Natural Houses The Residential Architecture of Andersson-Wise Arthur Andersson and Chris Wise Princeton Architectural Press New York Published by Princeton Architectural Press 37 East Seventh Street New York, New York 10003 For a free catalog of books, call 1-800-722-6657. Visit our website at www.papress.com. © 2010 Princeton Architectural Press All rights reserved Printed and bound in China 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 First edition No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. Initial project descriptions: Julien Devereux Editor: Wendy Fuller Designer: Jan Haux Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Bree Anne Apperley, Sara Bader, Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning, Becca Casbon, Carina Cha, Tom Cho, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Russell Fernandez, Pete Fitzpatrick, Erin Kim, Nancy Eklund Later, Linda Lee, Laurie Manfra, John Myers, Katharine Myers, Dan Simon, Andrew Stepanian, Jennifer Thompson, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press —Kevin C. Lippert, publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Andersson, Arthur, 1957– Natural houses : the residential architecture of Andersson-Wise / Arthur Andersson and Chris Wise. — 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-56898-879-5 (alk. paper) 1. Andersson-Wise. 2. Architecture, Domestic—United States. I. Wise, Chris, 1964– II. Title. NA737.A55A4 2010 728—dc22 2009015316 Contents 10 Preface 12 Introduction by Rick Sundberg 14 Tower House 30 Lake House 46 Super Natural by Jen Renzi 58 House Above Lake Austin 76 Stone Creek Camp 108 On the Salubrity of Sites by Frederick Steiner 116 Collector’s House 132 Temple Ranch 152 Cabin on Flathead Lake 174 Influential Texts 175 Illustration Credits 176 Project Team Credits Preface The projects in this book were designed in our studio in Austin, Texas, from 2000 to 2008. Five of the seven shown are located in and around Austin, where the climate is temperate but hot, and most years the warm months of summer stretch all the way to Thanksgiving. The other two projects are located in far northern Montana, where protection from the cold is its own kind of celebration. Our studio is made up of a close group of designers and architects. Conversation and dialogue about the work is our daily bread. This collab- orative spirit opens us to many influences—visual, musical, and literary. On any given day, discussing the impact of a decision will bring us back to the eloquent phrase of Sir Winston Churchill: “We shape our buildings; thereaf- ter they shape us.” This is an aphorism that applies to all of what we do. Our particular architecture is shaped not so much by us but by its place. By this we mean climate, site geology, and site biology: sun, wind, temperature, terrain, structure, orientation—the things that grow and that can grow there. These elements beckon our engagement and ask for inter- pretation. We have discovered that experiences brought on by nature— sunlight moving through composed space and onto surfaces; emotional strength gained in a protected space while looking out to a wild one; grand vistas enjoyed in the presence of intimate rooms—these are the gifts nature has given. We aspire to connect intimately with the places in which we build. We view our buildings, and the experience of inhabiting them, as celebrations of those places. We have been fortunate to share the process of making these buildings with inspired and energetic colleagues. A team of people works on each project, in some cases for several years, to achieve a desired result. Special thanks to Andersson-Wise Architects’ current staff including: Robin Bagley, Jesse Coleman, Catherine Craig, Travis Greig, Trish Laird, Jill Reinecke- Clark, Christopher Sanders, and Leland Ulmer. Also a special thanks to John E. van Duyl, Peggy Hamilton Houser, Nancy Eklund Later, Wendy Fuller, Art Gray, Matthew Millman, Paul Bardagjy, and Peter Williams for their assis- tance in making this book a reality. Finally, additional thanks go to Matthew Ames, Susan Benz, Gregory Brooks, Xavier Cantu, Anita Chumnanvech, Erlene Clark, Tim Dacey, Steven Dvorak, Daniel Gruber, Kristen Heaney, Wenny Hsu, Becky Joye, Alexis Kanter, Alexandra Lopez, Laura McQuary, 10 Natural Houses