Haystack Architecture: Vision and Legacy

A view of the paired cabin deck at Whispering Hope Ranch designed by Studio Ma. Located in the ponderosa pine forest in the Arizona highlands, the ranch serves children and adults with special medical needs The deck canopy provides protection from the intense summer sun and monsoon rains. Architects: Daniel Hoffman, Christiana Moss and Christopher Alt, Studio Ma, studioma.com (Photo by Bill Timmerman)

Situated on top of a hill, the Ziegler House, a weekend and vacation home, has a 360-degree view of the surrounding 80 acres of open Connecticut farmland. The assemblage of three barn-like volumes, interconnected by a common entryway, is nestled into an intersection of 18th century tree-lined rubble stone walls. The design of the fenestration in the living/dining and master bedroom areas maximizes extensive views to the south and west and permits passive solar gain in the winter. Sited among existing trees which shade openings in the summer, the house takes advantage of prevailing southwest winds for natural ventilation. This project is the recipient of the 1983 AIA/New York State Distinguished Architectural Citation, and has been published in several architectural books on residential design. Architect: Bruce Fowle, FAIA, LEED, Founding Principal, FXFOWLE

Island House designed by architect Peter Hamilton: View of cottage from the east. The main cabin is on the left with the boardwalk to the entrance, and attached are the sleeping cabins to the right

Rendering of the Ziegler House

The origins of the design reside in my belief that small is beautiful and less is more. Houses in places like Fire Island serve one purpose in my mind: to give their owners a sense of place in these beautiful locations. I have long believed that is all about the landscape and it is our goal to intervene as gently and sensitively as we are able. Just as Haystack is rooted in memories of summer camp, so is the Beach House rooted in my memories of summers on the shore of Cape Cod. For several years we rented a house that was the last house on the Street leading to Nauset Beach. Right atop the bluff, the sound, smell and dampness of the Ocean were the reason for being there. As with the Nauset house, the Beach House is uninsulated. It provides shelter from the rain and the bugs, share time with family, a place to sit and read under the halo of a lamp and the opportunity to live close and unimpeded with the beach.” —Fred Stelle, architect

I did not know Edward Barnes well, but our paths crossed on several occasions. Not long before he died, he and Mary Barnes came to Haystack to meet with my architecture students and talk about the origins of the project, the direct conversation with the landscape, the respect for the site, and the ability to produce by hand, innovative architecture.

For this and a few other profound meetings with Edward Larrabee Barnes, I was fortunate. As a Maine architect, Haystack’s architecture sets a standard, not only for timelessness, but also as an example, even in 2011, of problems we should be solving and innovative ways of seeing and building.

Edward encouraged, or perhaps admonished the students not to copy what he had done, but to respond with the same sensitivity by questioning what they were about and considering the repercussions, to recognize their responsibility combined with their capability for architectural expression.

The inspiration and lessons learned from Barnes and his work at Haystack are the basis for this summer’s exhibition, Haystack’s Architecture: Vision and Legacy. The projects presented, by models, drawings, and photographs, represent an extraordinary group of architects with the ability to bring together, the pragmatic with the poetic.

The show will be in Haystack’s Center for Community Programs, in Deer Isle village, opening on July 3rd, open until October 17, 2011.