ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.
In this special series of ShowCase features, we are profiling a single project from each of the eight Architectural League's "Emerging Voices", as profiled in our recent feature 3 Questions for 8 Emerging Voices .
We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.
This building was commissioned as a library and writing studio for a critic and historian. It is located on Long Island, about two hours drive east of New York City. The site is adjacent to the client’s home, and is approached on foot through a stand of trees. There is no drive or path. The library sits at the threshold of an open field and a wood. A tidal stream is visible through the woods, at the rear of the site.
The building was conceived as a simple structure with a mutable presence in the landscape. It maps a path from the open field, through a doorway at the edge of the woods, to a light filled space set in the tree canopy.
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
The interior is defined by douglas fir, books, and light. The exterior, clad in copper, shifts in apparent form and color depending on the light of the day, the viewing angle, and the seasons. The copper can appear reflective and bright, as well as matte and dark. The velvety browns and violets will slowly give way to green.
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
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Private Library and Writing Studio
This project received a Design Excellence Award by the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter in 2008. Andrew Berman Architect was a recipient of the 2009 Emerging Voices by the Architectural League in NYC.
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Private Library and Writing Studio - Site Plan
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Private Library and Writing Studio - 2nd Floor Plan
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Private Library and Writing Studio - Section
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Private Library and Writing Studio - Video from A Space In Time
Firm + Designer
Andrew Berman Architect
Our work is about and informed by buildings, the city, the land, and people.
Construction is the medium though which we explore the qualities and complexities of space and place.
Andrew Berman Architect was established in 1995. The practice is located in Lower Manhattan and has a staff of eight.
Andrew Berman received a Masters of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture in 1988 and a Bachelors of Arts from Yale College in 1984.
The Architectural League of New York recognized Andrew Berman Architect as an "Emerging Voice" in 2009.
Architect: Andrew Berman AIA
Project architect: Julia Neubauer
Project manager: Dan Misri
Project team: Dario Oechsli
Landscape Design: Eleanor M. McPeck Landscape Design
Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP
Mechanical Engineering: CGM Engineering
Daylight Consultant: Carpenter Norris Consulting
Acoustical Consultant: Robert F Mahoney & Associates
General Contractor: R.B. Hartwell and Sons
Cabinetmaker: Fineline Custom Cabinet
Landscape Installation: John Beitel
Photographer: Michael Moran
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License .
/Creative Commons License
13 Comments
I hadn't seen the other side of this before, or the interiors. The entry is as fantastic as the rest of it. Awesome spaces. Sweet project.
i love how it tapers to the back from the entrance, forward.
Also, nice writing studio and lib. better/bigger/more designed than many homes
This is how the rich write?
Only if poets and writers set themselves tasks that no one else dare imagine will literature continue to have a function.-italo calvino
We call two hours west of NYC on Long Island, The Hamptons. It's where the stuningly rich have their Summer "Cottages". Far away from dirt and toil and people who have to work for a living.
The library is beautiful to be sure, but I can't help thinking a little self-indulgent.
I guess this is what is meant by cerebral architecture? Maybe if one were to experience the building in person, the sense of ritual, calm, focus and inspiration that the architect explains in the video would be understood. This is a building trying to prove something; wanting to be better than, what..... Philip Johnson's estate; the cantilevers of Falling Water or Rem Koolhaas' Seattle Library? The main space could easily be the corner office of an investment banker except for the treed view and absent massive central desk. For me it is a building born dead and I suspect that this is not the fault of the architect. Hopefully, with use, it will gain character and spirit. Richmon
Makes me think of Nietzsche's room in Sils Maria.
"I have always enjoyed photographing loners. When I was covering sport it was boxers in
their gyms. Now I'm older, I enjoy photographing writers, poets and artists. The one thing
they all have in common is that they work alone." - Eamonn McCabe
In a new exhibition, award winning photographer Eamonn McCabe, draws together
a selection of works from his project illustrating the working environments of novelists,
biographers and poets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7754115.stm
A building "born dead".....harsh words for a definitely outstanding project in a world of mediocre and cheap architecture.
For me the project has an accomplished sculptural quality in a beautiful natural setting. The slot in the roof plane expresses the fold and the beginning of the focussing of the space towards the opening at the end.
The interior detailing of the furniture in-builts is quite clean, but for me cannot quite keep up with the sculptural purity of the shell. There is a certain residential quality that crept in, that just took away enough to make this an "outstanding project" but not a GREAT piece of architecture. To be clear when I say "great" I mean "great" with capital G. Still pretty close! My congratulations to the Architect.
g|F
g|F- Yes about the creeping residentiality. I wasn't sure what it was, not to take away from the project of course, but something was up. Maybe its the built-ins PLUS the huge flat screen. A superbowl party could possibly happen here. Nevertheless, born dead? Trying to prove something? I think its pretty quietly tucked away in some rich lady's backyard and doing a nice job of it. Maybe not so dramatic as trying to upstage the Seattle Public Library...
I don't know about this one. It looks pretty cool, but it doesn't seem all that practical. If I had that much land and was building a second floor workspace I wouldn't want to be staring at trees 30feet away. I would want to let my eyese wander far across the horizon as I am working. As a writer I would think that would be pretty important to get into that space a distant view can bring you into mentally.
Also the actual workspace is devoid of cabinets and other important office facilities. The one thing I always think when I see a desk with a book a peice of paper and a pen is, "we'll come back and take a look after 2 weeks and when she isn't expecting us" I can almost guarantee there will be papers all over the place and other things because there isn't a convenient location in which to put them.
After having watched the video, hearing the architect speak about the motives and intentions that drove this piece, I feel that I agree (somewhat) more with the outcome.
Something that I don't necessarily agree with is that the outside of the building could be completely separate from the interior. The images of the exterior seem like they could belong to a different project alltogether, when paired with the interior images. I feel that the exterior of a building should correlate directly with its interior... If I were to see this building with that in mind, I would think the interior to be cold and drab, which is not the case. I truly appreciate the character of the interior; its play on light mixed with the warm wood and views to the outside... I can definitely see this as a place that fosters creativity. I would have liked to see more of this interior character expressed through to the exterior. What about any decks or areas that mix the inside with the outside? I understand that privacy was a large part of the drive in the design, but I would think that someone suffering from writer's block would need areas of differing atmospheres to help the creative process.
And what about sustainability? What are the numbers and how does the copper effect things like insulation? Was there any consideration to natural cooling or cross-ventilation?
Also, I wonder how hard it would be to get in that door when the snow falls off the roof in the winter and blocks it...
I am not sure if this place is going to make the occupant a better writer or critic, but it sure is a beautiful space to escape in. It is an escape pod, for better or worse. The space certainly nods to Rem, as an intimate Casa De Musica.
We could all sit around and criticize it for a variety of reasons, but I am sure many of us would love to have such a sanctuary. It seems to suggest origami and other far eastern influences and i wonder if the client was interested in Japanese or Korean culture?
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