May 5, 2021 to October 3, 2021

Aamodt / Plumb is pleased to announce our participation in the Vienna Biennale For Change 2021. We were invited to create an exhibit on our philosophy of SLOW SPACE and Good, Clean, and Fair building. The VIENNA BIENNALE 2021 is being staged by the MAK, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Kunsthalle Wien, the Architekturzentrum Wien, and the Vienna Business Agency, as well as a new partner, the KUNST HAUS WIEN, and as a non-university research partner the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). 

A passion for our environment, ideas for change, and collective responsibility for the future of our climate—active CLIMATE CARE—are the focus of this year’s biennale. Exhibitions, projects, and events at five different locations demonstrate how a sustainable future, inspired by the concepts of CLIMATE CARE and PLANET LOVE, might look, and which impulses might be provided by art, architecture, and design.

As part of the main contribution to the exhibition, we joined more than 120 other artists, designers, architects, researchers, activists, and authors to represent the enormous potential of artistic disciplines in helping to develop and promote a sustainable climate modernity. We aim to inspire and motivate as many people as possible to develop and nurture a reverential relationship with our planet.

Learn more: https://www.viennabiennale.org/

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Read the full article about this Provincetown Modern Renovation. Article excerpt below.

‘I can’t believe this came out of it’: A Provincetown guesthouse gets reinvented as a modern single-family

Neil Jacobs and Eric Ganz dreamed of a seaside escape with a Scandinavian sensibility. What they purchased was a historic Greek Revival built for a sea-captain-turned-merchant that had been functioning as a guesthouse since just after World War II.

As head of reconnaissance, Jacobs gave the Provincetown property a hard pass at first, in part because the house was chopped up. “It felt like every door you opened was another bathroom,” Jacobs says. Later he reconsidered, noting that it met his husband’s criteria: a water view and a yard big enough for a small pool. This time, inspiration struck. If they opened it up, Jacob says, “We could have a central atrium filled with light.”

Wife-and-husband architectural team Mette Aamodt and Andrew Plumb rendered the vision a reality. The duo realized that scooping out the shell, including the second floor and attic, would leave exactly what Jacobs and Ganz were looking for. “There are two gabled roof forms, one that runs east-west and another that runs north-south,” Plumb says. “That meant we could have two double-height spaces perpendicular to each other.”

Excavating the inside of a building is easier said than done. While the red brick chimney could be dismantled with little problem, eliminating a good portion of the second story would require backup. “The floor does a lot of work to stitch a house together,” Plumb explains. “You can’t just take it away and be done.” Steel ties were inserted to stabilize the roof and steel lintels went up to support the walls.

The main living space is now the central atrium the couple imagined. It soars to 22 feet at its peak and light pours in from nearly every direction. The architects matched an existing sky-high dormer window facing the street with a copycat opening on the wall across from it, which opens into the second-floor den. They also made a cutout in the wall above the stairs that peeks into the master suite. “The idea was to create these specific moments of connection between spaces,” Plumb says.

The living room melds into the kitchen at the back of the house. At Ganz’s suggestion, a 12-foot bi-fold door visually connects the space to the deck, patio, and plunge pool. In the interest of keeping sightlines clear, cabinetry and appliances are pushed to the side. “A kitchen has all this stuff that screams, ‘I am a kitchen!’” Plumb says. “It’s important that a kitchen be quiet in an open space, especially here where you look through it to the outdoors.”

To imbue the dining area with its own sense of space and character, Plumb lined the ceiling with white oak tongue-and-groove boards. He also designed a slatted white oak screen as a backdrop. “Neil wondered if the ceiling would be high enough, but a contrast in scale is a good thing,” Plumb says. “It makes smaller spaces cozier and larger spaces more impressive.” The purpose of the screen, which Jacobs calls, “Andrew’s greatest moment,” is threefold. Functionally, it shields the stairway to the master suite. Visually, it adds interest. Mentally, it also soothes the mind. “Textured surfaces slow down the eye and makes things feel calm,” Plumb says.

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How intentional was the shift from traditional practice to a design-build?

We became a design-build studio in a rather round-about way. We became interested in quality materials, craftsmanship, and a deep understanding of how things go together – and in a design-build, you have complete control over the final product. We are interested in using slow, raw, and whole materials–materials that are not composite or industrially produced, but rather materials that come from the earth.

How does the firm set up–organizationally speaking–support slowness?

We are comprised of two entities – this is purely for insurance reasons, however, we functionally operate as one company with complete oversight and involvement through the entire architecture and construction process.

While the design process is similar to most firms, we dip far deeper into construction management. Our associates are project managers and construction managers – they go from the design process to construction documentation, bidding, and procurement. The process is seamless and our staff gains a deep understanding of the entire design-construction process. 

We learn so much by taking responsibility over this slow design process, and we can then take ownership and accountability for every decision along the way. As our staff gain a better understanding of the construction side of the equation, this feeds back into their design process, and design becomes more streamlined.

A criticism lobbied about slow architecture is the economic model required to sustain the practice. Can you describe the current model?

Slowness isn’t literally slower on a timescale – it’s a mindset of thoughtfulness. While we constantly think about our principles, we don’t produce any slower than other firms of our size. Architecture and construction are inherently slow – the higher expenses of “slow” architecture projects typically come from the material costs, not the speed of the design execution. High quality, fairly produced materials simply cost more, and there is no real way around that.

What is the studio’s relationship to materiality and craft?

Craftsmanship has a long tradition in the US, but recently young people have been pushed to receive higher education, to not work with their hands or “get dirty” in any way. There is very little respect for working with your hands, and as a result, good craft is now so expensive. The goal is to build back that base of strong craft in the US, and for us to find a network of reliable Artisans to work with.

Read our full interview with Caroline and David: Click Here 

Learn more about their fantastic final project: https://www.slowspace.org/searching-for-slowness-a-future-paced-ethos/

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Over the past few years, the field has received a growing amount of attention that has highlighted long standing labor issues within the architecture industry, ranging from unsustainable pay models to unwelcoming work environments. Looking for an alternative, the Architecture Lobby created the Just Design Initiative, which recognizes fair labor practices in architecture. Beginning with nominations submitted by employees, and followed by an evaluation process, the team looked at practices that can serve as models of a new status quo within the profession. Archinect has teamed up with the Just Design crew to profile firms across the country that meet the initiative’s standards. Whether it is a family-friendly work schedule or a health coverage plan that goes above and beyond, the series spotlights practices that honor the basic rights of their employees and can serve as exemplary models of what should become standard for the field.

The husband-and-wife duo behind the Cambridge-based Aamodt/Plumb Architects say they “design slow spaces for busy lives.” This sensible and laid-back approach is not only reflected in their modern, Scandinavian-inspired residential designs, but also in how the two run their firm, which currently has seven employees. From maintaining short working hours to honoring employee agency, the firm strives for a work environment centered on well-being and balance in an otherwise stress-fueled industry.

To begin, the office is structured around a 35 hour week rather than a typical 40 hour one. Workers also enjoy flex time and a number of employees are part-time. Founders Mette Aamodt and Andrew Plumb arrive at 9 o’clock and leave at 5 o’clock everyday, encouraging their workers to do so as well. “We are pretty rigorous about everybody leave at 5, go have a life, and we try to have an office culture where everyone is productive,” says Aamodt.

Diagnosed with MS in 2002, Aamodt—who also runs the blog slowspace.org to help usher the Slow Movement into architecture—says her experience encouraged her and Plumb to build their business around creating a healthy work environment. For them, bringing this holistic life view into the office is very important.

“We have our own design philosophy that we call slow space, like slow food, but with the built environment. It’s very much like stepping out of the rat race and being very present and very thoughtful, careful, considerate with what you’re doing with your time, design work, everything” she says. Part of this has to do with creating work-life balance, while the other aspects are centered on the building side, such as the materials used on projects and trying to ensure the use of fair labor and fair trade building materials on their projects. On their philosophy, Aamodt adds “we are trying to create a movement, a slow architecture movement of good, clean, and fair buildings for all.”

Read the full article, “How Aamodt/Plumb Architects is Bringing the Slow Movement to Architecture”.

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Like a growing number of her peers, architect Stephanie Horowitz believes in the design community’s inherent responsibility to address climate issues. So much so that her firm works only with clients who want to build or retrofit buildings that aim for net-zero energy use.

“When we meet with potential clients, it’s a vetting process,” says Horowitz, managing director of ZeroEnergy Design in Boston. “We’re very clear that this is the way that we practice architecture—it’s not negotiable.” Sustainability-centric details such as flashing, insulation, air sealing, and decarbonization are presented on equal par with floor plans and cladding. “The way that all of these things are considered is part of the design service,” she says. “It just kind of comes with the package.”

Mette Aamodt, principal of Aamodt/Plumb Architects in Cambridge, Massachusetts, takes a similar approach. Most clients are drawn to her firm’s mission-driven work. “For others, we try to educate them and be upfront about it. Sometimes we’re going to convince people; sometimes we’re not,” she admits, “but the onus is on us to make the case.” Aamodt focuses on quality over quantity and designs built with clean, healthy materials and fair labor.

Read the full article, “Designers vs Climate Change”.

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With a focus on craftsmanship, materials and clean lines, the philosophy behind the style remains relevant today.

The roots of Scandinavian design go far deeper than the Hygge-mania of the past few years. Emerging in the 1950s alongside the modernist movement in Europe and America, Scandinavian modern style prioritized democratic, affordable and sleek furnishings and interiors. Clean lines, functional furnishings, and a neutral color palette were hallmarks of modernist style everywhere. But the Scandinavian design of the era was also heavily influenced by the Nordic region’s cold, short winter days and a desire for interiors to be cozy yet bright.

These practical considerations led to a new level of spare elegance and a fondness for lighter colors, simple forms and open-plan spaces. Designed to maximize light at every turn, Nordic interiors also began to favor pale-colored walls and flooring and spaces free of clutter and ornamentation. Rather than serving just one function – such as a dining room, say, that would only be used on occasion for special events – open-plan, flexible spaces could accommodate a variety of activities, furthering the practicality of their design.

“The modern movement was called ‘Functionalism’ in Scandinavia and architecture and design were intended first and foremost to be useful,” says Cambridge, Massachusetts-based, architect Mette Aamodt, co-founder of the firm, Aamodt/Plumb. Aamodt spent her childhood in Norway and is the daughter of a Norwegian architect. “Function combined with inspiration from nature creates a very warm strain of modernism that is very easy to relate to and continues to appeal to many people,” she says to explain the style’s enduring popularity.

Notable designers of the era – such as Finn Juhl, Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen – frequently used teak, rosewood, birch and ash in their furnishings, which lent warmth without being overly rustic. These designers achieved an elegant combination of practicality and sophistication that was perhaps unmatched by many of their contemporaries in other countries. As a result, many of their furnishings remain in production today.

“Scandinavian design is timeless because it is simple, beautiful, finely crafted and made with natural materials that appeal on a fundamentally human level,” says Aamodt. While her firm’s designs are unmistakable 21st century, there is an inherent Scandinavian undercurrent in its work, driven, above all, by an emphasis on quality over quantity.

Check out the Modern Barns project, which marries Scandinavian style with contemporary pops of color.

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The Modern Texas Prefab won the Jury Award for the category Architecture + Prefab.

The Lake Austin House won the Jury Award for the category Architecture + Stone.

Coincidentally, the two houses also happen to be neighbors.  The houses, designed for two different clients at two different times, blend harmoniously together on one small subdivision in Austin.  This is in part due to having the same architect, as well as the same landscape architect – Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture in Freeport, ME. Maybe good houses make good neighbors?

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I can imagine there’s nothing more inviting than to go into this little smoke hut, lined with wool and warm up. It’s very well executed, simply done to create a very extraordinary internal space.

About the Warming Hut

The Smokehouse is a warming hut, a place of refuge, on the frozen Red River ice skating trail in Winnipeg. It is a structure you might find in the wilderness as you cross the frozen landscape by ski or skate. Like a cabin, ice fishing hut or tepee, it is a simple elemental structure that provides just enough comfort and contrast to the harsh conditions that you would want to pause there for a while to warm up. It is a resting point on your travels that embraces you in soft ivory felt, dappled light and, if you are lucky the smell of a burning fire. Only three materials were used to build it: wood, felt, and steel nails.

The layers of thick wool felt are shingled along the walls and seating, fastened with galvanized roofing nails to the wall studs. The undyed wool felt acts as blanket, insulation and wind stop; it is naturally fire-resistant and can withstand the elements that enter through the gaps in the walls.

The felt creates a nest-like interior reminiscent of ancient gathering places strewn with animal pelts. On closer inspection, one discovers the felt layers embossed with delicate patterns and textures, a subtle sanctification of intimate space. The room has a unique sound, or absence thereof: it is silent.

The primitive structure has a single small entrance and a vent hole in the roof that acts like a chimney. The low entrance is further covered by a felt wind flap. You must bend down to enter the hut, almost like bowing, as you would enter a sacred place. This physical adjustment presages the surprising sensual experience inside. The opening in the roof is at once a vent hole and oculus. It allows smoke to escape and the building to breath naturally but it also allows light, snow and rain in. The simply framed view of the sky evokes an ancient precursor to Turrell’s Skyspace.

The exterior of the Smokehouse is clad in charred cedar and its black form stands in sharp contrast to the white snow and ivory felt. Burning the planks over a fire in a metal waste bin, a technique used in Japan for thousands of years, yields a crispy black crust, stabilizing the wood and making it rot, pest and fire-resistant. Magically, the charred surface also shimmers in certain light as if the act of burning it has imbued it with new life.

This project is an example of what we call Slow Space – a deliberate, meaningful space that has been designed and crafted for you, the user, and your experience. It activates your senses and leaves a lasting impression in your mind by way of your nose, skin, eyes and ears. It is not a place you pass through or an object to look at, but a place to inhabit, linger and experience. It is the antidote to our busy, harried lives.

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Cambridge Architecture Firm Aamodt Plumb is Radically Holistic in Life and Work

Husband and wife team Mette Aamodt and Andrew Plumb, who met while students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, got their first break in 2007, when a potential client asked them to create an ambitious beach house in East Quogue, in the Hamptons. They worried that they had “bit off much more than [they] could chew,” as Plumb puts it.

“The inclination could have been to play it safe and do what we’re comfortable with,” which meant to pass and continue working at their respective firms. “But we really tried to push ourselves. That’s carried through in all our jobs,” notes Plumb. They went ahead, and simultaneously launched their firm, Aamodt Plumb.

Aamodt, 41, and Plumb, 40, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have since created a handsome body of work that mixes tradition and modernity, clean lines with time-tested techniques and materials. The result is no-nonsense, comfortable, approachable, and accessible— much like the architects themselves. They strive for transparency and make a conscious effort to have a healthy live/work balance.

Work Life Balance

Employees at Aamodt Plumb work 40-hour weeks, enjoy flex time, and receive retirement benefits. “We can really design our lives and design it for the way we want to live,” says Aamodt. “It’s really not groundbreaking, but in this industry it kind of is.” This attention to live/work balance was solidified when Aamodt was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2002. “We realized what was important,” said Aamodt. “I was not going to be able to keep up the pace and stay healthy.”

The firm’s holistic approach extend to clients as well. On their website they distribute a free guide, How to Hire an Architect, which demystifies the “complex” and “frightening” process through nine key points, including searching for an architect, understanding their process, and figuring out fees.

“Very few people understand what we do and what value it has,” notes Aamodt. “There is a huge lack of information and a lot of mis-information.”

Scandinavian Influence

This kind of rich simplicity reflects the couple’s Scandinavian ancestry, which they say helps ground and inspire them. The two-level Hamptons house consists of overlapping concrete rectangles, carved out with living spaces and framing views of the ocean. It’s not clad; just left as-is, a minimalist reflection of the environment, especially because much of the sand used in the concrete was locally sourced. Along the building’s flanks, the duo created variety with ornamental steel screens that lend privacy as well as protection from storms. Their intricate delicacy offsets the heaviness of the concrete.

The Scandinavian influence shows again in projects like their renovation of three modernist barns in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Adapted into homes in the 1950’s, the structures had been cluttered with an eclectic renovation in the ’90s. The couple pared back that job, inserting warm wood screens, ash floors, and an open kitchen, and “scraping away the additions to clarify its soul,” Plumb says.

A prefab home in Austin consists of a single story living space in front and a two-story bar-shaped structure for bedrooms in back. (To build the structure, they poured the foundations at the same time as the envelope was being built offsite, keeping total construction time down to one year.) Spatial intrigue comes in the interplay between volumes and the use of simple, warm materials. One of them, charred wood, is an example of the firm’s initiatives to use old techniques in a contemporary way.

“We see too many materials that are ten years old that seem great until they’re awful. There’s a reason these older things have been around for so long,” says Aamodt.

Materiality

For their competition-winning temporary warming hut in Winnipeg, Canada, the firm created a tactile, “primitive experience,” with charred wood cladding and a fire pit surrounded by felt lining inside. A guesthouse in Texas utilizes limestone in several ways, from monolithic blocks to tapered veneer, as if it were woven like fabric. A steel trellis behind a Victorian House in Cambridge—modeled after the form of a carport— provides a structure for creeping vines and encloses an outdoor space.

“It’s a way of using a material as a launching point and seeing what we can do with it,” says Plumb, of these investigations.

Moving forward the firm is working on creative office and university work in Cambridge, and an ad agency inside a former mill in Manchester, New Hampshire. They only take on work that has meaning for them.

“We have to think about how we make use of our energy and time,” says Aamodt.

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The awards editorial mission is as follows: How does one build a practice in today’s economy? How can a designer assert his or her own moral beliefs when working in a traditional client-based structure? How does architecture address and incorporate other disciplines, from biology to sociology to technology to art?

How can a designer assert his or her own moral beliefs when working in a traditional client-based structure?

The first-ever class of Groundbreakers does it all (and more): health centers in impoverished countries, startup offices, guidebooks for building a modern home, prefab in a major American city, stage sets for Kanye West.

The firms selected are: Mass Design Group, Family New York, El Dorado Inc., Aamodt / Plumb Architects, Iwamoto Scott, Bureau V, KSS Architects

Get to know the 2015 Groundbreakers!

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Hill Country Contemporary Originated in the Factory

When designing a custom home, the details are paramount. And it’s the details—such as an exterior clad in locally-foraged charred Shou-Sugi-Ban cypress, and utilitarian fixtures outfitted with unique, industrial hardware—that make this lakeside residence designed by Boston-based Aamodt / Plumb Architects undeniably custom. What isn’t as obvious is that the 6,000-square-foot house also happens to be prefabricated.

A New Approach

With roots in Cambridge, Mass., and a branch in Austin, Aamodt / Plumb was commissioned to design and construct the New York–based clients’ home-away-from-home in a mere 12 months. A custom home of this scale usually demands two to three years, so partners Mette Aamodt and Andrew Plumb looked to other industries in search of tactics they could “borrow” that would allow them to accelerate the process.

Their solution came from information technology in the form of parallel processing, which divides a task between multiple processors to run a program faster—much like the panelized, prefabricated building system that ultimately allowed the firm to frame the foundation and envelope of this house in just two weeks.

In collaboration with Bensonwood, a company that specializes in sustainable timber, as well as local high-performance builder Matt Risinger, Aamodt / Plumb built an airtight, Passive House–compliant envelope in the time it would have taken to complete the foundation work on a traditionally-constructed house. While Risinger prepared the site and poured the concrete, Bensonwood manufactured and shipped the timber frame and panelized sections from their factory in New Hampshire.

“Traditional custom building is a sequential process,” Aamodt says. “We were interested in prefab because it could allow us to perform some of those processes in parallel.”

The Design

The interior of the house is simply finished with wood floors, white walls, and exposed wood beams. A relatively open plan allows the owners flexibility in how they use the space.

Thoughtfully sited to preserve the site’s existing oak trees, the structure combines a rustic, ranch-style vernacular with modern details. Two individual volumes—in contrasting shades and heights—connect at a glass-paneled, light-filled mudroom and entrance foyer. Offset by a white steel roof, the charred wood and white stucco exterior gives way to modern interiors that feature reclaimed timber, local limestone, and raw steel. Full-length windows meet mesquite flooring to invite sunlight deep into the home and provide expansive views.

“We wanted the interiors to be very simple—white walls and white ceilings. We used the reclaimed wood in very specific instances to add richness and texture,” Aamodt says.

Hill Country-inspired décor hand-picked by New York interior designer Bella Mancini finishes the look, creating an embodiment of the downtown Austin charm that’s just beyond the front door.”

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Full article here. Excerpt reprinted below.

Serenity Now: Masterminding a Lakeside Dream House in Austin, TX

When the husband-and-wife Cambridge-based architectural team Aamodt/Plumb received the commission to help create a dream house on the banks of Lake Austin in Texas, their challenge was to design a house that would incorporate all the spaces that their clients needed without disturbing the two-plus acre site with mature trees and the most enviable view on the lake. Embracing the views, working around the footprint of the existing trees, and enhancing opportunities for indoor/outdoor living were their guiding directives. The house needed to be warm and inviting, yet sufficiently grand on approach from the entry drive, while casual and comfortable on the lakeside, where most of the family’s time would be spent. The main house is over 10,000 square feet with an additional 7,600 square feet devoted to a swimming pool and spa, outdoor kitchen, and living terraces, plus three waterfront structures—boat house, fishing dock, and swimming dock. A 1,900-square-foot guest house with 4,700 square feet of terrace adds to the composition.

The Design of the Lake Austin House

Again mindful of the existing landscape, the architects decided to shift the volumes of the house around the trees. The resultant shape of the house creates pockets of outdoor space that can be enjoyed from the inside of the home—a garden is nestled next to the formal dining room, a fountain becomes an extension of the library, and the main outdoor living area is located between the two wings of the house. The climate in Austin is quite mild and this configuration provides the clients with a year-round oasis for indoor/ outdoor living.

A house of this size could easily end up with faraway, underused corners but not so at the hands of Mette Aamodt and Andrew Plumb. “It’s a big house,” Aamodt admits, “but it is a house for a family. We didn’t want there to be any far corners of the home.” To achieve this balance the architects devised a unique scissor-like stair that stitches the first and second floors together from both sides of the house. The surprising effect is a quick trip to any part of the house, and a casual sense of intimacy rarely found in houses of this size.

“Aamodt/Plumb has an excellent sense of modern design and can tackle the most complex projects, while still paying attention to the smallest details. They do a great job of creating designs that push a customer’s simple ideas into fabulous architecture,” shares the homeowner. Intended to serve the family for generations, the house is built with timeless, locally-sourced materials. Lueders limestone was used extensively and takes on multiple forms ranging from cut stone pavers to monolithic load-bearing blocks to a special tapered profile that clads the main house. The tapered stone cladding creates a weaving effect on the façade of the house, and its appearance changes throughout the day as the sun creates continuously shifting shadow patterns—much like the surrounding natural landscape. The overall result is a masterful embodiment of serenity now.

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