Gehry Residence Floor — Plan

: Features the original house's living spaces colliding with new additions. The kitchen, famously built over the original asphalt driveway, sits between the old exterior wall and the new metal shell. First Floor

When discussing the pantheon of modern architectural marvels, few homes have generated as much controversy, adoration, and academic study as the in Santa Monica, California. Completed in 1978, this project was the unlikely birthplace of what we now call Deconstructivism. gehry residence floor plan

The Gehry Residence floor plan has had a significant influence on architectural design. It has inspired a generation of architects to experiment with new and innovative approaches to design, and has helped to establish Deconstructivism as a major architectural movement. : Features the original house's living spaces colliding

To understand the floor plan, one must understand the split identity of the structure. Gehry did not build from scratch. He purchased a 1920s pink bungalow for himself and his wife, Berta. The original for the bungalow was perfectly ordinary: living room, dining, kitchen, two bedrooms upstairs. Completed in 1978, this project was the unlikely

This stark contrast is the thesis of the building. The is literally a diagram of schizophrenia: a quiet suburban sleeping box wrapped in a noisy, angular, public machine.

At the ground level, the floor plan is defined by a sense of movement. The original footprint of the 1920s house remains the core, housing the traditional living areas. However, Gehry extended the floor plan outward using unconventional materials like corrugated metal, chain-link fencing, and plywood. The new kitchen and dining areas are located in these interstitial spaces—the "gap" between the old exterior wall and the new outer shell. This layout forces a dialogue between the cozy, enclosed feeling of the old rooms and the raw, industrial openness of the additions.

The second floor continues this theme of architectural excavation. Gehry stripped away the plaster ceilings of the original bedrooms to reveal the wooden skeleton of the house. The floor plan upstairs is more intimate but no less complex. The primary suite and additional bedrooms occupy the original volume, but they are framed by the new structural additions that peek through the windows and skylights. The master bathroom, in particular, is a highlight of the upper level, featuring jagged angles and unexpected views of the surrounding neighborhood through tilted glass planes.