Residence  Santa Fe, New Mexico  1989

An acquaintance of mine asked me to review a plan they’d had drawn up by a builder for a house to be built on a desert site in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The plan had a kind of ‘squashed bug’ outline – completely formless – it took me a while to find the entrance.  In attempting to assist the client in understanding what is meant by ‘form’ and clarifying this for myself as well, I developed two sketch designs – both using adobe and wood construction. The schemes were designed on the play of yin vs yang aspects.  

The first used yin or curved elements to enclose areas of human activity, with yang or straight elements providing an internal circulation spine and functional areas.  Each of the curved walls spirals into a fireplace with an elevated flue spiraling above.  Being somewhat intrigued by this pan I made two quick interior sketches. 

The second plan has yang or strait elements on the outside with a semi-circular central internal entry area which would have been topped by a spherical semi-dome.  The footprint was set in a cruciform plan organized around two courtyards. 

The client was grateful for the exercise and was able to make some changes to the builders plan.  The two sketch designs were for conversational purposes and were not intended to be built. They were not further developed.