International Architecture & Design Magazine. Winter 2011
International Architecture & Design Magazine. Winter 2011
SMART IDEA: AN EFFICIENT MOUNTAIN CABIN SPECIAL: VENICE BIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE 2010 TRS CHIC: FASHIONS INFLUENCE ON HOME
BIG IDEAS
BIG SPACES: OUTSIZED SPLENDOUR IN QUEBEC, COLORADO, AND LIMA, PERU BIG PLANS: WERE BUILDING OUR DREAM HOUSE [ PART 1 IN A SERIES ] BIG STYLE: CALVIN KLEIN DESIGNERS NYC CONDO
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2010 Audi Canada. Audi , A8 , Vorsprung durch Technik , and the four rings emblem are registered trademarks of AUDI AG. To find out more about Audi, see your dealer, call us at 1-800-FOR-AUDI, or visit us at www.audi.ca.
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CONTENTS
Whats new: Books about art and architecture; this winters gallery exhibitions; two home collections from fashion designers; and three current looks in fabrics. Plus, a survey of the great designs of the past 150 years and an appreciation of artist Doris McCarthy at 100.
FEATURES
3 6 | F RO M TH E G RO U N D U P
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Dream Building Last spring, a couple in Saint John, N.B., purchased a rugged property with a view of the Bay of Fundy. Now, theyre building a house on itand IA&D is reporting on their progress. Part 1: The Site By Suzanne Robicheau
4 0 | CO M M E N T
Imagine... An examination of the Big Issues was offered up in the 2010 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Ultimately, it was about what architects do best: the imagining of a better world. By John Bentley Mays
44 | ARCHITECTURE
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Natural Wonder Minimalism, in all its quiet drama, is the perfect, harmonious response to the splendour of living in the foothills of Mont Saint-Hilaire. By Lisa Fitterman
52 | P H OTO E S SAY
All the Right Angles A modern jigsaw of glass and concrete, boxes and cut-outs forms a clifftop home from which to commune with the sea. By Dali Castro
White high-tech ceramic watch. Self-winding mechanical movement. 42-hour power reserve.
CHANEL BOUTIQUES AND FINE JEWELLERS CHANEL.CA
CONTENTS
Master Class Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costas New York home is a heady lesson in marrying traditional and modern design. By Deborah Fulsang
70 | A R C H I T E C T U R E
Not Thinking Straight In 1963, architect Charles Deaton began his dream job building a spectacular modern family getaway. Now a design-architect teamhis daughter and her husbandhave completed the task. By Alex Bozikovic
80 | ARCHITECTURE
36 106
Take Shelter A unique mountain cabin packs plenty of living space into its small footprint and then packs up easily when its owner heads back to city life.
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10 2 | F LOO R P L A N S
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he great thing about the Big Idea is that it could be a success even if it doesnt work out the way youd planned it. Given a little space and air, ideas original, smart, even half-baked onestend to take on independent life. They may grow in ways unforeseen. They move off in unexpected directions. They sometimes beget other ideas. When an idea seems too out-there to be credible, some people tear ahead on it anyway. Maybe they cant help themselves. Surely someone told architect Charles Deaton, back in the 60s, that his dream house was, well, an unnecessary idea. It was large and expensive, and strange-looking, and it addressed issues that he saw but that most people had never even considered. Deaton forged ahead, though (it was the 60s), took on what turned out to be more than he could handle and never nished it.
The house remained semi-built, semi-used, for over 30 years. He died more than a decade ago, but his idea, it turns out, is alive and well. His daughter, Charlee Deaton, an interior designer, and her husband, Nicholas Antonopoulos, an architect, nished a few years ago what Deaton had started. You can see the breathtaking result in Not Thinking Straight, on page 70. The excitement of a new idea can also be contagious. Thats why, when International Architecture & Design writer Suzanne Robicheau told us about the new house that Saint John architects Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp were designing for their clients, we decided to show up with a camera. Not to photograph the house (it isnt built yet), but to capture, essentially, the birth and then the growth, of an idea from enthusiastic people talking around the table in an architects ofce, to the starry-eyed contemplation of the soggy ground (it was November) where the house was
to be built. Then there was the sobering scrutiny of dream-lled blueprints to be reorganized and redrawn after the always sobering review of the numbers on a budget printout. In this winter issue of IA&D, youll be privy to the game plan the rst steps on the path to building a dream house. We plan to keep you posted on the progress of the project over the months, to see where this Big Idea takes them, and to find out what insights can be gleaned from the inevitable bumps along the way. There are, after all, a lot of houses out there. It would have been easier for our friends in New Brunswick to just nd themselves a good real estate agent. Too late, though; a potentially great idea seems to have them in its grip. Carolyn Kennedy Editor
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BRUCE MACNEIL
Robert Moore and Judith Mackin are standing on the site of the dream home they plan to build in downtown Saint John, N.B. The view from their future home: the Bay of Fundy.
WINTER 2011 15
BOSS BOTTLED. NIGHT. THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN FEATURING RYAN REYNOLDS
DESIGNPHILE
MILESTONE
ART IN FASHION
The 150-year history of a design house offers an illustrated tour of some of the enduring styles of the 19th and 20th centuries.
By Leslie Young
By the time you mark your 150th birthday, youve piled up a lot of memories. At Sanderson, the pioneer English purveyor of wall coverings and fabrics, in-house designers saluted their rms 15 decades in business by delving into the pastthe companys voluminous archive of historic textiles, embroideries, prints, and wallpapers. The archive yielded printing blocks with samples that date from the Renaissance and mid-19th-century French and Japanese
DE S IG N S OF TH E TI M E S
styles to the Arts and Crafts movement, along with 50s Festival and Pop prints. Using modern printing techniques to enhance Sandersons classic patterns, the designers then produced a celebratory collectionnine printed fabrics, two embroideries, and nine wallpapers. Innovation plays a major role in Sandersons success. As well, the longevity of the rmwhich was granted the royal warrant in 1924 and continues to supply design services to the Queen and the British royal palacescan be attributed to its ability to deliver products across the spectrum of the interior decor market. Through its Sanderson Options books, the design house was the rst to introduce coordinated fabrics and wallpaper, presenting customers with colour and pattern schemes they might not have conceived of on their own. The books tripled its business in the 1980s, yet did not even dent the companys solid relationship with its luxury-market clientele. Over the years, Sanderson has been able to keep production of all of its fabrics, wallpapers, and bed linens in the U.K., from the initial design concept to the manufacturing processthis through some challenging times that included several changes of ownership, expansions and acquisitions, and a re that destroyed the rms premises and records. Much like its vintage anniversary collection, which offers a fresh take on beloved original patterns, the Sanderson studio proves that good design withstands the test of time.
1860
Arthur Sanderson starts his rm in London as an importer of French wallpaper. Later, he produces his own papers.
1879
Adapting to changing tastes and the increasing demand for wallpaper, Sanderson sets up a factory in Chiswick. The company begins the shift from handprinting to the use of a surface printing machine.
1882
Sandersons death leaves his young sonsJohn, Arthur, and Haroldin charge of the business, now named Arthur Sanderson & Sons, which continues to prosper.
SQUIRREL AND DOVE This elegant Arts and Crafts pattern dates back to the 1890s. Its modern version includes embroidered nesting birds and squirrels.
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DESIGNPHILE
MILESTONE
EARLY TULIPS Released in 1929, the original pattern showed vividly coloured tulip heads in a textural print. The update has toned-down hues with a soft watercolour ambience.
TREE POPPY The 1920s Tree Poppy design featured large poppies intertwined with branchesan Art Deco style considered avant-garde for the era. The pattern has been simplied for the Centenary Collection.
1899
The company joins Wall Paper Manufacturers Ltd., which soon controls 98 percent of wallpaper manufacturing in England.
19021903
An extension to the Chiswick factory is designed by C.F.A. Voysey, a renowned Arts and Crafts architect.
1928
A re at the Chiswick factory destroys part of the premises, including some equipment and records.
1930
The Sanderson factory relocates to a custombuilt, state-of-the-art site in Perivale, U.K., touted in the press as the nest wallpaper mill in the world.
ROSLYN Created by famed artist William Turner in 1910, Roslyn is among Sandersons most enduring designs. Except for new colours, the original tree motif with tiny owers on trellises has not been altered for the update.
PRIMAVERA This striking pattern woven in metallic gold, fuchsia, orange, and cobalt features stylized leaves, fruit, and owers.
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PALLADIO SUNFLOWER The sunower motif in this circa-1961 design was created with the distinctive etched cross-hatching found in vintage botanical prints. EGLANTINE In 1957 Sanderson introduced Eglantine, and it captured the romance of roses in a loose painterly style typical of French orals. The original pink and taupe scheme has been reintroduced along with three new colour combinations.
CONCORD Optical geometrics energizethis 1964 op art-inspired design, updated in current colours such as charcoal with silver.
1960
To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Sanderson expands the Uxbridge factory, rebuilds its contemporary showroom on Berners Street in London, and launches its wallpaper Centenary Collection.
2000
Sanderson of Berners Street is now the Sanderson Hotel, classied as an English heritage building of more than special interest.
2003
Three weeks after going into receivership, the company is purchased by Walker Greenbank PLC.
2010
Sandersonthe oldest surviving English brand name in its eldmarks its 150th anniversary. Staff
SWALLOWS Stylized elegance dened the patterns of the 1930s, and is conveyed in this serene print featuring swallows in ight.
WEYBRIDGE This linen oral pattern is typical of Sandersons 1970s prints, and its rose bouquet design was popular into the 1980s.
SICILIAN LIONS The pattern of lions in the 1956 print is reminiscent of medieval heraldic motifs. For the update, the collection employs a loose contemporary style.
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DESIGNPHILE
COLLECTIONS
rug; tted cashmere Feathers Top to bottom: Hand-kno bird ing mm Hu on cushion; Black Skulls wool Aubuss and silk). All by Alexander rug (shown in cashmere pany. McQueen for The Rug Com
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DESIGNPHILE
COLLECTIONS
trademark skull patterncoveted by women around the world, his skull scarves have come to symbolize the McQueen brandin silver grey juxtaposed against a striking white background. Two tapestry cushions depict the same skulls, one in simple but statement-making black and white, the other in gold metallic thread. It is McQueens attention to detail that partially accounts for the collections astonishing three-year design and production period. (Collections usually take around six months to turn around.) McQueen really took his time, recalls Sharp. There were periods where hed send us one design; then we wouldnt hear from him for a couple of months; then something else would come through. Even now, with the design process complete, each rug takes between six and eight months to producedouble the normal timebecause of the ne knotting involved and, according to Sharp, the scarcity of weavers skilled in this type of intense work. And, much like most popular runway pieces, theres a waiting list for the rugs. Sharp and his wife, Suzanne, who is co-founder and creative director of The Rug Company, approached McQueen rst because they considered him to be an extraordinary talent. They had already collaborated with a range of highly regarded fashion designers, including Marni, Diane von Furstenberg, Paul Smith, and Vivienne Westwood. The criteria is that they need to bring some value to a collection, something new, explains Sharp. (High on his wish list of future collaborators is menswear designer Tom Ford.) There are lots of big-name fashion designers who have approached us and weve said, Great, show us your idea. And we end up telling them, Its wonderful, but weve already got that covered. In other instances, it can be a more naturaland surprisingmatch. There was the time, in 2007, that Sharp noticed a package on his desk that contained absolutely fantastic rug designs displayed on wooden boards. He assumed they had come from a student at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, until he spotted a note from Hungarian-born ceramic artist Eva Zeisel. She was 102 years old when she sent them to us! says Sharp. (Zeisel ultimately launched a collection for The Rug Company in 2009.) For McQueen, the process was long and intense, but the nal product illustrates his rare ability to transform simple materials into breathtaking works of art. And, just like his graphic-print gowns and New AgemeetsVictorian accessories, the rugs are guaranteed to inject just the right amount of dramaand beautyinto a room. Designs by Alexander McQueen for The Rug Company are available in Canada exclusively at Avenue Road.
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Toronto textile designer Virginia Johnsons new bedding collection features bloc k-printed quilts, duvets, and pillowcases treated to her sign ature bold colours and nature-inspired patterns.
WINTER 2011 25
There are a number of ways to build a performance luxury car. We would like to believe we avoided most of them.
Status alone is not our goal. Nor is insulating you from the road. Or engineering bragging rights. At Infiniti, everything we do is built around creating a richer sensory experience. The shapes of our cars are designed to evoke both power and elegance simultaneously. We chose interior materials based on how natural they feel to your sense of touch. Even the distinctive Infiniti exhaust note is tuned to heighten the performance experience. We build our cars this way because our goal is not to just transport you physically, but to move you emotionally. Feel it in the newly redesigned G Sedan. This is inspired performance. This is the way of Infiniti.
DESIGNPHILE
NEW IN FABRICS
LIVING IN COLOUR
Its easier to add bright colour when you mix it with neutral accents.
By Leslie Young
Bright colours, which have been used for many seasons as mere accents to warm up neutral spaces, are claiming the limelight. Now its about pairing them with muted tones to create unexpected looks that are at once sophisticated and bold. Combinations such as fuchsia and beige or turquoise and grey make an eye-popping statement without overpowering a room. The key is to begin with a neutral basecreamy white walls, for instance, or a simple grey rugand then introduce more vibrant pieces like oral curtains or a bright-hued sofa in a rich cut-velvet upholstery.
Designers Guild Moyka in 01. Through Primavera.
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Above and left: All fabrics from Designers Guild Zephirine Winter 2010 collection. Through Primavera.
WINTER 2011 29
DESIGNPHILE
NEW IN FABRICS
DREAM WEAVES
The irregular dyes and patterns in ikat fabrics add spontaneity to a decorating scheme.
The distinctive look of ikatwhich involves an ancient method of creating patterns by tie-dyeing the yarn before weavingadds a welcome energy to our homes as well as on the fashion runways. Thanks to a resurgence of this weaving technique, were seeing more options than ever before, from dazzling colour combinations to intricate patterns that appear refreshingly raw. A stylish alternative to damask, ikat offers a touch of the exotic to any room, whether on a chair, rug, throw pillow, or lampshade. The multi-hued fabric has been around for centuries, but when viewed on a jewel-toned sofa, it cant help but appear refreshingly modern and remarkably chic. L.Y.
Oscar de la Renta Kublai Khan, in Blue/Red or Red/Gold (shown on cushion, left). Through Lee Jofa.
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TAKE A SHINE TO IT
Subtle sheens and shiny textures create glamour in the everyday.
World-renowned artist Robert Kuo, whose work is on display at the National Museum of History in Taipei and at deluxe international hotels, has launched a fabric collection for S. Harris based on his metal and lacquer work. Kuo has managed to capture the shimmer and architectural feel of his art, applying it to a wide range of fabrics, from velvet to linen to silk. His nature-inspired patterns are simple and timeless, yet they add extraordinary interest and texture to any piece, be it drapery or a chair. The discreet lustre brings a touch of formality to an already sophisticated space. Sheen has the rare ability to turn plain fabric into something truly special. L.Y.
S. Harris/Robert Kuo fabrics, from left: Pleats I in Cream, Silk Clouds in Breeze, Dragon Swirl in Shale, Silk Clouds in Cream. Through Bilbrough.
WINTER 2 011 31
DESIGNPHILE
EXHIBITIONS
Since the beginning of the 20th century and the birth of the modern kitchen, opinions have differed widely on what a kitchen is. Whether a symbol of status or domestic servitude, a place for experimentation and creation, or a tool for efciency and simplicity, the kitchen is arguably the most culturally signicant area in the modern household. With the presentation of Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen, the Museum of Modern Art in New York has created a lively conversation about the evolution of the kitchen since the early 1900s, in the context of
Frankfurt Kitchen, the kitchen and kitchen appliances became a status symbol in the West following the Second World War. When developments in technology and plastic paved the way for more advanced appliances, Cold War America saw the new technology as a celebration of the wealth and plenty afforded by a capitalist society. Today, kitchen innovations tend to be celebrated for their ability to save time in a society in which both spouses work and mealtimes are more rushed. Although a lot of focus is put on the kitchen in a cultural context, the more human experience of the kitchen on everyday life is not ignored. The kitchen is the stage for plenty of family interaction and is associated with strong emotional experiences, both positive and negative. Colin Howes
This exhibition highlights approximately 80 works by major photographers in France from 1840 to 1900douard Baldus, Maxime du Camp, J. B. Greene, Gustave Left: A reconstruction of the 1926 Frankfurt Kitchen, by Margarete Le Gray, and Nadaras well as Schtte-Lihotzky, at the MoMa exhibition Counter Space. several examples of Eugne Atgets Above, from top: French Military Manoeuvres, Camp de Chlons: work from the early 20th century. The Guard behind a Breastwork, 3 Oct. 1857, by Gustave Le Gray; Arles: Porte des Chtaignes, 1852, by Charles Ngre. The eras various photographic National Gallery of Canada techniques and innovations are also featured, including daguerreosocial and political change throughout the 20th types, salted paper prints and albumen silver century. The 1926 Frankfurt Kitchen is showprints, and photogravures. Lili Milborne cased as a socialist answer to the economic struggles in Germany after the First World War and Everything Everyday was designed by Margarete Schtte-Lihotzky (to Jan. 23) Vancouver Art Gallery with the intention of creating an affordable, efOnly in the past 50 yearswith the emergence cient work area. The design was based on a series of pop culture, found objects, autobiographical of time-motion studies and interviews conducted narrative, and blogshas quotidian life become by Schtte-Lihotzky to maximize efciency and a common subject in art. This exhibition is orgareduce the domestic workload on women. In nized around three themes: Everyday Actions, contrast to the socialist roots behind the
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focused on those simple, sometimes mindless tasks we perform regularly; Everyday Objects, which takes ordinary items as art subjects; and Everyday Encounters, which examines the common interactions that occur in daily life. Managing to avoid the banal, the artists offer provocative, poetic interpretations of the mundaneArabella Campbell, Hadley+Maxwell, LAIWAN, Mona Hatoum, Gathie Falk, Ruth Scheuing, Khan Lee, Euan Macdonald, Aganetha Dyck, Diane Borsato, Gabriel Orozco, James Welling, and others. Lili Milborne
IN BRIEF
At Work: Hesse, Goodwin, Martin
(to Jan. 2) Art Gallery of Ontario Three diverse artists are brought together through an exploration of their dedicated and powerful work ethic in studio.
20th-century American photography in this exhibition of 115 photographs compiled from the museums collection. It includes Alfred Stieglitzs famous portraits of Georgia OKeeffe, Edward Steichens 1904 coloured photographs of the Flatiron building, and Paul Strands pioneering abstract images drawn from New York City street life.
Barb Hunt
(Dec. 10, 2010Feb. 20, 2011) The Rooms, St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador Through her textile-based installations, artist Barb Hunt immerses herself in themes of mourning, human conict, and memory. She uses camouage fabric in her work as she presents the consequences of war balanced by empathy for individuals, including soldiers.
Notebook 62, 19721976, by Betty Goodwin. Photo: Craig Boyko, Art Gallery of Ontario. 2010 Gatan Charbonneau
Arboretum
(to Jan. 9) Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax With the loan of Arthur Lismers painting Sumach Pattern, Georgian Bay and a companion small study on board from the McMichael Collection, this exhibition allows visitors to further examine the subject for which the Group of Seven is so renowned one that has come to symbolize what we perceive as the Canadian North.
The Star of India: Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Phantom II All-Weather Cabriolet Chassis 188PY Engine ZN15. Courtesy of RM Auctions. Photo: Tom Wood
If Star of India conjures for you visions of Bollywood or perhaps a priceless gemstone, think again. At the lavish spectacle that is the Maharaja exhibit at the AGO, Star of India refers to the legendary Rolls-Royce Phantom II custom-built in 1934 for His Highness Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj of Rajkot. There are indeed extravagant jewellery pieces showcased, alongside nely crafted weaponry, among the more than 200 elaborate works that were commissioned for the maharajas of India between the 18th century and the mid-1900s. Of special note is a life-sized statue of a bejewelled elephant, the silver carriage of the Maharaj of Bhavnagar, and the spectacular 1,000-carat necklace of 2,930 diamonds for the Maharaja of Patiala. Also on display is a collection of magnicent paintings, thrones, and tapestries. Colin Howes
theravenscall.ca
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver This comprehensive website dedicated to Canadian artist Bill Reid shares a visual feast of more than 200 of his Haida-inuenced worksincluding bronze sculptures and gold, silver, and argillite jewellerypresented within the rich context of his personal and creative journey. Lili Milborne
Georgia OKeeffe, 1918, platinum print, by Alfred Stieglitz. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
thelivingeffect
(to Jan. 30) The Ottawa Art Gallery Pioneer robotic artist Norman Whites work serves as a point of departure for exploring the essence of life and the ability of robots to connect us to one other and to the carbon-based universe where we live.
WINTER 2011 33
DESIGNPHILE
APPRECIATION
SOLO TRAVELLER
A painter of evocative expressions of place, Doris McCarthy has also always been an explorer.
t the Doris McCarthy Gallery, on the east campus of the University of Toronto, resides a collection of more than 1,500 works by contemporary artistsIan Carr-Harris, Sandra Meigs, and many other familiar names in the Canadian art scenealongside the paintings of McCarthy herself. The gallery also houses the artists personal archivessketches, notebooks, and photographs of McCarthy camping, canoeing, and painting from the 1930s and 40s onward; in one such she is perched near an iceberg, the better to appreciate her subject. Described by Erin Peck, the gallerys exhibitions coordinator, as a repository for all things Doris, the gallery reects a deep respect for this contemporary painter, now in her 101st year, who has worked for many decades in and around the neighbourhood, in between her extensive travels around the world. Born in 1910 in Calgary, Doris McCarthy moved with her family to Toronto, where she was taught by Group of Seven member Arthur Lismer and other artists at the epicentre of the movement that was shaking up the Canadian art world of the 1920s. She aspired to paint the spirituality in nature, not just sceneryan approach to art that put her in step with her contemporaries and informed her landscape painting for the next 80 years. McCarthy taught art at Torontos Central Technical School for 40 yearsa job that allowed her to nance summer painting adventures. Mostly she travelled with other women artists, though she also took a year-long sabbatical, travelling solo through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. It was a remarkable feat for a woman in the rst half of the 20th century, yet none of her three published memoirs mention it as unusual. McCarthy never identied as a feminist, Peck says.
Top: Lakescape Horizon (Winter Horizon), 1969, oil on canvas, 76 x 122 cm; courtesy of the artist. Centre: Rhythms of Georgian Bay (Georgian Bay Landscape in Reds), 1966, oil on canvas, 61 x 76 cm. Bottom: October Gold, 1969, oil on panel, 61 x 76 cm; courtesy of the artist. Paintings by Doris McCarthy (above); portrait by Ken Jones.
When she retired from teaching in 1972, McCarthy had her rst taste of the Arctic. The iceberg fantasiesas she calls the largescale canvasesthat emerged from her numerous northern excursions capture a palpable spirituality and garnered her a full membership at the prestigious Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Characterized by condent lines and simplied shapes, those paintings are evocative, not
representational, expressions of the place, and were composed by McCarthy to give pleasure to the viewer. Over the next two decades she continued to travelnorth, west, east, and even to the Antarctickeeping a schedule and painting at a pace that was surprising for someone of her age. In 1986, she was honoured as a member of the Order of Canada. Recalls McCarthy in her first book, A Fool in Paradise: We were following the example of Canadas leading artists and discovering that while travel was good in itself, the best way to experience the places we went [to] was to paint them. Painting demands a concentration and sensibility that grows into an intimacy with the country, greatly intensifying your awareness of it. You come to know it instead of just seeing it. Kathleen Dore
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BOOKS
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Reading an architect through his sketches and delving into an overlooked season son in Canadian art history. Sketches: From Here and There
by A.J. Diamond, Douglas & McIntyre 144 pages, 80 colour illustrations, $45
Jack Diamond is one of Canadas most decorated d architects, and you would hardly know that from reading this new book. An unusual collection of reminiscences, Sketches gathers his recollections and visual renderings of some of the crucial places in his life. Theres Durban, South Africa, where he grew up feeling like an outsidersmall, artistic, and Jewish, a minority of oneand the little town of Piet Retief, where he was born and spent memorable ates the book vacations with his grandparents. But what dominates are his drawings, which depict architecture and landscapes across the world. Theres rainy, stony London, where he arrived in 1956 to work on his masters degree; and some of the places hes been since thenrural England, Jerusalem, Venice, Provence, Laos, Mustique, Rhode Island. Its a dizzying tour, the highlights of 60 years distilled on the page. The drawings are technically strong but unexceptional as artwork. Whats interesting is the way Diamond paints like an architect, his eye reducing buildings and landscapes to solids and voids, planes and volumes. A rural cottage in Dorset, England, and its shrubbery appear as solid and rectilinear as Diamonds own modernist brick buildings. He paints the old city of Edinburgh and a row of arches at Durham Cathedral as equally massive and monumental. All this provides some implicit hints at his aesthetic. The great modernist architect Louis Kahn, Diamonds teacher at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s, would have approved. Yet, Kahn and Philadelphia are never mentioned. Likewise, the city of Toronto, where Diamond moved 46 years ago, merits just a few pages. His own buildings are nearly absent, except Jerusalems city hall and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. True, the architecture has been well covered elsewhere. Still, the book is an odd gesture for an architect so deeply identied with his profession and with Toronto, where hes made a major contribution to the design scene and its thinking about its historic buildings. Sketches leaves the impression that at age 78, Diamond feels the dry heat of the veld and the rich mists of Londonin short, the places and experiences of his early yearsmore deeply than anything that came later. Which is the case for many of us. Alex Bozikovic
In Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art, author Iris Nowell brings to life the turbulent rise of an often overlooked period of Canadian art history Abstract Expressionism. In an alliance reminiscent of the Group of Seven, 11 abstract expressionist artistsJack Bush, Oscar Cahn, Hortense Gordon, Tom Hodgson, Alexandra Luke, Jock Macdonald, Ray Mead, Kazuo Nakamura, William Ronald, Harold Town, and Walter Yarwoodbanded together in 1953 and launched their rst group exhibition in 1954, which opened to harsh critical response. The Painters Eleven gradually garnered acclaim from both critics and collectors, and although they disbanded in 1960, several in the group became icons of contemporary Canadian art. Since then, their works have been displayed at major international art galleries and are avidly sought by public institutions as well as corporate and private collectors. Expertly researched by Nowell, an acclaimed biographer with extensive knowledge of the Canadian art world and personal ties with the group, Painters Eleven is an intimate look at a previously unexplored subject matter. The book features some 290 reproductions of their works, bringing readers and art lovers face to face with one of the most colourful periods of art history in Canada. How they lived their lives, I discovered, was their art, says Nowell, whose interviews with the artists spouses and lovers reveal new insights. Bush, the only member of the group with a notable international reputation, inspires Nowells best essay, enriched through excerpts from his personal diary. Lili Milborne
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Dream Building
Last spring, Judith Mackin and Robert Moore purchased a rugged property with a view of the Bay of Fundy in downtown Saint John. Now, theyre building a house on itand IA&D is reporting on their progress, every step of the journey. By Suzanne Robicheau Photography by Bruce MacNeil
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couple walk into a pub in downtown Saint John. It is a foggy afternoonnothing new for this part of the worldand they are here to relax and raise a glass to the ber-urban reno that won their 3,000-square-foot century house a segment in the HGTV show Original Home Tour. But for Robert Moore, a poet and professor of English at the University of New Brunswick, and his partner, Judith Mackin, owner and president of marketing company Punch Productions, this day of celebration takes an unexpected turn. They go for a stroll, climb a hilland before they have descended, they decide to build a house on its peak.
IA&D will follow Judith Mackin and Robert Moore as they go through the process of designing and building their house. In this issue, were exploring the genesis of their project. Next issue, well peer over their shoulders as they dissect two sets of blueprints and decide which one will become their new home.
Robert Moore and Judith Mackin (left) did not pick the easiest property (above) on which to build. Its steep pitch, rocky terrain, and access challenges will all have an effect on their homes design possibilitiesand the bottom line. But the beauty of the site and its views drew them in.
The hill is a steep, rock-strewn slope in the core of Saint John. Why the abandoned 2-acre property has eluded development for decades remains a mystery. Not only is it the largest inll lot downtown, it has a 90-degree view of the city. Above it is the historic mansion of the founder of Red Rose Tea; to the west, cruise ships in the Bay of Fundy and the Carleton Martello Tower, a 30-foot-high fortress erected during the War of 1812; to the east, the towering stack of an oil renery and other reminders of heavy industry; and to the south, an urban panorama that captures everything, from the tallest ofce tower to the cross atop the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. When Moore and Mackin reached the top of the hill, it was Moore who declared, I want to build a house here. True, the drywall dust had barely settled from the renovation of their current home. How then to explain this turnabout? It was the potential the couple immediately saw: to build something brand new from the ground upwithout renovating. They had always lived in old, cold houses, Mackin says, and theyd always tried (successfully, it must be noted) to negotiate their admiration for clean modern lines and contemporary styles within a respectful treatment of traditional architecture. A typical example of their skill at marrying the two is the sleek moulded-plastic patio set by prolic designer Philippe Starck that now sits easily in their century-old home. But something about the radical topography, as Moore describes it, of this big green space in the heart of the city inspired them with the idea of creating a house that was bold, uncompromising, and new. They purchased the property. Next, they hired the Acre Collective, a Saint Johnbased
[ THE ARCHITECTS ]
The Acre Collective is an art, design, and architecture practice based in Saint John. Co-founded by architects Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp (above), both graduates of the University of Toronto, the Acre was included in last years Twenty + Change, an exhibition program that showcases emerging Canadian architects and designers. Adair and Kopp were also the 2010 recipients of the Gerald Sheff Visiting Professorship in Architecture at McGill University in Montreal. The rms signature sense of playfulness is nowhere more apparent than in their awardwinning design for a public art installation at the new Saint John Transit Operations Centre. At 90 metres long, the sculpture is comprised of 85 aluminum panels that juxtapose the vivid colours of street signs to reinterpret the language of the road. The red and gold of stop signs and yield signs add an element of colour to the often-foggy city of Saint John. Better still, because the artwork is made of the same material as street signs, at night it reects the light. S.R.
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design practice led by architects Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp. We didnt interview any other architects, notes Moore, since Mackin had worked with the Acre previously on two commercial projectsa patio wine bar attached to a heritage building and a public art installationboth award-winning efforts. She knew their work and she trusted them. The design process began last June at a meeting with Adair, Kopp, and Acre member John LeRoux, a Fredericton architect and author of Building New Brunswick, the seminal book on the provinces architecture. Sustained in equal parts by enthusiasm, Timbits, and sparkling water, the architects and their clients worked long hours to determine the requirements for the house. Then the team developed a program that includes bedrooms, bathrooms, living space, a home ofce for Mackin, and a 400-squarefoot garage/workshop and studio for Moore. A month later, at the rst schematic design meeting, the clients revisited some of the room sizes, and proposed some new ideas for design and materials. But one thing remained constant: they wanted to build on the top of the hill. Faced with development costs as steep as that hill, however, the architects suggested pragmatism: step back and take another look at the site. Given the intensity of the landscapethe steep rock, access concerns, and service routesKopp suggested they explore all the options. Now we have to consider the site as a whole and be open to the issues and opportunities inherent in a number of different designs. Mackin and Moore left that meeting with two design concepts in hand: The Belvedere, a two-level house to be built exactly where they rst envisioned it, at the top of the site; and Into the Wild, a novel approach that has a 1-storey house built midway up the site and a separate cottage/studio perched on the peak. The next step will be their decision, after weighing the merits of each design scheme against the practicalities of building and the realities of a budget. Its a decision that will have to be made soon: construction is slated to begin in the spring. The couple may be new to the house-building process, but they appreciate good design and have already decided that they want an award-winning house. People dont expect to be inspired by the location of a city house, Mackin says. Were already inspired by this land, and we want to put a house on it that shows theres more to urban design than gutting and renovating century homes. We can build.
[ THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ]
Saint John is located on the north shore of Atlantic Canadas Bay of Fundy. In the era of tall ships and trading known as the Golden Age of Sail, its location, at the mouth of the 700-kilometre Saint John River, made it one of the most afuent cities in North America. Thanks to the Great Fire of 1877which consumed more than 1,600 buildingsby the late 1880s Saint John was also one of the most modern. Suddenly presented with a clean slate for urban design, the city witnessed a race among its wealthy merchants and shipowners to rebuild something bigger and better than what they had lost in the re. It was out with the old and in with the new as they competed for the services of renowned builders, masons, craftsmen, and architects, as well as for prized materials like Honduran mahogany and Italian marble. As a result, Saint John now has more than 2,000 heritage buildings, of which 800 are concentrated in the 20-block Trinity Royal district, comprising one of the best collections of turn-of-the-20th-century architecture in Canada. Add to the mix some stalwart survivors of the Great Firewhat the locals call pre-re buildings, such as Wellington Rows Second Empire Jellybean row houses, Union Streets 1810 Loyalist House, and the Greek Revival Gillis Residenceand Trinity Royal is just the ticket for architourists, those intrepid travellers who plan their itineraries around interesting architecture. For Judith Mackin and Robert Moore, long-time supporters of the careful preservation of the downtown core, building on a site that straddles the streets of the citys struggling south end and the upscale enclave of Mount Pleasant reinforces their commitment to revitalize, rather than rip out, Saint Johns heritage area. S.R.
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THEY LEFT THE MEETING WITH TWO DESIGN CONCEPTS IN HAND. THEY HAVE TO MAKE THEIR DECISION SOON.
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COMMENT
Imagine...
The Big Issuesthe environment, cities that work, public space were reected in 2010s Venice Biennale of Architecture. Ultimately, it was about what architects do best: the imagining of a better world.
By John Bentley Mays
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n 1872, John Ruskin surveyed the Italianate suburban villas, factories, pubs, and other edices built in London during the mid-Victorian craze for everything Venetian and was appalled. It was his majestic work The Stones of Venice (18511853) that had inadvertently helped set alight the citys popular architectural passion. Accursed Frankenstein monsters, he described them, of, indirectly, my own making.
Picking up on Ruskins mea culpa, the British pavilions artistic directors at the 2010 Venice Biennale of Architecturethe London-based rm of muf architecture/artgave it a wry twist. They named the U.K.s venerable little neoclassical temple Villa Frankenstein. The muf team then set about inserting into this building a collage-like installation that resembled, at least at rst glance, the mad scientists stitched-together creature.
The exhibition included an array of the art historian and social critics notebooks from around 1850, in which he meticulously sketched the medieval Venetian architectural details, faade treatments, and other discrete elements of the cityscape he loved and admired. Alongside Ruskins works were displayed arresting images by the amateur Venetian photographer Alvio Gavagnin. During a 30-year period in the latter half of the 20th century, Gavagnin made more than 10,000 pictures of the vernacular architecture in his citys working-class neighbourhoods, places little frequented by cultural tourists. To all these, muf added, of all things, a fully operational reproduction of Venetian marshland, renewed with lagoon water and complete with tiny crabs. And squeezed into the palm court of the pavilion was a 1:10 scale wooden model of a section of Londons new Olympic Stadium. This ruggedly handsome artifactcalled the Stadium of Close Lookingwas used during the Biennale for childrens drawing classes, and for scholarly gatherings of researchers busy with the Venetian lagoons delicate endangered ecological systems, human and natural. If the content of Villa Frankenstein seemed at rst to be a forced Frankenstein-ian assemblage of this and thatsome art with an architectural slant, some things that werent art at allthe show gradually revealed to the patient visitor the thread of meaning that held everything together. That thread, or theme, was close looking. The Ruskin notations and Gavagnin photos were the wonderful outcomes of mindful observation. In the theatre-like stadium fragment, the kids who came to draw got valuable lessons in the careful scrutiny of objects. And the marsh vignette encouraged visitors to look beyond the obvious masterpieces of Venetian building design and art, and give fair, generous regard to the total environment, the subtle drowned landscape, from which the island city surfaced centuries ago. Then, the muf pavilion did commemorate an important architectural value: Ruskins belief that close looking, especially as embodied in drawing, was the key to good design. The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world, he wrote, is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way. To see clearly is poetry, philosophy, and religion, all in one. Ruskins enormous influence, along with long-standing tradition, guaranteed that drawing would enjoy a crucial place in architectural education and practice almost up to the present day, although computers have now displaced paper, pencil, and ink from many studios.
WILL THE NEW ARCHITECTURE OF PEACE, SO RICHLY EXAMPLED IN THE 2010 VENICE BIENNALE, PREVAIL AT LAST?
But did the multi-faceted show in Villa Frankenstein accurately mirror the situation in which contemporary architects nd themselves working? The answer is yes. Heres why. Architecture is certainly not now, if it ever was, a pure art merely concerned with form and shape, geometry, and structure. The environmental movement that sprang to life in the 1960s; new understandings of the city as a uid, vastly complex organism; boundarysmashing experiments in the visual and literary arts; the rise and spread of the Internet; natural catastrophesall these and other forces have combined in recent decades to teach architects, and the rest of us, that no man or woman, and no art, is an island. Advanced architects everywhere are now talking to and collaborating with climate scientists; lmmakers, painters, sculptors, and photographers; biologists and cybernetics engineers; economists and geographers; industrial and even fashion designers. Viewed from the high overlook demanded by the new ecological consciousness of our time, mufs ambitious program of documentation, scientic congresses, and education in Venice was just one very good example of the Frankenstein monster (though not in Ruskins pejorative sense) that architecture is becoming. The entire 2010 Biennale, not just Villa Frankenstein, celebrated this avant-garde notion of the architects vocation by showcasing the new buildings, master plans, and speculative projects brought about by cross-fertilization. Festival director Kazuyo Sejimawho operates the distinguished Japanese rm SANAA with
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COMMENT
her business partner, Ryue Nishizawainvited nations and the nearly 50 architects, artists, offices, and project teams in the centrepiece exhibition to respond to the overall title of the event, People Meet in Architecture. Behind this bland-sounding motto stood Sejimas strong intention: to open up spaces in Venice for remarkable instances of contemporary placemaking and city-building for real peoplenot the genderless, neutral abstractions of statistics, polls, and too much modern town planning; but men and women with sexualities, histories, many levels of expertise, and myriad kinds of inheritance and memory. To this end, Sejima hoped, in her catalogue essay, that the central exhibition would be an experience of architectural possibilities; about an architecture created by different approaches, expressing new ways of living. And so it became such an experience. Take, for example, the sensitive scheme devised by the London collective Architecture Research Unit (ARU) for Saemangeum Island City in South Korea. Built on land reclaimed from the Yellow Sea, this huge new town is the work of many hands: architects, economists, environmentalists, specialists in renewable energy, among others. The goal is to generate a poetic landscape with good public spaces along the shoreline and the waterways that penetrate the city, while avoiding the traditional modernist concentrations of single functional zonessuch as bed-towns, business parks, or self-contained tourist resorts, says ARU. Dense urban districts where people live and work, the collective contends, will coexist with the beauty of the open landscape of farm elds, lakes, and mountains. While most participants in Sejimas curated show displayed ne artistic rigour, high imagination, and a holistic sensibilityand often an attractive sense of humourfew worked on canvases as spacious as Saemangeum. Some just showed excellent conceptual drawings for small projects, well-crafted models of houses or other minor structures, computer-generated documentation of imaginary worlds, spaces, cities, and buildings.
SOME OF THE WORLDS MOST VIVID, FERTILE ARCHITECTURAL MINDS ARE THINKING HARD ABOUT WHAT MATTERSTHE SPARING OF THE EARTH, THE CREATION OF LIVABLE CITIES, THE MAKING OF BUILDINGS THAT SHELTER BEAUTIFULLY OUR FRAGILE HUMANITY.
A retrospective installation of the work of the noted Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi brought to Venice spontaneous, deft designs and descriptions for small places of temporary dwellinga bar, a concrete staircaseand playful gear for popular Brazilian festivals. (Among Bardis acknow-ledged sources were Le Corbusier and the painter Yves Klein.) Other participants fabricated expansive site-specic installationsthey would not look out of place in the Biennale of Artthat illustrated their comprehension of space and movement. Many other teams and individuals interrogated the topics that keenly interest architects nowadays. In haunting, very still images of modernist residential interiors, for instance, Italian photographer Luisa Lambri portrayed the floor-to-ceiling glass wall as a fraught zone of contest between culture and nature, the human will to dominate, and the natural environment around usthe ancient war that advanced contemporary architecture is at pains to end. Will the new architecture of peace, so richly exampled in the 2010 Venice Biennale, prevail at last? Or will the provocative ideas launched there run aground on the stony realities of the realestate market and the lagging world economy? I dont have answers to these questions. Nobody does. But Kazuyo Sejimas architecture exhibitionthe worlds rst big one since the nancial crash of 2008made one thing clear. In a time of widespread distress in the design business, of frightened clients and investors, of cash-strapped public agencies, some of the worlds most vivid, fertile architectural minds are thinking hard about what mattersthe sparing of the earth, the creation of livable cities for the millions, the making of buildings that shelter beautifully our fragile humanity. Venice taught us that these minds, if they can survive the current downturn, will be ready with fresh visions when the economic prospects for architecture brighten once again.
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2010 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. *Starting from price based on 2011 R 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC. 1 Comparison based on an ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC to an ML 550 4MATIC (ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC produces 400 lb-ft and an ML 550 4MATIC produces 391 lb-ft). 2Comparison based on an ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC to an ML 350 4MATIC (ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC consumes 11.1 8.0 L/100 km and an ML 350 4MATIC consumes 14.1 10.2 L/100 km). All gures based on MY11 models.
ARCHITECTURE
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Montreal, Que.
The envelope of the housewalls, roof, windows, and oorsis at least 25 percent more efcient than required by the energy and building codes in the province of Quebec. The layout and dimensions of the windows maximize the use of passive solar energy, and heat is conserved naturally in the massive concrete foundation. Inside, concrete oors absorb heat and then release it throughout the house.
NATURAL WONDER
MINIMALISM, IN ALL ITS QUIET DRAMA, IS THE PERFECT, HARMONIOUS RESPONSE TO THE SPLENDOUR OF LIVING IN THE WOODED FOOTHILLS OF MONT SAINT-HILAIRE. BY LISA FITTERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE MONTPETIT
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ARCHITECTURE
In winter, the sun provides passive solar heating, but as of June 21, no direct sunlight comes into the house, says architect Alexandre Blouin. Motorized solar blinds are recessed in the ceiling; their fabric absorbs heat and helps keep the home cool. The concrete oor was designed to look like large slabs. Blinds, Altex. Sofa, William. Vases, Maison Corbeil.
OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE WAS TO SET THE HOUSE SO THAT IT SEEMS ALONE, PRIVATE, AND PART OF THE LAND.
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Montreal, Que.
Right: The upper-level catwalk and wall of shelving are an intriguing update on the traditional bookshelf-lined study; the staircases open risers and glass panels contribute with a look reminiscent of a library ladder. Bottom: The windows in the tiny reading room frame the view of the mountains.
nderstated and organic, the house on the hill stands apart from its more conventional neighbours. Sitting near the highest point of a road that arcs through a suburban development south of Montreal, the home offers a public face that seems closed and mysterious, with narrow windows, and an entrance hidden at the side. Enter and you are in another worldone with high ceilings and soaring windows that look out onto an ever-changing landscape as far as the eye can see. It is green and brown, deep red and erce gold, charcoal and white. It can be cloudless and tranquil, or thunderously dark, at once a place to reect, wonder, and entertain. Built on the lower slopes of Mont Saint-Hilaire, the 3,700-square-foot home is the full-time residence of a professional couple and their teenage daughter. Outdoor enthusiasts who work in the area, they fell in love with the vast half-acre tract of landthe last in the development that was zoned residential before the forest and trails begin in earnest. Two years after buying the land, the couple hired the Montreal rm of Blouin Tardif Architecture Environnement to help them build a house that, rather than attempt to tame nature, would work in perfect harmony with it. They wanted a space that was contemporary, with forms that were very simple and pure to reect the land, and they wanted a space where they could come home from work and host a large party or simply strap on their snowshoes and go tromping in
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ARCHITECTURE
At the end of the kitchen, a oor-to-ceiling window could be momentarily mistaken for a landscape wall mural. Two 12 lengths of counters suggest this is a kitchen where real cooks work. A minimum of upper cabinetry contributes to the open feeling. Blouin used stained mirror, which is brighter than sanded glass, for the backsplash. Cabinetry designed by Blouin Tardif Architecture Environnement.
Opposite: The dining room shares a replace with the living room. Here, a massive table and tall-back chairs dominate; a light xture is the only decorative touch in this streamlined setting. Unusually, the concrete oors are left uncovered through most of the house; the radiant heating renders rugs unneeded.
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Montreal, Que.
the woods, says architect Alexandre Blouin. In a sense, that was our biggest challenge: to set the house so that it seems alone, private, and part of the land; so that you come in and forget that youre in a suburb. The mountain is the star here, with huge trees and boulders incorporated into the design. To that end, Blouin and his team decided to site the house away from the road, partially hidden by maple, walnut, and birch trees. They anchored it on a concrete base that follows the slope of the land, and they drew up two plans for the exterior shell: the front (north) side, where privacy is paramount, and the south side, which is more open to take advantage of the landscape and light. This young rm considers the environmental aspect of all its projects, which range from private residences to a food-storage facility for Sobeys in Trois-Rivires and a luxurious spa in the Lanaudire region just north of Montreal. So it made sense to choose poplar that had been torreed, or roasted, at a high temperature for the homes exterior. Torrefaction turns standard woods such as pine and poplar into a product that is chemical-free, rich in tone, and resistant to rot, insects, and water absorption. In this case, the poplar was then treated with a stain that repels ultraviolet rays while giving it a subtle, slightly weathered reddish-brown tint that blends in with the trees and terrain. The faade of the house is a play of wood panels and windows, each tting into the other like a jigsaw puzzle; seen from certain vantage points, it seems that the trees themselves are part of the structure. The roof hugs the house in the front, with a deep overhang only at the entry to protect a visitor from inclement weather. At the back, it offers more of a canopy, suspended over even the balconies and the patio, in order to protect the interior from direct sunlight when the trees are still bare of leaves.
INSIDE, THERE IS LITTLE TO DISTRACT FROM THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS. EVERYTHING IS MINIMALIST.
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ARCHITECTURE
Inside, there is little to distract from the natural surroundings. Everything is minimalist, with clean, sharp lines, a Zen colour scheme of charcoal, white, and brown, and substantial custom-built furniture. A heavier hand might have made it seem cold or forbidding, but Blouin and his clients have managed to strike an aesthetic balance that calms instead. Follow the polished concrete oors through the short entry hall into the living room with its 20-foot-high poplar ceiling, a wall of windows, and a sleek white sectional sofa. The monumental dark-stained wood replace surround acts as a piece of sculpture and helps dene this dramatic space from the kitchen, dining area, and a small ofce beyond. Throughout the rest of the house, the ceilings are lower, at nine feet, to lend a sense of intimacy in a setting that would otherwise be overwhelming in its grandeur. In the kitchen, a massive walnut butcher block, with bar stools along one side, distinguishes the space, while the appliancesrefrigerator, oven, and microwaveare built in ush with the cabinetry. The stained-mirror backsplash is subtle, while a chalkboard, which camouages the only upper cabinet, offers a sense of whimsy with grocery lists and messages. In the ofce, the outlines of a glass desk designed by Blouins rm disappear into the ether, and anything atop it appears to be hovering in mid-air. Stairs to the upper storey resemble a suspended ladder, albeit with a handrail and glass panels. The stair leads to a catwalk lined with shelves displaying small pieces of art, and books that can be carried around the corner to a spartan reading room. This is where you sit and read or look at the mountain, Blouin says. This is where you pause. The master bedroom, which faces south and opens onto a small balcony, continues the Zen scheme, for there is only a bed, anked by tall bookshelves with niche lighting, and the atscreen TV mounted on the opposite wall. The suite also contains a walk-in closet and a serene bathroom with a stall shower and deep bath. Outside the windows, the neighbours roof is barely visible. Thats the benet of building on a slope, Blouin says. It helps that the property is huge, but with carefully considered vantage points, you can feel like youre alone in the woods.
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Montreal, Que.
Blouins rm designed some of the furniture: the desk and chair in the ofce (opposite, top), the bookshelves, kitchen cabinetry, and the bathroom counter and vanity. The idea was to work with a few materialswalnut, quartz, stained mirror, he says. This helped to achieve a simple, efcient design, and a sense that the furniture ts in the house.
Opposite, bottom: In the master bedroom, tall wall niches stand in for bedside tablesand continue the seamless lookproviding generous amounts of storage and display space. Even the lighting is recessed, leaving all surfaces uninterrupted. Bed, Flou.
This page: Despite their oversized dimensions, a double-sink walnut vanity on a quartz base, a large mirrored square cabinet, and a deep square-edged tub dont interfere with the focal point in the master ensuite: the view from joined corner windows. The absence of nearby neighbours obviates the need for window coverings.
THE MOUNTAIN IS THE STAR HERE, WITH HUGE TREES AND BOULDERS INCORPORATED INTO THE DESIGN.
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PHOTO E SSAY
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Lima, Peru
Right: Glass boxes, steel framing, and white concrete create a startlingly graphic cohesion of textures. The central box shown here houses one of the three master bedrooms. Pumaquiro slats were used for the balcony oors as well as under the roof overhangs, acting as adjustable blinds to provide shade and ventilation. Left: Green slate, brought down from the Andes, offers contrast to the stark white of the exterior concrete walls and the rock mosaic.
cean and desert dominate in Punta Misterio, south of Lima, but here, atop an imposing rock-and-sand bluff, the vacation home for an extended family of 42 built by architect Luis Longhi holds its owna bold, condent design response to the stark environment. Sculpted into the craggy cliff, the house stacks sharply angled boxes on three levels, its exterior clad in concrete, natural rock, and green slate. Longhis architectural intervention in natureas he describes his designorients all the rooms westward,
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PHOTO E SSAY
toward the Pacic, affording panoramic vistas of the water and the neighbouring rocky outcrops and lowland plains. It takes its cues from the surroundings, proffering glass-enclosed living spaces, skylights, slivers of window, and balconies that mitigate the boundaries between indoors and out. A recreational innity pool overlooks the narrow L-shaped lap pool below it and, further down, a sheer drop to the sea. At the carport, in the rear, sand-garden roofs that mimic the desert are stepped to emulate the mountains. The pice de rsistance is the living-dining rooma oating glass box cantilevered off the cliff and open to the ocean on three sides. Steel and glass comprise the structural elements, and local stone, crafted into mosaics for the ooring and cut-out walls, was used liberally on the terrace, where it delineates the deck along the lap pool and carries through to the steps leading
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Lima, Peru
FOR ARCHITECTURE TO BE SUCCESSFUL, IT IS FUNDAMENTAL TO LISTEN TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP WITH IT. Luis Longhi, architect
Opposite, left: On the staircase, treads made of richly coloured pumaquiro, a Peruvian hardwood known to withstand the elements, are a warm complement to the sheen of stainless steel risers, banisters, and cable rails. The walls alongside are clad in a mosaic of natural rock, the same as that used on the terracepart of the harmonious blending of indoors and out. Opposite, right: The cantilevered glass box, one of Longhis favourite features, gives family members in the dining room and sitting area a three-sided westward view and the impression that they are oating above the sea. It also creates an intimate, sheltered zone in which to congregate on the patio beneath it. Left: The recreational innity pool, which is popular with the younger children, overlooks the lap pool, where the grown-ups like to swim. Below: The rock mosaic on the terrace walls and oor carries through to the steps leading down to the beach belowa mere ve-minute stroll.
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PHOTO E SSAY
Left: The magnicent views were what prompted the clients purchase of the propertyas well as the architects vision and design. Bottom left and below: In the wine cellar, pumaquiro and concrete built-in shelves end at a rock wall, which is actually the side of the bluff. Opposite, left: Near the lap pool, carved right into the cliff, is a powder room with contemporary bathroom xtures and cavern-like walls. The sink sits on a pedestal of solid concrete.
Opposite, right: At the carport, in the rear, sand-garden roofs mimic the desert, for nowthe plan is to eventually use drought-resistant plantings to help cool the house. The stepped design, inspired by the mountainous landscape, allows more natural light into the house.
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Lima, Peru
THE DESIGN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF EVERY SINGLE MOMENT IN THE LANDSCAPE. Homeowner
to the beach below. Inside, cantilevered to a wall comprised of the same naturalrock mosaic, is a wood and stainless steel staircase that visually integrates the three storeys of the home. Cast concrete nished in polished cementused for the oors as well as the built-in shelving and furniture typical of beach houses in the arealinks the interiors texturally to the austere landscape. Front and foremost, naturally, are the views, maximized by windows in diverse sizes, shapes, and patterns. From the outside, they look randomly scattered on the north and west sides of the house; each and every aperture, however, was meticulously positioned to direct the eye toward a specic, carefully selected viewperhaps an islet, a mountaintop, or a sandy stretch of beach.
For oor plans, see page 103
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A graphic black and ochre folding screen, purchased by Francisco Costa (below) at a Christies auction, stands in a corner of the living room. The screen is from the estate of the iconic 20th-century photographer Horst P. Horst. Signicantly, its primitively patterned painted fabric was a gift to Horst from Coco Chanel. The screens bold lines and rich fabric add depth and drama to the apartment, which is a den of greys in myriad textures and quiet patterns. The auction nd became the inspiration for the space, says interior designer Leslie Steven, the touchstone for the design.
MASTER CLASS
CALVIN KLEIN DESIGNER FRANCISCO COSTAS NEW YORK HOME HAS THE WARMTH AND LUXURY OF A TRADITIONAL SPACE DESPITE ITS CLEAN LINES AND A PALETTE OF MODERN NEUTRALS. ITS A HEADY DESIGN LESSON IN HAVING THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. BY DEBORAH FULSANG PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEAN-FRANOIS JAUSSAUD
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illowy models breezed down Francisco Costas runway for Calvin Kleins spring 2011 show; their clothes, minimal creations in white or black with the occasional shot of coral or blue, were sculptural but seemingly weightless, of-the-moment but timeless too. Those women would look right at home in Costas New York City apartment. The 11th-oor space, which the Brazilian-born designer shares with partner John DeStefano, a horse trainer and manager, is in a handsome 1940s brick building in the citys Murray Hill neighbourhood. Like those elegant dresses, the home personies discipline and grace, and a style obsessives eye for detail. Costa has been twice honoured by the Council of Fashion Designers of America as womenswear designer of the year. His fashion curriculum vitae is long and deep: Bill Blass, Gucci, Balmain. He was at Oscar de la Renta when plucked to join Calvin Klein, where he then assumed the role of creative director of womenswear in 2003. Hes such an artist, frontrow guest Katie Holmes noted with admiration after the spring catwalk presentation. [The collection] was so simple, and its not easy to do things that are simple. Architectural simplicity is Costas signature, and it inspired Alexander Poma and Leslie Steven of Manhattan-based PomaSteven, the architecture and design rm responsible for the 2006 renovation of Costas home. The casting was perfect: Poma was a project architect at Ralph Lauren before joining forces with his wife, Steven, whose own resum includes designing furniture and interiors for Donna Karan. Mirrored walls, glossy marble oors, and lacquered kitchen cabinetsCostas home was previously more Wall Street glam, circa 1987, than au courant 2010. We did a major renovation, the partners explain, revising the layout, enlarging the kitchen, removing extraneous walls, adding moulding and lighting, creating new closets, new plumbing, and electrical throughout. They wanted a combination of modern and traditional with clean lines and a sense of lightness, says Poma of their clients. Some would call the resulting look transitional. Poma and Stevens term? Modern classic.
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THE APARTMENT IS A DEN OF GREYS IN MYRIAD TEXTURES AND QUIET PATTERNS. ITS TAILORED MOULDINGS ADD STATELINESS.
By increasing the depth of walls and pass-throughs, the design rm achieved a sense of grandeur in the space, despite the fact that the apartment is a modest 1,375 square feet. The dove grey walls are the ideal backdrop to Costa and DeStefanos considerable art collection, which includes many striking photographic, representational, and abstract contemporary works. Shown here is a piece by Brooklyn-based, Turkish-born Pinar Yolaan, who is perhaps best known for her portraits of subjects clad in garments of raw meat. For his spring collection, Costa was inspired by the blues and how the easy, good-in-your-skin attitude of the music can be expressed in clothing. He could just as easily have been referencing these handsome herringbone armchairs by New Yorks Roman Thomas. Rened, yet with plush curves, they invite nesting. The chairs ank a glossy art deco table and a print by Argentinian Guillermo Kuitca; its a favourite piece of the homeowners, who gravitate to the work of emerging artists. The tailored scene is softened by two layers of area rugs and luxurious sheer cashmere roman shades; the cashmere ranks as Poma and Stevens favourite fabric in the apartment. Art deco, mid-century modern, Arts and Crafts, present-day industrial: the apartment references many pivotal design eras. In fact, if one were to sink into the living rooms sumptuous linen-velvet sofa and survey the surroundings, one could imagine that the room had been time-warped into any number of high-style moments from the past 60 or 70 years.
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In reconguring the space of the apartment, Poma and Steven aligned the doorways of the library and bedroom, enclosed the foyer, and removed a wall between a former dining alcove and the living room to create better ow and a more open atmosphere. The addition of tailored panelling, mouldings, and ceiling beams, generated a sense of stateliness that is further enhanced by the restrained palette. To add warmth, the architect and designer chose rich golden hues: a herringbone-pattern oak oor with a dry-look Danish oil nish, a sisal carpet, and vintage Italian wooden chairs.
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Like the colour that punctuates many a Calvin Klein collectionthe recent resort-wear show featured an acid-yellow sheath in a sea of barely there tintsyellow metals are the accessories sparking this homes interior design. In the study, brass lamps and a brass-topped side table detail the art-lled room. A gallery wall en route to the study exemplies PomaStevens space-smart, clutter-free approach. Its door, detailed with vintage-brass Belgian hardware and an easy-to-open panel, makes updating the collection on view a cinch. It was designed as a space for personal photos, says Steven. It features John and Franciscos family as well as renowned individuals from both worlds, of horse racingJohns professionand fashion. The apartments clean-lined masculine aesthetic serves as a foil to the dramatic art and decorative objets within. It is in the study where this tension plays most obviously. Polished brass-trimmed bookshelves and a boldly patterned Arts and Crafts rug contrast with an antique American leather horn chair and coordinating bench. Upper East Side meets the Wild West: the pairing is both unexpected and beautiful.
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Beige, grey, black and white: these are standards on the Calvin Klein runway and they play beautifully in the bedroom too. As on the catwalkwhere basic turns to breathtaking in Costas little black dresses and coats in shimmering silks and taffetasit is the mix of nishes and textures that enriches the decor experience. Smoke grey grasscloth wallpaper teams with lustrous charcoal-hued bed linens and a satiny leathertopped table to dene the chic yet comfortable decor. On the bedside table sits a drawing by Diego Rivera; close by is a vintage wooden barbell stool by American artist John Derian. Leather chairs by Austrian designer Paul Frankl ank the bedrooms writing table; above it swings an articulating French vintage wall sconce alongside two stacked canvases by Italian painter Enrico Castellani.
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Heavily veined white Carrara marble combines with historically inspired ttings and xtures from New Yorks Urban Archaeology and a vintage cast-glass wall sconce to create the look of a classic European hotel bath.
ART DECO, MID-CENTURY MODERN, ARTS AND CRAFTS, PRESENT-DAY INDUSTRIAL: THE HOME REFERENCES MANY PIVOTAL DESIGN ERAS.
Who knew a galley kitchen could be so glamorous? In keeping with the disciplined luxury executed in the rest of the apartment, Poma and Steven elected glossy grey back-painted glass for the backsplash and grey honed granite for the countertop, which offers long runs of prep space. The smart design suits the homeowners well. They frequently entertain, notes Steven. Francisco is a fantastic cook. And in keeping with the kitchens high style and highly functional oor plan, the rm placed both a utility closet and a bar behind pocket doors in the hallway leading into the space.
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ARCHITECTURE
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Denver, Colo.
IN 1963 ARCHITECT CHARLES DEATON BEGAN HIS DREAM JOB BUILDING THE FAMILY GETAWAY HE HAD BEEN ENVISIONING ALL HIS LIFE A SPECTACULAR MODERN HOME THAT WOULD EMBRACE ITS INHABITANTS WITHIN ITS BOLD CURVED SPACES. BUT HE NEVER FINISHED HIS PROJECT. NOW, A DESIGN-ARCHITECT TEAMHIS DAUGHTER AND HER HUSBANDHAVE COMPLETED THE CIRCLE.
BY ALEX BOZIKOVIC PHOTOGRAPHY BY UNDINE PRHL
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ARCHITECTURE
ver nearly 50 years, residents of Denver have grown used to a strange sight as they drive west into the mountains a swoosh of arcing concrete perched on the edge of Genesee Mountain, high above the interstate. There was a whole mythology that grew up around the house, says local architect Nicholas Antonopoulos, that it was owned by Hugh Hefner or Elvis. There were all kinds of stories. In fact, the home never housed any celebrities, although Woody Allen did stop by in the early 1970s with a lm crew. The house was an empty shell the unnished masterwork of its architect, Charles Deaton, who conceived the dramatic structure as a getaway for his family and started building it in 1963. But the interior was never nished and the building lay vacant for decades. Only recently was it completed, in a way that united the buildings history and its myths. A new owner had the structure expanded and renovated, transforming it into a grand bachelor pad, and the design was shaped by Charles Deatons daughter, Charlee, and his son-in-law, Nicholas Antonopoulos. The couple added a new wing to the house, tripling its size to 7,500 square feet. They completed the interior in line with the original aesthetic, and the new layout opened up the space, which Charlee, an interior designer, lled with period furnishings. Its a wonderful story for us, says Antonopoulos, who had worked in the elder Deatons ofce. It was a long and circuitous road to a happy ending. But then Charles Deaton rarely did anything in a straight line. Born in New Mexico in 1921, Deaton spent his early childhood living rough. His family migrated to Oklahoma on a horse-drawn wagon and lived in a tent for two years before building their own home. Yet, he started his career in the late 1930s not as a builder but as a commercial artist. During the Second World War, he worked in a military plant and picked up the rudiments of aeronautics and industrial design while designing board
Above: The 5,000-sq.-ft. addition is built into the slope of the natural rock shelf and attached to the stem of Charles Deatons original house (see previous page). The roof of the addition serves as a large terrace connected to the homes entry. Opposite: Classic modernist furniture in the stepped white-on-white mod lounge and ofce area do not detract from the panoramic vistas afforded by wraparound oor-to-ceiling glass walls. Womb chair and ottoman, Eero Saarinen. Vintage Arco oor lamp by Achille Castiglioni. Custom ofce table, design by Charles Deaton.
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Denver, Colo.
THE ORIGINAL MAIN FLOOR BECAME A WHITE-ON-WHITE MOD LOUNGE BEHIND A VEIL OF GLASS.
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ARCHITECTURE
HE WAS TRYING TO CREATE AN ARCHITECTURE THAT EMBRACED PEOPLE, SAYS THE DAUGHTER OF CHARLES DEATON, AN ARCHITECTURE THAT CURVED LIKE THE HUMAN BODY.
Left: A cosy nook issues an invitation to relax amid rich colours and textures contr the stark white of an arcing wall and ceiling. Sofa and throw pillows, Charlee Deaton, Watermark Interiors. George Nelson coffee table. Below: The spiral staircaseenclosed within an undulating elliptical half-wall and contoured steel banister railingfeatures concave treads that suggest a sensation of ones feet being cradled every step of the way up.
games. But building was his passion, and by the 1950s Deaton was an architect and engineer: his company, based in Denver, would design buildings across North America. Sculptured House, as Deaton came to call it, was his labour of love. He was sketching it out from the time I was a baby, Charlee recalls. He made drawings, then plaster models and he created the architectural drawings from there. What Deaton came up with was an elliptical form essentially a clamshell perched on a pedestal, its concrete shell cradling an irregular twostorey volume wrapped in glass. Positioned on the edge of a mesa 8,000 feet above sea level, it would have remarkable views of the Rockies; the surrounding area had already become part of a massive park. The building reected two of Deatons passions: an architecture of curves and structural experimentation. Its two levels were wrapped in intricately arranged planes of concrete. On one side of the house, a wall curves simultaneously on the horizontal and vertical planes. This is the sort of structural gymnastics that architects and computer-controlled milling machines can pull off easily today, but Deaton did all the guring himself, sculpting the forms and designing them out of concrete on a steel structure. He had an incredible grasp of non-Euclidean geometries, for someone who didnt have access to a computer, says Antonopoulos. This was the work that was central to Deatons career, what he called organic architecture. He was trying to create an architecture that embraced people, says Charlee, an architecture that curved like the human body, not
Opposite: The wool carpets pattern was inspired by Charles Deatons squiggle design for an integral lighting system in the ceiling. Suspended above the open-pit replace is a copper-rimmed hood of curved glass panels. Blue Egg chair, teal and magenta Swan chairs, all Arne Jacobsen. Eero Saarinen marble-top dining table; Bunny Chairs, design by Charles Deaton.
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Denver, Colo.
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ARCHITECTURE
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Denver, Colo.
architecture that was all rectangular walls and rectangular ceilings. In the case of Sculptured House, that meant a spectacular embrace as soon as you walk inside. Through the curved white door with a porthole, you climb up three levels alongside spiralling walls of concrete, look up through a circular railing that opens like a blossoming ower, and then step out onto the splayed oval of the clamshell, the Rockies marching to the horizon on all sides. It was a grand vision that Deaton never fulfilled. Though the house measured a fairly unremarkable 2,500 square feet, with three Opposite: Curvilinear kitchen bedrooms upstairs and modestly scaled rooms, Deaton never found cabinets are nished in a shimmering light-toned the resources to complete it. It lay empty. My dad put a drafting Japanese ash with a swirly grain. table in there and used it as a studio for a while, Charlee says. The black granite countertop The house had its moment of greatest fame during this period, extends to a stainless steel when Woody Allen and a lm crew landed to make it a location, as conical base with a suspended glass top. The backsplash and the home of a 22nd-century socialite, for the 1973 comedy Sleeper. walls feature neutral-hued glass The crew had to mock up a temporary interior to do the shooting, tiles accented with cobalt and and they had to negotiate with my dad, Charlee recalls. I think he charcoal metallics. A stainless wound up playing poker with Woody Allen for hours. steel door leads to the pantry. The force of character that shaped the house also, in a sense, led Cabinetry designed by Charlee Deaton in tamo ash wood by to its long fallow period. By Charlees account, her fathers archiSteve Rheinhart Studios. tecture practice largely stopped growing after the 1960s, when his work on a two-stadium sports complex in Kansas City left him squeezed out of the nal project, denied credit, and feeling wronged. He spent many years of his life chasing stadiums, she says. And yet, he continued to build. After an internship with the great severe modernist I. M. Pei, Antonopoulos landed in Deacons ofce and found a mentor in him, as well as a partner and collaborator in Charlee. The couple were the perfect people to carry on his work. Both their rmsAntonopouloss praXarc and Charlees Watermark Interiorshave been involved on a broad range of projects, including the renovation of numerous historic buildings and projects focused on the forms and concepts of high modernism. When a local software entrepreneur, Charles Huggins, bought the house, he sought out the couple with a plan: Huggins wanted to turn the house into a venue for entertaining that could be rented out for charitable and commercial events, taking full advantage of its voluptuous forms and its remarkable vantage point. As the architect, Antonopoulos followed a scheme that Deaton had mapped out to enlarge Sculptured House. He
THE HOUSE HAD ITS MOMENT OF GREATEST FAME WHEN WOODY ALLEN MADE IT A LOCATION FOR THE 1973 COMEDY SLEEPER.
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ARCHITECTURE
A MYTHOLOGY GREW UP AROUND THE HOUSE THAT IT WAS OWNED BY HUGH HEFNER OR ELVIS. THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF STORIES.
Left and below: The elliptical tub and shower stall feature glass tiles in graduated tones of plum, turquoise, and chartreuse. For the curved corrugated glass-tile walls, a soft palette of muted lavender, pink, lichen gold-green accented with gold and silver offers a striking contrast to the white ne plaster nish that prevails throughout the homes interiors. Opposite: The house gives the sense of emerging out of the sloping terrain to proffer expansive views of the city of Denver and the Continental Divide. The lively colour palette in the elaborate master suite (right) and guest bedroom (below) suggest a fun take on mid-60s modern. Watermelon Seed Beds, custom-built by Feelini, based on Charles Deatons design.
added a 5,000-square-foot wingin the form of a rounded berm underground, below the clamshell, along with a small two-storey cylindrical tower spoked with concrete and steel mullions. The addition houses a new garage, a grand guest suite, and public rooms; on top, at ground level, is a large terrace. The new layout presented a fresh canvas for Antonopoulos and Charlee, and the removal of some of the clamshells original rooms and functions allowed them to open up the home into the poetic form set in motion by Charles Deaton. Essentially, we divided it into a public zone, below ground, and a private zone, which is the original house, Antonopoulos says. The base of the original housetwo levelsbecame more guest rooms. The original three bedrooms were turned into one master suite, and the original main oor became a white-on-white mod lounge behind a veil of glass. That lounge was furnished with an array of classic modernist furniture sympathetic sculptural work by Eero Saarinen and Arne Jacobsen. Throughout the house, Charlee added new nishes that are in keeping with the bold colours and bulging forms of the early 1960s. I was really driven to honour what he had done, she says, and also to add my own layer of design on top of it. It was her idea to create transom windows all the way along the interior walls in the original space, making the whole arc of the shell visible from within. And in the living room, she stacked luxurious
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Denver, Colo.
Bisazza mosaic tile, adding a wash of colour that lightens gradually up to the top of the room as the concrete turns into a curve. Its a departure from but also a complement to Charles Deatons original work, full of verve and craft. Charlee believes that her father would be proud of the nished product, which has brought the house back to life, now geared to enjoyment and entertainment. And still there are very few rectangles to be seen. Says Charlee, He used to say, People arent made of straight lines. Why should buildings be?
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The cabin is clad in hot-rolled steel, which, when left untreated, will rust and age naturally.
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Cascade Mountains
TAKE SHELTER
A UNIQUE MOUNTAIN CABIN PACKS PLENTY OF SMARTS INTO ITS SMALL FOOTPRINT, AND THEN PACKS UP EASILY WHEN ITS OWNER HEADS BACK TO CITY LIFE. BY MARGARET GLASS PHOTOGRAPHY BY UNDINE PRHL
Theres a small but unavoidable downside to owning a vacation home: It is a second home. This means all the issues and responsibilities that come with home ownershipmaintenance, security, stewardshippresent themselves, again. Its double the workload, and the necessary tasks come at a remove, sometimes considerable, from the owners home base. Throw in a minor crisis, and all of the perceived benets of a hideawayremote location, openness to the natural world, even simplicity of lifestylecan become serious drawbacks to keeping the house safe and sound.
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Above: The cabins owner, an outdoors enthusiast, doesnt need luxury here. Plywood gives the interior a rustic warmth. Right: The 10 by 18 steel shutters can be closed all at once with a hand crank.
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Cascade Mountains
For this highly efcient weekend cabin, located on the ood plain of a river near the British Columbia border with Washington state, the owner and the architect collaborated on a schemeif not to tame the wild landscape, to at least be prepared and tucked in tightly when the outdoors makes its presence known. Its a four-hour drive from the city residence of the owner, a sportsman and outdoors enthusiast who doesnt need or want luxury at his mountain getaway. Still, for every concession to climate and setting, the architect of the cabin made a point of using his design solutions to tease out an additional benet. Of rst concern was the ood plain. The regular seasonal ooding in the area demanded a pre-emptive strike to avoid the inevitable soggy basement. Instead of a more typical low, squat cabin, Tom Kundig, a principal of Seattle-based rm Olson Kundig Architects, who likes to experiment, placed 20-foot-square living spaces on two levels and perched the structure on steel stilts to keep the river out; a car park and storage space are tucked below. Kundig also inverted the traditional hierarchy of living spaces, placing two tiny bedrooms and two baths on the middle oor and saving the upper oor for the open-plan kitchen, living room, and dining area. Thus the common areas, at three storeys off the ground, command dazzling views with a 360-degree vista of the forested valley, the river, and the surrounding snow-topped Cascades. The mandate to keep the weather out also inspired the cabins most unique design element: huge double-height shutters that slide over the windows on each of the four sides of the house. Suitably, for this retreat from the world, the shutters function on an extremely low-tech operating mechanism: a giant wheel that can be used to crank them all open on a bright morning and then close them tight before a gathering storm. No electronics here to create headaches on the weekend, either: Powering up the wheel calls for only a good dose of elbow grease. On a crisp cold day, when the leaves were still on the trees, photographer Undine Prhl arrived at the cabin to record it against its backdrop of bright fall colour. It was critical, she felt, to photograph this fun piece of architecture just then, before winter settles in. The light goes right through the building at this time of year, when the sun is low and all the shutters are opened up. From a distance, the cabins faade offers an organized patchwork of rusted metal cladding alternating with large expanses of glass. Inside, its like youre in a tree house, Prhl says, sitting up high, open on all sides to the outdoors. Turn the wheel and the building becomes a fully unied structuremysterious, sleek, and ruggedly individual. And when closed and shuttered, this cabin is as warm and dry and safe from intrusion as any bunker. Its owner can rest easy, whether safely in residence or far away and merely plotting his next escape to a mountain snug.
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BRITISH COLUMBIA
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E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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EDMONTON CONTEMPORARY
13619 Buena Vista Rd., Edmonton, AB | $1,500,000 | #E3210735
Designed by Edmonton architect Wayne H. Wright, this multi-level West Coast contemporary styled home near the University of Alberta is set on a large secluded, naturally forested property. The River Valley Park System is a short walk away as are local and major shops with quick access to downtown, major arts centers, major hospitals and International Airports. The interior finishing of this solid, soundproof, 4 bedroom home includes lighting and hardware of commercial standard, extensive use of mahogany, 12 ft. high cedar ceiling and open brick fireplace. All rooms, including living room, have floor-to-ceiling windows with casement openings. The living room and solarium open onto secluded cedar decking and two heated garages give direct access to the house.
NANCY- JEAN OCARROLL
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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CONTEMPORARY MASTERPIECE
3265 Dickinson Cres., West Vancouver, BC | $4,580,000 | #V855201
Custom-designed, one year old home featuring 5 ensuite bedrooms up, plus nanny ensuite down. All principal rooms enjoy spectacular views and exposures. Great outdoor areas and decks with amazing infinity pool off the family room. Truly a piece of contemporary art in a sought after family location close to all the best schools. Virtual tour at carros.ca
GREG CARROS
THE ALEXIS
708 27 Alexander St., Vancouver, BC | $1,025,000 | #V815671
This suite flows seamlessly, which is a credit to designer Patricia Grays professional training in Feng Shui design. One-of-a-kind loft space is in the heart of Vancouvers historic Gastown District & located in The Alexis one of the areas first & most popular heritage conversions. Virtual tour at andrewcarros.com
ANDREW CARROS
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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PROVENCE INSPIRED
2242 Inglewood Ave., West Vancouver, BC | $2,996,000 | #V845578
Provence inspired mexi-terranean home in the Dundarave area. Walk to shops, restaurants & Seawall. This 6 bedroom family home reflects uncompromising standards & features the best in design, quality and finishes. Open kitchen with hand forged solid copper counter & sinks, 13 great room ceilings, South American wood planking & gorgeous master suite with ocean views. Gated with separate Casita.
POLLY B . REITZE
CALVIN LINDBERG
&
1.604.671.7076 | [email protected]
SPECTACULAR WATERFRONT
2 Strachan Point Rd., West Vancouver, BC | $2,890,000 | #V830957
Private oceanfront home with 100 ft. of low bank waterfront. Completely rebuilt approximately 10 years ago, this home was the winner of numerous Gold Georgie Awards. Featuring an open floor plan, floor-to-ceiling windows opening to an entertainment-size oceanside patio with sunken hot tub & a place to moor your boat. Separate 301 sq.ft. unit/studio attached to the house by a covered walkway.
POLLY B . REITZE
CALVIN LINDBERG
&
1.604.671.7076 | [email protected]
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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CLASSICO PENTHOUSE
3801-1328 West Pender St., Vancouver, BC | $3,499,000 | #V832163
This penthouse feels like a house perched on top of the city. Over 1,500 sq.ft. of outdoor living space on 3 decks offers sweeping panoramic views. With over 2,250 sq.ft., including 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on two levels, there is plenty of space to spread out and relax. The flow of the rooms offers a large gathering area around the open kitchen, dining and living rooms with immediate access to the main deck that overlooks Coal Harbour.
A STORYBOOK HOUSE
1849 Esquimalt Ave., West Vancouver, BC | $2,388,000 | #V849210
This one of a kind home is located on one of the quietest streets in West Vancouver. Completely remodeled home with a gourmet kitchen and a living area that is designed for entertaining. Terracotta stone and hardwood floors are throughout the 2-storey vaulted beam ceiling home.
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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LAURIS TALMEY
1.604.734.1874 | [email protected]
&
JAMIE MACDOUGALL
1.250.888.3297 | [email protected]
1.604.902.0357 | [email protected]
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
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CAIRN GARROCH
160 Wilkie Way, Salt Spring Island, BC | $1,698,000 | #284940
Prominently positioned above the seaside town of Ganges, Cairn Garroch thrills from the moment you catch its site on the way up the mountainside. The house only excites more when you open the door, its lines and environments are in a word - sexy. Architecturally, the house is more of an atmosphere than a shelter in a way that only enhances mood as it seductively reveals its views, room by room. The technical details factor every high end modern amenity. This is powerful design and once smitten, there may be no going back.
ARCHITECTURAL OCEANFRONT
228 Arbutus Rd., Salt Spring Island, BC | $2,195,000 | #259781
An extraordinary waterfront property designed to accommodate a casual lifestyle, this home is perhaps one of the most stunning and expressive in use of site and outlook. The house rides its topography and keys on the water, with views maintained throughout the residence. Doors spill on to oceanside sundecks and garden terraces, allowing open house to become a way of life. Stone interior elements and hefty timber beams lend permanence and natural beauty, while the open concept layout is timeless and so functional for modern living.
ARBUTUS HOUSE
225 Arbutus Rd., Salt Spring Island, BC | $1,750,000 | #266479
This significant walk-on beachfront home enjoys sunsets and open ocean views that can hardly be put into words. Vaulted open spaces and windows instead of walls welcome the waterfront to nearly every room in the house. Intricate beam work and ridge line roof windows shower the house in luster and light. Superb location with a brilliant design.
E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated.
1.416.960.9995 | [email protected]
1.416.258.6053 | [email protected]
1.250.665.6868 | [email protected]
**Broker *Sales Representative. Sothebys International Realty Canada, Brokerage. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal.
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LIVE IN LUXURY
305 - 155 St. Clair Ave. West, Toronto, ON | $1,040,000
Award-winning boutique building. Glamorous porte-cochre with cobblestone driveway, garden and fountain. Full-service concierge and 24 hr valet. Elegant open concept, 1 bedroom plus den with fireplace. Spacious kitchen with marble dining bar. Wolfe Gas cooktop, SubZero, Miele DW. Master with 2 walk-in closets and 18 ft. balcony.
1.416.960.9995 | [email protected]
1.416.960.9995 | [email protected]
**Broker *Sales Representative. Sothebys International Realty Canada, Brokerage. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal.
ONTARIO
sot he bysre a l t y.c a
1.905.845.8908 | ruthannewinter.com
**Broker *Sales Representative. Sothebys International Realty Canada, Brokerage. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal.
ONTARIO
LOCAL EXPERTISE , GLOBAL CONNECTIONS .
ROCKSDRIFT HILL
4998 Tenth Line, Erin, ON | $5,900,000 | #X1974157
Enter past the 4 bedroom gatehouse and follow the winding driveway alongside the stocked pond to this stunning residence resting on over 165 acres of rolling countryside. Stroll down the flagstone path to the 5 stall barn and adjacent drive shed, or meander across the grounds to the inground pool and patio.
**Broker *Sales Representative. Sothebys International Realty Canada, Brokerage. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal.
QUBEC
sot he bysre a l t y.c a
1.514.591.9712 | [email protected]
1.514.889.4838 | [email protected]
333 SHERBROOKE
333 Sherbrooke St. E., Montral, QC | From $399,000+ taxes
Your home in the Plateau. There is a prestigious address on Montrals most elegant thoroughfare: an internationally renowned residential project with exceptional sights, in the heart of one of the most cosmopolitan cities. Just steps from the city centre and its buzzing business district, the 333 Sherbrooke is also on the edge of the legendary Plateau Mont-Royal quarter.
CYRILLE GIRARD*
1.514.582.2810 | [email protected]
1.514.947.5152 | [email protected]
*Real Estate Broker. **Certified Real Estate Broker. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated. Real estate agency.
QUBEC
LOCAL EXPERTISE , GLOBAL CONNECTIONS .
1.514.963.6311 | [email protected]
1.514.266.2949 | [email protected]
1.819.429.9019 | [email protected]
1.514.212.0533 | [email protected]
*Real Estate Broker. **Certified Real Estate Broker. Sotheby's International Realty Qubec HR . E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated. Real estate agency.
QUBEC
sot he bysre a l t y.c a
LE CAVERHILL
Old Montral, QC | $2,495,000 | #8419229
Glorious, completely renovated two-storey, 3 bedroom condo situated in Old Montral in the historic Caverhill building (1865). Featured on HGTVs House & Home as well as numerous upscale magazines. This brilliant architectural masterpiece with enormous terrace has been completely renovated. The luxurious finishings and exquisite details are the hallmarks of this over 2,800 sq.ft. apartment. This sophisticated residence, entirely transformed by architect Paul Grenier is the epitome of style.
LIZA KAUFMAN
1.514.232.5932 | [email protected]
IMPECCABLE WATERFRONT
Memphremagog Lake, QC | $1,749,000 | #8400876
An inspiring home that has views as expansive as your vision. Architectural and contemporary residence with 120 feet directly on Memphremagog Lake. Maximum light and lots of windows. This California styled retreat boasts a sandy beach and flat land access. Divided in two separate sections, perfect for guests and/or family retreats.
LOUISE LATREILLE *
1.514.803.1375 | [email protected]
1.514.577.2009 | [email protected]
*Real Estate Broker. **Certified Real Estate Broker. Sotheby's International Realty Qubec LK . E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated. Real estate agency.
QUBEC
LOCAL EXPERTISE , GLOBAL CONNECTIONS .
A FAMILY HOME
Montral, QC | $1,750,000 | #8421193
Unique craftsmanship defines this 4 plus 1 bedroom, 3 bathroom, custom built residence. The hand-carved stone facade and its copper roof tower set the standard of quality found throughout. A classy home offering a large backyard with in-ground pool and facing a beautiful park with pond on Jean-Gascon.
LYDIA ABOULIAN*
1.514.463.6333 | [email protected]
1.514.924.4062 | [email protected]
1.514.246.2017 | [email protected]
1. 514.949.5211 | [email protected]
*Real Estate Broker. **Certified Real Estate Broker. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated. Real estate agency.
QUBEC
sot he bysre a l t y.c a
UNRIVALLED ELEGANCE
Nuns Island, QC | $1,075,000 | #8435786
Emerging from the most prestigious tip of Nuns Island, a haven of water and greenery perfectly blending with the landscape! Offering a breathtaking view of the St. Lawrence River, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 garages, indoor & outdoor pools, spa, fitness center, terrace, easy access to golf course and bicycle paths. The perfect sanctuary just minutes from downtown Montral.
FADIA RASSI*
UNIQUE WATERFRONT
Saint-Anicet, QC | $1,350,000 | #8407204
Magnificent 200,000 sq.ft. estate featuring a spacious 3 bedroom bungalow with solarium, 1 bedroom guest house, 3 bedroom cottage, pottery shed, detached garage, peacock aviary and boat house (which is an acquired right). Fabulous sunsets and amazing views. Exceptional gardens with cascading ponds. Entertainers delight with over 300 feet of shoreline on Lake St. Franois!
PENELOPE VILAGOS*
1. 514.923.9280 | [email protected]
1.514.779.5122 | [email protected]
1.418.951.0770 | [email protected]
1.514.966.2397 | [email protected]
*Real Estate Broker. **Certified Real Estate Broker. E&O.E: This information is from sources which we deem reliable, but must be verified by prospective purchasers and may be subject to change or withdrawal. Independently owned and operated. Real estate agency.
FLOOR PLANS
Natural Wonder
THE LAYOUT AND DIMENSIONS OF THE WINDOWS IN THIS 3,700-SQ.-FT. HOUSE MAXIMIZE THE USE OF PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY. (SEE STORY, P. 44)
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FROM THE GROUND UP Dream Building pp. 3639 Acre Collective, theacre.ca COMMENT Imagine pp. 4042 muf, muf.co.uk Architecture Research Unit (ARU), aru.londonmet.ac.uk Lina Bo and P.M. Bardi Institute, institutobardi.com.br Sanaa, sanaa.co.jp ARCHITECTURE Natural Wonder pp. 4450 Architecture by Blouin Tardif Architecture Environnement, btae.ca Bathroom counter/furniture, bookshelves, glass desk, kitchen cabinetry, designed by Blouin Tardif Architecture Environnement, btae.ca Bathroom counter/furniture, bookshelves, glass desk, kitchen cabinetry, manufactured
and installed by bnisterie Louiseville, ebenisterielouiseville.com Black vases, white chaises longues, maisoncorbeil.com/index.php/en Builder, Patrick St-Onge Renouveau Domiciliaire, patrickst-onge.com Lighting consultant, QUARTZ, quartz.com Motorized blind, Altex, altex.ca/index=eng.htm Motorized blind installation, Stores J Fauteux, 450-430-1820 Sofa, gwwilliam.com ARCHITECTURE All the Right Angles pp. 5157 Architecture by Longhi Architects, longhiarchitect.com INTERIOR DESIGN Master Class pp. 5869 Interior design by PomaSteven Design & Architecture, pomasteven.com
ARCHITECTURE Not Thinking Straight pp. 7079 Architecture by praXarc, praxarc.com Interior design by Watermark Interiors, [email protected] Terrazzo bathroom ooring and glass tile, store.bisazzausa.com Custom cabinetry manufacture, Steve Rheinhart Studios, reinhardtstudios.com Design of cabinetry, sofa, throw pillows, Charlee Deaton, Watermark Interiors, as above ARCHITECTURE Take Shelter pp. 8083 Architecture by Olson Kundig Architects, olsonkundigarchitects.com GRACE NOTE p. 106 Architecture by gh3, gh3.ca Governor Generals Medals in Architecture, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, raic.org
GRACE NOTE
Barely There
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einterpreting the traditional boathouse, the Toronto architectural rm of gh3 built a contemporary all-glass live/work photographers studio on a granite foundation on Stoney Lake, in southern Ontario. The compact, transparent structure highlights its setting, serving as both backdrop to and centre of the 360-degree vistas of water, rock, and forest. With its austere white palette
and steel frame, the glass house virtually blends into the site, taking on the ephemeral qualities of the mist and the lake year-round. As one of 12 projects that garnered Governor Generals Medals in Architecture in 2010, gh3s glass house exemplied the criteria set out by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts in selecting the award recipientsoriginality, daring,
vision, and sensibilityin [blending] the conceptual and the technical to bring together truly inspired contemporary Canadian architecture. Interior details are impeccable, noted the jurythe depth of oor slabs, the relationship between glazing and railing, and the evidence of program, essentially erasing as much as possible to bring emphasis to the site itself. Dali Castro
PuraVida
Discover pure life for the bathroom
PuraVida. Poetic purity and clarity of form defines the latest Hansgrohe collection. PuraVida, which translates to pure life, is the design i nspiration from Phoenix Design that reflects harmony, balance and emotion. Experience PuraVida and discover pure life for the bathroom. Please visit www.hansgrohe.ca to view the entire collection.