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A C ON V E R S A TION W ITH MIC H A E LH A LFLANTS,G WEN LE R OY -K E LLYA , N D JA V I S U A R E Z JR . / C ONDUCTEDBY N IC H OLEL. R E B E R/ P H OTOGR A P H YB Y P H ILLI PPEDI EDERI CH

Placesoften evokefeelines:Your srandmother's neighborhoodconjuresup tendermemoriesor re\'erence washes over you when vou walk into a church.What is thatfeeling,that sensationthat arisesof aweandcomfort,wondermentanddelieht? Designerscall it a senseof place,achievedby using transparency,modulationand massing,color, soundandtextureto appealto our sensesof touch, sight,smellandsound.Experienceslike this aretantamountto art's ability to renderthe Stendhalsyndrome, the senseof disorientation,dizzinessor swooning.Theseexperiencesthen form memories anda connectioncalledthe senseof place. In this issue'sIn Designdepartment,threearchitectsrvhopracticelocallybut hail from aroundthe world discusshow to createthis senseof place.

Top: The playful window layout in this five-story contemporary office buildingon Main Street gives it a unique identity. Center: The use of light and form define a restful place in this space. Bottom: The Bridges development is designed to be pedestrian friendly and capturethe feel of downtown Venice. P H OTO C R E D ITS TOP , :MIC H A EH L A LFLA N TS HA , LFLA N TS A N DP IC H ETTE ; C E N TE R .,A : V5U l A R E JR Z .,FR OMD E S IGN E X P E R IE NWITH C E B E LZB ERAGR C H TTE C TS ; B OTTOM: B R ID GERSE N D E R IN P H ILH A MILTONA:R C H TTE OF C T R E COR/DJ E R R Y /G S P A R K MA N

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th Ll o lU o U Avn V Uo I d oL\) MichaelHalflants Halflantsand Pichette Studiofor ModernArchitecture 1385FifthSt.,Sarasota;365-1820; re.com StudioForModernArchitectu Mi chaelH al fl antsdesi g ns resi denti al and mi xed-use He haswon commerci albui l di ngs. awardsfor his contemporary architecturefrom the Ecole S uperi eure de A rt Insti tutSaint Luc,the U ni versi ty of Flor ida, and the TampaBaychapterof the Americanlnstituteof Architects.

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Javi SuarezJr. ADPGroup 1225SecondSt.,Sarasota; 957 -1.435;ADPGroup.com JaviSuarez's21st-centurydesign bearsOl d W orl di nfl uences, which can be seeni n hospi talit yand communit y rel i gi ousfaci l i ti es, projects,workforcehousing. offi cesand school s.H i swor k i- as beenpubl i shedi n the Lo sA. geie- . A rchi t ect ur al Ti mesMagazi ne, and R ecord,Interi orsMagaz ine, severalS arasotapubl i cat ions.

GwenLeroy-Kelly T0TeMSArchitecture 1421SixthSt.,Sarasota;952-OO84; Totemsl nc.com earnedher Gwen Leroy-Kelly graduatedegreein architecture from the U ni versi ty of Flor ida. Her w ork hasi ncl udedFl oridaG r een B ui l di ngC oal i ti on-cert if ied m ast er pl ans,resi denti al renovat ions and desi gns,muni ci palbui l dings, mi xed-use communi ti e s, and i shment s.Her commerci alestabl work has beenfeaturedin local ^ ..h - lLi ^tu ^ ^t p u u it;^ lud

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Nichole:Let'stry to definewhat is architecture, espec iallyin r elati o to n design. Gwen: Architecture is a language. You'retryingto est ablis ha f eel i n g th ro u g he l e me n ts of design. Javi:Architecture isabouttryingto makethe builtenvironmentas goodand as wonderfula placeto liveandto

the range of materials available.To transpose that in a completely different place doesn't work.

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Southeast isthat there'sa lot of construction anddemolition,andso if you try to tie it to the housesthat are right Javi: Then it just becomes appliqLie.That's really the nextto you,theymightbegonein 10years.Foronehouse way we tend to think of Mediterraneanrevival,whatever we did, we rotatedit to relateto the summersolstice, that is, because it's neither Mediterraneannor revival.lt thenthere'san exteriorstairthat climbsin the direction was just a name chosento be able to identify it and sell it. of the riverbesidethe house.Theneighborhood in Tampa h o i n :s n n cci hlp Gwen: l'm working with Jerry Sparkman on a project that I mentionedbefore,though,hasa character, though, Nichole:What is meantby the term "vernacular"? c a l l e d T h e B r i d g e s i n V e n i c e . O u r c l i e n t ,t h e G u l f Co a st onethat we wantto relateto. lt hasto do with Floridaand Javi:lt means"fromthe place." Foundation(Gulf Coast Community Foundationof Ven sittingon yourfront porch. Gwen; lt's architecturefitting into its surroundings. ice), wanted us to make a place that fit in Venice.So we Javi: I want to touch on memoryand culture.Those A gain,it ' sa c o mmu n i c a ti o n . h a d t o a s k w h a t i s V e n i c ea b o u t ?We d i d n 't w a n t t o i n r p l r : thingshelp createan identitywhich helpsgeneratea Michael:lt isn'thighdesign.lt comesfromthe materi- ment something out of scale. Downtown Ver-rrc;t' ir- ,tll senseof place. alsfoundwithina particularplace.lt evolvesover many about pedestriansand climate. M ichael:( M ar t in)Heidegger saidt hat what 'sm issing generations. lt typicallyrefersto architecture that rises N i c h o l e : H o w d o y o u i m p l e m e n t s o m e t l r i l r l r rl w ) is proximity.We'resittingin thisconference room(at the up from the place. H o w d o y o u t h e n a l s o k e e p i t w i t h i n t h e c o n t r , x t, ' Her ald- Tr ibune) wit h no ideaof what 'sgoingon out side Javi:A lot of peopletendto downplayvernacular, getM i c h a e l : l 'm d o i n g a h o u s e i n a h i s t o r i cn t 'i r l l t l r olrro o r I of it,weretouchingsyntheticmaterials. To createa sense ting intoan elitistthingthat it's not true architecture be- o f b u n g a l o w si n T a m p a .B u n g a l o w sh a v e t h i , ,l r ( ) r l l ) () t(l r of place,to involvethe othersenses- not just visioncauseit didn'thavean architect. Thatdoesn'tmeanit has Y o u l o o k a t h o w a b e a m s i t s o n a c o l u m n .Y o l l o rr f , r l l l r l to openup the houseso that the sounds,the scents,can lessquality. b a s e . Y o u l o o k a t t h e e s s e n c eo f a b u n q . r l o w I l r ' w.r I waft through,is veryimportant. Nic hole:So i n F l o ri d av,e rn a c u l ai sr th e c ra ckerhouse w e d o i s a l w a y s m o d e r n a n d c o n t e m p o r a r V,,, () w . l r , r i r ,, Nichole: Peopledon't consciouslyassociatesound or M iz ner ian Me d i te rra n e aRne v i v a l ? late that into more contemporary materi,rl,, with architecture, but it'sa very importantpsychological Javi:Yes,you couldevenlookat more modernstuff, Nichole: What is a sense of place? element.Peoplebecomevery awareof their surrounos uc has what Pa u lR u d o l p h w a s d o i n gw i th th e S arasota G w e n : I d o n 't t h i n k a s e n s e o f p l a c e r ', ', ( ) r r l l r r r r,I l o ingswhent hey hearheelsclickingdowna m ar blecor r ischoolas beingvernacular becauseit reallydealtwith the f i n d . l t 's a b o u t t h e h i s t o r yo f a p l a c e ,t h e r : l i r r ,r l , . l l r , ,1r ,r rr , dor,or when they opentheir windowsto hearthe Gulf. c lim at e.T he y o ri e n te db u i l d i n g th s e ri g h t w a y and al - o f t h e p e o p l e .l t 's n o t j u s t a r c h i t e c t u r e ,i l " , , r l , ,, ; 1 1 , '11 1 1 1 1What y. roledoessoundplayin yourdesign? lowedfor crossventilation. A s e n s e o f p l a c e i s p e r c e i v e dt h r o u g h 1 l ; l l r , 1 r 'r ,rl r r r r r 'n Javi:I don'tconsciously designaroundsound.I havea Michael:lt's not easyto transpose the vernacular that s t o n s . memoryas a kid from a placethat we visited.Forexamcomesfrom oneplaceintoanother.lt wouldbe a mistake M i c h a e l : S o m e t i m e sw h a t y o u h , r v , ,l , , r l , , I . 1 ,'1 , 11111' y ple,we usedto go to this beachhouseeverysummer.We to do that.lt hasto fit in with thetopography, the climate, t h e l a r g e r c o n t e x t . O n e o f t h e p r o b [ , r rr ' , , l l r r r r r,I l r l l r ( ' didn'thaveaircondit ioning sot her ewast he soundof t he

oscillating fan goingbackandforth.Everytime I hearan oscillating fa., r takes me backto that time andplace. Gwen:Theway you couldusesoundin architecture you is moreabou:ho'.^r perceive a sound.ls it runningwater?Doesit relateto movementor crrculation likewhat happensat FallingWater?As you get fartherfrom the sounC. youget private more into spaces. Michael: In many cases,you haveto mitigatesound.But sometimesyou wantto gatherthe sound.lf youcanlistento the soundof a tree.lf you'reon the Bay or in the Gulf,there are differentsounds.An architectcan changethe soundwith theirplans,for examplewith reflectivepoolsor with bamboo. Nichole:WhenI thinkof colorin architecture, I thinkof the CNAPlazain Chicago'sLoopandthe workof LuisBarragan. Whatcancolordo for architecture, external ly or interiorly? Javi: l've done studieswhere colorshaveeffectedthe user'spsychological state.Whenyou talkaboutBarragan, the reasonhe chosehiscolorswas to inrensifylight.Youseethat beingusedin small,narrowspacesthat mightbedark so the useof lighthelpsopenthem. Gwen:What'sinteresting aboutBarragan is that he alsousescolorbecause it's linkedto the civilization of Mexico.lt's usednot onlv as a desiqnelement. :ut it alsorefersto the olaceand its environment. Michael:What we'vedonelatelyis to experimentwith colorsurfaces. We .ave surfaces that arenotvisiblethat arepaintedbrightcolors.Throughout the :ay, depending on how the sun hits it or if a cloudpasses, the intensityof the :clor that reflectsagainstthe housechangesconstantly. We facedto the east scmecoolercolors,andto the west we usedwarmercolors,intensifying the s;nsetor sunrise. Thecolorsreinforcewhat time of day it is andwhat arethe ,',eatherconditions. Thatties backto a senseof place. Nichole:Neuroscientist EveEdelstein saysthat lightis a drivingforcein aryou rnitecture.Explainhow haveusedlightto createa senseof place. Gwen: Oneelementof our environment is daylightversusnight.That'sour :;rcleof life.Designing aroundit willchangeour perception of a space.Let'ssay you want lightto keepyou awakebut you don'twant to show n a classroom, .' ews of the outsideto distractyou. Javi:In a privateversuspublicspaceyou'regoingto treatlightdifferently. In : residence we dida projectin a dense,urbanLosAngelescornerlot.Theown:.s wantedtheir bedroomsand den on the street,which pushedthe public 'oomstowardsthe abuttinghouse,so how werewe ableto bringinthe lightto :'eate seeminglyopen spaces?We raisedthe ceilingsand broughtin light :hroughclerestories. Nichole:How do you implementrhythmandtexturein yourprojects? Michael:Therhythmisn'tsomething that'snecessarily designed but some:hingthat comesout of the structure.Oneclientwantedmaterials that havea .ealtemperature, likeconcreteor wood - certainlynot drywall.We alsoused ,2-foot-wideprecastbeams.That set off a module.You put thoseelementstogether,andyou'vegot rhythm. Javi:lf youthinkof CarloScarpaandhisbridges, the materialandthe texture cf thosematerialswere well thoughtout from how someonewouldtouch it, ,vhetherit was a handrailor the stepsleadingto a museum. Michael:Whenwe talkaboutthe seriesof openings that Barragan did,it'salwayslookingat the dimensions of the masonryunithe'susedthat will set up a certainwidthof columns.Hehasa systemthat issetup bythe materialhe isusing.By listening to the materials, the resultisthat the wholeprojecttieswelltogether.You lookat the proportionsof one openingversusanother,it seemsto havethe samelanguage becauseit followsthe language of the material. Gwen:Thiscomesbackto the ideaof vernacular. Javi:That'sexactlywhat I was goingto say.lt comesfull circlebackto the senseof olace.#

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