THE CHANGING SHAPES OF THE AXE

Editor's Note:  The vernacular houses at the foundation of an American concept of "home" have their origins in simple constructions, where tools and materials coexisted in seemingly rustic harmony. To grasp the spirit of those archetypical structures, it helps to understand the tools that shaped them.

For early Americans who built log houses, the axe was indispensable. The axe is one of the most fundamental woodworking tools, and in skilled hands, one of the most versatile.

INSPIRED BY GAUDI, BUILT BY HAND

Sitting in Beth and Will Hathaway's family room in Portland, Oregon, I'm amazed that there's more than a hundred tons of concrete and dirt hanging over my head. The south-facing room, the focal point of the house, is bathed in light. So much daylight filters through four floor-to-curved-ceiling windows and two skylight domes, that I can comfortably pour over a puzzling array of structural contours on a blueprint even though no electric lamps are lit and it's drizzling outside.

INDUSTRIAL FACILITY TURNS TO THE ARTS

An aging bus repair shop may seem an unlikely place for a progressive art school. But when the shop is a classic monument to mid-20th century industrial architecture, and when the school is eager to marry art and pragmatism, the result works beautifully.

Span's Concrete Support Column Shattered by Errant Barge — at ENR, 2000.0814

Maryland Governor Announces $1.3 Billion Plan to Expand Baltimore-Washington Airport — at ENR, 2000.0809

U.S. Grand Jury Indicts Freyssinet Executive for Conspiring to Rig Bridge Bids — at ENR, 2000.0804

ENR Interviews New Chief of the Corps of Engineers — at ENR, 2000.0803

Pile Caps at Salt Lake City Rink are 'Encaged' After Bolt Failure — at ENR, 2000.0807

World War II Memorial Redesign has One More Hurdle to Pass — at ENR, 2000.0807