Turning Points » Architecture

Cool Architecture

Jeff — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:12:35 +0000

For many years, I’ve been attracted to unconventional architecture, perhaps because of my affinity for sculpture. I’ve often thought that houses are “livable sculptures” and perhaps that is why I like organic architecture. I have three copies of Woodstock Handmade Houses, by Robert Haney and David Ballantine; a copy of Handmade Houses, by Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro; and a copy of The Craftsman Builder, also by Boericke and Shapiro. Plus numerous other books on organic architecture, cob building, and various other types of natural building. Colleen’s recent post on her stay at a cool hostel in Brunswick, GA has prompted me to “come out” on the subject, though I have posted before on the topic of cool architecture. One of the reasons I bought property in Floyd County is because there is a substantial community of folks who also like alternative and organic architecture. At any rate, for those who like this sort of thing, I thought you’d be interested in the work of Sun Ray Kelly. Here is a picture of one of his houses from his website:

I haven’t figured out what kind of house I am going to build, but it will likely be partially earth sheltered. My property slopes gently to the south, so it is ideal for building a passive solar house. It won’t be off-grid, but it will be as close to it as I can manage. But with the economy as it is now, commencing this “little” project is probably a few years off into the future.

Intriguing Architecture

Jeff — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:01:24 +0000

I’ve been interested in sculptural forms for most of my life. After I returned from my latest sojourn to Touchstone, I had a conversation with a good friend who is a painter. We were discussing artistic orientations and we agreed that some artists see in two dimensions and others see in three dimensions. While I surely appreciate painting and other two-dimensional media, my orientation has always been towards three dimensions. The two dimensional artists that I most appreciate tend to have strong shapes in their work. Marsden Hartley and Lyonel Feininger, as examples, come to mind. I’ve been interested in sculpture since an early age, but never did much with that interest other than read books and admire the sculpture of others. Touchstone changed that. A whole new world opened to me with the realization that I, too, had something to say, sculpturally.

Architecture has always fascinated me, starting with the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. At one time, I wanted to be an architect, but mathematics and engineering are most assuredly not my strong suites. Frank Lloyd Wright intrigued me early on, but that interest did not continue. While I respect the holes that he blew in the way architecture was practiced in the first half of the 20th century and how he opened the door for some incredible architecture, I find his homes cramped, cold, and can’t imagine living in one of them. Instead, I am intrigued with architecture that follows natural forms. While I surely can’t afford anything built by Eugene Tsui, I like his approach to his work. Here is an interesting interesting video interview of Mr. Tsui:

Other architects that fascinate me are Bangs Kellogg, Bruce Goff, Bart Prince, and James Hubbell. Javier Senosiain, in Mexico, is also an intriguing house-sculptor.

In future posts, perhaps I will cover other intriguing architects and environmental artists.

Kentuck Knob

Jeff — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:38:19 +0000

Kentuck Knob was one of the last houses that Frank Lloyd Wright built. It was built for I.N. and Bernardine Hagan, the owners of an ice cream company in Uniontown, PA. They had seen Fallingwater, built for Edgar Kaufmann, and fell in love with Lloyd’s approach to architecture. Built in 1956, the Hagans lived there for 30 years, until they sold Kentuck Knob to Peter Palumbo, a wealthy English real estate developer. Palumbo, also a patron of the arts, created a wonderful sculpture garden to display his collection of monumental sculptures. This shot of Kentuck Knob is from the corner by the path that leads out to the sculpture garden.

There are two pieces by Harry Bertoia as you start down the path. This one is very intriguing – as the wind blows, the thin metal rods touch each other, creating a melodic tune:

The sculpture garden has three pieces by Michael Warren, an Irish sculptor. I found them to be very interesting, visually. This piece is called “First Creation”:

After these pieces, the trail winds down through a mature forest and you shortly end up in a meadow, where there are more than 20 large pieces. This massive oak piece, also by Michael Warren, had me gazing at it for a long time:

Allen Jones, a sculptor previously unknown to me, created this wonderful piece out of Corten steel. This is a type of steel that oxidizes and creates a film that resists further oxidation. No maintenance needed! I enjoyed walking around and around the sculpture, feasting on all the different shapes presented to the eye:

The last piece that I’ve included in this post is by Andy Goldsworthy – there is another work by him a short distance away that resembles a Celtic round house. Goldsworthy is well worth researching on the Internet – he has created a large body of intriguing sculpture:

Kentuck Knob is located in Chalk Hill, PA, about 10 miles away from Fallingwater. I toured both houses, not because I like house tours, but because how could I possibly forgive myself if I just drove on past Fallingwater? I’m not real keen on Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses – they seem like they would be uncomfortable to live in – but there is no escaping the fact that his work blew the architecture profession wide open, allowing so much creative architecture to be built since then.