Project Design Principles: 1. House as "platform" for inter-being with nature. A oneness of site/building & body/mind. 2. Embrace the lineage of NC modernism. Create an architecture with deep roots. 3. Create a "nesting" abode, reclusive yet open to sensory experience. Use indigenous materials to fuse architecture and site. 4. Touch the earth with "lightness", minimizing excavation and heavy basement walls. 5. Clarity of separation between Private and Collective spaces. 6. House " suspended" in the trees. A levity of presence, a lightness of being. 7. Be "responsive" to the natural slope and terrain. Listen to the psyche of the site. 8. "Acknowledge" and celebrate the presence and the sound of the stream. Create a strong sensory experience that nurtures a sense of place. 9. Create a seamless "continuum" of inside/outside. 10. "Celebrate" the sunlight. Locate the house in the site's naturally luminous zone. 11. Craft a "Balance" between modern and rustic. Highly crafted workmanship inspires clarity of mind.
Organizational Approach: The house has 3 primary organizing elements: West Bar, Bridge Platform and the East Tower. Bedrooms are located in the "west bar" all living spaces are located in the "bridge platform" and either a master suite or a caretakers unit is located in the "east tower". The compositional formation of this strategy creates a void space framing nature and thereby creating an experiential tension between constructed and natural.
