Architects and Nudity
The Arts
| July 13, 2009
| Tim
Last year, my gal and I toured the local "Parade of Homes" -- built conveniently within earshot of Bandimere Speedway. (For your NHRA listening pleasure, I guess.) Since my youth, apparently, these sort of things have changed to feature upscale dwellings well out of reach of most of us. A few were done in a reasonsably modern style, but most pretended to be French or Italian. One had what appeared to be an entire winery in its basement. (Including wooden barrel and cobbled floor.) Some featured wall-sized televisions screens. At least one had disconnected sections of the house which could only be reached by going out of doors. (What's up with that? We do get winter here in Colorado.)
But one (to me) rather disconcerting element I noticed over and over was the tendency to put a shower in the bathroom with clear glass, often visible from the bathroom entrance — which sometimes had no door. In one case, the bathroom opened to a hallway, which was fashioned to lead to an "artists' quarters" (apparently, rich people should keep a spare artist around the house — how quaint) — the shower was directly in the entrance, which clearly lacked a door. (And didn't look like it'd take a normal-sized door, even if you wanted to install one, nor was there room on either side for the door to swing.)
This, apparently, is by no means unusual today. Look at this (bottom), for example. Or this. Or even this — why wouldn't you want both the toilet and shower visible at all times? What's love if it doesn't involve witnessing every possible bodily function from the comfort of one's bed?
I was reminded of this again when looking at "Wolfe's Den". At first, it seems like a nice, airy house. Then you notice this: We're standing in a bedroom. With a kid outside, sitting in the enclosed patio, playing a video game. And behind him, yes, a bathtub. Because we need that to be visible from outside the bathroom, right? We wouldn't want to miss out on any exciting family bathing action!
And dig the shower locations! That's right. The showers operate in the doorway. As in, you should have to walk around who-ever's showering if you wish to use the sink. (Or perhaps go around and enter from the opposite side.)
Note further there are two shower heads, implying there's apparently a frequent need for more than one member of the family or their guests, at a time, to be showering right there in the doorway. (And perhaps even a third, if one will condescend to use the tub! The "buddy system" in action?)
Seriously: what is with this trend? Do people imagine there's something wrong with showering out of sight? Should a guest or family member soaping up be visible not merely within the bathroom, but from an adjacent bedroom? Or is that the rich are felt to want to display their bodies more? (Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are among the wealthiest individuals. Yet for some reason, it doesn't follow, at least to me, that theirs are the bodies I most wish to view in a shower.)
Is modesty now only for poor people, or those with a serious taste deficit?
Update: In the comment section below, Viviane Vives, Wolfe's Den's photographer, has excoriated me for saying several things I didn't say, has rightly corrected me regarding the position of the camera in the first linked image (I said it was in a hallway, rather than the master bedroom), demanded I stop linking to her work, and implied I don't understand "good architecture."
In response, I have subsequently corrected the error and apologized, removed two "img" tags, but still plead guilty, apparently, on the final charge.
Well, plenty of people walking down the street might as well be naked, so why not just take the next step.
That and these houses aren't for people who are burdened with such tacky things as *children* so why worry about kids seeing you. You obviously are one of those cool DINKs if you own this house!
When you study the plan and you understand good architecture, you understand that this bath is for the master bedroom and that the whole area is blocked off with a solid wood door that makes it totally private.
The exterior patio is in between the bath and the bedroom and is positioned so that it is also totally hidden from the rest of the house and from the street. There's no way anyone in the house or on the outside can peek in.
Also, if you study the plan you would notice that the toilet for this area is in a separate room all by itself.
Please, if you are going to comment on things inform yourself as of what they really are. I'm the photographer of the house and I do not give you permission to use my photos. You are grossly misrepresenting the work of a very conscientious architect and I want you to remove my work from your site.
And by the way, you are standing in the master bedroom, not a "hallway."
There's no way anyone in the house or on the outside can peek in.
The bedroom, from which we're clearly seeing the bathroom, is "in the house", it is not?
Regarding the outside, I don't believe I implied otherwise.
As stated above, the aspects I find odd are the showers' non-optional visibility from the other side of the glass (and within the bathroom itself), the number of showers, and their location along a direct path to the sink. (I should also add that I think it's odd to place the temperature controls for the second shower head (the one near the tub) on a wall located several feet away.)
Certainly, some are welcomed to think such ideas are wonderful. More power to them! And if the owner's happy, that's most important. But you must also realize that by making photos public, you're implicitly allowing discussion and even dissent. If you put a picture of a couch online, some will say it's beautiful, others won't think so.
(BTW, the house *is* very nice, as is your work. The architect is undoubtedly brilliant, and possessing of ample good taste. But I stand by my right to say that I find the idea of a shower in the doorway, and visible within and outside the bathroom, a strange trend. And my comment about this certainly shouldn't be taken as a negative reflection on your own work.)
Also, if you study the plan you would notice that the toilet for this area is in a separate room all by itself.
At no point did I say the toilet in this house was visible outside the bathroom. Please click the hyperlink adjacent to my remark about a toilet to see the specific example of which I spoke.
Please, if you are going to comment on things inform yourself as of what they really are [... later:] you are standing in the master bedroom, not a "hallway."
I certainly do apologize for misidentifying the camera's position in that shot as within the hallway — which, you're right, seems to be a few feet away. Quite right: correction made.
You are grossly misrepresenting the work of a very conscientious architect...
Above, you've implied that I said the toilet was visible. Yet I said no such thing. You also implied I said that the bathroom was visible outside the house. Again, I said no such thing. You have taken me to task for not examining floor plans (which I did, in fact, seek) which apparently aren't easily found online (if available at all). Okay, fair enough.
But is it then unfair to ask you respond to my own rather focused and limited critique with the same kind accuracy you demand from others?
I want you to remove my work from your site.
As a courtesy, I will be happy to remove the "img" tags which cause visitors to load images from your site (which was linked, to give full attribution, from each image). But I stand by my right to publish HTML hyperlinks which point to your photo album with critical statements regarding the shower location.
I'm sorry if your feelings were hurt by my criticism of the apparent architectural trend of increasing shower visibility. I also apologize for saying "hallway" when I should have said "bedroom". Beyond that, I hope you can be comfortable with people discussing or even criticizing the objects (or their relative arrangements) so beautifully captured in your camera's lens.
As you might have seen in this picture, when you were perusing the other ones
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/a-fXlI4hxfb-fnlU1I2KBQ?feat=directlink
there's a curtain in the master bedroom so if you wanted to not be seen by your mate, you could draw it up, thus, privacy is entirely possible.
The point of the shower (which it's hard to convey in photographs) is that you can open the doors and practically be showering outside.
It's a wonderful feeling to feel the breeze when you are showering. It makes you feel like you are on vacation and it's very relaxing. I always think of a resort by the sea when I'm in that space, even though it's in the middle of the city. It's magical.
Maybe this picture reflects more what I'm talking about.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7pGAdbcCNk-9sbauTYgqaQ?feat=directlink
Thanks for taking the pictures off.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tfcFtEvXOH7JPL2YxgQ2yQ?feat=directlink
Oh and the showers don't operate in the doorway, there's a door to the bathroom, on the other side, again study the plan at this link, I keyed in the rooms
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4rkLaL-Ak9h3aAbZbFtqRA?feat=directlink
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Well, plenty of people walking down the street might as well be naked, so why not just take the next step.
That and these houses aren't for people who are burdened with such tacky things as *children* so why worry about kids seeing you. You obviously are one of those cool DINKs if you own this house!
Posted by: Michael Zappe on July 13, 2009 10:34 AM