SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
[Photo by BUILD LLC]
Planned communities are a double-edge sword. The greatest models exemplify harmony with nature, consistency of good design and intentional living. The worst examples, however , miss the boat on all counts; they impose dull, repetitive forms plunked down incongruently on a highly manipulated landscape. But this isn’t intended to be a rant. The point of interest for us regarding planned communities is that it is not the concept of planning itself that determines the success or failure of the final product. That a community is “planned” indicates almost nothing to us about the quality of the community. As with most things, it is the people and their values that is critical.
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SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
Several weeks ago we spent some time in northern California and as far as we’re concerned Joseph Phelps Vineyards is the most well designed winery in all of Napa valley. Sure there are many noteworthy wineries in Napa and the surrounding areas; Turnbull Wine Cellars is a beautifully modest structure, Sterling Vineyards is striking and iconic, the exclusive Dominus Estate is pure and forward thinking and Opus One is grand and impressive. But none of the wineries in Napa have an inconspicuous quality that Joseph Phelps achieves. Wine is loved for its subtle, delicate and intricate qualities, and so it is surprising to us that the wineries so rarely take the same values into consideration when it comes to architecture.
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AUGUST 14TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
Recently during a drive along Interstate-90, just outside of Seattle, we passed by a large tract housing development on a hillside near Issaquah. The development immediately caught our attention for a reason that may seem a bit strange. At first glance it reminded us of some of the Italian hilltowns from our student days backpacking around Italy. We know, ridiculous right? Maybe our periphery vision failed us, maybe we had one too many martinis the night before, or maybe we’re just trying to hard. Whatever the case, we couldn’t get it out of our heads. There were inexplicable similarities in the overall composition, massing and patterns.
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JULY 20TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
[Post Exchange and Gymnasium building, 1905. Photo by BUILD LLC]
Because we practice an architecture using materials and methods of the current time (a.k.a. modern) people often assume that we don’t care for older, more traditional forms of architecture. It’s actually quite the opposite.
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JUNE 23RD, 2009
By BUILD LLC
When we heard the news that famed architect Daniel Libeskind is now in the prefab home game, we knew that something has gone terribly wrong with the idea of cost-effective prefabricated, mass-produced, delivered-to-the-site housing. This isn’t a criticism of Libeskind mind you; we have made numerous pilgrimages to admire his projects, including the Jewish Museum in Berlin and his recently completed Royal Ontario Museum Extension in Toronto. His entry into pre-fab home design, however, represents the last nail in the coffin as far as we’re concerned. Like it or not, BUILD is officially declaring the pre-fab home movement dead, at least this round anyway. Here’s 10 reasons why:
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JUNE 11TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
If one factor alone was responsible for us becoming architects, it was probably Legos. And as fascinating as the plastic bricks are, they’re not what captivate us these days. As professional architects now, looking back, it’s the Lego instructions that we find so brilliant. Needless to say, the Danes were very clever with their color-coded, three-dimensional, blocky instruction booklets. Because the graphic instructions were crafted in such a clear, understandable method – words and explanations weren’t needed. This allowed the instruction booklets to accompany the sets practically anywhere in the world. It allowed the instructions to guide both children and adults in assembling the sets.
When the circumstances are right, we like to bring the graphic language of Legos into our architectural drawings. We’re currently working on a project that is a good fit for just such a graphic language. The “Listening Circle” is a simple wood framed shelter for the Seattle Youth Garden Works here in Seattle. Because the project will be constructed by a group of unknown volunteers, a step by step instruction booklet is very advantageous. While architectural drawings typically don’t address means and methods, in this situation step by step instructions with a roster of the required parts and assemblies could be very helpful. So we brushed up on our Lego language skills and thought you might get a kick out of the instructions booklet. We’ll be following up with the construction process and finished product in a later post.
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MAY 29TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
Today’s post is a tribute to the work of Arthur Erickson who passed away on May 20th, 2009 at the age of 84 in Vancouver. While Erickson created a substantial portfolio of civic, commercial and institutional work, today’s post will focus on his residential projects. Erickson’s wood framed homes pushed architecture into new territory in the Pacific Northwest and has influenced generations of architects since.
Erickson was quoted as saying “If you can design a house, you can design anything.” We’d like to think that this speaks to the complexity and serendipity involved in each residence. While each house is unique to the clients, budget, environment, and available technology, Erickson developed common strategies to navigate through the design process. These common strategies are fascinating to us for a number of reasons; it allows the process of design to be efficient amidst all the variables, it develops a visual language with each project, and it unites a population of projects with a collective vision (a thesis if you’ll allow us to get architecty for a moment). Here is a breakdown of some of the strategies we find most compelling:
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FEBRUARY 15TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
Recently on a trip to South America we visited Tigre, a community about an hour north of Buenos Aires by train. Also known as the archipelago of Argentina, the area is a web of inter-connecting rivers and streams. Within the labyrinth of waterways were hundreds of homes and cabins representing the full spectrum of form, size and design philosphy. There didn’t seem to be any master-plan, development or overall scheme. Aesthetic covenants seemed to be excluded from the community and, judging from some of the structures, it didn’t even seem like a permit process or building department was involved. It appeared to be a community of liberated architecture. Some projects were clearly built from an architect’s drawings; others could have been crafted on site without a single piece of documentation. Needless to say, we were fascinated.
[Photo by Andrea CB]
[Photo by Magdo-50]
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FEBRUARY 5TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
On a recent trip to South America we took the opportunity to cross the Andes Mountain range. Los Libertadores Pass reaches an elevation of 11,483 feet and connects Argentina’s wine country, to Santiago, Chile. The 8 hour bus trip was fascinating and we were stuck to the glass like paparazzi for most of the journey. Of particular interest were the abandoned structures once used to protect outdated train tracks from the snow, ice and wind. Odd as it may be, these dilapidated structures seemed to belong within this pristine environment. There is an uncanny harmony that exists between these modest, horizontal skeletons and the dramatic backdrop of the mountains.
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JANUARY 30TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
Today’s post is not so much about architecture as it is about what it takes to create a significant place. Recently on a trip to Argentina’s wine country, we came across Casa Glebinias, a rural bed and breakfast at the foot of the Andes Mountains. This wonder of a place is extraordinary because of the patience, thoughtfulness and intentionality that went into it. No amount of money or architectural glamor alone could achieve this level of quality and substance.
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