A glass pavilion in the northwest woods
Relearning how to live together
This place had connected him to the rhythms of life that water fosters. The power of architecture is emotional when you choose a place that you're going to dwell in.
And then there's an obligation to know that place well because there's life already present. —Architect, Jim Cutler
I often wonder why not all architecture, private homes, public buildings, markets, clinics, etc. aren't built with a reverence for the landscape upon which they emerge. Many, indeed, do. Yet I wish it was a requirement; one based on reverence and integration, rather than cost.
The plot upon which a home emerges can soften the boundaries of separation while at the same time foster a deep knowing or sense of belonging. It’s how connection manifests—an integrated life that is harmonious within its place.
This residence, which I find quite harmonious, captures something special. It hovers over a large pond while discreetly nestling itself in the woods. It has an almost celestial quality. One where the reflections from the water and glass telegraph its dimensions into an alternative realm.
How do you think living in such a place would feel? How would it shapeshift your life? I can’t help but contemplate the words of writer, Richard Powers.
How many people, how many of us can name even a dozen indigenous species to the place that we live? I don’t think that’s a huge exaggeration. How many are, as Thoreau says, “living in each season as it passes”? And how many can say, on a given day, at a given hour, what the plants, and the trees, and the flowers, and the animals around them are doing and needing? To know those things and to see them most of all—to smell them, and to touch them, and to experience them through your eyes—is an endless joy.
That’s what I say when people ask me, “What can I do?” I say, “Start by living where you live and finding the joy in that, and your joy will be contagious.” An interview with Atmos, The Space Between)
In an attempt to have you watch and enjoy the video, (13:47) I’m keeping my words short.
And Rich, if you catch this one, I think you’re going to love it and be totally inspired. Wouldn’t this be a cool project to do something similar over on Cassidy Lane overlooking one of the ponds?
Planting seeds and dreams. Sending you all my love.
Yours, Erin