MATERIAL PLEASURES : Steel, Concrete and Wood Shape a Serenely Cross-Cultural Beach Home

WITH ITS sleek, uncluttered rooms and breathtaking view of the Santa Monica Bay, this Marina del Rey condominium inspires a Zenlike tranquillity. A 100-year-old armoire stands against a seal-gray wall; a Cape Dutch table of Oregon pine relates comfortably to the slick concrete floor. Blending peacefully with black leather and blued-steel, antique wood furnishings bring a feeling of stability and warmth to the minimalist Japanese aesthetic.

The cross-cultural design was conceived when “the owners showed us pictures of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye and some pretty brutalist architecture by Japan’s Tadao Ando,” recalls architect Miriam Mulder of Mulder-Katkov in Venice. The clients’ mandate: Join the modern style of Le Corbusier with the serenity of contemporary Japanese design, and give it all a California-Marina del Rey connection. The architects were to use natural materials of concrete and wood; painted surfaces of any kind were forbidden.

With that in mind, the husband-and-wife team of Mulder and Richard Katkov undertook an interior transformation of the 1,600-square-foot space. The original two-level condominium with its sloping ceiling was gutted to the studs and subfloor. The second floor was replaced with a new version consisting of a master bedroom and bath. The finished interior is a subtle mix of contrasting materials selected for the intrinsic beauty of the cold-rolled steel, pigmented plaster and Baltic plywood.

In the dining room, East meets West when Shoji screens--normally sliding panels of translucent rice paper on a wooden frame--are translated into two pivoting, blued-steel (a type of chemically treated steel with a bluish cast) doors with laminated glass. They share space with modern Western classics such as Le Corbusier’s glass-and-steel dining table and Arne Jacobsen chairs.

With a Japanese eye for the important detail, Mulder and Katkov designed all the steel ceiling plates, pivoting doors, stairs, light sconces, towel bars and shelving. “We’re involved with a very crafts-oriented, minimalist aesthetic--how different materials come together to tell a story,” says Katkov.

“We don’t mind going to shelf goods,” adds Mulder, “but the more we can design every detail, the more we create a totally integrated environment. When even remote-speaker covers and ceiling registers become part of the aesthetic, you reach another level of design.”