Rick Joy

Do you think Joy’s use of materials and building form are convincing?

I find that his building form is appropriate for many reasons in the context. The gable roof is, no doubt, as he said, a relation to the vernacular and a response to functionality in terms of rain and snow loads on the roof. The simplicity of the overall form doesn’t distract too much from what is going on around the house in the natural environment, so that is very appropriate. Materials are fairly convincing overall, but I do find the use of steel for the main structure to be a bit off. The use of wood cladding seems a bit superficial – wood as a natural resource in Vermont is a great material, but he has opted to limit its use to cladding. Traditionally, the gable form has been crafted with wood, often in the form of trusses.

Do you think the experiential characteristic of Joy’s projects is in any way compromised by his fundamental basics?

I think the experiential characteristics are not necessarily compromised by the use of the “basics”. However, he does take the basics and stretch them a bit, as with his use of steel for the main structure of the house. Here he goes beyond the basics (a wood truss), which would have resulted in a flat ceiling or slightly less pitched ceiling, or ridge beam system, to create a more open environment using steel. In short, the structure goes well beyond “basics” in terms of residential building.