1. ARCHITECT I PLACE+PROGRAM I SPACE+ORDER I CONSTRUCTION+EXPRESSION
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01 The Stahl House
The Stahl House, or Case Study House No.22, was designed by Pierre Koenig in It was the second House which Koenig had deigned for a competition hosted by Arts and Architecture magazine. The competition called for modern, affordable post-war housing. This project is located in Los Angeles, California and is one of the most Iconic structures of modern housing in America.

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“Everybody was very idealistic. Everybody wanted to produce answers to the housing problems.”
-Pierre Koenig
01 Koenig at the building site
Pierre Koenig was born in San Francisco, California in He studied at the University of Utah, School of Engineering in Salt Lake City, at the Pasadena City College and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he received his Bachelors of Architecture. In 1952, after short stints with Raphael Soriano in Hollywood and Kistner, Wright and Wright in Los Angeles, he established a private practice in Los Angeles.
Koenig used steel frame structures and industrial technology to generate his own architectural style. He believed that truth in architecture lies in the natural expression of materials without ornamentation. He approached architecture in terms of simplicity based on economy in terms of money spent and energy consumed. He used passive cooling and solar heating techniques to create energy efficient buildings.

3. “His joints are simple and correct” -Koenig of Soriano
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01 Aircraft
02 Raphael Soriano
Pierre Koenig eventually attended the University of Southern California, where the convention was based on stick built construction. He challenged this school of thought, viewing wood as an archaic material. He got a nighttime job working at a factory that manufactured airplane parts, giving him some exposure to the idea of prefabricated parts.
Koenig also took a job while he was still in school working for Raphael Soriano. Soriano, at that point, had four lightweight steel-frame houses under construction. This confirmed Koenig that his beliefs for housing were headed in the right direction.
In 1945 the Arts and Architecture magazine announced a competition that promoted the design of modern, affordable post-war housing, called Case Study Houses. Koenig was approached by the editor and proprietor of the magazine, saying that if he built a “good” house they would publish it. So Koenig built two. These would be two of a total of eight steel-framed homes that he would build throughout a period of ten years.
“His joints are simple and correct”
-Koenig of Soriano

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01 Koenig, Neil Jackson
McCoy, Esther, Modern California Houses, (New York: Reinhold Publishing, 1962):
Jackson, Neil, Koernig, (Germany:Taschen, 2007): 43-49

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01 State of California
02 City of Los Angeles, Ca
Woods Dr., Los Angeles, Ca
The Case Study Houses were products of a competition for Arts and Architecture Magazine, in which the architects were actually hand selected by the editor and proprietor of the magazine, John Entenza.
Entenza selected a group of architects from southern California to execute the projects. California was the ideal setting and environment in which to promote Modern living. The features of the Modern lifestyle included open floor plans and blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor. With California’s arid climate and ample sunshine, these open environments were made possible. For the Case Study House No.22 the client chose a cliff-side site with panoramic views of Los Angeles below. The site influenced the program and afforded amazing 240 degree views of 100 square miles of Los Angeles from any point in the house. Once again, the arid, sunny climate of Los Angeles allowed for an indoor/outdoor living arrangement with the house oriented around a swimming pool and cantilevered terraces.

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01 Entry View, approach
02 View over the city of Los Angeles

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01 Floor plan
02 Private, Shared, and Public spaces
Program Typology
Single family dwelling
One story
4 rooms: living-dining, kitchen, 2 beds, 2 baths
Building Type
“L” Shaped floor plan, oriented N/S
Terraces and pool consume all of build able 1 story
Owner-occupied housing
Terraces
Parking: carport

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01 Sun chart, June-December
02 Sun chart, December-June
03 Average temperature range, Lose Angeles

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01 Stahl House from the sunset strip
02 View over Los Angeles
Los Angeles consisted of mostly stick built housing, along with the
Rest of the country, until the 1950’s. At the time, the cliff side lots in the Hollywood hills were actually very affordable for first-time homebuyers. The lot for the Stahl House was purchased at an affordable price, since its geography made it hard to build on. Its location in the Hollywood Hills was also advantageous because there were less design constrictions since neighbors did not generally have a clear view of the house.

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01 Column Grid
02 Roof Diagram
03 Primary Framing Diagram
04 Primary vs. Secondary Structure
05 Primary Vs Secondary Elements

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01 Perspective toward carport and swimming pool/terrace area
02 Perspective toward Living Area and Terrace
Structural Building Systems –
Primary Structure
The structure employs two steel components for the primary structure:
12” I-Beam
4” H-Column
The foundation consists on 30” deep reinforced concrete beams, and the whole structure rests on a 35’ concrete caisson (which supports a 10’ cantilever of the floor)
The roof deck is a 5”, 18 gauge T-Steel roof, which spans the 20’ span of the bays, which also cantilevers 7’ over the terraces
Secondary Structure
10’ Glass sliding glass panels between columns
Free-standing, pre-fab Kitchen
03 Framing of the primary structure (took one day and five men)

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01 Freestanding chimney structure
Includes the freestanding chimney structure, 10’ sliding glass panels, and a freestanding kitchen area
02 Primary vs. Secondary Structures

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01 North/South cross ventilation
02 East/West cross ventilation
Natural light is a strong component throughout this home, which is obvious through the use of glass, non-load bearing walls on five of the six exterior walls
Cross ventilation is provided by the use of operable walls, consisting of the 10’ sliding door panels throughout the home. Koenig did not use central air conditioning on most of his homes in Southern California

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01 Perspective of structural heirarchy
02 material details
Kit of Parts –
Koenig used a new technique in steel coating at the time, which was a vinyl-coated steel in .025 gauge with a matte finish and integral color. When this steel was used in combination with chemical insulation materials, it made the paper-thin wall a reality
Development of the long-span T-decking was a major breakthrough which reduced the cost of covering a large area, especially when compared to the cost of wood. This supported Koenig’s goal of economy over anything else. Also, in the Bailey House, Koenig used a 1.5” T-decking, whereas in the Stahl House he increased the depth to 5”. This allowed for larger spans, therefore saving more money as well.
The front wall of the home is a solid wall of steel decking, which was the only solid, load-bearing wall in the structure
The fact that the primary structure was a post and lintel type system allowed for a free plan and non-load bearing walls. These walls were made of 10’ sliding glass panels which allowed for ventilation, natural light, 270 degree views, and indoor/outdoor living. The climate of Southern California made these concepts a possibility.
The next step could be to take these precedents and adapt them to different climates and regions, so that these qualities of lifestyle could be available to people across the United States, and possible around the world.