeira. Elsewhere the floors internally and terraces externally are of square sawn unpolished slates laid in random pattern. The roof, too, is of slate. Timber is used extensively for rafters and wall beams where it has been reinforced with mild steel collars and plates; for posts which are fixed by means of wrought iron shoes; for windows which have steel opening sections; for ceiling, railings, fittings and cupboards. Bathrooms, cloakroom, toilets and kitchen are tiled in glass mosaics. Generally materials have been chosen for their own inherent decorative qualities and left in their natural state. Plaster was avoided completely and brickwork, where used has been ruled and whitewashed. There are several works by Eduardo Villa. [Three Levels on a Steep Site, New Home Building Ideas. p 20] See also Transvaal Institute of Architects. Books that reference House Morgenstern
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