Week 09: The architecture of Bryan McKay Lyons

Fitting.

Framing.

Forming.

Although this might look as a recipe for designing, I honestly think that after starting to “thinking” about a project, the architect will go through all these phases. The limits of when to move from one step to another are blurred. Also, I think that this process is not one way; it would be an ongoing process moving back and forth.

So, back to discussing  Lyon’s architecture.

While exploring 3 projects of his residential work, I couldn’t help but noticing the things they have in common. All are located within Nova Scotia, under similar climatic conditions. As Lyon mentions, clients in Nova Scotia don’t like overpaying for their houses. So, here we have climatic conditions, similar vernacular architecture, and a time/money factor imposed by the client. All of these should not contradict the quality of space or the program.

“The vernacular is what you do when you cannot afford to do it wrong”.

So how to modify that unsentimental vernacular?

Lyon creates a design strategy allowing him to :

– Adapt to the site, create a landscape, maximize natural sustainability features ( fitting)

–  Carving the shape, emphasizing spaces and creating a program (framing)

–  Materializing the final dwelling as a result of fitting and framing (forming)- “The building’s skin is alive” ( This is genius)

 I personally find Lyon’s approach genius in its simplicity. But I couldn’t help but wonder to what extents it can be implemented in other places, specifically places where vernacular architecture is weak, or where rural aspect is absent.

 

The Ghost  Architectural Lab “You have controls, as much as variables”

I never had a design-build experience. I am looking forward to have one, and I hope I will participate in such a workshop in the upcoming few months. I find designing on papers so much limiting, it lets the mind escape from confronting the real site and the real people involved. Having a workshop that researches materials and architecture to a very specific site is a great opportunity to grow one’s sensibility.  That explains why both Rick Joy and Lyon’s architecture are so simple, yet so sensible.

Even if design-build can be expensive, if placed in the right place, it is a more valuable investment that a piece of art, a fountain or a temporary pavilion. The experiment doesn’t have to be big, I am thinking here of  ” Samuel Mockbee and the rural studio”  (Annie’s presentation)