logjam house

In conjunction with the current coldness & the charming & yet desolate month of December, it felt appropriate to share an architectural design of a house located at the northeastern end of the Rio Blanco River Basin in Colorado.

This is the Logjam House, designed by Antoine Predock, in association with Jon Anderson Architect. In an anomalous area riddled with ranches & farms, the house was created as a retreat, rooted to the forest surrounding it.

The internal structure bares high ceilings, a glazed catwalk & wooden crisscross beams connecting through walls & resting on concrete columns.

Images courtesy of Antoine Predock Architects

fifth town artisan cheese factory

Artisan cheese & aesthetic design are not a predictable pairing, but somehow it feels appropriate for a company in practice of classic craftsmanship to blend its standards with that of sustainable architecture.

Located on twenty acres of agricultural land in Ontario, Canada, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Factory has won numerous awards for not only their creation of sheep & goat’s milk cheeses, but also in recognition of its Platinum LEED accreditation under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program. They are Canada’s first & only certified LEED dairy factory.

Their cheese collection consists of fresh, washed-rind, soft-ripened, hard & limited edition cheeses. My palate is particularly drawn to their lavender chèvre, maple chèvre, their Isabella & Lemon Fetish, which harnesses a creamy & natural citric zest with a red fife flour on the rind.

A panoptic awareness for not only its product but the environment of which it is made, is a synthesis of principles that will, in my opinion, carry on through time & the changes within it.

Courtesy of Lapointe Architects

Courtesy of Wood Works Ontario

love & architecture

I recently fell in love with two men. My love for these men developed both on the same day & perhaps even moments away from each other.

The first man shares in my vision of seeing a multitude of colors in white, & the second coined the aphorism of less being more. There is much detail to examine of them both, but surely they would prefer that I retain their simplistic style by discussing only their determination of design through destiny. Okay – so perhaps that’s still a little deep, but the paradox of simplicity is that it’s difficult to make.

I’m not sure when or how it was exactly that I came across the Farnsworth House, but its discovery had caught me in Mies de ver Rohe’s architecture for days thereafter. Somehow through the accidental encounter of his work, I then stumbled upon Richard Meier, who was greatly influenced by Meis & his “skin & bones” structure in design.

It is indeed a complicated love, sliced equally between the work of men that I deeply adore, but they say that good things happen over time, & great things all at once.

The J. Paul Getty Museum by Richard Meier + Architects

The Millennium Church by Richard Meier + Architects

New National Gallery by Mies de ver Rohe

The Barcelona Pavilion by Mies de ver Rohe

beach house one / mcGregor westlake architects

There are moments in my life that occasionally fail to align themselves with all that should feel entirely appropriate, such as warmth in the beginning of July & a lateral romance looming within. Quite the contrary now, with the rain holding the city hostage in confusion & the sheer surprise to the sudden loss of a lingering inclination of emotion. & so in times such as these, I naturally begin to seek desolation near a vast & beautiful body of water. 

Unfortunately, the closest that I can get to such an escape now is through sole imagination & visual intrigue. Such is the service of work brought forth by McGregor Westlake Architects, for the design of Beach House One in Australia. This particular house sits beeline on the beach & lends it’s structure out in solitude; surrendering itself to both the bay & its ocean. The core space of the house extends away from the kitchen, dining & living room, & out towards the paramount stretch of the beach. The second floor contains a window, which delivers a wide view to the north & acknowledges the winter sun. Each section of the house is joined on the east & outlines the horizon through its defense of the summer heat. 

An invulnerable environment of instinctive feeling.. inspiring emotion by healing it of thought. 

                              | Photos courtesy of McGregor Westlake Architects

lumberman’s building

I work at an architectural firm that has recently moved into the very old & majestic Lumberman’s Building on Richards Street. The building was built in 1909 by lumber baron Charles Fenn Pretty, who used the building to lead a fascist group called Fascisti of Canada. Good vibes. Anyway, I was initially disappointed with the firm’s move as we had recently resided in the head of the Suntower Building, which is so very stunning & extremely old also. Alas, I have fallen in love with the new building & so my disappointment has thankfully dissolved.

The interior space of the Lumberman’s Building is still being completely re-designed from the ground up, but the original elements remain & thus sustain the coolness of the building itself.

I was asked to shoot the building over the weekend & came away with some decent work. Enjoy.