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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West Texas Retreat
Alpine, Texas
Residential
Set against the rugged backdrop of West Texas, this renovation transforms a simple home into a serene retreat immersed in mountain and sky. Expansive glazing captures shifting light and distant peaks, while covered outdoor spaces invite connection to the land’s quiet rhythms.
Seth Daulton
Printmaker
Art and Design
In this episode our resident architects Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden visit with Seth Daulton, a printmaker from Georgetown, Texas. Seth Daulton is an artist who has worked in printmaking for nearly a decade. He has spent much of that time learning and developing his craft in academic settings, now as an instructor himself. Joe and Kevin sat down with Seth to discuss his process of creating, his approach to teaching, and how place, history, and structure, inhabit his work.
A Place of Passing
Kevin Barden
Writing
In the summer of 2022, Kevin’s dad passed away. In this essay, Kevin reflects about the qualities of growing up in a geodesic dome as well as the beginnings of a deeper understanding of a “forever home”.