May 2005 Table of Contents

At the crest of a multi-year housing boom, it's about time the organization addressed and advanced the architect's role in it. Read more

Heidi Machul, an architecture intern who graduated from Ball State University four years ago, has her eye on the prize—a professional license. Most people in her position are still racking up internship hours. But by industry standards she's ahead of schedule, having already taken and passed three parts of the Architect Registration Exam (ARE). For her, getting registered is the light at the end of the tunnel. Read more

Not since the glory days of Modernism have high design and high-rise housing often coexisted. Most residential skyscrapers experience so much value-engineering, even the best architects struggle to give them a bit of character. Read more

Designing for a rear lot can be tricky. Not only must the house relate to its immediate neighbors (positioned more prominently at streetside), but the approach is invariably lengthy. Read more

Strung out along the lip of a naturally occurring bowl, this glass-and-cedar house reinforces the forms in the landscape. Read more

Jonathan Segal, FAIA, can't resist a challenge. When building his own house, the San Diego–based architect/builder/developer chose an irregularly shaped lot in busy downtown La Jolla, right across from the town's commercial center. Read more

Most of the cabins around this summer residence run parallel to the shoreline and sit as close to the water as possible. Asked to design a replacement for a cabin that had burned down, David Salmela proposed something a little more interesting. Read more

Just about every design decision architect Ivo Venkov made on this project—the home (and office) he shares with his wife and fellow architect, Rossi Venkov—related back to the site, a steep hillside overlooking the Pacific. Read more

To convert the top floor of a leased commercial building into a residence, Todd Verwers created spaces that live comfortably but could be packed up and relocated when the lease expires. Read more

It's a significant accomplishment when an architect is entrusted with a Richard Neutra house. Peter Grueneisen has had the good fortune to work on this particular 1949 Neutra design not just once, but twice—and for two different clients. Read more

It's one to thing to overhaul a poorly designed home by an unknown architect, but things get trickier when the house is a classic mid-century Modern by Charles Goodman and sustainability is integral to the program. Read more

The owners of this rural Virginia farmhouse, parts of which date back to the 1750s, wanted what so many modern families want: larger rooms that make better sense. Read more

Leave it to Lake/Flato Architects to transform a pair of old warehouses into a gracious home and studio. Read more

Who says you can't build spectacular multifamily housing in a dense, urban environment? Read more

The jury dubbed this apartment building “dynamic and elegant.” For architect Stephen Kanner, FAIA, the challenge was to enliven and liberate the typical hermitically-sealed multifamily box. Read more

Not since the glory days of Modernism have high design and high-rise housing often coexisted. Most residential skyscrapers experience so much value-engineering, even the best architects struggle to give them a bit of character. Read more

It's no accident that 110 Chattanooga Duplex strikes a confident yet respectful pose among the Victorian-era row houses in eclectic San Francisco. Read more

The Cannery Lofts live/work buildings delicately balance their light industrial location with pedestrian-friendly courtyards and street scenes. Read more

With its bold colors, connection to the outdoors, and clever product specs, Chelsea Court is unlike most affordable housing projects. Indeed, said the judges, “it challenges the expectation of what that level of housing can be.” Read more

Architect David Baker isn't afraid to use color—especially in the affordable projects that he champions—but he knows from experience that bright hues can elicit all kinds of responses. Read more

Mark Horton / Architecture, San Francisco. This nifty little dormitory had to please a roll call of constituencies. (Or, as architect Mark Horton tactfully offers, “it had to moderate a number of different conditions.”) Read more

The jury commended this dormitory building for its “beautiful integration into the hillside and rugged terrain.” Read more

This nifty little dormitory had to please a roll call of constituencies. (Or, as architect Mark Horton tactfully offers, “it had to moderate a number of different conditions.”) Read more

The judges praised this charming little pavilion's “strong plan” and “nice proportions.” Conceived as a family retreat on a larger property containing an existing main house, the project presented Lake/Flato Architects with an opportunity to design a building that serves purely as a getaway destination. Read more

Because of a high-water table in the Snake River flood plain, Carney Architects designed this nifty little 300-square-foot wine storage room as a silo instead of a conventional cellar. Read more

A strong concept and refined detailing bring unity to this second-floor living space. The owners, a photographer and his wife, asked Jay Serrao, AIA, to create a lively kitchen, dining area, and living room that would flex for entertaining. Read more

Too many books. That's what prompted this husband-and-wife team of architects to design an inventive shelving arrangement based on the stud system of their late '60s tract house. Read more

This simple, elegant staircase plugged into an adjacent retaining wall may seem like an easy detail to pull off, but the opposite is true. Read more

This house on the Chesapeake Bay defers to the natural site and distills its essence. Located on a cordgrass marsh, the house rests on random pilings that blend in with the pine grove.  Read more

Alan Weiskopf, AIA, and Kevin Wagstaff, AIA, spend most of their working time on large-scale institutional, commercial, and multifamily projects. Read more

the sixth annual residential architect design awards received nearly 850 entries in 14 categories. The jury comprised six distinguished architects, including Laura Hartman, Fernau & Hartman Architects, Berkeley, Calif.; William P. Lecky, AIA, The Lessard Read more