If you haven’t seen the work of Robert Harvey Oshatz, then you’re in for a huge treat, because he’s our only guest here at Offbeat today. He’s that cool. He gets the whole day. Although really he’s so cool he should get the month. But I digress.

Oshatz has designed many an amazing structure in my home state - Oregon and in other areas as well, as far reaching as Japan. His work is a mix of commercial, residential, religious, and more. What I love is how his work is entirely unique yet somehow manages to fit into the landscape so well - which is crucial I think if we want to preserve the natural environment. We really need to see more often that landscape and structure can ease together.

His design philosophy is really bold. Here’s a clip:

“Except for the basic elements of design composition, dominance, transition, and identity; I stay away from design theories. They seem to be too transitory and irrelevant to my work. Design theories tend to outshine their author’s performance, becoming limiting concepts, prejudicing the mind while tying one’s hands behind one’s back. They are roadblocks to new ideas. While subscribing to a particular theory of design an architect must solve problems within the parameters of that theory; this is limiting at best…

The requirements of architecture are such that I must go beyond what the client understands. There must be surprise, mystery, beauty and delight, elements that make architecture rewarding to its users for a lifetime. This is one of the primary differences between architecture and building. It is the architect’s responsibility to go beyond the mere program and into the realm of what I call the spiritual.”

You should really read Oshatz’s entire design approach though, not simply the clip above. It’s great, very interesting when combined with his work.

I ran into some issues deciding which homes to show. I’ll show two houses today, but narrowing it down to two was very difficult. I love many of his residential works a lot. Being a fan of Oregon in general, I did decide to go with two Oregon homes, which narrowed it down a little.

First up the Wilkinson Residence. This is not a house easily captured in photos. However, it’s lovely and offbeat all the same. Located in Portland the home’s lot is a fast sloping grade which according to Oshatz’s site, “Provided the opportunity to bring the main level of the house into the tree canopy to evoke the feeling of being in a tree house.” The client wanted a home that flowed with the natural environment, and I’m thinking that said client got their wish. Take a look:

It sort of makes you gasp, no? I almost can’t stop looking at it. This next photo is my favorite picture of the home. It’s the entryway, but it resembles a kaleidescope somewhat - like the flow keeps going when you look right at the circles.

還沒見過羅伯特·哈維·奧赫茲的作品嗎？那你今天就大飽眼福了，因為奧赫茲將作客“不規則的房屋”一整天哦。他太酷了，按理說他應該呆這一個月我們才甘心。不過，我跑題嘍。

奧赫茲在我的家鄉――俄勒岡州留下了大量令人驚嘆的作品，當然也在其它地方了，甚至遠如日本。他的建筑是商業，居家，宗教以及更多其它元素的結合。不過，我最愛的是他的與眾不同，還有建筑與周圍景色完美的和諧，這樣的和諧我認為在保護自然時至關重要。我們真的希望看到更多的建筑能與周圍景色親密的相處。

他的設計理念非常大膽，看看他怎么說：

“除了最基本的創作理論，如設計布局，主導，過渡以及特性，我拒斥理論，一種短暫而且跟我的作品毫不相干的東西。設計理論只會喧賓奪主，取代設計本身的位置，成為一種桎梏，一種概念，甚至一種偏見，使設計者束手縛腳，難以騰挪。理論是創意的絆腳石。一個建筑家一旦束縛于一個設計理論，他看問題就局限于它，理論帶給他的只有局限，僅此而已。

在設計作品時，我必須超越客戶的想象力。驚喜，神秘，美，愉悅是我的建筑給與他們終身受用的體驗，缺一不可。這就是建筑和建筑物最本質的區別。一個建筑師不應把建筑本身看作一項工程或任務，他應該進入一種境界，就是我所說的靈魂。”

你最好還是把奧赫茲的設計理念通讀一遍，比上面的節選要豐富多了。真的很棒，結合他自己的作品來闡釋，很有趣。

在決定該秀他的哪些作品時，我碰到了麻煩。今天計劃是兩間私人房屋，但只選兩個真是太難抉擇了，因為他那些住宅建筑，我喜歡的太多了。不過，我喜歡俄勒岡，所以決定選兩間他在俄勒岡的作品，這樣范圍稍為縮小。

第一個當然是威爾金森豪宅了，不過照片很難展現它的精妙。不過，它真的是無比的惹人喜愛，而且是貨真價實的不規則哦。座落在波特蘭的一個很陡峭的斜坡上，奧赫茲說：“這個斜坡是恰到好處，剛好可以把屋頂設計成樹蔭狀，喚起人在樹屋里的感覺。”主人要求屋子與自然環境和諧融洽，我想奧赫茲不負所托。