Christian Hubert Studio

February 10, 2011 5:32 PM

Christian Hubert designs beautiful residential spaces, like this fantastic 10,000 square foot home, and chic commercial projects. He design aesthetics are sensitive to the relation between art and architecture, and he has worked on some wonderful galleries and exhibition spaces. His practice is informed by a thorough knowledge of philosophy, and his site includes a comprehensive and accessibly written encyclopedia on important concepts in art, aesthetics, and critical theory.
posted by Saxon Kane (15 comments total)

Wake me when they figure out how to house normal people in something other than either a) cramped shoebox apartments or b) sprawling but poorly-built land-cancer
posted by sonic meat machine at 5:37 PM on February 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

I forgot to add a few of Hubert's projects, including the home linked above and a beautiful New York loft, were designed for David Salle, a painter whose work probably deserves a post of its own.
posted by Saxon Kane at 5:38 PM on February 10, 2011

I cannot consider a 10k sq foot home as anything other than criminally bad for the earth.
posted by humanfont at 6:41 PM on February 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

I don't live in a "residential space", I don't work in a "chic commercial project" and my website doesn't resize your browser when you go there.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 7:03 PM on February 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have nothing nice to say about this.
posted by vrogy at 7:19 PM on February 10, 2011

They strike me as very hard and very cold.
posted by The Whelk at 7:20 PM on February 10, 2011

I don't dislike the style entirely, but the 10k sqft residence which is the "flagship" here has some serious problems for general livability, which I'm guessing were due to the request of the client. The main floor is clearly a studio/demo space, which means it's probably not even a primary residence for anyone - if it was, the kitchen/living area wouldn't be so distanced from the main entry. Kitchen is also weirdly separated from the (I assume this vaulted room is a giant) dining area by the nook/breakfast/lounge/whatever and has a pile of cupboards blocking line of sight, which is just poor planning.

I guess what I'm saying is I go by the "kitchen is the heart of the home" mantra, and this isn't respected here. But maybe we're not building homes.
posted by mek at 7:30 PM on February 10, 2011

Sorry, but I don't see how this is any different than the hundreds of other offices cranking out adequately competent, but pedestrian design.
You could pick, say, any UK architecture firm at random and their website will look just like this; probably better.
posted by Flashman at 7:31 PM on February 10, 2011

Stuff like this just annoys me to no end and I can't say without devolving into some spittly rant.
posted by The Whelk at 7:31 PM on February 10, 2011

Oh, that's just a cavernous living room with a couch facing a wall. The furniture placement even sucks.
posted by mek at 7:31 PM on February 10, 2011

10,000 square feet is more than four times the U.S. national average (an average which has more than doubled since the 1950s). And U.S. homes are big by global averages, almost triple the size of homes in the UK, for instance.

Having said that, if I had the money I would totally get an enormous house. Bill Gates has a 66,000 square foot house. Mainly because I would need a place for the Batcave.

With enormous wealth comes enormous homes. And enormous responsibility. I need a place where I can fight crimes.
posted by twoleftfeet at 7:33 PM on February 10, 2011

Yeah, I've got to drink the haterade too (actually, Ska Brewing Hoperation Ivy, but who's counting?). I see bland, unliveable renderings from Big Name architecture studios all the time. My first thought is always, "How am I gonna plumb that motherfucker?" and the second is, "Where does one *live* in that thing?"

(says the guy in the 1200 sq ft house with his wife and two cats, and 15% of that house is a completely useless room.)
posted by notsnot at 7:55 PM on February 10, 2011

Skip the pics, for some real fun, go to the encyclopedia link above.
posted by Xoebe at 9:54 PM on February 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Can we get a warning when a link is going to resize our browsers? Yuck.
posted by SirNovember at 6:53 AM on February 11, 2011

I would like to say that I like the Salle residence, and I like this post. I even like the encyclopedia link, for the sheer baroque hypertextual density of it. In 2003 that's what I thought the internet might be like one day, when hypertext narratives caught on.
posted by crackingdes at 7:05 AM on February 11, 2011