Product Description

"I live, practice, teach, and build in northwest Arkansas, in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It's a place considered to be in the middle of nowhere, yet ironically close to everywhere. It is an environment of real natural beauty and, simultaneously, one of real constructed ugliness. Abandonment, exploitation, erasure and nostalgia are all aspects of this place and are conditions as authentic as its natural beauty and local form. This land of disparate conditions in not just a setting for my work -- it is part of the work. By choosing to live and work here -- to call it home -- I've been able to get beyond the surface of things, to turn over the rock and discover the complex and rich underbelly of my place -- its visceral presences and expressive character -- that so informs and sustains my efforts. I am working from the conviction that architecture is larger than the subject of architecture." --Marlon Blackwell Marlon Blackwell is a passionate polemicist. He's also a very gifted architect. The projects in this first monograph on the "radical ruralist," as touted by the Royal Institute of British Architects, offer a new architectural language that at once celebrate the vernacular and transgress the boundaries of the conventional. The results are -- we can't help it, there's no better word -- beautiful. Incisive essays by David Buege, Dan Hoffman, and Juhani Pallasmaa and lush photography by Tim Hursley, Richard Johnson, and Kevin Latady explore Blackwell's projects, including his widely acclaimed Keenan TowerHouse, the award-winning Moore HoneyHouse, 2Square House, and Flynn-Schmitt BarnHouse, studios, and institutional buildings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584556 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
... this handsome volume assesses his work at an early midpoint in (Blackwell's) career. We look forward to volume two. -- Architectural Record, October 2005

...Should inspire student and practitioner alike of the possibilities in architecture attainable through modest means. -- Choice, September 2005

...beautifully photographed projects ranging from Blackwell's first residential design to more recent public spaces... -- Northwest Arkansas Times, May 22, 2005

Celebrates one of Arkansas' most renowned architects and defines a new genre of Ozark architecture. . . . -- Associated Press, April 20, 2005

About the Author
Marlon Blackwell has received national and international recognition for his residential projects. He teaches architecture at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Customer Reviews

Striking, yet affordable, houses
It is with releif that we look at the work of this small town architect living and working in rural Arkansas. It is proof that the creative design of striking small homes is not dead. The buildings illustrated here are not the expensive luxury homes of the rich, nor are they the cookie cutter homes of the modern American sub-division. Instead, they are striking buildings that are well within the range of the average house buyer.

Mr. Blackwell clearly works well with the client and the location of the proposed dwelling. That part of the country, for instance, is prone to frequent flooding. As a result, a number of the houses shown here are built up above ground. These houses, though, are far from the traditional set of poles with a conventional house positioned on top. The results look like insects, or maybe space ships. Yet the designs are so simple that the costs would not be extremely high.

This book is a refreshing look at brilliant design in an unexpected corner.