Dwell Apr-14

We all crave a connection to the outside world. This issue explores architecture and design in response to that desire, that need, to tie our human experience to the natural landscape. It’s a fascinating journey to learn about the ways people interact with their surroundings, reinforcing the interconnectedness of life and design. In a recent interview with The Japan Times, Shigeru Ban described how making the most of a location is one of the more difficult aspects of creating residential architecture. “People who have bought land always have something about it they like,” he explained. “By ascertaining exactly what it was about the land that attracted them, then you can usually come up with a solution that capitalizes on that.” The truth of Ban’s statement is clearly reflected through the…

WESTERN WINDOW SYSTEMS Whether it’s bi-folding doors, multi-slide doors, window walls, or our casement windows, Western Window Systems has been creating beautiful energy efficient products for over 50 years. Our company lives by a strict commitment to three core values: excellence, innovation, and partnership. We are driven by a unifying vision that we exist as a company to create products that not only enhance the value of a home or property, but also the quality of life they promote. We want to help you embrace the best in modern design and experience indoor-outdoor living. Let us show you the new way to live. TO THE TRADE westernwindowsystems.com BENJAMIN MOORE Choose ARBORCOAT exterior stains from Benjamin Moore for all your exterior refinishing needs this season. Now available in water-based and oilbased…

Thank you for the beautiful prefab issue (Dec/Jan 2014). It couldn’t have come at a better time, since I am in the middle of home building and got lots of ideas for colors, finishes, and materials from the edition. The prefab companies deserve tremendous respect for their eff orts to create new, energy-efficient building processes. However, as someone who has undertaken three designand-stick-build homes, I find that there is one crucial advantage over prefab: My husband and I, with our builder, can make lots of last-minute changes (electrical, window size and placement, deck access) based on how the emerging house interacts with the site (air flow, hourly sunlight changes, tree shadows, and street views). The result is a house that feels intimately connected to nature, even in a less-than-pristine urban…

April 2014 Sarah F. Cox As editorial director of Curbed, Sarah F. Cox oversees 16 sites focused on real estate and architecture. Reporting the Turkey Saddle story in Charlottesville, Virginia (“Saddle Up,” p. 110), brought Cox’s career full circle: Her first journalism internship was at C-Ville Weekly, the local newsweekly, where she became friends with the sister of the landscape designer featured in the story. Daniel Hennessy For this issue, Los Angeles–based photographer Daniel Hennessy shot “Concrete Jungle” (p. 104). “As soon as I walked in through the doors, I was in a tranquil space. The landscape put me in a relaxed, therapeutic state of shooting,” he says. “The Kreadens were supercool to hang with, and I loved the onsite espresso machine.” Hennessy’s work appears in Vanity Fair, Martha Stewart…

Architect Burton Baldridge donated his services to Casis Elementary, his daughter’s large public school in Austin, Texas, to design and build an outdoor classroom that would augment an organic gardening program. His firm—working alongside other parents, architecture students from the University of Texas at Austin, and friends in the construction community—spent nights and weekends building the structure. In the end, twothirds of the project was delivered with pro bono labor and materials. dwell.com/casis-elementary Head online to see more images from the Austin elementary school teaching garden.…

WORKac designed a teaching classroom at Brooklyn’s P.S. 216 elementary school (above) that channels runoff rainwater from its roof for reuse in its mobile greenhouse. A glass enclosure (left) slides off the main structure in warmer months to open up the garden—which contains 1,600 square feet of soil—to air and sun. In 1995, pioneering chef Alice Waters unleashed a major trend when she turned a barren Berkeley, California, school yard into a place where children could cultivate plants and learn about growing and preparing food. Today there are hundreds of Waters’s inspired Edible Schoolyard programs in all 50 states. One of the latest opened at P.S. 216 in Brooklyn in December 2013. WORKac, the New York architectural office of Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, designed the glowing structure with raised…