The Sutnar House

An Inconspicuous Eden for a Conspicious Artist

by Oldřich Starý

At first sight, the Sutnar House does not capture your attention by any extraordinary, unique or especially characteristic features. Purely and simply, it seems a little like a cube stick in a hill (no offence). However, when you take a little more attentive look at this inconspicuous building, in a while, you will be surprised how interesting story the exterior tells and how much it reveals about the interior without crossing the doorsill.

When you look at the house from the front and perceive it in a very simple way, the first thing that hits you is a mass carried on columns, lit and sticking out from the terrain. That is actually the living part, ,,showpiece” of the building, which has to be exhibited. However, the servant part – suterrain - stays hidden in the backside, behind the columns and in the dark, a little disclaimed. This was my first impression from the house and I tried to represent it by a very simple sketch.

The composition of windows on the facade reveals really a lot about the inner distinction.  It is clear that the left part, with four symmetrically placed horizontal windows, giving the impression of openness and hospitality, does not have the same function as the right one, where the only feature is a small narrow window situated in the left corner, so it is probably intended to provide some 

privacy.

I sketched the two parts separated to see what happens. The left part seems to be self-contained, balanced and dauntless, but also uninteresting and boring. The right part looks like a child who lost its mum and it leans towards the living part, but it has its own fresh design.

Also the back side did not remain silent. Although the entrance is basically not very opulent, it gives me an impression of a quidepost – it is a cluster of diverse little windows under a shelter, which gives us a hint what will be going on inside.

The following relief represents the development of the entrance: from situating doors, through giving it a sense by placing windows, to completing it by a shelter, which makes it hospitable. (photos by Matěj Hartl)

I would sum this up by the quote from my favorite book.

,,The beauty follows more likely from harmonious relations between elements of a composition than from elements themselves.”

(Matthew Frederick: 101 Things I Learned in Architecture school)

Volume model fitting in terrain, functional distinction

As I have already mentioned before, The Sutnar House is a building of cubic shape set in a steep and rough terrain. It is divided into two functional parts – the living one and the atelier, because it had to be convenient for an artist and his work, but also for his family. Oldřich Starý, the architect, solved the situation by setting each of the parts in different high levels, so he created a little trace of Raumplan.

We simulated the fitting to terrain by a volume model, where are also apparent the two functionally different parts – the pink one is the living one and the grey represents the atelier.

  

Model of structure

The structure of the building is a combination of column and wall system. I suppose that the architect wanted to keep the central space opened and connected, so that is why he decided to use columns. The four columns carry the front facade and equalize the terrain. We created a structure model to simulate the load-bearing construction and display the two level principal of the house. (resource: my own photos)

Served and serving space

The right relation between these two spaces is very important for an arrangement and function of the building. In this house, the serving spaces are situated in one part of the ground plan in each floor. I draw a scheme to demonstrate the system of these spaces in this building.

The blue represents the served spaces and the red is for serving ones. 

 The „served“ and „serving” spaces were firstly defined in detail by Louis Kahn. He made effort to design the buildings so the serving spaces were fully functional but also did not disturb the harmony of main spaces. The illustrious example of his philosophy is the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas, where the serving spaces rhythmically take served ones’ place. (see resources)

The spatial organization

A very interesting fact about Sutnar House is that it is almost completely set in a modular system 2 x 2 meters. I demonstrated this by a scheme set in the construction model.

In the second picture I would like to display the presence of the a dimension in various parts of house.

In this picture I tried to represent the expected motions and fields of radiance in consideration of the spaces’ character and their possible users.

Views and light

In the beginning, I dare to quote Matthew Frederick again. He says:

,,Frame the view, it is not enough to show it.”

And I totally agree, because it is so characterizing not only for the Sutnar House, but for all the houses in Baba. They have almost all windows situated to south-eastern side, to the beautiful panorama of Prague. But without a well dimensioned window, it is just a landscape. In a frame, it is a masterpiece. 

Most, CR (see resources)

České středohoří, Lovoš Hill (see resources)

Oldřich Starý worked very studiously with the windows. Ribbon windows in the living part are dimensioned in order to show 2/3 of landscape and 1/3 of sky, so they create compact and harmonic picture.

What I found most interesting was the little narrow window in the atelier, so I focused my sketches on it. It is dimensioned for an eye horizon of a sitting (working) person, so a standing one cannot see almost nothing. But when you sit down, it is immediately clear where Ladislav Sutnar drew inspiration from…

This is an example of similar case, where the window is situated to provide a picturesque sight for lying person. (Port Headlock Cabin, Washington, USA, see resources)

And these are my drawings explaining the situation in the Sutnar House.

These two drawings represent the project of light in the living room and atelier. Because all the windows are oriented to the south, the shadows have sharp edges and the relatively small rooms seem to be more spacious and brighter.

During my visit of the Sutnar House, I also sketched these two features:

The entrance to the terrace

This element probably seemed interesting only to me, but I was a little amused by its cheeky expression. It is absolutely function feature, but it looks like a symbolic connection between the two levels and functional parts, or, in the more poetic interpretation, like a periscope. Who knows, nautical symbols were very popular in those years…

The entrance hall

This is the sight I really liked a lot. The daylight from the left illuminates the beautiful detail of the stair line. For me, this is maybe the most beautiful element in the house. Kitchen in the backside.  

The Conclusion

If I am supposed to mention the most pertinent architectural features of the Sutnar House, I probably say the house as atelier, gallery (related to previous), two floor levels, ribbon windows… These elements are certainly very characteristic and I am looking forward to work with them during the designing of my own project, but I think that the real beauty and imposingness of this house lie in small details, such as the line of the stairs, the play with the light or the views and I would like to keep this philosophy in my future projecting.

In closing I want to share this picture from the book Architecture – Choice or Fate by Léon Krier which I find quiet funny with regard to the theme of this semester.  

Resources

The materials with no references to resources are all from my own archive.

http://www.archlighting.com/cultural-projects/structural-light_o.aspx      

http://petrkrejci.bigbloger.lidovky.cz/c/389589/Kostalov-okna-do-Stredohori.html

http://www.bydleni-iq.cz/wp-content/uploads/13_most.jpg

https://www.houzz.com/photos/104834/Port-Hadlock-Cabin-modern-bedroom-seattle