In an essay entitled The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin quotes the Greek poet Archilochus, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing” (Berlin 7). The essay was written as a commentary on Leo Tolstoy’s view of history, however, the text can offer an understanding for how one might practice architecture as well. For us, this understanding reveals itself in perceiving the environment as a fox and believing in it as a hedgehog.
Perceiving the environment as a fox requires “plenty of full light” (Albers) and a methodical rigor aimed at exploring forces and processes including climate, culture, economy, atmosphere, and material.
Believing in the environment as a hedgehog requires a confidence and trust that the projects we build and discussions we nurture “feel the pull of life” (Martin 159) and contribute positively to our clients and the world around us.
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Albers, Josef. Poems and Drawings. Ed. Nicholas Fox Weber. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Print.
Berlin, Isaiah. The Hedgehog and the Fox; an Essay on Tolstoy’s View of History. New York: Mentor Books, 1957. Print.
Martin, Agnes and Briony Fer. Agnes Martin. Ed. Frances Morris and Tiffany Bell. London: D. A. P./Tate, 2015. Print.
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Albert Cabin
Albert, Texas
Residential
Stepping through the stone wall portal marks a threshold from city life to the quiet rhythms of the Texas Hill Country. The cabin’s warm wood interiors and expansive glazing open to the surrounding oaks and sky. In the mornings, the southeast-facing bath welcomes the first light; in the evenings, the southwest-facing bedroom frames sunsets and starlit skies.
Carlos Pozo
Architecture, Screen Printer, & Musician
Art and Design
In this episode our resident architects Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden visit with Carlos Pozo, a screen printer and musician who works in architecture. Carlos Pozo is an architectural associate from Houston, Texas. Though he spends his days working in an architecture firm, much of his free time is spent immersed in creative endeavors outside of architecture, namely screen printing and music. Kevin and Joe sat down with Carlos to discuss the influences behind his screen printing, his journey from music critic to musician, and taking action in creative pursuits.
Talking About Wood (Reden Über Holz)
Translation: Kevin Barden
Writing
In 1985, Swiss architects Michael Alder, Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, and Peter Zumthor sat down with Archithese to discuss building with wood; the continued traditions of its use as well as the possibility of developing new traditions. All four architects articulate a specific interest of the material and offer a critical eye to the others’ work. While Alder is concerned with the aesthetics of wood, Zumthor is attentive to the material from a cabinetmaker’s…