An “art center” served in the memory and legacy of both Philip Pavia and Natalie Edgar—two highly influential American abstract expressionists, the former working in sculpture, and the latter, still living, working in painting—as propelled by Juan Puntes, lead curator at Whitebox Gallery, and lifelong assistant to Pavia. The design has a “program,” with allotted square footages: gallery space, artist residences, parking, restrooms, storage, and administrative space.
Initial exercises were completely hands on, working in a process that would reinstate later appreciation of vernacular and humble building construction; the initial objective was to build “light anchors,” using both primary meanings’ of the word “light.” All of these models were built through the logic of subtraction.
Springs is an eerie place. You cannot help but feel haunted by the landscape. The Hamptons, of course, is a region that is dominated by property, in all permeable relationships to human life, to the extent in which it becomes a cultural facet. The design speaks to this phantasm by subverting the vernacular, mainly in terms of lighting and programming. The armature utilized to continue this aspiration was the hearth typology.
It’s an A-Frame long-house. Four volumes, four different programs, four different lighting techniques, a modest 750 square feet each, but all housed under one single entity. Contextual site buildings are not touched at all. Walls are turned into carved elements by the use of simple geometrical shapes which agitate and curate sculpture, painting, and also living. The only materials utilized are OSB, 2x8s, douglas fir plywood, and asphalt roll.
