Refract House
CCA, 2012
Hardcover, 68 pages, $25

Refract House explores the evolution of CCA's solar-powered house (a joint project with Santa Clara University) that competed in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. The competition brief was to design, build, and operate a maximally energy-efficient, attractive, and comfortable solar-powered house. Every detail was considered by the CCA student team, from the landscaping and the solar collection arrays to the furniture and plateware (made of California mud). CCA's house was awarded first place in architecture and communications, second in engineering, and third overall. It outperformed contributions from such renowned schools as Cornell and Virginia Tech.

The Refract House book reframes the team's efforts within a larger context of contemporary architectural practice. It is divided into four parts, addressing the conceptual trajectories underlying the project, the different design strategies that were explored, the integration of technological systems, and the material fabrication. It also discusses the implications of the project in terms of architectural education today. It features full-color photographs and renderings of every phase of the house's development. There is an introduction by CCA Architecture Director Ila Berman and essays by Ila Berman, Nataly Gattegno, Andrew Kudless, Tim Hight, Kate Simonen, Peter Anderson, Matt Hutchison, and Oblio Jenkins.

Purchase a copy by emailing Lia Wilson in CCA's Architecture Program: lwilson@cca.edu