NEW IRISH HOUSES BY DOMINIC STEVENS The resume of Dominic Stevens includes the following manifesto: "I run a one person practice from a truck container in a field in rural Ireland. I divide my time between architecture, caring for my children and growing organic food. I carry out one building project at a time informed by ongoing theoretical work. My work evolves as a series of firmly held beliefs tempered by practice." — Published 2010.0310
	HOUSE BY HOUSE By the time I saw Lloyd House's "Leaf House," then the sauna he built, I realized he was the builder of my dreams. He did things I'd never seen a builder do. He was tuned deeply into his materials and surroundings, and there was joy and wit in addition to master craftsmanship. Here was a builder able to carry through on his own designs to the last detail. His creations took my breath away. When I came upon the sauna, I was stunned. — Published 2010.0106
	WHO IS PETER ZUMTHOR? In April, about two weeks before his 66th birthday, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor was named the 2009 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Zumthor is not a household name, as many other Pritzker winners have been — architects such as Gehry, Meier, and Pei. Even many architects haven't heard of him. — Published 2009.0826
	PICTOU LANDING HEALTH CENTER The new medical clinic and community center in the Pictou Landing First Nation in Nova Scotia recalls a longhouse, the traditional winter lodge of the Mi'kmaq. Sustainably harvested spruce poles, six to eight inches (15 to 20 centimeters) in diameter, are bent and lashed together at the tops. Like a giant wooden model of a whale's ribcage, clad with rows of oversized spruce shingles, the peaked frame is an adaptation of traditional Native bent-wood construction. — Published 2009.0114
	GLENN MURCUTT GOLD MEDAL In locations from the far reaches of the Northern Territory to suburban New South Wales, Australian architect Glenn Murcutt has created modernist houses remarkable for their supreme sensitivity to climate, surroundings, and environment. A true sole practitioner, Murcutt chooses mostly to design single-family dwellings, and only in Australia. The resulting structures attest to the depth of attention he affords each project. — Published 2009.0114
	APPALACHIAN SUNCATCHER Nestled into a hillside near Asheville, North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center is projected to use 75 percent less energy than a comparable conventionally designed facility. Trombe walls, a planted roof, bioswales, daylighting, a high-efficiency mechanical energy-recovery system, and other "green" features add up to make this National Park Service facility a contender for LEED Gold certification. — Published 2008.0521
	TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE Just about a year ago, Al Gore rocked the national AIA Convention in San Antonio with a climactic final keynote address, and received a prolonged standing ovation from thousands of architects who had lined up for hours to get in. Gore expressed the compelling case on global climate change, anchoring the powerful presentation with this silver spur to action for design professionals: — Published 2008.0423
	RENZO PIANO GOLD MEDAL Renzo Piano first captured the attention of the architecture world as co-designer of the Centre Pompidou in Paris with Richard Rogers, an epochal building that dramatically established the still-reigning high-tech modern style of architecture. Piano's subsequent projects, including several gorgeous museums and other beautiful buildings around the world, have steadily reinforced his reputation as a profound designer, sensitive practitioner, and master craftsman of building. — Published 2008.0123
	L-HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE In the 19th century, the great majority of the houses of western Minnesota were cheap, plain, awkward, and unlovely. Harmony and unity emerged from the mundane clutter, however, in the form of the classic L-house, which became representative of much of the farming way of life in the Midwest. — Published 2007.1114
	ALDO LEOPOLD LEGACY CENTER "That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics." — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949 — Published 2007.1003

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