Ben Waechther, principal in the architecture firm that bears his name, believes in the concept of experiential clarity. Whether a project is open or enclosed, it’s a belief that certain places, new or old, cities or villages, have their own strong sense of identity and place. The idea is to identify...
A tree walk that hovers 40 feet above ground is just one element in the recently completed first phase of a master plan for Portland’s Leach Botanical Garden. Designed by Land Morphology out of Seattle, the tree walk’s oval shape was conceived by Richard Hartlage, the firm’s CEO and President....
The October issue of Traditional Building magazine offers a feature I penned on the transformation of a first-floor carpet showroom, originally opened in 1993 in Smallwood, Alabama, into a luxurious space with a high-end, High Street-like bookstore look. A+A is pleased to post it here today: Thirty-one...
Peter Bafitis, managing principal at New York’s RKTB Architects, joined the firm in 1995. But RKTB had been on the leading edge of adaptive reuse in the city since the 1970s, riding the wave of developer-driven, repurposed buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the West Side and the West Village. “It...
Today, A+A is enjoying its annual sojourn at its favorite beach on a barrier island off the Carolina coast. Some years back, a friend asked for a few words on the nature of Cottage Time, and we happily obliged him. Though he may no longer be with us, the words he sought endure. Pythagoras, when...
A recent issue of Virginia Living magazine features a brief article I wrote on a three-year restoration project at Bacon’s Castle in Surry County, Va. Initial work will focus on the triple-stacks of chimneys on the west Flemish Gable end. A+A is pleased to post it here today: At the ripe old age of 357,...
The Assembly, a statewide magazine that publishes deep reporting on power and place in North Carolina, recently ran a feature I wrote about a small town’s resilience from major flooding. After being overcome by Hurricane Florence, tiny Pollocksville used grit, grants and gumption to recover – and created...
The online edition of Metropolis magazine is running today a feature I wrote on the work of N.C. State’s Coastal Dynamics Design Lab, an active, outreach element from the College of Design. The group has helped more than 30 communities across the state of North Carolina recover from flooding and hurricanes,...
It may be part retail outlet, part café, part theater and part meeting spot, but The Shop by Porter, designed by Graham Baba Architects in Seattle, is all original. It was conceived as a place where the design community could gather. But it turned into a place for anyone interested in the trends of the […]
Ocean Home magazine recently published an online feature I wrote about a home in Hawaii. It’s near a mountain called Haleakalā, which means “House of the Sun.” A dormant volcano, it rises to 10,000 feet in the distance and is visible throughout the house. A+A is pleased to re-post it today,...
