Making Space
In this issue we see how well versed and prepared Bennington alumni are when it comes to making space—for home, for preservation, for performance, for community. In this section we celebrate the submissions that do just that.
Kevin Alter ’85
The Cuernavaca Residence is a 6,864 square foot residence in Austin, TX. It is the latest installment in an evolving constructed landscape on a two-acre family compound. Inside, dramatic vistas are omnipresent. The raw texture of concrete is juxtaposed with finely detailed walnut millwork and custom-glazed window walls. A meandering white oak ceiling defines more intimate spaces within an open plan. Rich walnut cabinetry, statuary countertops, and delicate timber screens provide points of stasis against the dynamism of place. The residence features a restrained vocabulary of rift-sawn oak, mill-finished steel, galvanized metal panels, and variously textured concrete that creates an environment rich in texture and animated by sun and shade during the course of a day. The house slips between an existing pool house and a magnificent live oak; long views are established to discrete landscape in different directions. Accordingly, the house welcomes engagement with the circumstances of this particular landscape as one moves through the house, providing a sense of the entire property in incidental moments.
AWARDS: AIA Austin Design Award 2016, IIDA Design Excellence Award 2016, American Architecture Prize 2017
