Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Area: 7500.0 ft2
Year built: 2013

Located in the hills above  the  Silver  Lake  Reservoir, this live/work residence draws reference from multiple narratives within its’ Los Angeles  neighborhood.  With Richard  Neutra’s VDL house around the corner,  John Lautner’s Silvertop residence across the reservoir and its own 1920’s bungalow past, the design folds multiple sensibilities into a model of preservation through modi-
fication. The strategy transforms the existing 1300sf bungalow into a  2000sf house with a 500sf subterranean studio.  The metal exterior skin and the hot rolled steel/plywood interior liner form a spatial manifold enveloping and occupying the existing bungalow, while merging the interior living spaces, exterior gardens and  roof-scape  into a compact living environment.  The formal and spatial configuration of the addition is derived by extending the existing roof south,  wrapping down towards the earth,  folding under and then slicing through itself, finally coming to rest upon the existing roof.
Serving  as  an  alternative preservation model, one of respect and augmentation of past and future local narratives, the Manifold House addresses the challenges and possibilities latent within the physical “recycling” of existing modest residences within areas of rapid gentrification.