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This article is part of our special section on the design of innovative surfaces in architecture, interiors and products.
Lucía Cano and José Selgas are architects not afraid of color. The founders of Madrid-based studio SelgasCano have designed a conference center in Cartagena, Spain, that looks like a translucent organ that glows orange from within, as if it’s dripping with alien blood. Their Serpentine Pavilion, one of the famous temporary experimental structures displayed in London each summer, is a massive tentacled cocoon with misty iridescent ribbons.
Ten years ago, the couple brought their stunning color palette and structural whimsy to Los Angeles, where they built a coworking space called Second Home in Hollywood that houses dozens of individual, canary-yellow pods surrounded by greenery.
“We love the diversity and the warmth of the city,” said Mr. Sergas, 58. “There are very few locals, but everyone is a local.”
Their latest Los Angeles project also makes them locals. They recently built their home in Mount Washington, a community in the mountains northeast of downtown.
The three-story house is built on a narrow, steep lot overlooking the San Fernando Valley, with views of Echo Park Mountain, Griffith Park, Hollywood and the river that flows through Los Angeles State Park.
Wrapping the house is a lattice made of recycled aluminum tubes painted in seven sunset colors. This envelope frames the stunning landscape and forms a shady canopy over the south-west facing terrace.
Over time, the exterior will be covered with a variety of plants, creating a green facade.
“We wanted the plants to take over the entire house,” said Ms. Cano, also 58. “In many of our projects, you don’t see the architecture; you just see the architecture.” You just see the plants. The same thing happened with the second home. It is more like a garden than a building. “
During the construction of the home, the contractor brought 10 mature palm trees to the site. Canopies and terrace decks have holes drilled through them for trees to pass through, blending in with the lush pepper, jacaranda and tipu trees that surround the property.
“We love that there are so many beautiful plants growing well in Los Angeles,” Ms. Cano said, adding that she found it difficult to distinguish between natives and outsiders. Even palm trees were once imported. “In Spain we have very similar factories, but they are not as big,” she said.
The house was originally designed as a two-story residence above a garage. However, in 2019, the City of Los Angeles passed the Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance, allowing for one additional rentable unit per lot.
SelgasCano went back to the drawing board and redesigned the property, removing the internal staircase and creating two separate, vertically stacked units, each with two bedrooms, a terrace and a kitchen. The lower unit can be used as an office or separate apartment. Alternatively, the two units can be combined with an external staircase.
The couple took inspiration from architects traveling to Los Angeles to redefine residential architecture. They pay homage to the exaggerated canopies designed by Michigan native John Lautner on the Sheats-Goldstein house near Beverly Hills; Austrian-American Richard No The clean lines and indoor-outdoor connection of Richard Neutra’s architecture; and the clever use of found materials in the Eames House in Pacific Palisades. (Charles and Ray Eames moved to Los Angeles from the Cranbrook Academy of Art near Detroit after their honeymoon.)
“The whole history of Los Angeles has been about outsiders,” Mr. Selgas said.
To keep costs down, they used prefabricated materials, including aluminum facade elements. The ceiling is made of Oregon pine slats cut to different sizes to create a textured surface. The interior walls are clad in pine plywood, inspired by the woodwork of Vienna-born Rudolf Schindler’s Sachs apartment in Silver Lake.
Parallel large glass exterior doors allow sea breezes to flow through the house. Several boulders were excavated from the site, and a particularly flat rock became the table for the main living area of the upper unit.
Mr. Selgas is confident that the cutlery won’t wobble on the surface: “We tested different types of glass there and it worked really well,” he said.
Construction was halted for nearly three years after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. Several homeless people occupied the unfinished building. “As the internal structure becomes more complete, sharing becomes increasingly difficult,” Ms. Cano said. “But they take good care of everything and we’re happy to help them.”
Despite its unusual appearance, the building was popular with nearby residents. “Ninety per cent of the people who passed our house would yell at us on the roof terrace and talk about it,” Mr Selgas said.
“That’s the great thing about Los Angeles: people are very open to outsiders, whether it’s people, plants or ideas.”
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