Design - The application of the Hoogle to both interior spaces and exterior landscapes.

Housing has come a long ways since the first piles of stones or sticks or earth, and always with the same general goal, to protect the inhabitants from the dangers of the natural world, rain, snow, wind, heat and cold, animals and other humans. Since the second world war the process has increased enormously with the use of insulation and multi-layer glazing, and always with the same basic goal, to isolate us from the natural environment and keep the interior temperature and humidity stable throughout the day and year. Some architects/builders goal is now a net zero home, or passive solar, as they continue to pursue this basic principle to its logical conclusion. This is fine and good as far as it goes, however, as with most simple one pointed thought, it tends to produce spaces that feel less hospitable. In short, I feel we have reached a point in building where a second goal needs to be incorporated along with protection, and that is connection. It is no longer enough to stuff lots of insulation in essentially a large box, seal every crack with spray foam, and spray three coats of latex paint on the interior and exterior.

Ideally connection with the natural world is considered right alongside isolation from it, in equal parts, and right from the beginning of the design process, most certainly including the siting and orientation of a structure. However, in almost every case connection is given hardly a passing glance, if it is considered at all. And that is where Hoogle design comes in. Any structure, no matter how ghastly (not exactly, some things in life should be torn down) can be brought back into connection with natural pattern and order, sometimes with surprising little time and effort.

The methods which we prefer are:

Rounded over sharp corners, curved over straight lines, soft over hard details, raw unprocessed materials over manufactured, organic texture over flat planes, hand painted accents, murals and mini-murals over bland, painted trim, or boring milled profiles, and interesting unique knotty trim over insipid straight grain trim. In general with design, as with construction the old adage still applies, “better roughly right than completely wrong” as in, focus on getting the overall design right, and leave the 16th’s of an inch to themselves.