If you’ve been a follower of SALA Architects on Instagram, Facebook, or elsewhere, you’ve likely seen one of my favorite recent projects: Metal Lark. Or better yet, some of you may have even stayed there at a visit to Nordlys, a rental property near Frederic, Wisconsin.
Recently, I was happy to have Metal Lark be the recipient of an Honor Award from the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects. During the awards presentation one of the jurors commented about Metal Lark, “This small structure is both simple and sophisticated in the way it sits in the landscape like a lone ice-fishing house or duck blind up in the air. It wants to stand out, but not in a spaceship kind of way. The design is all in service of capturing captivating views within a very small footprint.”
So… I’m glad my architecture isn’t alien. That’s nice.
In fact, this project is actually really human. When people collaborate in response to our environment, we can create projects that are truly inspiring. As the juror noted: form+placement+view = success. Reflecting on those words, I want to elaborate on what we, the clients and our design team, were attempting to capture with the design of this building.
Form:
Some of the most successful architecture in history derives power from simplicity– think the Great Pyramids, or the Parthenon. I first understood this as a child while playing with blocks. Lying on the floor of my bedroom, I spent hours stacking simple rectangular chunks of wood together, every once in a while trying to figure out how to incorporate the triangular one, or the piece with the half-circle chunk taken out of it – you know which one I mean. But really, when it came down to it, the rectangles were the ones I gravitated to. Sophisticated? Probably not. But simple, for sure, carrying forth concepts that I sensed even though I didn’t have the vocabulary to express them: strength, clarity, gravity. Even today, I am drawn to more elemental geometries.
Placement:
Siting a building is the most fundamental task that an architect and client perform together. In this case, I walked the land with the owners, and we critically looked at the land. We paid attention to the terrain, the views, the movement of the sun, the connectivity to features such as the lakeshore, forest, and openings. We deliberated on numerous possible locations before settling on the final placement.
What won out were three main attributes: a view of the lake, but with a generous swath of meadow stretching out between building and shore; a placement just beyond a row of trees, allowing Metal Lark to just tuck itself into the forest edge; and a position below the hillcrest so the land would drop away and interior spaces could float above the ground-plane.
Prospect:
While the shape of Metal Lark is striking and lovely to behold, what lies within is perhaps it’s greatest virtue: spaces that embrace the visitor while revealing and opening up to spectacular views. In architecture-speak we call this Prospect and Refuge, derived from the theory that we humans evolved to feel most comfortable is spaces where we could see out (prospect) but remain hidden from view (refuge). Able to see the savannah and the approaching aliens lions while remaining hidden back in the tree line. In addition to Metal Lark’s siting at the edge of a row of trees, this prospect/refuge theme is carried through within the building. A cozy entry and other enclosed zones create the privacy and security we crave.
The living room and observation deck allows us to peer out and survey the landscape.
As so, when we find spaces that allow us to see out but hunker in at the same time, we immediately feel at ease, think tree fort, cave opening, or “duck blind up in the air”.
Photographs by Corey Gaffer and Levi Kelly