dramatically dark, yet unambiguously
modern building is not the type of
architecture one necessarily expects
to find in Pasadena. But the LR2
House, a remarkable 4,200-square-foot dwelling
by Santa Monica practice Montalba Architects,
is the very definition of unexpected.
Featuring organized indoor and outdoor spaces
connected by a series of staircases, LR2 House
reads as complex, but the experience of it is
simple and peaceful, explains David Montalba,
AIA, founding principal of Montalba Architects.
The design follows the matchbox concept,
which he describes as "driven by the idea of
expansions of interior and exterior space in
relationship to volumes of the building, like when
you slide out the interior box of a matchbox and
it expands the volume or space." For LR2 this
manifests in rectangular masses rotated on top
of one another and terraced down the hillside.
While the landscape sets the backdrop, the
volumes of the architecture ultimately serve as
guides to direct one's passage in and around
the structure. "The covered bridgeway, covered
A
A
R
C
H
I
T
E
C
T
U
R
E
+
D
E
S
I
G
N
P R O F I L E | M O N TA L B A A R C H I T E C T S
52 DIGS.NET
| 12.13.24
