Boulder, Colorado - M. Gerwing Architects blog posts for M. Gerwing Architects
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Like most of these Architect’s Glossary posts, this one was generated from a misunderstanding between myself and a client. When they expressed a desire for piers instead of posts, my mind went in a very different direction than they had intended. A quick meeting resolved the issue, but started me wondering on the various terms we use for vertical supports of structures
Recently, I took the opportunity to break up a long road trip to visit one of my favorite Midwestern places, New Harmony, Indiana.
Sitting on the border between southern Illinois and Indiana, along the Wabash River, sits New Harmony, Indiana. Founded in 1814 by a group of religious separatists similar to the Shakers, the town consisted of 180 buildings, but was bought in its entirety by Robert Owen, a wealthy industrialist from Wales. His communitarian society was an utopia experiment in social reform but was short-lived. What they left was a remarkable series of buildings and realized urban plan:
Throughout its history, New Harmony has attracted philosophers, theologians, scientists and most importantly reformists, interested in the ideas and promise of communal living.
That spirit is incorporated in the Working Men's Institute building and in Philip Johnson's 1960 interdenominational Roofless Church:
This is a beautiful space and surely his best work, - a tall brick rectangular wall with the 'church' structure sitting to one side. The space of this outdoor room is very striking, made the more so by a single, modulated opening looking out on the floodplain of the Wabash River.
This building in a sense spans the cabins of the original founders and the Atheneum Visitors Center by Richard Meier (not built at the time of Johnson's work). The Atheneum is other-worldly, a graceful, pure white, vision. I am sure it was not intentional, but it feels a bit like a nineteenth century steamboat pulled up to a dock, an apt allusion for a visitor's center.
New Harmony was intentionally separated from the mass of society and it still remains a bit isolated in rural southern Indiana. I know of no other place that within the space of a few blocks you can wander around almost 200 years of remarkable American architecture. Well worth a visit
We are getting ready to start construction on the Palisade Farmhouse. The old house will be demolished in the next week or so and the excavation for the new project will follow immediately afterward.
After a number of interviews, the Owners selected McPherson Custom Builders as the General contractor. They have extensive experience in the area and their quality of construction is excellent.
The costs of construction in the Grand Junction area are considerable less than along Colorado's Front Range. However, like all projects, the budget is stressed as we try to optimize all the materials selections, balancing long- and short-term costs.
Palisade is a magical place and we are really excited to move to the construction phase. The lush green valley floor is dramatically surrounded by dry, rugged mesas. This multi-generational farmhouse will be the anchor for the family peach farm and hopefully contribute a small instance of human scale to this starkly beautiful landscape.
