Tubac House

E X E M P L A R    A N A L Y S I S    / /    T U B A C    H O U S E    / /    R I C K    J O Y 

Background / Authors Note:

Perhaps one of Rick Joy's most prized abilities is to create architecture, which seamlessly and precisely frames and incorporates the surrounding landscape. He understands that form in architecture is completely separate from nature itself - and that it is infact, entirely human and sensual. This understanding leads to simplistic architecture; derived from a very intimate understanding of the order of the universe itself. Rick Joy's architecture captures in an almost diagrammatic sense exactly why architecture is an art form; that is, something that humans innately do and feel connected with on a spiritual and fundamental sense. 


Tubac House by Rick Joy
Year Complete: 2001
Location: Tubac, Arizona USA.


House as an Environmental Filter:

The houses exterior simply slips 'like a lizzard' into the landscape of Tubac (Plattner, 2007). On closer observation, this hidden oasis reveals a surreal sense of artistic order and human intervention. The house is neatly tucked into the hillside to help resist the extreme temprate climate of the desert area. As seen in UME Magazine, we can tell the Rick Joy has given great thought to the materials used in the exterior to ensure they provide the correct interior climate whilst also adding artistically to the surrounding landscape at large. When viewed from a distance, the rusty textures of the untreated alloys seen on the exterior of the structure blend with the Arizona area in a quaint, subtle and human manner. 

When viewed closely the rusty textures seem so fine an inter-weaved with the landscape, there is no doubting that Tubac House is a minimalist piece of art, carefully constructed to emotionally compliment the icy mountains and desert sands. The exterior surfaces of the home are composed of untreated alloys, resulting in a rusty, harsh exterior surface, which is contrasted by the crisp, smooth and clean interiors of the inner house.  It is my opinion that this high contrast allows the interior of Tubac House to 'feel crisp', as opposed to many modern day residential homes which feature comparatively low contrast and fail to be an artistic adaption of the environment (instead, entirely forsaking it's surroundings). We as architects must often look at examples of environmental adaption to use as inspiration - the domination of the environment with architecture both spiritually and physically is in this writers opinion; crude, careless, and lesser.  

The two halves of the structure form a U shape and contain a shielded and often shaded courtyard. The courtyard is an essential element to the sense of place within Tubac House, it forms, between the inclosed areas which contrast the untreated metal exteriors, its own place in which the landscape is entirely at one with the structure. Within the courtyard, the landscape and the structure overlap to create something entirely different.


Furthermore, the primary views Tubac House carefully frames invite the landscape into the home itself. It has to be observed that this is done carefully with both sensitivity and human understanding - the view from the main bedroom only frames the courtyard, very little of the surrounding grandeur is incorporated fully into the bedroom, giving it a secure feeling which is desired trait within a bedroom (Fujimoto, 2010). The other rooms of the house however assume different roles, and accordingly, the surrounding world is openly invited into our experience of Tubac House. 


The House as a Container for Human Activities:

The interior of Tubac House is structured in a manner that compliments and encourages healthy lifestyle habits and comfortable living for two. With no spare bedroom, it is the couple living philosophy that comes to mind. The house wastes no space, each room has a specific feel that is keyed to it's physical function. 


The house also features a 'gradient' of spaces, ranging from secure (bedroom) to free (outdoor living room facing the pool (seen left)). If we break down the components of the rooms using the floor plan (seen below), we can see that Rick Joy is familiar with the concepts of 'nesting' within human nature itself (Sou Fujimoto, 2010). It is my opinion that freedom and security in architecture are a fine balance; different rooms must have different amounts of either freedom or security - they cannot have both as an absolute value. It falls to the architect to create spaces that 'feel free' but re-assure us with the security that the home should always offer, or as it is said, "I like a window that frames a perfect view, but i like to sit 
with my back to it".



The House as a Delightful Experience:

Once the architect has carefully satisfied the above criterion, it falls only to the imbued artistic and expressionist values to complete the work.  For many of the reasons stated above, the house is already perceived as the reader by being delightful; but it would be unfair to not give 'delight' its own part to play amongst the primary criterion for a satisfying architectural experience. Delight in Tubac House is perfect simplicity and cutting satisfaction worthy of being a home for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  It draws on a vein of innately human architecture at its core: The window in the wall because we are curious to see what happens outside. The defined boundaries that make us feel secure. But it is never that simple - Rick Joy has done what is fundamentally human at its best, near perfect artistic expression combined with our desires and wants as a human institution. 

Reference:

Akuhei, 2006. "Tubac House". Archipedia.
http://www.archipedia.org/buildings/tubachouse
 
Blogger, 2006."Tubac House by Rick Joy".
http://coolboom.net/architecture/tubac-house-by-rick-joy/
 
UME, 2002. "Tubac House Arizona". UME Publishing, ISSUE 63.
http://www.umemagazine.com/scrollSpreads.aspx 

Plattner, S. Innovative Architecture of the Tubac House. 2010.
URL: http://inventorspot.com/architecture_tubac_house
 
Swager, P. 2006. "Rick Joy Architect" Tuscon, AZ Recent Work.
http://www.arch.uiuc.edu/events/lectures/fa2006/11_01_06/