materials, assembly, and DECAY
MATERIALS
We like to use materials that are expressive of their origins and feel rooted in the region and site. We are also careful to use materials honestly according to their natures with a minimum of illusion. Some prefer to smooth over the natures of materials to achieve a more abstract surface. We like to use simple forms but welcome the texture and richness that rougher, less finished materials offer.
Materials vary in the degree to which their origins are apparent in their finished constructed state. The origins of highly processed materials such as plastic or glass are not apparent. Other materials might be gathered from the environment and used in a nearly unaltered state such as the stone in a dry laid wall or a fence made of twigs.
The final configuration of a material can also be more or less illustrative of the construction processes that formed it. A board formed concrete wall illustrates that the concrete was once a liquid that was held in place by wooden forms. A concrete wall that uses smooth form surfaces is more abstract and less illustrative of its forming process. A natural or stained wood surface shows the imperfections of its grain which is an illustration of the original tree’s rings which attest to the growing conditions during each year of its life. A finely sanded, painted wood surface obscures the grain and the material’s story is less apparent. Manufactured composite materials have no grain and have a limited story to tell.
ASSEMBLY
We like to express the pieces that compose the things we design and how they are connected. When constructing in metal, we prefer to use extruded sections with visible bolted connections that express the forces being resisted. We avoid rectangular tube frames with welded joints that present every member and connection as the same regardless of the role it plays in the larger structure. We like to express hierarchy of structural members as foundations support columns and then beams, joists, purlins and slats pile on to form a pergola. We like connectors to show.
We like building elements that express the roles they play and the forces they resist. A roof is different from a wall which is different from a floor.
DECAY AND WEAR
Much of the effort of building is aimed at resisting weathering and decay. To this end ever more processed materials have been developed that are increasingly impervious to the elements and tend to defy any apparent identification with things found in nature. This impulse has led to aluminum siding, plastic wood and vinyl flooring. The trade-off is that these materials become irrelevant as their lack of change and alteration creates a sense of separation from the surrounding environment.
We prefer less processed materials, whose surfaces may show the wear brought on by the passage of time, but appear to be more clearly of this world as they warp and weather.