From the sometimes frozen Pacific Northwest. This reminds me of some Canadian examples of old urbansim. I'll post those under separate cover since they also deal with porches in extreme climates, like the designs above.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
NUPoD
Another gem from Habersham. Tomorrow I'll show an example from the Pacific Northwest. This level of care and craftmanship is not restricted to just Florida and South Carolina.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NUPoD : Garden Wall
This porch is closer to the street tuan the previous examples and uses a brick garden wall to further define the street edge. Materials change from brick to hedge to white picket fences along the edge of the right of way per the preferences of the individual home owners. This is a delicate balance of scale, material, and appropriateness that manage to sit side by side in harmony.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
NUPoD
Another New Urbanist porch that is more exuberant than the noble and humble vernacular of the Coosaw Cottage. While the level of detail is different than the previous residence, they are located within the same neighborhood. Great variety of expression is allowed while still evoking a sense of place.
Friday, January 8, 2010
LEED or Follow?
Steve Mouzon wonders if LEED is shooting themselves in the foot with the design winners they've announced.
This points to two distinct problems that need to be addressed. 1. LEED is being used by some to legitimize sprawl. 2. The juries are stacked in favor of modernist design. The system is being used by those wishing to maintain the status quo of unsustainable urban patterns. The availability of tax credits, rebates, and other financial incentives will lead to tax dollars artificially inflating the market. Since the infrastructure and urban pattern of these developments is subsidized by tax revenue there is a double dip leaving somebody holding the bag. Most likely it will be borne by these same homeowners at some inconvenient time in the future. While I understand that it's better to move people towards the green light gradually, there still should be some warning label on these houses from LEED describing how the underlying urban pattern may be hazardous to their health. As per the design winners, I can imagine that there are competing goals for the jury. Rewarding those in the production housing industry to keep them enthusiastic, while also showcasing innovative design solutions. Hence, normative conventional suburban development winners with a few refugees from Taliesin West sneaking in. It would be far better to take the case of Original Green and Solutions Rooted in Tradition to the public at large then to curry favor with those prejudiced with a negative bias towards traditional and classical architecture.
NUPoD : New Urbanist Porch of the Day
For your consideration, this is a house within a New Urbanist neighborhood. The porch is the full width of the house, with a centered entry, and is eight feet deep. Much more than eye candy, this is a useful space serving many functions. Through the combination of local design talent, vision of the developer, and faithfulness of the builders this porch is typical of this New Urbanist neighborhood. I will be following this post with porches from other New Urbanist neighborhoods, as well as those of hybrid TNDs. The contrast between the NU towns and hybrids is great, while the price points of the neighborhoods is not. Different motivations yield different results.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
EX, DX, LX : Jazz It Up!
Regional architecture has inherent an environmental response. The
construction materials and exterior detailing provide visual context
clues that relate to the building's place and time. As such, when a
building obviously departs from the regional norm it stands out on the
street as an incompatibility. This visual incompatibility is more
pronounced the narrower the lots become. Wild incompatibility is not
that much of an issue, say, in Beverly Hills or the shores of Palm
Beach. In both locations the houses are far enough apart, and the gates
and hedges so high, that the neighborhood isn't defined by the
architectural character of the individual houses. In places such as
Windsor it's a completely different story. There is a very high
percentage of compatibility with narrow sideyard setbacks. Windsor thus
has a very strong sense of place. Much more so than a Baldwin Park. I believe you can map out which styles are compatible and which are not
on a per project basis. In a town such as The Waters you can mix Queen
Anne, Italianate, Federal, Greek Revival, and Classical Vernacular and
still provide a strong sense of place. Throw in Southwestern Adobe or
Mediterranean and it will stand out like a sore thumb. This problem is
exacerbated if traditional detailing is applied to non-traditional
architectural forms, as is the case in almost every hybrid TND. If it was somehow imperative to add Mediterranean to the mix it is
possible by transitioning from neighborhood to neighborhood using styles
that are compatible with both groups. A Greek Revival may be compatible
with Mediterranean. Other masonry versions of Classical Vernacular and
Federal may be compatible, as well. Similar to jazz, it's the
architectural equivalent of using the chord progressions to play over
the key changes. The 'spice styles' in pattern books would be the
flatted fifth, or blue note. Jazz it up!
construction materials and exterior detailing provide visual context
clues that relate to the building's place and time. As such, when a
building obviously departs from the regional norm it stands out on the
street as an incompatibility. This visual incompatibility is more
pronounced the narrower the lots become. Wild incompatibility is not
that much of an issue, say, in Beverly Hills or the shores of Palm
Beach. In both locations the houses are far enough apart, and the gates
and hedges so high, that the neighborhood isn't defined by the
architectural character of the individual houses. In places such as
Windsor it's a completely different story. There is a very high
percentage of compatibility with narrow sideyard setbacks. Windsor thus
has a very strong sense of place. Much more so than a Baldwin Park. I believe you can map out which styles are compatible and which are not
on a per project basis. In a town such as The Waters you can mix Queen
Anne, Italianate, Federal, Greek Revival, and Classical Vernacular and
still provide a strong sense of place. Throw in Southwestern Adobe or
Mediterranean and it will stand out like a sore thumb. This problem is
exacerbated if traditional detailing is applied to non-traditional
architectural forms, as is the case in almost every hybrid TND. If it was somehow imperative to add Mediterranean to the mix it is
possible by transitioning from neighborhood to neighborhood using styles
that are compatible with both groups. A Greek Revival may be compatible
with Mediterranean. Other masonry versions of Classical Vernacular and
Federal may be compatible, as well. Similar to jazz, it's the
architectural equivalent of using the chord progressions to play over
the key changes. The 'spice styles' in pattern books would be the
flatted fifth, or blue note. Jazz it up!
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