Private Idaho: This house in the Idaho wilderness is a sophisticated modern take on the traditional American log cabin.Nestling in a spectacular mountain site on the edge of the town of Ketchum, this house by Marwan Al-Sayed is a highly perceptive engagement with topography, light and the local vernacular. Though clearly contemporary--built for a sportif couple with a young child who enjoy running, skiing and biking--the project attempts to connect with deeper, immemorial IMMEMORIAL. That which commences beyond the time of memory. Vide Memory, time of. resonances between man and nature. Baghdad-born and Columbia educated, Al-Sayed, who worked for Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, is now based in Phoenix. His work taps into the uninhibited uninhibited /un·in·hib·it·ed/ (un?in-hib´i-ted) free from usual constraints; not subject to normal inhibitory mechanisms. wellspring well·spring n. 1. The source of a stream or spring. 2. A source: a wellspring of ideas. wellspring Noun of the Southwest school as channelled by Will Bruder Will Bruder (born in 1946 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American architect most active in the American southwest. His ability to address the requirements of site, user experience, craftsmanship, and energy conservation, while still producing formally accomplished and beautiful , Rick Joy and Wendell Burnette, all modern architectural frontiersmen tackling nature head on. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In this case the geography shifts north to Idaho, but the concerns of how to set architecture in stupendous stu·pen·dous adj. 1. Of astounding force, volume, degree, or excellence; marvelous. 2. Amazingly large or great; huge. See Synonyms at enormous. landscape are similar. Idaho straddles the Rocky Mountains Rocky Mountains, major mountain system of W North America and easternmost belt of the North American cordillera, extending more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from central N.Mex. to NW Alaska; Mt. Elbert (14,431 ft/4,399 m) in Colorado is the highest peak. and is a popular destination for skiing and hiking, yet laissez-faire land use policies encouraging piecemeal development often conspire con·spire v. con·spired, con·spir·ing, con·spires v.intr. 1. To plan together secretly to commit an illegal or wrongful act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action. 2. to take the edge off that wilderness moment. Commanding ravishing rav·ish·ing adj. Extremely attractive; entrancing. rav  ish·ing·ly adv. views of the bleached, high desert landscape, the steeply sloping site is cradled and defined by a pair of mountain peaks. Al-Sayed's response to this challenging topography is to partially embed the house in the hillside, so that the upper level seems to float free from its earthly, concrete moorings. Riffing on an updated notion of the log cabin log cabin or log house, style of home typical of the American pioneer on the Western frontier of the United States in the great westward expansion after 1765. It was constructed with few tools, usually an axe or an adz and an auger. , this L-shaped volume is clad in a skin of extremely thin horizontal strips of white Atlantic cedar, perforated by large picture windows. For nearly half the year the site is blanketed in snow, and the silvery wood, milkily translucent glass and light grey concrete merge house with mountainside. The lowest level contains the active, business end of things--a garage, recreation area, study and ski waxing room, buttressed by a muscular retaining wall. Above are the living, dining and sleeping areas conceived as generous promenade decks from which to survey the surroundings. Spaces flow fluidly into one another, divided by movable screens to provide privacy or communality where required. As the house twists and folds up the slope, the change in levels and a subtle shift in alignment creates a large triangular courtyard, a precious flat spot for al fresco gatherings and activities in an otherwise precipitous terrain. At the house's north end, the master bedroom is aligned with the Kinderhorn mountain peak giving this intimate domestic space an especially privileged view of the changing choreography of the seasons, from snow and sky in winter, to mountain wildflowers and greenery in spring. C.S. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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