Clear Magazine, (continued)

From this tradition, Terence Riley and John Bennett have created their own modernist prototype of a courthouse with a pair of flat-roofed dwellings connected by an open courtyard. The long roofs span glass cubes that separate the living and sleeping spaces. Interior vistas are provided from all the enclosed spaces through smaller walled gardens at the sides of each house.

Keenen/ Riley’s courthouse is the first project for a new development of residential space in the Design District and the brainchild of the real estate developer, Chris Robins. The prototype offers an attractive urban housing experience that will surely compete with the increasingly congested condition of Miami’s distant suburban communities. While conceived as an effort to build a neighborhood presence in the Design District and to serve as a model for other cities, the project will surely promote Miami’s increasing profile as a laboratory for conceptual architectural experimentation and cutting-edge design. Toronto design firm Burdifilek has been transforming North American retail, hospitality, and residential interiors into clean, linear, and experiential spaces. Headed by Diego Burdi and Paul Filek, the young firm has swept up an impressive array of awards by Contract Design magazine, International Interior Design Association and the Institute of Store Planners.

Burdifilek’s retail interiors, in particular, show off the firm’s modern styling and shopping-savvy designs that are akin to cool and ordered museum experiences but with flair. A propensity toward simple white planes and volumes and Lucite and chrome characterize their mid-century international style-inspired designs. The firm has an impressive resume of high profile retailers who have responded to their creative vision including the exclusive department store-Holt Renfrew, Club Monaco, Levi’s, and Danier Leather.

Taking the “white-cube” gallery experience into commercial spaces translated into an innovative residential/commercial interior renovation scheme for Context Development’s new Tip Top Tailor Lofts in Toronto. Unlike other housing developments, the fifth floor of the 1929 art deco building prominently features the sales office. The space includes a mix of lounge areas, administrative space, bar, and two model suites.

Burdifilek’s retail expertise in the service of a residential setting has redefined our notion of how to live and to shop and confirms the premise that environmental experiences are what we all live for.

Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects can never be accused of trying to change the world, but like Seattle the city in which they are based, the firm has slowly crept into the limelight much like Starbucks and Microsoft have infiltrated our very existence. Olson Sundberg’s work shows a commitment to a kind of modernism that takes the honest approach. This is an experiential architecture, not a theoretical one, grounded in real life, not abstract dogma. It is the way that space, texture, light and materials actually feel that drives these architects not the number of pages that they will be offered in the plethora of shelter publications filling the racks at Barnes and Noble. Finally the client comes out the winner. By accommodating and incorporating the private dreams and possessions of their clients whilst infusing a quiet assertive consistency that has become the firms trademark, Olson Sundberg have quietly brought a richness and realness to the craft called architecture. From the Bluff House on Puget Sound where the warmth of wood, the hardness of metal and the mass of concrete join together to create an exquisitely detailed, welcoming structure that is utterly serene and intimately connected to its waterfront site, to the Frye Museum where the programmatic demands of a unique museum were combined with public functions to create a seamless interaction. At the end of the day Olson Sundberg are determined to create a balance between hardness and softness, intellect and emotion, function and experience and as such create something real and meaningful.Bartholomew Voorsanger writes “ We must rekindle our passion, rekindle our sense of self-esteem, increase our potency for competition and recommit to a true ethical and professional posture. Architects must have enough of these values not only to regenerate ourselves, but also crucially to give to the next generation”. The firm Voorsanger and Associates has adhered to this value system for over 25 years. Driven by founder and principal Voorsanger in his far-reaching desire to make a difference with his craft.

One project that brings together all that Voorsanger is passionate about is the Ridge House, built in Southern Arizona for a couple looking to get away from it all. Culling inspiration from the surrounding topography, Voorsanger designed a 7,400 square foot house that became part of the natural desert landscape. The material palette mimics the tones of the mountains and vegetation that surround the site. The stucco walls are punctuated with mahogany framed windows and the roofs were constructed of mahogany and bronze metal. “The mountains rise up behind the home,” Voorsanger explains. “If we put a flat roof on the home it would be like looking up at man and only seeing to his knees. The slanted roof allows the residents to experience the full volume of the mountains.”

The modern lines and natural materials of the exterior continue in the interior where mahogany ceilings sweep upward over mahogany floors. The ample use of wood softens the large rooms and the French limestone used for the fireplace in the living room echoes the rock-strewn landscape outside. According to Voorsanger, the feel of the residence is what sets it apart not just the physical properties but the actual experience within the space. “I think there should be a certain amount of theatricality in a home so that it’s not boring. In this home you park your car below-ground and ascend an exterior staircase of wide stairs to a viewing entry platform that sits under a huge mahogany cantilevered roof providing an amazing view of the mountains and canyon while providing extra shade from the sun.

Voorsanger has a passion and respect for total architecture, accessible emotionally as well as practically to all. Once speaking of Frank Gehry, he said “Genius is not a pre-requisite for professionalism or passion, but it does help.” As the adage goes, “Takes one to know one.”Good architecture is the physical manifestation of our inner soul – just read up on the Divine Proportion and you will see what I mean. Good architecture is good design - it is a way of life, it’s an environment producing a lifestyle, kind of like this publication I guess.