Table of contents for 6/1/2016 in Dwell

“ The house appears before us, surrounded by a mass of flowers, wide lawns resplendent in the richest of greens extend…beyond them, pergolas, orchards, meadows, and woods seem to stretch away into the distance. A perfect, secluded world of its own, a little paradise on Earth. Here, if anywhere, is a surviving fragment of the old, placid way of life that stands, lonely as an island, in the brief transience of the modern world.” HERMANN MUTHESIUS, The English House, 1904-5 We aim to capture the joy of being outside. From earth-moving artists like Maya Lin to otherworldly creations at the hands of landscape professionals, this issue celebrates open-air design moves that surprise, delight, and restore us. Though the formal garden as described by Hermann Muthesius—a leading, turn-of-the-century architectural thinker—may seem…

Artist Maya Lin uses topography to inspire profound meditations. Her deep interest in the natural world comes to light in What Is Missing?, a piece Lin describes as her final memorial project in an eponymous Rizzoli monograph. One iteration is a viewing cone installed at the California Academy of Sciences; inside the reclaimed wood interior, a series of videos depict extinct and endangered species. The project is continually developing and exists in a host of forms and locations, including the Internet, where users can view an ecological history of the Earth and contribute memories of a changing planet.…

1 Eny Lee Parker, Savannah College of Art & Design Inspired by the geometric compositions of artist Kazimir Malevich, the Bento table features two compartments that appear to float in space. enyleeparker.com 2 Fabian Zeijler, Design Academy Eindhoven Fostering physical and emotional well-being, this air purifier doubles as a light that can be adjusted from white to yellow. fabianzeijler.com 3 Noelle Antignano, Rhode Island School of Design Long tubular cushions are woven through a steel-rod frame to create this lounge chair that embodies the beauty of controlled chaos. noelleantignano.com 4 Sabine T. Appel, VIA University College Units of this modular Pillar cabinet can be stacked to meet storage needs; the reversible roll-front doors are made of oak and linoleum. vonappel.com…

PROJECT Camp Baird ARCHITECT Malcolm Davis LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Merge Studio LOCATION Healdsburg, California Five years ago, Jeff Baird, a financial investment manager and his wife, Millie, an avid environmentalist, acquired 165 wooded acres in a valley west of Healdsburg, in California’s Sonoma County. They did so largely because their hillside home in Berkeley, designed by San Francisco architect Malcolm Davis, left them desiring outdoor play space for their two daughters, ages 7 and 10. “We really wanted that for them, so we asked Malcolm to design a place focused on the outdoors,” explains Jeff. “We wanted a second home that was not a wine chateau or an urban dwelling.” While considering its eventual form, the couple began a weekend ritual of hiking along streams or on paths beaten by wild…

PROJECT Sky Residence ARCHITECT Kevan Hoertdoerfer Architects LANDSCAPE DESIGNER Charleston Plantworks LOCATION Charleston, South Carolina Built before modern air-conditioning, Charleston is a city whose definition of indoor/outdoor living is more French doors than floor-to-ceiling glass, a standard that is vigilantly upheld by local preservation groups. So when web developer Rich Yessian and architect Kevan Hoertdoerfer submitted plans to set a steel sanctuary, complete with a roof garden, atop a warehouse that dates from 1858, they prepared for an uphill battle. “The anticipation going in was that there would be a lot of pushback,” notes Hoertdoefer, wryly. But his client’s wishes were clear. Inspired by the condos that crown taller cities like New York, Rich dreamt of living somewhere that collapsed the distance between work and nature. When his company, Blue…

32 Modern World: The Blue Lagoon 2.0 Blue Lagoon Iceland bluelagoon.com Sigríður Sigþórsdóttir, BASALT Architects basalt.is 58 Modern World: Right of Laneway Measured Architecture measured.ca Aloe Designs aloedesigns.com Sliding glass door by Western Window Systems westernwindowsystems.com Felt curtains by Cloth Studio clothstudio.ca Hexagonal concrete pavers from Hanover Architectural Products hanoverpavers.com Condesa chairs by OK Design okdesign.dk Green-wall system by ByNature bynaturedesign.ca Green-roof system by Soprema soprema.us 62 Modern World: In the Swim Malcolm Davis Architecture mdarch.net Fairweather & Associates fairweather-assoc.com Merge Studio merge-studio.com Lounge chairs by Loll Designs lolldesigns.com Cavendish outdoor shower from Signature Hardware signaturehardware.com Dining table and chairs from Black’s Farmwood blacksfarmwood.com Ceiling fan by Fanimation fanimation.com Floor coverings by Chilewich chilewich.com Wood-burning stove by Rais Stoves raisstoves.com Stonco Roughlyte Vapor Tight industrial lights from GoodMart goodmart.com 68…

Project Konner-Shepard Residence Architect Bestor Architecture Landscape Designer Michelle Frier Location Los Angeles, California “ It’s almost like the house is a gateway to the great outdoors.” -Barbara Bestor, architect “Should I stay or should I go?” The dilemma, famously posed in song by The Clash, was faced by Girls producer and writer Jenni Konner and her partner, screenwriter and director Richard Shepard, whose credits include The Matador, 30 Rock, and Ugly Betty. The couple, along with Jenni’s two children, had been renting a house that was so undistinguished that it could only be described as ranch style, despite being two stories. It was, however, located on a prime site in the Hollywood Hills at the foot of a pristine hillside. At its peak, the Briar Summit Open Space Preserve…

PROJECT Venice House ARCHITECT SPACE International LANDSCAPE DESIGNER Kathleen Ferguson LOCATION Los Angeles, California Venice, like many neighborhoods in Los Angeles, boasts a rich architectural legacy, though perhaps inadvertently. Its most enduring structures are also some of its most modest: small bungalows closely aligned on narrow lots dot the area, evoking nostalgia for years past. But the eclectic, beachfront neighborhood also carries elements of a second design legacy—as a hotbed of influential, deconstructivist architecture by avant-garde figures, including Thom Mayne’s 2-4-6-8 House (completed in 1978) and Frank Gehry’s Norton House (completed in 1984). In more recent years, Venice has largely evolved into an enclave simultaneously signifying creativity and affluence. Most of those modest bungalows have been polished and rejuvenated, and in the case of Tracy O’Brien and Thaddeus Stauber’s residence,…

PROJECT Burford Place ARCHITECT Baldridge Architects LANDSCAPE DESIGNER Studio Balcones LOCATION Austin, Texas Amid nondescript bungalows, countless construction sites bearing boxy building frames have come to characterize Austin. The census estimated it to be the fastest growing U.S. city from 2010 to 2013, and this Texas town is booming with new architecture designed to house its burgeoning creative community. Since forming his practice 10 years ago, architect R. Burton Baldridge has found a niche in Austin’s energized building environment. “I like to be able to reduce a design to a concise sentence,” he says. “If you can’t immediately decide what we’re trying to do in a limited number of words, it’s going to be muddied when we’re finished.” His office building, a white cube with slim cutout windows, sums up…

Chris Edwards Though photography is his primary passion, Chris Edwards enjoys trying his hand at other mediums, from woodworking to boat building. The portrait and interiors photographer lives with his family just south of Charlotte, North Carolina. For this issue, he shot a story about web developer Rich Yessian’s bold residence with ample outdoor entertaining space in Charleston, South Carolina (page 124). “I’ve been to Charleston a million times over the years,” Edwards says. “But standing on Rich’s green roof with a cup of coffee, watching the sun rise over the city…it’s still lodged in my memory very vividly.” How would you describe your ideal backyard? “It has a large garden, cats and dogs running around, and maybe a skateboard ramp.” James Ewing Architectural photographer James Ewing captured a three-part…

For 21st-century designers, visibility isn’t just a virtue, it’s part and parcel of a successful career in an interconnected world, where product launches and visual inspiration are found and shared with the click of a button. Creativity is a difficult professional endeavor to tackle, which is why our annual Young Guns feature is both a celebration of some of the best work we’ve seen, and an endorsement of some of the best ideas we’d like to see realized. In the following pages, we spotlight emerging talent from around the world—representing 16 cities, 13 countries, and 5 continents— as well as student work from some of today’s leading design schools. And for those looking to throw their hat into the ring of the design world, or simply dip their toes into…

PROJECT Rough House ARCHITECT Measured Architecture LANDSCAPE DESIGNER Aloe Design LOCATION Vancouver, British Columbia A construction boomlet is underway in Vancouver, where revised zoning ordinances are encouraging homeowners to put up rentals, workshops, and other small but useful buildings near the alleys behind their houses. “It’s a way to create density within a city that is unaffordable for many families,” says architect Clinton Cuddington, whose own laneway project hoisted a new addition, and a garden along with it. Wearing a blanket of local flora on two sides, the jewelry studio that Cuddington designed for his wife, Monica Berdin, looms over their West Side home’s hardscaping like a grassy knoll. And while it occupies two-thirds of the width of the backyard, the galvanized box doesn’t so much dominate the green space…

PROJECT Mission Family Garden LANDSCAPE DESIGNER Monica Viarengo LOCATION San Francisco, California “ This is a space we can grow into and grow up with—you get the idea of kids, but it’s not too kid-centric.”—Emily Sharkey, resident Covering a patchwork of concrete with AstroTurf was the first solution that came to mind when the Sharkey family thought of redoing the backyard of their San Francisco home. For Emily, a stay-at-home mom, and Michael, who works in finance, the priority was to create a low-maintenance space where their three exuberant girls, Carolina, Serafina, and Madeleine (ages 4, 6, and 8), could romp freely. But rather than take the expedient route, they connected with local landscape designer Monica Viarengo. She brought in a multitude of elements—space-saving vertical gardens, a massive water wall,…

A vertical watercraft has lately become a fixture of Seattle’s weekend waterfront. Part ship, part sweat lodge, the registered, fully motorized vessel is a floating sauna, offering passengers a unique chance to take a 200-degree shvitz or an invigorating cold plunge right in the shadow of the city skyline. Multidisciplinary firm goCstudio conceived the aquatic riff on Finnish sauna culture as a side project one winter and solicted help from peers to make it happen. “We wanted to figure out how to engage the water surrounding the city year-round,” explains principal Jon Gentry. Crowdfunded on Kickstarter and built using warehouse space lent from a local brewery, with support from students and volunteers, the project was a 19-month collaboration—one that continues to bring the design community together. Following the sauna’s maiden…