on the dominant role of functionalism and an alternative approach to design that neither favors formalism nor eschews function
housing in rural America
"Do I look fat in this house?" Hyper-Attenuated Building Syndrome, repost
One of the sure-fire ways of designing a cool looking building in graduate school was to be infected with the Hyper-Attenuated Building Syndrome (HABS). Any project can be made absurdly long and skinny and by violating any notion of “pleasant” golden-section-type proportions, it instantly propels a project from everyday to extraordinary. Mind you, this was simply grad school students messing around. However, the Hyper-Attenuated Building Syndrome is no laughing matter:
mississippi river mansions, repost
On a narrow spit of land, at the confluence of two mighty rivers, lies ancient Cairo. Not the one in Africa, with pyramids and camels, rather the one along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers: Cairo, Illinois.
Cairo has seen better days, the 1920 population of 15,000 having dropped below 3,000 souls. Once a shipping center strategically located at the two rivers, the city later developed as a rail center, consolidating its status as a bustling nexus of commerce
The Power of Three (it’s a magic number...)
Threeness
With apologies to Schoolhouse Rock and De La Soul, what exactly is it about the number three, at least in the world of architecture and design, that makes it so ubiquitous and appealing? I’m not going to dive into the Holy Trinity or discourse about mind, body and soul, but it is so often true that a grouping of three is so often more compatible, more satisfying than two or four.
How to select materials - natural abstraction
In all of our projects we go through an extensive process of trying to choose materials for interior finishes. There are an almost infinite number of choices available for tile, wall and ceiling colors, flooring, etc. The final selection should reinforce the ideas of the design as well as meet the budget, technical and practical uses of each location.