A Fort for a Home?

The calligraphy hanging in their entry alcove says, it takes some back-and-forth to arrive at the answer—and even then, I suspect, it is only the closest ap-proximation the English language could offer. “‘We don’t have much, but friends are welcome,’” Ken replies. To which Shino adds, “‘This house is empty, that’s why you can get smarter.’” Smarter? “If you don’t have things, you have to think to accomplish things,” Ken explains. “Basically, you don’t have to have much.”
And the Wabi House, which architect Sebastian Mariscal designed for the couple three years ago, is, on its face, not much. In fact, from the perfectly ordinary suburban street on which it sits, it’s little more than a white cube rising from a black rectangle. But just as the calligraphy encourages the home’s residents to find greater meaning within, so too does the Wabi House itself.


With doors open, Shino and Ken pull an Eames LCW chair for Herman Miller outside to enjoy the space.
“From the list of what Shino and Ken wanted and didn’t want, I could sense that they were sub-consciously requesting an introspective house,” says the bicoastal Mariscal, who has offices in Woodstock, New York, and San Diego, California. “They didn’t want a show-off house; they wanted somewhere they could live forever.” After find-ing out that the property was subject to neither design restrictions nor neighborhood reviews, Mariscal’s San Diego–based design-build team transformed the typical ceramic-shingle-roofed rancher (after completely deconstructing it) into a one-of-a-kind architectural achievement.

But while the Wabi House fits Shino and Ken’s lives like a perfectly tailored suit, the pair didn’t dictate any of the design. “We wanted Sebastian to come up with his own style and ideas,” says Shino. “We tried not to tell him too much—the minimum.” So after an initial series of discussions about what the home should and shouldn’t be, Mariscal (in Ken’s words) went dark. “It was slightly uncomfortable,” Ken chuckles, “but after a few months he pretty much came back with the house you see today.”

“It’s great when you find a client that challenges you to do something more meaningful,” says Mariscal. “They really trusted me.” And so the Wabi House serves as an object lesson in how the most spectacular creative results are accomplished: through the confident patron-age of dedicated, willing clients. Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/the-hidden-fortress.html#ixzz1fDmZok7E