Rick Joy

Materials are perhaps the most critical connection to place and context.  So much of todays building is in disregard of site and place, the land is cleared and leveled for a cookie cutter building to be built as quickly and efficiently as possible.  On the opposing end of building, Rick Joy uses material and form to create architecture that is of a place.  None of his building could or would exist any place other than the one the are in.  The Tubac House is nestled into its site and seems to peak above the crest on the hillside like a shoulder of the mountains it looks upon.  The materials used seem to portend the form Joy creates.  The forms do not seems to be of a style or school of thought, but a direct expression of the material and context.

The fundamental basis of Joys work creates the foundation for the experience of his spaces.  Craftsmanship and material quality create the atmosphere of his projects, which in turn creates the true experience of place.  Everything about his work is the desert, it is not a wallpaper of idealized style, but is a physical manifestation of the culture and desire of what a place could be.

-jd gutermuth