Craft and Modernism

Thanks to my friend Robert Meckfessel FAIA, I was alerted to an absolutely stunning exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on The Venetian Glass of Carlo Scarpa. I was able to see the show last week during a trip to New York. Scarpa was a widely-admired Italian architect responsible for contemporary buildings infused with spirituality. But I was unaware of his innovations in glass-making at Murano, where he "created over two dozen styles, in the process pioneering techniques, silhouettes, and colors that thoroughly modernized the ancient tradition of glassblowing" (quote from the Met's catalogue). It is a reminder of the role of arts and crafts in early Modernism (notably at the Bauhaus), much of which seemed to fall by the wayside during later eras. The exhibit is simply stunning. If you find yourself in NYC before it closes on March 2nd I recommend that you see it for yourself.

2014

I have been remiss in not posting recently, but we've been busy! 2014 is already looking very promising, with some exciting new projects getting underway and others finally nearing completion. To friends, colleagues, and especially our clients, thanks for making 2013 a "lucky" year, and Happy 2014!

Serpentine garage

Our parking garage for the Tarrant Regional Water District campus is nearing completion. It has two levels that are cut into the hillside, following the serpentine landform. This makes for a dynamic spatial experience as one moves through the center aisle.

We also designed the new office building, which is a close sibling of the headquarters building immediately to the south that I did in 2000 while at Gideon Toal. We collaborated with The Smith Group on both of the new projects.

Amphibian Stage Productions

I recently had the pleasure of working with Dror Baldinger AIA, photographer (and architect), to shoot two recent projects. Above is one of his beautiful images of the lobby at Amphibian Stage Productions. You can see more of his excellent work  at http://www.drorbaldinger.com/index.html. We'll have all of them up on our website soon.

Postcards

I will be one of twelve architects participating in the "Postcards" exhibition at the AIA Fort Worth Center for Architecture. It features 5" x 7" postcards with sketches, photos, or images from locations that have inspired each architect. My watercolor is called "Judd/Flavin/Marfa." The exhibit runs from September 7th through October 23rd.

Texas Pastoral

I've recently been studying a picturesque property near Rhome Texas. My clients, a brother and sister, have strong memories of time spent there as children. They are now grandparents, so the task is to create something that will make visits to the ranch as meaningful to the third generation as it was to them. The rolling landscape, graced by mature Post Oaks and lush meadows, provides a number of promising settings for a weekend home that will provide the backdrop for a new generation's wistful memories of youth.

New Silo images

I finally had the pleasure of dining (twice!) at Silo, a project we completed last year in Nashville. While the food alone made the trip worthwhile, I was there to work with the local architectural photographer Rachel Paul. These are three of of her beautiful shots; I'll have them all up on our website next week.