Episode 31- Arijiju with Michaelis Boyd
In this episode I am joined by Alex Michaelis, one of the co-founders of Michaelis Boyd architects. we talk about their project, Arijuju, located in Kenya.
This house has been referred to as the most beautiful bush house in Africa. It is located on the Boranan Lewa Conservancy, a 90,000 acre conservation area in Kenya, and is situated next to a watering hole frequented by elephants, baboons and lions.
The concept of the courtyard house is simple, to nestle and merge in the landscape so that it is almost imperceptible, and it has been designed to focus on what Alex describes as, the holy trinity of views, sunrise, sunset and. Mount Kenya.
In the interview I find out how Alex helped the client find the perfect location for the villa, what his influences were for the design and how they constructed this off-grid villa, under the watchful eye of some very curious and hungry animals.
At the end of the episode, I ask Alex the three questions I ask all my podcast guests;
– what really annoys him about his home?
– what house has he visited that has really inspired him?
– and, if he could choose anyone to design him a new house, who would he choose?
https://www.michaelisboyd.com/portfolio_items/arijiju/
The architect Alex would choose to design him a new home https://olsonkundig.com/
Thoronet Abbey was an inspiration for the design http://www.le-thoronet.fr/en/