The sun hangs low in the sky, the brisk breeze stings our cheeks, the lethargy of the ever darker afternoons takes over…we are approaching the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.  As somebody who grew up much closer to the equator (where there is much less seasonal variation in the sun’s position in the sky) I love the immense variation of the sun and the shadows it casts: the impossibly long shadows cast by the sun throughout the day.

This morning as I walked into the office the sun cast a shadow of a model (sitting on the window ledge) onto one of our translucent window blinds.  This simple projection of a model into a shadow-line drawing was striking in its stark and simple beauty.  But what drew me in was also the expression of a time of year, a time of day, a quantity of light, and a quality of light.

As an architect it is always wonderful to discover (and employ) the ever changing palette that nature washes across our buildings and spaces.

Share/Save

3six0 recently unveiled its first church, which was created for the Shepherd of the Valley Church. On Wednesday, William Morgan over at the Providence Journal wrote a review of our work entitled, “A treasure of a new church.”

Morgan writes

Consecrated in October, the chapel is small and unassuming — an inexpensive addition to an ordinary church on a road far from “downtown.” Almost in spite of itself, the 60-seat chapel achieves a quality and dignity that fancier buildings with huge budgets rarely achieve.

. . .

[3six0] imagined the building as an endless spiral. The floor, ceiling, and tapering, slightly pitched walls — built of cedar and Brazilian mahogany — form a continuous container, almost as if the chapel interior were the inside of a wooden bowl made on a lathe. These details are as thoughtful as they are understated: Not obvious, they play on the subconscious and offer a slight tension, perhaps necessary when contemplating the metaphysical.

We are very appreciative to William Morgan and the ProJo for their review of our work.

Share/Save