un-complicated, straight up, clean work that speaks to the land and people of the region.

un-complicated, straight up, clean work that speaks to the land and people of the region.

I agree with whistler's remarks entirely. I attended a lecture of his at UF while I was in undergrad there.

His work is straight forward, the spaces seem (from pics) to be very well detailed, have ample natural light/air, and his homes seem very live-able.

Also, a faculty member that acted as his guide (or whatever it's called when a faculty member is responsible for ensuring a visitor makes the most of his/her time) told students that BML's main request was to be shown some down-home Florida inspired architecture, such as the small porch houses found in many old and run-down neighborhoods, as well as local barns etc in the more rural areas on the outskirts of Gainesville (that's my embellished paraphrasing, sorry for any inaccuracy).

that's all I got.

I used to live in one of his houses! Well built, sunny and inexpensive. Unfortunately he doesn't have any pictures of it on the web. But his old office/familly house apartment is on the web. Similar and nearly next door. website.

The house I used to live in, his old office/house complex and his new office are really interesting since they were built in a part of Halifax that really is a mess. Halifax received many of the American Blacks escaping slavery by way of the Underground Railroad. Many of them settled in Africville, an area of Halifax that until the 1960s didn't receive basic public services- not even garbage pick up despite paying city taxes. The city demolished the site and relocated most of its residents into city built housing on Gottingen street. This is a recipe for a bad scene- but that is where Brian has his new office. As he says on his website, Gottingen street hasn’t seen serious investment for the last 40 years.
I loved living there. Tony’s- the best coffee shop in Halifax soon followed and it was close to the Coombes Diner- not only did the dinner call itself by my last name- you could order a cup of gravy with any of their entrees.

he's very courageous and has a strong moral sense to have his office on Gottingen Street: a pretty tough neighbourhood. His fame doesn't seem to have harmed him any: he seems to stay close to his roots in Nova Scotia and if he can only stay here as his star continues to rise he can only be an inspiration to the whole North End which badly needs more champions and a leaders like him. I must admit I don't know too much about his work other than what we all can see on his website. he was a genuinely nice guy when I knew him in arch. school: seems to have stayed that way. Grant Wanzel at TUNS I think is fair to say was a strong influence? Grant is still very busy trying to bring affordable and better housing to the N End of Halifax: a herculean task.

so, mjh00c, what is your take?

he hit on my girlfriend while at a party following a lecture.

Zoë: (off topic) interesting that you lived in Halifax, my home town. When I was young growing up in the 60s in Spryfield my mother often took my sisters and me to Gottingen St to see our dentist and also to buy us shoes. Then it was a thriving commercial strip: not as genteel as Spring Garden Road but still perfectly respectable. Many of the blacks who settled Africville, it seems, came there as refugees from the USA in about 1815 after the War of 1812. Blacks also came to N.S. as Loyalists in 1785 from the Revolution in the States, and the Maroons in 1796 a few years later from Jamaica. The wave of blacks who came in 1815 also settled Hammonds Plains, just outside Halifax, and I now share a house in Dartmouth (with 3 other people) one of whom is a black from Hammonds Plains.

I absolutely loved living in Halifax.
Bob & Lori's Food Emporium on Gottingen fed us when we were broke (we worked for food). I hope it's still around - they're the best.
Anyway, I studied where BML worked, critiqued, etc. I recall him saying that really he just wanted to be the 'Town Architect'. A little more self-depricating than he might really be, but it does generally hit it right - he does small buildings for real people very, very well.
I can totally see your comment being true too, 3west.

Thanks for the history, John D.
+ I LOVE BOB AND LORI's freq!

One mustn't forget that Brian is very concious of the image that he projects - it is a cultivated well thought out image. The man is quite good at marketing himself so it always bugs me a litttle bit when people wax on about how humble and down to earth he and his work is, because, well quite frankly, I don't really believe that he is. He's Harvard educated, tours around numerous schools and architecture events touting his philosophy, has a book coming out which he was fanatic about controlling - make no mistake he is aware that there is a market for for product he is selling.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, or that he doesn't believe his own rhetoric; such unabashed salesmanship is practically a requirement to achieve recognizable success in one's life time. I do however think that it is imporant when evaluating his work to understand where he is coming from; he's not some down home east coast architectual robin hood out there building for the people. He has clued into a niche, and very successfully built a practice into it. If Brian were to leave Halifax to go to say Toronto, his image would be shattered or at least shaken, he is the "small town east coast boy making good" afterall, so I don't think you ever have to worry about him leaving.

In the end, he's a smart man and a talented architect who's well aware and in complete control of the carefully crafted image that he and his building's project.