Architects design for the human experience. When an architectural space is filled with live performance, the artistry of the experience is palpable. Musicians and dancers are regularly adapting—from moment to moment—to their space. Sound waves are adjusted for, sight lines considered, obstacles choreographed around. In this series, we will study how the nature of space affects the experience of the artists and the audience.
This year’s Space & Sound programs will include Colburn artists performing live in remarkable architectural spaces, joined by industry experts and special guests in a lively and educational conversation with attendees.
Sunday, June 4 from 4 – 6 pm
An Oasis in Santa Monica (Location details will be sent to ticket holders.)
Join us this summer for our next Space & Sound event where Colburn student musicians perform in a contemporary Santa Monica home, designed and built by LA-based architectural design group, Ramirez Design, Inc.
This exclusive event offers attendees the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon in a stunning private residence with mountain views down to the Pacific Ocean. Guests will enjoy a reception and musical performances, followed by discussions with architectural designer and builder Bob Ramirez, the homeowners, and fellow guests. We shall explore how sound is conveyed in a variety of the home’s spaces and also how it is affected by materials such as wood, concrete and metal within the structure.
Join us by reserving your tickets today for this unique experience that will showcase the extraordinary talents of Colburn student artists performing in this remarkable residence. As space is limited, please reserve your ticket soon.
Tickets: $500.00
Purchase Tickets
All proceeds benefit the Colburn School, and ticket costs are tax deductible as allowed by law.
For more information contact Tara Grand at tgrand@colburnschool.edu or call 310-279-6430.
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Ramirez Design Inc. is an architectural design & build company specializing in custom homes and gardens in Southern California since 1982. Ranging in style from modern steel and glass to contemporary interpretations of traditional Spanish, and incorporating active & passive solar systems, revealed structure, abundant natural light and edible gardens, their homes have been acclaimed locally, nationally, and abroad.
Learn more about Ramirez Design Studio here.
As described in StyleHigh magazine in 2003, architect and designer Robert Ramirez organized a home around a dramatic triple-height space with views of the Pacific Ocean. Two sets of steel columns run through the side walls to meet the gently curved beams overhead. Beneath the sheltering sky, stairways, cantilevered from steel frame, lead to a series of landings, which in turn lead to bedrooms on either side of the main space. Behind the stucco entry facade lays an expansive rectangular space, with gridded windows that reach skyward.
Home of a Hollywood producer and his philanthropic wife, the spacious plan seamlessly weaves together the modern industrial with the warm domestic. Inspired by two architectural images: an office in Miami by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (in which a glass-walled studio is secreted behind thick stucco walls) and Pierre Charreau’s legendary 1932 Maison de Verre in Paris, with its double-height living room dominated by an enormous, gridded wall of glass blocks.
As beautiful as it is, the house is also self-effacing: while soaking in the hot tub on the east side of the house, it’s possible to imagine you are floating in the ocean off to the west. That is because with the glass doors open at both ends, the room practically disappears, seeming to extend into infinity.
Ramirez not only framed the gorgeous views but created them. He included a garden designed as a tour of the South Pacific, with tactile and visual cues such as edible plantings like bananas, avocados, guava and mangos. A short walk takes in building surfaces that range from pebbly aggregate to polished mahogany, smooth concrete to sand and gravel of various sizes. Ramirez describes it as “a barefoot adventure.” The layout is so that you do not know where the building ends and the garden begins.
The master bedroom is a cross between a ship’s shiny stateroom and a live-in treehouse. The bed faces the ocean while its headboard, made of plantation-grown mahogany, separates the sleeping area from a large dressing area. The master bathroom gets even closer to nature, opening onto a terrace that embraces a huge Morton Bay fig tree.
Ramirez did an excellent job of making the home feel light and transparent. This is a quintessential house off the coast of Los Angeles, and a treasure to visit.
Bernstein, F. A. (2003). Style High.