ATHOL DICKSON

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Design Is Like Riding a Bike

January 25, 2017 By Athol Dickson

Sante Fe Modern House
Design is like riding a bike.

Apparently doing architecture is like riding a bike. It’s been more than a decade since I retired from the practice of architecture. Sometimes I wonder if I can still do it, so recently when the opportunity to design a house in Santa Fe came along, I decided to give it a go. I was certainly rusty at first, but after a while things started coming together pretty nicely. At least I like to think so. Maybe I’m fooling myself. Check out the rendered elevations below and let me know what you think…

Here’s the front. Stone and stucco. A “Dutch” door recessed three feet into the facade and surrounded by porcelain and glass tiles.

Santa Fe Modern House Design
Front Elevation

Next, the right side. Not much to say about this except the garage doors are wood with an antiqued finish to match the front door, and the low wall in the middle screens the air conditioning compressors.

Santa Fe Modern House Design
Right Elevation

Now the rear. A deep covered porch, with a barbeque bar on the right and a stone fireplace on the left. The fireplace is “ventless” gas, which is why the chimney doesn’t extend above the roof. There are two other fireplaces which do have chimneys, one in the master bedroom on the left, and the other in the living room. That pedestal looking thing in front of the covered porch is a fountain standing in a concrete planter, with two more planters flanking steps on the left and right.

Santa Fe Modern House Design
Rear Elevation

Finally, the left side. The windows in the stone section on the left are 10 feet above the floor inside and they face north, because that room is an artist’s studio and high north light is best for painting.

Santa Fe Modern House Design
Left Elevation

So that’s what I’ve been doing lately. Any suggestions?

 

With regard to what I’ve written here, I know a little about a lot, a lot about a little, more than some when it comes to some things, less than others about others, and everything there is to know except for what I don’t.

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