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.
Explore
Champions Golf Pavilion
Houston, Texas
Commercial
The new Founder’s Patio at Champions Golf Club offers an exciting opportunity for dining, relaxing and enjoying the golf club. Located along the golf side of the existing clubhouse, the design respects and resonates with the existing architectural language on the property, while amplifying and adding to the experience of club.
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.
Naturally, Wood (Selbstverständlich Holz)
Translation: Kevin Barden
Writing
In 1995, the Swiss architect Gion Caminada and structural engineer Jürg Conzett wrote a short essay for the magazine Archithese about the (then) new and continued building practices using wood in a small remote village called Vrin.