Offbeat Hot: Q&A With Architect Bart Prince

First off, so sorry about the late posting today; technical difficulties way beyond my control. Hopefully it’s all good now.

This week there is an “Offbeat Hot” but there will be no “Offbeat Not,” because when Bart Prince is in the house how can you possibly complain?

My house is full of architectural books and magazines and discussions often turn towards home building and design. But frankly, although I enjoy this stuff, hearing about drywall, soffits, or PV modules for the umpteenth time isn’t that exciting. What’s exciting to me is to see unique design in structures; architectural pieces that give something back to the space they occupy. Buildings that enhance the natural world around them fascinate me and Prince’s designs do just this. Here is one of my favorites:

According to Prince’s site, the Height Residence, a weekend home near Mendocino, California, was designed, “With a continuous undulating roof which provides a buffer to the wind on one side while opening to ocean views on the other.” I love how this house looks like it completely belongs here — almost like it grew out of the ground. The colors and shapes work directly with the landscape instead of overwhelming it.

Personally, I’ve always been curious about what goes on in the mind of individuals who have such such an original focus; so I was thrilled when Prince agreed to answer some questions I sent him about his work.

Background:

The New Mexico born Prince, is recognized internationally for his unique residences. Prince was awarded the Record House of the Year Award in 1989 for the Brad and June Prince Residence and again in 1991 for the Joe and Etsuko Price Residence. Other accolades, among many, have included featured works in numerous exhibitions, the 2004 International Excellence in Design Award, and Prince is recognized as one of The AD 100 by Architectural Digest. Now this is just a smidgen of a bio. You can find out much more at Prince’s website.

I asked Prince if he always imagined himself designing offbeat and unique structures or if there a specific moment, such as at the College of Architecture at Arizona State University or after meeting Bruce Goff, where he decided to build unusual projects vs. the average project. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’ve never really thought of my work as particularly ‘offbeat’ though I guess that word has probably been used on occasion to describe it by others. What I’ve been interested in since I was very young is CREATIVE work. Work that is RESPONSIVE to each individual situation, site, climate, client etc. I can remember going to kindergarten in Santa Fe and wondering why people lived in these dark, creepy brown buildings. I don’t know why at age five or six I was so affected by these things but I was. I didn’t know what an architect was and at that age I didn’t really know how buildings came about but I certainly thought we MUST be able to do better! I began making my own designs and models to show people what we could have. I never thought of my ideas as anything but serious attempts at creating something beautiful for our own age.

I came across the work of Frank Lloyd Wright when I was around 8 or 9 years old and I was amazed that such beautiful work was possible. I learned that he was an ARCHITECT and that architects actually DESIGNED these buildings. I knew that this was what I wanted to be. By the time I got to ASU I had been working on my own trying to design buildings I thought were more interesting, unusual and beautiful. While in high school I saw a few of my designs built by a local contractor who had asked me to do drawings for houses he was building. This was good experience since instead of learning how a building was supposed to be built, I learned a lot about how buildings WERE built while at the same time realizing there were others ways they COULD be built.

One of the things that made me decide to attend ASU’s School of Architecture (aside from the fact that it was a very good school at that time) was the proximity to Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio just outside of Scottsdale. Paolo Soleri was also working near there and I got to know him as well as many people who lived and worked at Taliesin West. While at ASU Bruce Goff came to give a talk and that is when I got to know him and his work (I had seen a few things prior to that but didn’t know where Goff lived and worked . . . that was before the internet and it was not so easy to find people). Goff was very interested in the designs I had been making and I went to work with him that summer. After graduating I continued my work with him until I opened my own office in Albuquerque in 1973. One way that Goff was an inspiration was that I could see he had an interest in Wright and other very creative people but he was able to find his own way and do work which was not imitative of them. This is something I felt was very important.”

To have these amazing ideas in your mind is one thing; explaining them to a potential client is a whole other issue. Prince’s site offers some very cool random models and drawings in order to show how he communicates designs to clients and later contractors.

Groves drawing above, and below a Groves model.

With all of these cool designs it can be hard to pick a favorite. I asked Prince what his most interesting design request from a client has been and he said:

“All design requests are interesting. I once had a client who needed a design that looked beautiful from the air as opposed to the typical ‘front elevation’ most people are concerned with. True ARCHITECTURE has no front or back, top or bottom. This client went everywhere in a helicopter and wanted his house to be something extraordinary from the air as he approached it. He wanted a helipad where he could land, push a button which opened the door to the hangar while a platform on tracks pulled the helicopter inside and the door closed behind. I gave him what he asked for but it’s no helipad or hangar like you’ve ever seen. He also wanted his kitchen to be able to move from the den to the dining room to the upper view room all of which were on different levels. That’s what he got!”

Below, a residence near Glorieta, New Mexico.

I don’t know the background of the Glorieta residence, but it almost looks like an airplane landed down in the desert. Very cool. What do you think? Would you like to live in a house like this?

Tomorrow (technology willing) I’ll post some more Prince Q&A and more of his amazing designs. So stay tuned.

All photos courtesy of Bart Prince. (Thanks Bart!).