Landscape design of a hillside vault in San Jose, California

This is the first project within a theme defined as Tremors of the Earth, underlying a principle inspired by Charles Jencks' definition in Semiology and Architecture where he presents "the idea that any form in the environment, or sign in language, is motivated, or capable of being motivated." As such, the goal of this project was to "motivate" the landscape through actions/"tremors" that work with the existing elements. Situated in a client’s homestead near San Jose, in the Diablo Range of California, the requirement was to design a hillside concrete vault and the landscape around. The concrete vault would be used to store the property’s generator, propane tank and other power equipment. The goal of the project was to create a place around a seemingly utilitarian and intrusive structure, a concrete vault inserted into a natural hillside. The design works with existing elements of the landscape such as natural stones, olive trees, rustic materials and presents a palette that is inspired by the red nuances of the Diablo Range mountains nearby. Since most of the proposed elements were to be built by the family, a more rustic design approach was chosen, manageable by manual work.