Pitched Roofs Make a Point in Modern and Contemporary Homes
About to embark on designing a new, ground-up home for ourselves, my husband and I are caught at an architectural crossroads. We think of ourselves as contemporary architects, and many of the homes we look to for inspiration are all-out modern. Like many design professionals of our generation, we read Le Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture and fell in love with the idea of being able to occupy and plant a garden on a flat roof terrace. So why are we now wavering on roof form?
When you ask a child to draw a house, you’re likely to get a similar image across cultures: walls, a prominent front door and, most notably, a pitched roof. Modernist parents may cringe and patiently explain to their 3-year-old that a roof doesn’t have to be inclined, that the flat roof is a symbol of progress in the architectural world. But what is it about this shape — those angled lines that form protection — that makes it so suggestive of a home? And more important, how can we transform this historic notion of the pitched roof to help it earn a place in the contemporary world?
Turns out, we don’t have to look too far; many architects and homeowners have already achieved this crossover.
Too often we think of the roof and walls as separate elements of a home. By allowing these pieces to flow seamlessly from one to the other, we take the first step in breaking from a traditional past.
Here the wood slats applied to both planes and the asymmetry of the gables emphasize a contemporary nature.
Consider the soffit area to help tie the overhead structure to the walls. The wood underside of this roof turns and continues uninterrupted into the balcony, creating an extension of the overall shape.
Metal lap siding found its way from the roof construction onto the walls of this home, eliminating the use of a traditional eave and creating a sculptural shape in a dense area.
A light-colored end frame emphasizes the contrasting blackened wood that covers the roof and lines the exterior of this home. A corner portion of the wall can fold back to blur the line between interior and exterior, while the pitched-roof outline remains intact.
A similar pattern can create a dialogue between two different materials for the roof and walls, such as this standing-seam metal roof and smooth HardiePanels with fir battens. The light colors of both materials integrate the surfaces.
A similar scale and texture can also help the roof communicate with the walls, like on this pitched roof house. The minimal overhangs and large windows give its traditional form a contemporary quality.
The inseparable connection between roof and wall can find its way to the interior, too. Using one material for both the ceiling and walls emphasizes the shape of the space.
A shell of wood siding defines this serene contemporary home. The exterior patio appears as a shadow of the building, mimicking it in both form and material.
Cladding the exterior entirely in one color shows off the bold form that an inclined roof can exhibit.
Roof and wall materials can also serve as a veil. A thin profile of metal covers this gable, and openings within the metal reveal the space beyond. Wood end pieces emphasize the inclined roof.
As all of these architects have shown, you can sit at the modern kids' table while still staying true to your traditional roots.
Tell us: All you die-hard modernists out there, is there room in your heart for the contemporary pitched roof?
More: Modern Gable-Style Homes
