Building Design/Construction Program

In addition to all of the other exciting development/exhibition work going on, I have been thinking a lot about our academic programs and how the humanities and technical sides ought to integrate and reconcile with one another. The intellectual study should inform the skilled practice, and vice versa.

Specifically, I have been thinking about the work of home-building and how essential it is to our economy, environment, and human well-being. More resources are spent on our homes than any other single thing. Because of this importance, and the long history of architectural design and practice, building houses must not be merely an act of labor, but also one of criticism, philosophy, and conservation.

Just now I read through an article shared with me from a builder in Maine who espouses his ideas on a considered philosophy of building. Work like his, and that of a handful of other builders are what we hope to encourage at The Saxifrage School.

We want to encourage the building of homes that conserve resources, last for generations, are artistic expressions, practically and uniquely designed, fit their ecological context, and are created simply for living in, not displaying wealth.

We want to encourage the building/designing of homes that can be part of the City described by Wendell Berry: “The only sustainable city–and this, to me, is the indispensable ideal and goal–is a city in balance with its countryside: a city, that is, that would live off the net ecological income of its supporting region, paying as it goes all its ecological and human debts.”

Again none of this is possible is if home construction is mere labor. It must simultaneously be an endeavor that references history, anthropology, art, philosophy, economics, ecology, psychology, and literature.