01 Case Study House No. 4, the Greenbelt House 02 Floorplan of Greenbelt House Case Study House #4, Greenbelt House Designed 1945 Never executed Approximately 1800 square foot, including roofed interior greenbelt Widely considered one of the most progressive of the Case Study Houses
01 02 Rapson s Glass Cube was born in 1914 in Alma, Michigan. He is one of the world s oldest practicing architects, and also one of the most prolific. His work is predominantly in the Modernist style, but Rapson also held a deep appreciation for vernacular and traditional building types. Rapson was educated at the University of Michigan and Cranbrook Academy of Art under Eleil Saarinen. Rapson led the architecture department of the New Bauhaus School in Chicago and practiced in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Stockholm, and Paris before becoming head of the architecture school at the University of Minnesota in 1954. He also designed furniture and accessories for Knoll Furniture in the 1940s, took place in the Case Study House program, and had his own furniture line in the 1950s. As of 2007 Ranson s office, & Associates continues to work on a variety of projects. Some of Rapson s most visible projects include the United States embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen, both 1954, the Pillsbury House, 1963, the Guthrie Theater, 1963, the Cedar Square West housing complex, 1962-1973,and Rarig Center, 1971.
01 Early diagram of interior courtyard scheme Case Study House #4 was based on the premise that it must create its own environment and it must look completely in rather than look out. The house reduced to a microcosm Buckminster Fuller s Autonomous Living Package (an artificial environment created under cover to shelter great numbers of people)
01 Late study for Case Study House #4 Architecture, Rules. March 15, 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dymaxion_house, Dymaxion House. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ralph_rapson,. Hession, Jane King. : 60 Years of Modern Design. Afton Historical Society Press: Afton, Minnesota. 1999. http://materialicio.us/2007/08/30/the-glass-cube-ralph-rapson/, The Glass Cube. McCoy, Esther. Case Study Houses: 1945-1962. Hennessey and Ingalls, Inc: Los Angeles, CA. 1977. http://wieler.com/homes/rapson-greenbelt http://livemodern.com/modernblogs/ fa2bbea55fb132e01e1fd8cc90718aeb/, Rapson Greenbelt by Weiler.
01 Exterior of Greenbelt House Single family Single-story: living-dining, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths Two pavilions: public and private 02 Public and Private pavilions, bisected by greenbelt
01 Wall Types: Solid, Opaque, and Operable 02 Model suggesting how nature could be brought into the greenbelt Integration of inside and outside with greenbelt It seems fundamental to bring nature within the house not in small, pretty planting areas, but in a large scale that will do justice to nature. -- Adjustable louvres below the glass controlled the amount of light and heat in the in the interior courtyard All interior walls except those surrounding the bathrooms could be folded up to open up the house to the courtyard
01 Late study proposing parking underneath the house 02 Late study proposing parking underneath the house Designed for a hypothetical city lot in a built-up neighborhood Only case study house not specified for an open suburban lot All of the rooms were positioned towards a central glass-enclosed courtyard, which provided a focal point for all of the rooms, a built-in view, and privacy from the neighboring houses Late studies considered elevating the house to provide parking underneath, although the final design was only story and had parking beside the house
01 Open floorplan 02 Kitchen Diagram 03 Public/Private Diagram Open plan Kitchen is the heart of living activities, so it is positioned to give direct visual control over entire house Two parallel pavilions, public and private, bisected by greenbelt 04 Building Diagrams
01 Postwar Americans pursuing leisure-time activities 02 Model suggesting how nature could be brought directly into the house Bringing nature inside the house would help to overcome the disadvantages of the city lot and would offer a built-in view while giving the family a space in which to pursue healthful leisure-time activities Kitchen: emphasis on functionalism, efficiency, and space articulation large amount of storage and counter space, room for deep freezer, washer and dryer, ironing board, etc. Beds and storage units in bedrooms were completely mobile Furniture will be designed by the architect and kept lightweight and mobile Bright, textured fabrics used inside to compliment the lively façade Greenbelt: could be planted, or could have emphasis on space for additional living pool table, small pool, etc. 03 Initial interior relationship diagrams
01 Section showing the four basic functions of the house 02 Wall Section Wood or steel post and beam framing 03 Post and beam framing system
01 Detail of folding wall 02 Perspective of bedroom opening up to greenbelt No fixed interior walls except those around the bathrooms The use of folding walls permitted each area complete privacy or physical and visual enlargement of the entire enclosed space
01 Louvres of greenbelt roof/ slats over exterior glazing The floor would be warmed by either radiant heat under glazed tile or by a circulating hot-water system under a concrete pad Adjustable louvres below the glass controlled the amount of light and heat in the in the interior courtyard Wooden slats covered exterior glazing for shading
01 Study of the roof section Wood or steel frame, depending on the family s budget, painted light grey Facade of prefabricated panels: a flexible, interchangeable combination of fixed or moving panels of glass (opaque or clear), plywood, and brightly painted Cemesto board Plaster ceilings, painted off-white Frosted glass ceilings with concealed fluorescent light in bathrooms Cool-lite wire glass or thermag semi-vacuum insulated glass roof over greenbelt Stainless steel countertops, sliding wood cabinets Greenbelt: extensive plantings, very little, or completely paved, as the family saw fit 02 Elevation showing various
01 The Greenbelt House constructed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1989 02 Influence of the greenbelt in Edward Killinagsworth s architecture Prototype Unfortunately, the house was never built. There were questions of budget and aesthetic sensibilities. However, it was constructed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 1989 for the exhibition Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses It also influenced several later designs: Edward Killingsworth designed interior courts reminiscent of Greenbelt Rapson submitted an updated version of his Case Study House #4, which he called The Greenbelt, to the Dwell Home Invitational in 2003. The public responded so favorably to the updated home that Wieler is selling a series of Rapson Greenbelt homes, improved with almost 60 years of experience in architecture and design and updated to take advantage of the latest modular construction technologies. The Greenbelt is available in several different configurations, and is typically built in a factory then delivered and assembled at your home site.
01 Updated versions of the Rapson Greenbelt available through Wieler 02 Updated versions of the Rapson Greenbelt available through Wieler