Saturday, April 21, 2007

Wendell Burnett Architects


"The simple form of the building echoes the strong lines indicative of walled architecture in the Southwest. Small windows of "Jade Ice" are suspended on the east wall as fragmented reflections of the native desert garden landscape. The west fire wall sneaks in slivers of light through one-quarter-inch-thick clear plexi-glass panels set on edge in a random pattern within the vertical masonry head joints of the wall. The north end of the building terinates the east wall with a service tower that frames a wall opening where "the tree from sleepy hollow" lives. The exterior presence of a buildng in a garden engages the street with a quiet strength, with little or no indication of the volumetri structural envelope; wall, canopy and plinth. Elements of the program suspend within the space so as not to till it. The stair climb involves multiple turns, at once part of te vitrine, at another turn focusing on a cluster of 'liquid mercury' head joints, and a carefully placed sculpture. In the stair, east light glows through a thinly sliced piece of "Indian Onyx". The top of stair ends at the spring-point of a thirty-foot clear span cable-assisted bridge, which slightly ascends as a ramp past the library/conference area to the owner's office. " to find out more...


Passage & Image from http://www.wendellburnettearchitects.com/ studio for David Michael Miller Associates, Scottsdale, Arizona

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