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The Smith House(1965 1967)

Darien, Connecticut, USA

The Smith House, designed by architect Richard Meier, is part of aseries of houses that mark the first rationalistic stage in the architect's work,when he was part of the New York Five alongside Peter Eisenman, MichaelGraves, Charles Gwathmey and John Hejduk. Based on an operation-stylerationalism made popular by Le Corbusier decades ago, Meier worked atcarving the house out of the basic cubic base with operations of addition andsubtraction.

The house is set on a 65,000-square-foot site overlooking Long Island

Sound, on a wooded hillside sloping towards the sea. This site is marked bya group of pines near the entrance, and drops off to the rock shore nearbyand a sandy cove.

Its structure is a pure white prism that seems to emerge between thetrees surrounding the area, thus creating a strong visual contrast in thescenery. People often have the false impression that this house was built inconcrete, when in fact wood is the prime material used for the walls. The

brick chimney and metallic interiors complete the house. From the frontwalkway, visitors approach a mostly opaque white faade before crossing aramp and entering on the house's second level to discover what Meier calls a"180-degree explosion" of light and space, possible because of the color choice. White, for the architect, is a source of tranquility, bringing objectsinto sharp focus. The use of ample windows and white surface amplifies theimpression of changing light that moves through the house with thechanging hours and seasons.

The living room, dining area, and study room embrace the waterfrontviews, pinwheeling in a three-level enclosure of glass on three sides. Thefamily's private quarters are stacked to hug the street-facing faade of the2,800-square-foot building. Other elements specific for Meier are also

present: the pristine white exterior, expanses of plate glass framed by finely proportioned piers and mullions, and minimal interiors creating intersectingvolumes. Because of this, the design impact is produced by the simplestmeans, with no frills and a remarkable absence of the architectural clichs of that time.

A division of public and private spaces is made according to thescheme already visible in the exterior faades. The entrance side corresponds

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to the private zone of the house. A series of closed, cellular spaces, these private areas are organized through three levels behind an opaque faade,which is intermittently pierced with windows. Visitors are greeted with adramatic view of the sea and the painted brick fireplace. Three levels of

public space are grouped behind the glazed and articulated seaside faadewith its central white chimney. The architect organizes the floor plan byzoning, a characteristic of his first houses. The bedrooms and private areasare located in the closed rectangular prism, while the service, social, andentrance areas are located on the open ground floor.The rear facade facing uphill is wrapped in opaque walls with only small,geometrically arranged openings for windows to protect the occupants'

privacy. The social areas are all located toward the front of the house, wherethe large glass panes open laterally, facing down the hillside. In somespaces, the height of the rooms in the front area can reach two or three

stories, and the extreme height contributes to the dramatization of theinterior space.

The curved staircase that descends from the first floor to the ground,the small reservoir cubic annex and the access ramp to the house, beingadditions to the central cubic volume, serve as anchor points for the house.

Despite his use of the Modernist vocabulary, the Smith House sends asense of comfort, space, and above all, light.