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. 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....Pages 11-21 The World Is My Imagination A Drive with Marlon Blackwell....Pages 22-27 Place and Image....Pages 28-37 Front Matter....Pages 38-39 June Moore House....Pages 40-51 BarnHouse....Pages 53-63 2Square House (Farah Residence)....Pages 64-75 Prototypes Roadside Houses for the New American Landscape....Pages 76-89 Moore HoneyHouse....Pages 90-103 Keenan TowerHouse....Pages 104-121 Arkansas House....Pages 122-135 Blessings Golf Clubhouse Blessings Guardhouse....Pages 136-147 Fred and Mary Smith Razorback Golf Center....Pages 148-159 Srygley Office Building....Pages 160-173 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 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. 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