CONVERSE HOUSE 2019

LOS ANGELES, CA
Located on a hillside overlooking Los Angeles, the Converse House is the second design for a single family residence on the same site. Ten years prior, a house was designed for the property, but was never built. The new design deals with the same site related challenges as the original house, with the added issues of economy and constructability. Because of this, a prefabricated steel Quonset hut was used as the basis of the design. Originally created for the U.S. Army in World War II, Quonset huts are known for their customizability and ease of construction. Since their introduction by the military, these self supporting steel shells have been adapted to serve as private residences, most famously by Pierre Chareau on Long Island, New York for the artist Robert Motherwell.  Adapting the Quonset for the arid climate of Los Angeles requires a building with various degrees of shade and exposure. The end walls of the steel shell form the enclosure of the house, and by shifting the planes of these outside walls, the continuous vault is able to contain a variety of spaces with differentiated functions. A concrete retaining wall truncates the full arc of the steel structure in order to integrate the building into the hillside.