An architecture of the Ozarks : the works of Marlon Blackwell

"I live, practice, teach, and build in northwest Arkansas, in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It's a place considered to be in the middle of nowhere, yet ironically close to everywhere. It is an environment of real natural beauty and, simultaneously, one of real constructed ugliness. Abandonment, exploitation, erasure and nostalgia are all aspects of this place and are conditions as authentic as its natural beauty and local form. This land of disparate conditions in not just a setting for my work -- it is part of the work. By choosing to live and work here -- to call it home -- I've been able to get beyond the surface of things, to turn over the rock and discover the complex and rich underbelly of my place -- its visceral presences and expressive character -- that so informs and sustains my efforts. I am working from the conviction that architecture is larger than the subject of architecture." --Marlon Blackwell Marlon Blackwell is a passionate polemicist. He's also a very gifted architect. The projects in this first monograph on the "radical ruralist," as touted by the Royal Institute of British Architects, offer a new architectural language that at once celebrate the vernacular and transgress the boundaries of the conventional. The results are -- we can't help it, there's no better word -- beautiful. Incisive essays by David Buege, Dan Hoffman, and Juhani Pallasmaa and lush photography by Tim Hursley, Richard Johnson, and Kevin Latady explore Blackwell's projects, including his widely acclaimed Keenan TowerHouse, the award-winning Moore HoneyHouse, 2Square House, and Flynn-Schmitt BarnHouse, studios, and institutional buildings. The Process Of Investigation, Analysis, And Testing Makes Architecture Research Office (aro) As Much A Laboratory As A Design Firm. For Stephen Cassell, Adam Yarinsky, And Their Team, The Starting Point Of Each Commission Is Not The Development Of An Abstract Idea For The Project, But An Intensive, Hands-on Occupation With A Project's Conditions, With Its Physical, Economic, And Social Contexts. This Practical Approach To Making Architecture, To Shrinking The Distance Between Thinking And Building, Is Much Evident In Their Work, Which Manages To Be Simultaneously Thoughtful And Sensual. The Seven Projects Featured In This, The First Monograph On The Work Of This Firm, Range From Self-directed Research (aro's Paper Wall Project), To Private Living Spaces (the Soho Loft), To Commercial Interiors (the Qiora Store And Spa), To The Popular U.s. Armed Services Recruiting Station In Times Square, To The Stunning Colorado House In Telluride. All Of These Projects Challenge Design Conventions, While Delighting The Senses With Their Unusual Materials, Careful Detailing, And Unexpected Spatial Discoveries. With Essays By Stan Allen, Philip Nobel, Guy Nordenson, And Sarah Whiting.--book Jacket. Aro's Applied Research / Stan Allen -- Us Armed Forces Recruiting Station -- Paper Wall -- Facts Plus / Sarah Whiting -- Colorado House -- War Remembrance Memorial -- The Daily Practice Of Collaboration / Guy Nordenson -- Soho Loft -- Qiora Store And Spa -- Eyebeam Museum Of Art And Technology -- Just Design / Philip Nobel. Stephen Cassell, Adam Yarinsky. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 176-179). The process of investigation, analysis, and testing makes Architecture Research Office (ARO) as much a laboratory as an elegant design firm. Faced with the design of something as simple as a wall, ARO takes an approach completely different than that of most architects. What makes a wall? What is it made of? Need it be flat? Continuous? Impermeable? Tall? Might it be made of small pieces of paper that lock together? Or modular interconnecting plywood panels? This approach to making architecture, to shrinking the distance between thinking and building, is much evident in their work, which manages to be simultaneously thoughtful and sensual. ARO, the first monograph on the work of this award-winning firm, features work ranging from self-directed research (including their paper wall and modular wall projects), to exhibition design, to commercial interiors, to the popular Armed Services Recruiting Station in Times Square, to the stunning Colorado House in Telluride. All of these projects challenge design conventions, but still delight the senses with their unusual materials, careful detailing, and unexpected spatial discoveries. Extensive photography of the completed works is coupled with thorough documentation of the design process to illustrate the interdependence between ARO's rigorous design method and their innovative designs. Critical essays by Stan Allen, Sheila Kennedy, Philip Nobel, Guy Nordensen, and Sarah Whiting discuss various aspects of ARO's work. It's an unfortunate reality that architects practicing in the great expanse between the East and West coasts all too often find themselves beyond the radar of the profession's so-called "tastemakers." And it's especially a shame in the case of Julie Snow, a Minneapolis-based architect who has, over the past decade, developed one of the most inventive practices anywhere in the United States.
Snow's meticulously constructed work has the structural opacity and formal integrity that characterized Mies van der Rohe's architecture, but with a sense of humanity and a sensitivity to the environment that seems borrowed from her Midwestern progenitor, Frank Lloyd Wright.
This, the first monograph on Snow's work, provides in depth documentation of 14 of her residential, institutional, corporate, and public projects, including the Koehler Residence in New Brunswick, Canada, a series of Minneapolis Light Rail Stations, the Minnesota Children's Museum, and the University of South Dakota School of Business.
Julie Snow, Architect is produced in collaboration with award-winning designer Andrew Blauvelt, and features an introductory essay by Jan Abrams, director of the Minnesota Design Institute. It is with releif that we look at the work of this small town architect living and working in rural Arkansas. It is proof that the creative design of striking small homes is not dead. The buildings illustrated here are not the expensive luxury homes of the rich, nor are they the cookie cutter homes of the modern American sub-division. Instead, they are striking buildings that are well within the range of the average house buyer. Mr. Blackwell clearly works well with the client and the location of the proposed dwelling. That part of the country, for instance, is prone to frequent flooding. As a result, a number of the houses shown here are built up above ground. These houses, though, are far from the traditional set of poles with a conventional house positioned on top. The results look like insects, or maybe space ships. Yet the designs are so simple that the costs would not be extremely high. This book is a refreshing look at brilliant design in an unexpected corner. Marlon Blackwell is a passionate polemicist. He's also a very gifted architect. The projects in this first monograph on the "radical ruralist," as touted by the Royal Institute of British Architects, offer a new architectural language that at once celebrate the vernacular and transgress the boundaries of the conventional. The results are�we can't help it, there's no better word�beautiful. Incisive essays by David Buege, Dan Hoffman, and Juhani Pallasmaa and lush photography by Tim Hursley, Richard Johnson, and Kevin Latady explore Blackwell's projects, including his widely acclaimed Keenan TowerHouse, the award-winning Moore HoneyHouse, 2Square House, and Flynn-Schmitt BarnHouse, studios, and institutional buildings. Marlon Blackwell has received national and international recognition for his residential projects. He teaches architecture at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Architecture or entomology / David Buege The world is my imagination: a drive with Marlon Blackwell / Dan Hoffman Place and image / Juhani Pallasmaa June Moore house BarnHouse 2square house (Farah Residence) Prototypes: roadside houses for the new American landscape BullFrog House, Dragonfly House, HouseBoat-BoatHouse Moore HoneyHouse Keenan TowerHouse Arkansas House Blessings Golf Clubhouse, Blessings GuardHouse Fred and Mary Smith Razorback Golf Center Srygley Office Building. Front Matter -1 Architecture or Entomology -1 The World Is My Imagination A Drive with Marlon Blackwell -1 Place and Image -1 June Moore House -1 BarnHouse -1 2Square House (Farah Residence) -1 Prototypes Roadside Houses for the New American Landscape -1 Moore HoneyHouse -1 Keenan TowerHouse -1 Arkansas House -1 Blessings Golf Clubhouse Blessings Guardhouse -1 Fred and Mary Smith Razorback Golf Center -1 Srygley Office Building -1 Back Matter -1 Julie Snow is a Minneapolis-based architect whose practice spans industrial buildings, private residences, museum environments, and light rail stations. This work describes 14 of Snow's projects and showcases them with color and b & w photos and plans. A chronology and a list of members of Snow's studio are included. There is no index A luminous white aerie on the twenty-fourth floor of the Rand Tower in downtown Minneapolis, commanding a rare, Manhattan-worthy view of the surrounding skyscrapers: the HQ of Julie Snow Architects.