Artist Retreat / Gluck+

Architects:GLUCK+

Area:6080ft²

Year:2014

Photographs:Paul Warchol

Manufacturers:Arcadia Custom,Excelsior Wood Products,Herrington's,Ipe,Northeast Precast,Rais

Structural Engineer:Silman

Lighting:Lux Populi

MEP:IBC Engineering Services Inc.

Project Team:Shannon Bambenek, Andrew Brown, Peter Gluck, Eric Schaefer, Luke Winata, Stacie Wong

Glazing Consultant:Forst Consulting Co. Inc.,Forst Consulting Co.Inc

Geotechnical Engineer:Gifford

City:Nueva York

Country:United States

Text description provided by the architects. Located on a land conservancy, a collection of wood-clad cubes orient toward a pond on a sloped site. These eight forms touch the ground lightly and follow the contours of the land, linked by glass enclosed hallways. The simple shapes are strong silhouettes in an agricultural landscape, organized in a shifting grid akin to farming plots in the area. The slatted weathered hemlock cladding is a nod to the utilitarian barn structures that dot the local landscape.

From the drive approach, the house gives little away. The solid and almost barn-like cubes flank the entry that is simply enclosed by a burnished concrete wall with high clerestory. Upon entering, the entry opens up to a glass “bridge,” revealing the pond beyond. Designed as a working retreat for an experimental photographer, the single room structures are divided by function — live, work, sleep. A detached cluster of cubes houses the photography studio and darkroom. Living, dining and bedrooms comprise another cluster centered around an outdoor courtyard.

There is a porosity to the interior world of this retreat. Glass hallways link the cubes and transform into open air bridges with simple sliding doors. Large picture windows and door openings align for expansive views to the landscape. The result is privacy between the different programmatic elements in each cube, with a visual layering of space as the land is slowly revealed.

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Project location

Address:Nueva York, United States