Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Malibu Home

Many hands have left their mark on the home of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Hundreds of master woodworkers, plasterers, metalsmiths, stonemasons, and upholsterers contributed their expertise to this deeply personal project. “Everything needed to be done by hand,” Will says. “We wanted to feel the love and labor that went into every piece of this place.”

And you can. The 25,000-square-foot house has a surprising intimacy—a soul animated by the craftsmanship on display and the spirit of the celebrity power couple that live here with their children, Willow, Jaden, and Trey, Will’s son from his first marriage. “For Will and me this home was always a spiritual endeavor,” Jada says. “We’re very earthy, organic people. We wanted to create a family retreat, something made by hand and as natural as possible, something that ties back to the land.”

The Smiths’ domestic odyssey began when Will was working with costar Gene Hackman filming the 1998 thriller Enemy of the State. “Gene loves Santa Fe,” Will says. “He has a house there, and he always talked about it. And then Wild Wild West came up, and we were shooting outside of Santa Fe. So I thought, Let me go see Gene’s house.” He admired what he saw. “I just loved that adobe flavor and feeling.”

As it happened, Hackman’s home, designed by local architect Stephen Samuelson, had been published in Architectural Digest (April 1990)—as had another Samuelson Santa Fe residence, the adobe retreat of Carol Burnett, which graced the cover in December ’96. The photos convinced the Smiths to contact the architect, and their collaboration took off in earnest the following year, when the couple acquired a ranch nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas, California. One of the primary draws of the property was a picturesque man-made lake with views of majestic Saddle Peak in the distance. In short order Will and Jada purchased a string of adjacent plots to assemble the rambling 150-acre parcel: their sylvan Shangri-la.

Given the environmentally sensitive landscape and the area’s labyrinth of regulations, the building-permit process dragged on for four years. Construction finally commenced in 2003, after Samuelson and his team had regraded the property to its natural topography and restored sections that had been leveled for equestrian use.

The architect marshaled a small army of workers to apply the hand-troweled plaster that defines the character of the two-story home, which curves around itself, encompassing a motor court. “The aesthetic is anchored in history and the various interpretations of adobe in Persian, Moroccan, Spanish, as well as Southwest American cultures,” Samuelson explains.

The textural quality of traditional three-layer stucco, with all its inherent imperfections, is echoed in exposed ceiling timbers harvested from old homesteads and barns. Banisters of hammered wrought iron and floors inlaid with river stones in spiral and infinity-knot patterns reinforce the project’s hand-forged ethos and spiritual aspirations.

Ancient cultures are referenced throughout—thanks to the Smiths’ collection of antique carved panels, doors, and architectural details from the Middle East, Africa, the American Southwest, and Asia, including the house’s monumental front door, which once provided entry to a fort in northern India. “I have a thing for doors,” Jada confesses. “I always think of them as a threshold to something new.”

The Smiths consulted with designer Waldo Fernandez to get the interiors under way, but for the past couple of years the rooms have been fine-tuned by Los Angeles–based decorator Judith Lance. “When I started, the footprint, finish materials, stone, and paint were already in place,” Lance says. “The aesthetic note was set. Everything [I added] had to look handcrafted but at the same time refined and sophisticated.”

Using reference books on tribal jewelry as her points of departure, Lance ennobled specific rooms with exquisite custom-made pieces. In the living room she installed a serpent-themed fireplace screen of copper mesh, hand-hammered bronze, and carnelian cabochons. A cloistered seating area off the formal dining room boasts foliate sconces of twisted brass wire by artist Mary Brogger and a bespoke chandelier of bronze and leather, with rock-crystal beads hand-strung by Lance’s assistants. In the master suite the designer’s coup de théâtre is a bed canopy constructed of tiny ball chains, which is suspended from the ceiling by links of bronze.

Samuelson’s spatial composition, full of secret nooks and tranquil alcoves, utilizes generously swooping curves and unorthodox geometries so the many rooms, both large and small, flow and connect like a lyrical run-on sentence. “The idea was no dead ends,” Will says. “To create an infinite cycle that represented what Jada and I hoped for our love.”

For Lance, the architecture’s fluid shapes meant every piece of custom-made furniture had to be meticulously tailored. “That was the beauty and challenge of this project,” she says. “Everything I did had to be incredibly precise, both in terms of engineering and aesthetics. Nothing here came off the shelf.”

It seems only natural that this decidedly organic home should continue to evolve. “It’s definitely a work in progress,” Jada says. “Will and I were very young when we started the house, so it keeps on changing as we get older and understand how we really live in it. But whatever it becomes, the craftsmanship will always represent our union and the love of our family.”

Stone-Tolan House

I recently visited the Stone-Tolan house as I plan to volunteer for the Rochester Landmark Society’s upcoming House and Garden Tour. Here’s a little background information on the house.

The Stone-Tolan House Historic Site is the oldest place in the county. For over 200 years, it’s been many things to many people. To Orringh and Elizabeth Stone it was home and work; a farm and tavern. To neighbors, it was a place to gather for a drink in the tavern room, and plan the government for their new town of Brighton. To the traveler, it was shelter from the wilderness of early 19th century New York.

The house has never been moved, it’s firmly rooted on the original site. The neighborhood is now comfortable suburban splendor. But Mr. Stone’s tavern stands where it always has, witness to the changes and reminder or our rural roots.

What will this place be to you? Decide after you’ve experienced the tavern room, kitchen (that’s the part built in 1792), parlor-bedroom, summer kitchen, orchard herb and kitchen gardens, smokehouse, and privy.

Based on the family life of pioneers Orringh and Elizabeth Stone, the Stone-Tolan House represents the private and the public activities of a household and rural tavern on the frontier in Brighton, NY between 1790 and 1820”

Whistler Residence / Batters by Howat Architects

Architects: BattersbyHowat Architects
Location: Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
Site Area: 1,050 sqm
Building Area: 540 sqm
Completion: 2010
Project Team: David Battersby, Heather Howat, Tillie Kwan
Structural Consultant: Equilibrium Consulting
Envelope Consultant: JRS Engineering Ltd.
Contractor: Need Brophy Services Ltd.
Photographs: Sama Jim Canzian

Located in a Whistler neighborhood halfway up the mountainside, this house was designed for clients who appreciate the timber structure characteristic of a Whistler Chalet, but desired a unique family home for seven that would capture this ambience without its typical organization and aesthetic. Situated in a prominent site, the visual mass of the structure was diminished by making a substantial portion of the house appear to be below grade through the strategic removal of bedrock, and by the extension of the living room terrace over the garage. An upper courtyard deck area was also carved in to the massing to gather light centrally into the house. The result is a home that looks deceptively modest in relation to the neighboring properties.

The careful allocation of program allows for retreat zones for both adults and children on the uppermost and lower floor levels respectively. Privacy is also achieved through edited views from within the home that capture the many distant mountain peaks along with the immediacy of the rock and flora that embed the house in its site.

The lowest level, which connects directly to grade, has a maze-like disposition of private and communal spaces. Exposed concrete walls bracket seamless wood lined alcoves that provide access to the sleeping quarters and service spaces located on this level. The main floor is a large open room animated by multiple natural light sources and varied views to the forest and mountains beyond. As on the first floor, walls extend past corners obscuring the space’s sense of containment. On the exterior, walls operate in a similar manner by extending the perceived limits of the interior and cropping views to control exposure and privacy.

Standing seam metal roofing and black stained shingles clad the main form of the structure. In contrast, recessed areas are lined with clear finished red cedar, douglas fir beams and large planes of glazing that bring warmth and light into the interior spaces.

Victoria Tower / Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB

Architect: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB – Gert Wingårdh and Karolina Keyzer
Location: Arne Beurlingstorg 3A, Kista, Stockholm, Sweden
Interior: Arthur Buchardt, Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB & Kiil Interiör
Customer: Call Tower Invest AB
Gross Area: 23,000 sqm
Cost: 55 Million Euro
Completion: 2011
Photographers: Åke E:son Lindman,Tord-Rikard Söderström, Ola Fogelström

Wrapped entirely in a cloak of glass, Victoria Tower stands like a lighthouse along the road between downtown Stockholm and the city airport. The 117,6-meter tower is a landmark for the Kista IT office park and for the conference center at the base of the tower and a manifestation of the area’s high-tech profile.

At the base of the slender tower there is a broad podium that includes a restaurant, conference area and more. The parallelepiped form of the tower is topped by a rectangular cuboid, so that the upper floors project out beyond the shaft below. An irregular arrangement of metal-colored triangular panes of glass gives the façade its character. It incorporates eight different types of glass distributed randomly over the surface so that no regular pattern can be detected. Thin layers of metal oxide have been used to give the panes the insulating and solar shading attributes the situation demands.

With thirty-four storeys, Victoria Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Stockholm. Twenty-two of its floors are occupied by a 229-room hotel, the rest by offices, conference facilities and a sky bar. In response to a request from the client, Arthur Buchard, the lobby, conference spaces, sky bar and hotel rooms have all been designed with furniture from Vitra.

S.Deer Corporate Headquarters / Prechteck

The main idea behind the design for the S.Deer Corporate Headquarters building was to create a world of fashion underlining the lifestyle the retail company stands for. As fashion is not just about clothing, the new S.Deer headquaters should not just be about administration. Inspired by S.Deer’s appearance design, Prechteck‘s proposal implemented rotated cubes as a formal element in their design. More images and architects’ description after the break.

At fashionshows, photoshootings or previous store designs, cubes in different size and configurations are omnipresent and have been a key object and an unofficial logo for representing S.Deer. The scheme divides the building into 2 structurally independant components interacting with each other on a certain height. 2 entities supporting each other and generating an working and lifestyle hybrid for the company.

The larger cube contains a 25.000sqm administrative area with offices, conference and meeting rooms, workshops and creative areas for staff, including underground parking for 300 cars. Angled sky-gardens cut into the building getting natural lighting to the lower floors of the building. On the upper floors creative areas for rebooting and relaxing circumscribe the peremiter of those gardens. A 3,000sqm lifestyle area for fashion shows, parties and a small museum showing the history of the company should visitors strongly connect to the brand.

Some sustainable aspects of the design include grey water treatment, photovoltaic panels on the outside of a double layerd facade, pipes for algae bio cltivation in between the two layers and a use of local materials during the construction of the project. Prechteck’s scheme aimes to produce a natural and organic expression having a refined structure embraced by a textile facade pattern.

Architects: Prechteck
Location: Nanjing, China
Design Team: Chris Precht, Fei Tang, Daniel Mayer
Client: s.deer / concept
Plot Area: 14,000sqm
Floor Area: 28,500sqm
Height: 60m
Storeys: 15

Starbucks Coffee / Kengo Kuma & Associates

Location of this Starbucks is somehow characteristic, as it stands on the main approach to the Dazaifu Tenmangu, one of the most major shrines in Japan. Established in 919 A.D., the shrine has been worshiped as “the God for Examination,” and receives about 2 million visitors a year who wish their success. Along the main path to the shrine, there are traditional Japanese buildings in one or two stories. The project aimed to make a structure that harmonizes with such townscape, using a unique system of weaving thin woods diagonally.

The building is made of 2,000 stick-like parts in the sizes of 1.3m – 4m length and 6cm section. Total length of the sticks reached as far as 4.4km. We had experimented the weaving of sticks for the project of Chidori and GC Prostho Museum Research Center, and this time we tried the diagonal weaving in order to bring in a sense of direction and fluidity. Three sticks are joined at one point in Chidori and GC, while in Starbucks four steps come to one point because of the diagonal – a more complicated joint.

We solved the problem by slightly changing positions of the fulcrums, dividing the four sticks into two groups to avoid concentration on a single point. Piling up of small parts from the ground was highly developed in the traditional architecture of Japan and China. This time the method was greatly improved in combination with state-of-the art technology so that people are brought further into the architecture. It is a fluid, cave-like space.

(Source: archdaily.com)