Steve Bull presented many new and interesting ideas in his presentation at Washington State on Monday. First he began by discussing his firm and the values they hold then he demonstrated these values and described several projects he has worked on.
Steve’s firm is called the workshop. In the workshop all architects make a collective effort as a team so he did not wants to have one person’s name be the title of the firm. In the firm they ask themselves “Are we doing what we set out to do?” It is a built-in check system. In creating the “workshop” Steve and his partners analyzed different types of workshops and investigated how to create a successful environment. One major thing the firm does is they set their intentions through the design process. Intentions and findings are important in each project and as a team they analyze what can be used from the initial design ideas. For example, in the house Steve worked on in Anchorage, Alaska the intentions were first set out as the fact that the couple are environmentalists and very outdoorsy so they wanted a space connected with nature and the dramatic landscape that surrounded the piece of land. Then once into the design of the space the intentions were taken a set further and brought into the design. This was done through the use of clerestory windows to maximize solar gain through the light from the south while maintaining the beautiful view to the north. Due to the man’s time spend in Nepal there are many Asian references in the interior design. Niches are embedded in the walls to display collections of art or pieces from their travels. There is a meditation room with tatami mats; the great room is open which allows for a lot of flexibility in function. In addition bump outs allow for the view to expand and for more to be seen.
When I first began listening to Steve I wondered who he would show the intentions and findings in his talk. He started out slow and I was impressed the way he slowly built up the lecture and finally explained more of his process and how the intentions were reflected and used in a variety of projects. I found that in each project he discussed, the relation with the built environment was very important. Views were always considered and nothing was too luxurious. With a set of intentions from the client you can move forward and explore options then come across what he calls “the findings”. It was very interesting to see how things change in various designs and how we can learn from previous projects. In a way several of the projects reminded me of Frank L. Wright’s work and the unity it had with nature in terms of a view and maintaining a small ecological footprint.
