A machine for working. The rural landscape in Iowa is a tapestry of moving and fixed machines in an orchestrated concert of the perceivable drone of hums and growls necessitated by the production of crops and crop derived goods. This small building is a part of that tapestry and the design was an intentional homage to its place and purpose. It is quiet, yet part of the ensemble. The structure is sited in a field, a corner of the “section” eased to make way for another barn. The orientation is intentionally speaking to the Cartesian grid of the agrarian lands beyond rather than the machinery of the plant it serves which, is aligned with the railroad. The resolute grid of Iowa agriculture is respected. The parti is organized from commerce to production. The plan is a double loaded corridor from end to end with the serene view of row crops as the focus of one end and the doorway for truck drivers to enter to pick up “load checks” at the other. The building is a dichotomy of a poetic narrative overlayed with its function. Form follows function. With a wink. The materials of the building are simple. All are […]
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Dobson Pipe Organ Builders were displaced from their shops and offices on June 15, 2021, by a devastating fire. The fire precipitously changed the texture of the square in the small community. The replacement was intended to represent the craft of organ building…not just a metal building. The structure is predominately shop and storage space. The principal programmatic requirements were high ceilings and flexible, open space. The program seemed at odds with the town square site and the intended narrative of craft. Budget was not flexible. The narrative needed to be written with fewer words…a haiku. A typical structure with limited words to give meaning in just three lines… Contrary to the original beliefs regarding epitomes of craft, the building is grounded in a common metal frame placed on a uniform grid, which is line #1. It is foremost economical. The scale is inherently larger than anything else on the square, because most neighboring buildings come from a past that had a different scale. The mass is quieted with color…black. It recedes and remains quiet despite the unfamiliar size. The entry is line #2. The corner entry ties the building to the square with the reaching canopy and the material […]
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