The Mohammed Residence is for a progressive muslim family who desired a home centered around their faith and extended family. The residence is approximately 5,900 square feet of interior space with approximately 1,500 square feet of exterior roof terraces.
The design of the house is derived from two fundamental Islamic tenants of architecture: the courtyard, and surface articulation.
The architecture of the courtyard house has been called the architecture of the veil. Enveloped by a plain facade, the house’s innermost sanctum – the courtyards – are kept secret. The introverted courtyard house expresses the need to exclude the outside environment while protecting that which is inside – the family and the inner life. With a narrow 50 by 150 residential lot, rather than one central courtyard, the house is developed around a series of gardens, which allow visual layering of interior and exterior spaces.
Islamic surface decoration is a part of a large Islamic architectural tradition that aims at a visual negation of the reality of weight and the necessity of support. The forms and mass of the house are subdivided according to a system based essentially on two elements: the panel and the band. These two elements of Islamic ornamental syntax interact in such a way as to make the plastic articulation of forms possible. Where the panels function as discontinuous elements, the bands serve as links guaranteeing the cohesion of the whole.
Landscaping is separated into two types, the public landscaping is minimal and low maintenance (primarily front yard) and the courtyard landscaping is lush and edible, with over 30 exotic fruit trees, herbs, berries, and edible flowers.
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