Gehry Residence Floor Plan !full! Instant
Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, renovated between 1977 and 1978, is a seminal work of deconstructivist architecture where Frank Gehry wrapped a new, industrial house around an existing 1920s suburban Dutch Colonial bungalow
. The floor plan is a deliberate explosion of traditional spatial layout, designed to keep the original house intact within a raw, fragmented exterior. HIC Arquitectura Key Features of the Gehry Residence Floor Plan House-within-a-House Concept:
The original house remains structurally present, with its exterior walls often visible inside the new envelope. Deconstructed Flow:
Standard room divisions are broken down. The design connects spaces, with the old house acting as a central "room" surrounded by new additions. Raw Materials & Visibility:
The plan highlights the process of construction, with exposed wood framing, plywood walls, chain-link, and corrugated metal. Transition Zones:
The boundary between inside and outside is blurred, featuring patio-like interior spaces, large windows, and unexpected gaps that create a "perpetually under construction" feel. LA Conservancy Floor Layout Analysis Ground Floor:
Features an open-plan kitchen and dining area with asphalt flooring, which connects to the outdoor spaces, creating a dramatic, non-traditional interior landscape. The original "pink" house remains on the ground floor. Upper Floor:
Includes the master bedroom, a second bedroom, and a large attic-like "treehouse" space created by removing ceilings and exposing the wood structure.
The main entrance is designed to be confusing, navigating through both the new industrial envelope and the original residential front door. Design Intent and Impact Deconstructivism:
The project brought worldwide attention to the deconstructivist movement, prioritizing artistic intuition, unresolved accidents, and fragmented forms. Laboratory Concept:
Gehry treated his own home as a "laboratory," using cheap, everyday materials to challenge suburban norms and creating "disturbing" yet satisfying spaces. Industrial Aesthetics:
The "high-tech" materials like corrugated metal and wire-glass cubes—especially the kitchen cube—create a unique play of light, letting in natural light while maintaining privacy. For a visual understanding of the layout, refer to the Gehry Residence Floor Plan via ArchDaily. Gehry House - Data, Photos & Plans - WikiArquitectura
Inside the Layers: Decoding the Frank Gehry Residence Floor Plan The Gehry Residence gehry residence floor plan
in Santa Monica (1978) is more than just a home; it is a manifesto of deconstructivist architecture. Rather than building a house from scratch, Frank Gehry bought an existing 1920s Dutch Colonial bungalow and wrapped it in a "shell" of industrial materials like chain-link fencing, corrugated metal, and plywood. The Ground Floor: A Dialogue of Old and New
The ground floor plan is where Gehry’s "house-within-a-house" concept is most legible. He left the original bungalow largely intact but "edited" its walls by stripping away plaster to reveal the raw wood studs and framing.
The Shell Expansion: Gehry added approximately 800 square feet by wrapping the house on three sides—north, east, and south. This new zone serves as a literal and metaphorical bridge between the original domestic space and the outside world.
The Kitchen & Dining: Located in the new "wrap-around" section, the kitchen features a floor made of black asphalt, treating it like an extension of the driveway and challenging the traditional warmth of a home interior.
Spatial Flow: The ground floor contains the living room (housed within the original bungalow), the kitchen and dining area (in the new shell), two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The First Floor: The "Tree House"
Moving upstairs, the floor plan focuses on privacy and sculptural light. Gehry removed the original ceilings to expose the redwood rafters, creating a soaring, "tree house" atmosphere.
Master Suite: The upper level is dedicated to the master bedroom, an additional bedroom, a dressing room, and a bathroom.
Skylight Cubes: Tilted glass cubes protrude from the house at odd angles, flooding the interior with natural light and providing framed views of the surrounding trees while maintaining privacy from the street.
Outdoor Integration: A terrace extends from the first floor, continuing the interplay between the interior "skeleton" of the old house and the exterior "skin" of the new. Why the Plan Matters Today Analysis - Xavier Bardina
Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, is one of the most significant works of deconstructivist architecture
. Rather than tearing down the existing 1920s Dutch Colonial bungalow, Frank Gehry chose to wrap it in a new, unconventional shell, creating a complex dialogue between the old and the new. The Ground Floor Layout
The ground floor is characterized by the juxtaposition of the original house's structure and the new, expansive additions. The First Frank Gehry House in Santa Monica - ArchEyes Technical Analysis: Dimensions and Square Footage For the
The Gehry Residence, located in Santa Monica, California, is a landmark of deconstructivist architecture that Frank Gehry transformed starting in 1978. The floor plan is a fascinating study of how an architect can build a "new" house literally around an existing one, creating a complex dialogue between traditional and avant-garde styles. The Floor Plan Concept: A House Within a House
Rather than demolishing the original 1920s pink Dutch Colonial bungalow, Gehry chose to "wrap" it with a new exterior structure made of industrial materials like corrugated metal, chain-link fencing, and plywood.
Layered Boundaries: The original house remains almost fully intact in the center, acting as a core while the new additions form an outer shell.
The Ground Floor: The additions primarily extended the ground floor, creating new, irregular spaces such as a sun-drenched kitchen and dining area that wrap around the north and west sides.
Blurring Indoor/Outdoor: The use of glass cubes and skylights creates patio-like spaces that make the interior feel like it is part of the exterior landscape.
Material Collage: The floor plan reflects a collage of old and new; for instance, you might see the original shingles of the bungalow from inside the new kitchen. Visualizing the Layout
The drawings below illustrate the first floor and ground floor strategies, highlighting how the original structure (the "bungalow") is nested within the deconstructed shell. Gallery of Gehry Residence / Gehry Partners - 19 Analysis - Xavier Bardina Xavier Bardina Frank Gehry, Santa Monica House - Lower Floor Plan Frank O Gehry: Gehry House, Santa Monica, California, 1979 Gallery of Gehry Residence / Gehry Partners - 19 Gehry House - Data, Photos & Plans - WikiArquitectura Gehry House - Archweb Frank Gehry's Santa Monica House Gehry Residence / Gehry Partners | ArchDaily
The Gehry Residence, located in Santa Monica, California, is a landmark of Deconstructivist architecture. Rather than building a new structure from scratch, Frank Gehry purchased a 1920s pink Dutch Colonial-style bungalow and built a new "shell" around three sides of it. This creates a floor plan defined by a "dialogue" between the original home and the radical additions. The Concept: A House Within a House
The core of the Gehry Residence floor plan is the preservation of the original house, which Gehry "pruned" down to its wooden bones. He then wrapped this core in industrial materials—corrugated metal, plywood, and chain-link fencing—to create a new layer of living space.
Blending Eras: The original exterior walls became interior walls for the new spaces, creating a "house within a house" effect.
The "Unfinished" Aesthetic: The plan exposes structural elements like wood studs and joists, giving the impression that the house is perpetually under construction.
Fluidity: The layout defies standard ideas of a "room" by connecting all areas into one continuous experience. Gehry House - Archiweb Original House: 1,200 sq
Technical Analysis: Dimensions and Square Footage
For the true floor plan enthusiasts, here are the raw metrics of the Gehry Residence floor plan:
- Original House: 1,200 sq. ft. (1920s structure)
- New Addition: 1,000 sq. ft. (Plywood and glass)
- Total Conditioned Space: Approx. 1,600 sq. ft. (The rest is "open to below" or exterior)
- Ceiling Heights:
- Old Living Room: 9 ft.
- New Kitchen: 14 ft. (sloped)
- Mezzanine Walkway: 6.5 ft. (Gehry is 6'1"; he hits his head on the beams intentionally)
- Window to Wall Ratio: Nearly 80% on the new facade; 15% on the old facade.
Part 1: The Ground Floor Plan – The Kitchen as a Battleground
If you look at the original drawings, the ground floor retains the bones of a traditional home: a kitchen, a dining area, a living room, and a bedroom (which Gehry used as a design studio). However, the experience of the floor plan is anything but traditional.
The "Asymmetry of Use": Zones of Occupancy
Standard residential floor plans categorize rooms by function (Kitchen, Bed, Bath). The Gehry Residence floor plan categorizes them by temperature and finish.
- The "Warm" Box (The Original House): Insulated, drywalled, heated. This is where you sleep and retreat.
- The "Cold" Box (The Kitchen/Dining): Uninsulated plywood and glass. The floor plan shows no insulation in the walls. In 1978, this was shocking. Gehry argued that Los Angeles weather allowed for "porous living."
- The "Mesh" Box (The Walkways): Chain-link fencing and open air. These areas appear as "porches" on a traditional plan, but they are actually primary circulation routes.
Gehry treated the floor plan like a section cut through a model airplane kit: you see the glue marks, the tape, and the structural skeleton. He did not hide the bones.
The Children's Bedrooms
At the east end of the mezzanine, the floor plan opens up into two small bedrooms for the Gehry children. These are relatively conventional square boxes, but they are accessed by a bridge. This means to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, a child must walk across a glass bridge overlooking the living room. Privacy is subverted for spatial drama.
Part 5: The Legacy – How This Floor Plan Changed Everything
Why do architects obsess over this specific floor plan? Because it broke every rule of "Good Design" in 1978.
Before Gehry, residential floor plans were designed for comfort, predictability, and the "hearth." The Gehry Residence floor plan is designed for event. It is uncomfortable. The angles are wrong. The exposed studs collect dust. The chain-link rusts.
And yet, it is a masterpiece because it is honest. The floor plan reveals its own construction. You can see the studs as lines on the plan; you can see the old house vs. the new house.
This floor plan predicted the digital age of architecture. Today, architects use software like Rhino and Maya to create "blob" architecture. But Gehry did it with a utility knife, a cardboard model, and a broken Dutch colonial house.
The Bridge
Connecting the master bedroom to a small study is a narrow bridge. On the floor plan, this bridge looks like a thin rectangle floating over the chain-link void. Walking across it, you realize you are suspended above the dining room. Again, the floor plan collapses the distinction between "upstairs" and "downstairs."
The Plywood Cubes
Scattered across the ground floor plan are what Gehry called "cubes." One is a plywood structure surrounding the front door. Another is a plywood volume housing the master bathroom. These cubes act as "rooms within rooms." On the floor plan, they appear as solid, hatched areas—unmovable blocks that break the flow of the open plan.
Level One: The Ground Floor – A Study of Collision
The main entry level of the Gehry Residence floor plan is where the thesis of "inside/outside reversal" begins. Here, Gehry did not create a seamless flow; he created a violent yet beautiful dialogue.