by David Burn | Jul 6, 2005 | Architecture
The Guardian is running a story on Aussie architect, Sean Godsell. Godsell created a stir down under when he submitted his Park Bench House—a temporary answer to the problem of homelessness—to the Institute of Architects awards under the best new house category.
He then turned his attention to helping those caught in natural or political disaster areas, with the invention of Futureshack, shown below.
A firm believer that great ideas are born out of adversity, Godsell set himself the task of designing for a theoretical disaster, arriving at Futureshack as something that could be used as a medical centre, transformed into housing and then shipped on to the next natural calamity as needed. He sees this ability to cope with the unexpected as a useful Australian trait, derived from the resourcefulness of the original colonists and convicts, which has given birth to the term “bush mechanic” – the ability to make do and mend should your car clap out in the outback.
by David Burn | Jun 13, 2005 | Architecture
Fine architecture is usually reserved for wealthy patrons or grand civic spaces. But in 1993, Auburn University Professor Samuel Mockbee set out to change that. He founded The Rural Studio, which guides students in the design and construction of homes and community spaces in economically depressed Hale County, Alabama.
Here is some of the Mockbee’s good thinking:
“The professional challenge, whether one is an architect in the rural American South or elsewhere in the world, is how to avoid being so stunned by the power of modern technology and economic affluence that one does not lose sight of the fact that people and place matter….
For me, these small (Rural Studio) projects have in them the architectural essence to enchant us, to inspire us, and ultimately, to elevate our profession. But more importantly, they remind us of what it means to have an American architecture without pretense. They remind us that we can be as awed by the simple as by the complex and that if we pay attention, this will offer us a glimpse into what is essential to the future of American Architecture: Its honesty. ‘ Love your neighbor as yourself.’
This is the most important thing because nothing else matters. In doing so, an architect will act on a foundation of decency which can be built upon. Go above and beyond the call of a ‘smoothly functioning conscience’; help those who aren’t likely to help you in return, and do so even if nobody is watching!‘
by David Burn | Apr 29, 2005 | Architecture
Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing points to this article on German resistance to prefabricated construction, despite the obvious benefits.
A prefabricated house can be compared to buying clothes off the rack instead of having them made to order. The various elements of a house — nearly always made of wood — are cut to specifications in factories. These are then assembled, sometimes within days, at a building site.
But the notion that “prefab homes” are cheaply made and are cookie-cutter solutions for low-end buyers is changing. In the past decade, prefab houses have become more diverse and individualized. They lead the industry in terms of energy efficiency, ecologically sound building techniques, and technical advances.
And now, thanks in part to some star architects, they are improving their image in terms of design as well. In the past few years, architects such as Gustav Peichl, Matteo Thun and Frank Gehry have turned their hand to designing “off the rack” houses, with surprising results.
Still, only 13 percent of homes in Germany are prefab, while 70 to 90 percent of newly constructed homes in design-sensitive Scandanavia are prefab.
by David Burn | Mar 27, 2005 | Architecture, Lowcountry
I’m generally underwhelmed by new construction. I could list a litany of reasons why, but a decided lack of quality craftsmanship, and thus character, are the leading causes.
However, as a new resident of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, my eyes are starting to open to the charms of new construction (done right). While Bluffton is a town rich in history, there are few structures that date to the 19th century or early 20th century. Neighboring Hilton Head Island has no such structures left standing that I’m aware of, as the island wasn’t opened to development until the 1950s. Therefore, new construction is the operative norm hereabouts. Some of it is slap-and-paste, as it is elsewhere in the country. But some of it is exceptional.
“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that people will say, as they look upon the labor, ‘See! This our parents did for us.'” –John Ruskin
The above quotation is taken from Genesis Contruction’s web site, a local builder of fine quality homes. Ruskin was a noted art critic, Oxford professor and primary inspiration for the Arts & Crafts movement. The Arts and Crafts movement was part of the major English aesthetic movement of the last years of the 19th century, but in the United States the term is often used to denote the style of interior design that prevailed between the dominant eras of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, or roughly the period from 1910 to 1925.
A Genesis-built Lowcountry-style home on Spring Island, SC
Their are two styles of homes in the area that greatly appeal to me. One is the Charleston-style home, found in Westbury Park and Shell Hall. The other is the Lowcountry-style home found in Oldfield, Palmetto Bluff and other locations on- and off-plantation.
by David Burn | Jan 28, 2005 | Architecture
“A big part of what sold us on strawbale building was the feel of the rooms in the SB houses we visited. Rounded corners, both outside and in, irregular surfaces, mottled colors. And of course the play of light around thick-walled windows. I’m sure we’d have been just as impressed by earthships or adobes, as long as they were hand-plastered too. We’d also both lived in old houses, with a variety of smooth but troweled surfaces that we loved.” –Burbophobia
a Burbophobe’s paradise
Since I have a loved one who suffers from Burbophobia, straw bale homes are of particular interest as a long term housing solution. Energy efficient and built to last, these homes can reflect a lot of personality as well, as they’re mostly hand-made, often by the owner’s own hands.
by David Burn | Dec 18, 2004 | Architecture
“What is architecture anyway? Is it the vast collection of the various buildings which have been built to please the varying taste of the various lords of mankind? I think not. No, I know that architecture is life; or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived. So architecture I know to be a Great Spirit…Architecture is that great living creative spirit which from generation to generation, from age to age, proceeds, persists, creates, according to the nature of man, and his circumstances as they change. That is really architecture.” -Frank Lloyd Wright
Since its opening on April 22, 1939, the SC Johnson Wax Administration Building has been a “mecca” for tourists, architects and Frank Lloyd Wright devotees from around the world. Today the building remains in use as the international headquarters for SC Johnson Wax.
The bricks used in the building are unusual in that more than 200 sizes and shapes of brick were made to form the angles and curves used by Wright. Even their color, Cherokee Red, was specified by Wright.
The Great Workroom, which covers nearly one-half acre, is the main office area. Though it has many unique features, two of the most prominent are the slim dendriform columns that support the roof, and glass tubing which replaces conventional windows.
As I stood inside this wonderful building this morning, I felt like a frog ready to emerge from the depths. I know Wright’s columns are meant to evoke a stand of trees, and they do. But the room also evokes a certain amphibious nature, with his “tree tops” spread out like lily pads.
by David Burn | Nov 5, 2004 | Architecture
John Boyle reminded me today to get out in the country in my quest to visit as many Frank Lloyd Wright structures as I can. His neck of the woods near Greensburg, PA is home to two Wrightian gems, the famed Fallingwater and Usonian masterpiece, Kentuck Knob, also known as the Hagan House (for the Hagan family of Hagan Ice Cream fame).
The home constructed of native stone, tidewater cypress and copper was finished in 1956 and is located but seven miles from it’s more famous relative, Falingwater. The allure of Wright, old friends and the rolling countryside of Western PA beckons.
by David Burn | Oct 25, 2004 | Architecture
Some people like to bag peaks. Colorado has 54 fourteen thousand foot peaks, for instance. So people work to “bag” as many as they can. I have another more citified pursuit. The bagging of Frank Lloyd Wright designed properties. With DK and Anina—in Chicago for a philosophy conference—we embarked on a cultural Sunday in Hyde Park. First stop, 5757 S. Woodlawn, home of the 1910 Wright commission known as the Robie House, for Frederick C. Robie, its first owner.
Robie House living room with prominent south facing windows.
The house is undergoing a ten-year restoration. Little of the original furniture is on display. The dining table and chairs are on display four blocks away, at U of C’s Smart Museum.
by David Burn | Jul 5, 2004 | Architecture
Wright In Wisconsin presents a lot of great information on Badger state native, Frank Lloyd Wright. Taliesin and The Johnson Wax Building deserve the ton of attention they receive. Yet, two of his lesser known properties in the state are periodically made available for rent—The Seth Peterson cottage in Lake Delton and his Usonian masterpiece, the Jacobs House in Madison—both affording the Wright fan a more intimate experience with the master’s work.
Designed in 1958, Wright’s Seth Peterson Cottage was one of his last commissions.
by David Burn | Jan 21, 2004 | Architecture
MW: I understand that last week, in all seriousness, you said: “If I had another 15 years to work, I could rebuild this entire country. I could change the nation.”
FLW: I did say it and it’s true. Having had now the experience building (going on) 769 buildings, it’s quite easy for me to shake them out of my sleeve. It’s amazing what I could do for this country.
–from the Mike Wallace interviews, care of PBS
