Project Details
- Project Name
- Seven Rural Interventions
- Architect
- Moskow Linn Architects
- Project Types
- Outbuilding
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Year Completed
- 2017
- Shared by
- Hanley Wood
- Project Status
- Built
2017 Residential Architect Design AwardsOutbuilding | Citation
There’s a farm in Norwich, Vt., about an hour’s drive southeast of Montpelier, that has a chicken coop that has a handcrafted screen of site-harvested maple saplings over translucent fiberglass walls—not to mention the rolling pig pen that looks like it could take flight, a shingle-clad sauna on wheels, and sugar shack whose evaporator is fueled by the split firewood that is stacked within wood frames to thermally insulate its walls. These are just some of the Seven Rural Interventions that make up the body of work by Studio North, a six-day-long intensive design/build workshop run by Keith Moskow, FAIA, and Robert Linn, AIA, of Boston-based Moskow Linn Architects.
Each summer, seven to 10 students come together to create a new outbuilding on the farm using the same kit of parts: wood framing members, galvanized metal fasteners, translucent fiberglass, and site-harvested timbers. Many of the students have never held a hammer before, let alone built a structure, but the process of hands-on construction helps nurture an understanding of what exactly goes into building a structure one has designed. Each structure has its own program, and its own set of requirements, and many are made to be mobile to allow for easy relocation on the farm grounds.
What intrigued the jury was not only the design of the structures, but the importance of imparting an understanding of craft, without taking itself too seriously. “I think there’s real whimsy to them, and I think there’s real pedagogical value to having people make things,” R. Michael Graham said. And as a bonus, “some of the individual pieces are quite nice.”
Visit ARCHITECT to see the rest of the winners of the 2017 Residential Architect Design Awards.
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
SEVEN RURAL INTERVENTIONS Norwich, VT The seven projects were completed over a seven year period during seven day sessions with seven to ten students and two instructors working on each project. All projects were built on a single farm in rural, Norwich, VT. All projects include a standard kit of parts including two by framing members, galvanized metal fasteners, translucent fiberglass and timbers gathered on site. Each project has a distinct program and requirements.
CHICKEN CHAPEL – a home for a growing flock of barn yard fowl.
ROLLING PIG PEN – an enclosure for porcine that moves thru the field as the inhabitants both cultivate and fertilize the soil.
BIRCH PAVILION – a chapel for solace, memory, occasional small gathering and celebrations.
CONSUMABLE SUGAR SHACK – a structure for making maple syrup where the timber walls are deconstructed during the sugaring season.
WILDERNESS RETREAT – a place to “glamp” (camp out) with friends and appreciate a towering white pine forest.
VIEWING STRUCTURE – a portable room that is moved to focus on a specific view.
MOBILE SAUNA - a chamber heated by a wood fired boiler and greenhouse room for post sauna relaxation.
