Inspiring Architect: Steve Giannetti

Last year, a new blogger burst onto the scene, and from the moment her blog started I was a fan. The blogger is Brooke Giannetti from Velvet & Linen, and one of the things that immediately endeared me to her blog was its unique focus on both design and architecture - two of my passions. In fact, in Brooke's very first month of blogging, she created a post called 'A Wonderful Collaboration' - and I learned that Brooke's husband Steve Giannetti is an architect. Could it get any better - a blog written by a designer whose husband is an architect? Brooke recently celebrated her one year blogging anniversary, and her blog continues to amaze me with every post. My favorite posts, though, are the ones where she shows the houses that Steve designed, and I particularly love the ones where Brooke did the interiors.

Steve Giannetti graciously agreed to answer a few questions for me as part of my 'Inspiring Architects' series. I loved learning more about Steve's background and the inspiration for his work.

Steve Giannetti

Q: How did you decide to pursue a career in architecture?

Steve: When I was a child, I really enjoyed drawing and building. As I got older, I found that I also really liked solving problems.

Growing up I worked for my father doing ornamental plaster work. I would come in contact with a lot of architects. So, when I was in high school I started hanging out at the Architecture department at the University of Maryland. In my free time I would do the projects that were assigned to the architecture students. I enjoyed it so much that I applied to the architecture program and got accepted.

Steve grew up surrounded by the beauty of an ornamental plaster studio, which developed a love for attention to detail that makes Steve such an exceptional architect.

Q: From where do you draw your inspiration? Particular architects, things, places?

Steve: I like Classical architects like Thomas Jefferson and John Soane. They always came up with clever solutions to problems. Soane's house in London, now a museum, is amazing with all sorts of ornaments that remind me of my dad's shop.

Sir John Soane's house is considered one of the most magnificent house museums in the world. Here is a picture from the museum.

The breakfast room from Sir John Soane's house - no wonder Steve cites this as an inspirational place for him.

The ceiling of the breakfast room - amazing architectural and design detail.

Steve: Pierre Chareau did a great house in Paris in 1930 called Maison de Verre. It looks like it could have been done last week.

The exterior of Maison de Verre (House of Glass). Chareau's patron purchased the first three floors of the building, but the person who owned the top level would not sell. Undeterred, Chareau simply worked with the space his patron owned, without disturbing the the original top floor, in order to create this masterpiece of architecture (source: Wikipedia).

The wall of books in Maison de Verre.

Another view - I love the concert grand piano in front of the wall of glass.

Q: Do you have a particular style of architecture that you favor?

Steve: I work in all kinds of styles. Classical architecture is always fun, but I tend to open it up more with glass when I can.

A home that Steve designed.

The light filled interior of the home pictured above; note the architectural details in the transom of the doors. Special details like this are what make homes unique and exceptional.

Steve: I am working on combining the open space and flow of Modernism with the proportions and humanity of Classicism. I try to simply things a bit more these days. This is the style I favor right now, unfortunately I don't know what to call it yet. We are doing a couple of projects right now with this in mind.

I am also just finishing work on another home in Malibu that combines some traditional Mediterranean details with a modern feeling.

A home (designed by Steve) that is in the finishing stages.

A house and barn in Maine is nearly complete and is a design that blends traditional shingle style with a more modern interior.

Q: What is your favorite exposure for quality of light (North, South, East, or West), and why?

Steve: South. This exposure allows a quality of light into the room in a way that energizes the space. North light is very static and doesn't move around, so the room always feels the same. I'll work pretty hard to get south light into a room with dormers or sidelights.

A recent project of Steve's, in collaboration with Brooke, was a pool house/artist studio that had a beautiful quality of light.

Q: What types of projects do you work on (i.e., size of home, renovation vs. new contruction)?

Steve: There is no real average size. They range from 4000 sf to 10,000 sf. I do both new construction and renovation, although I prefer new construction.

A charming French style home designed by Steve.

Q: What is something you should not skimp on what building a home?

Steve: A detailed set of plans. Nothing is more expensive than indecision when you are building a house. It holds up the building process. The more detailed the drawings, the less questions a builder will have and the quicker it will all go.

One of my favorite pictures from Steve's portfolio - there is something so beautiful about this little arch under the stairs, and every time I look at the photo I notice another architectural detail.

Q: What trends are you seeing in your projects? Smaller, larger, green? Classical, modern, a blending of the two?

Steve: I see people asking for smaller houses with cleaner, minimal details that still have warmth of traditional architecture. Also, my clients really prefer an open floor plan, so the rooms feel bigger. Living rooms are also going away and being replaced by bigger libraries that also act like intimate living rooms.

A beautiful library in a home recently designed by Steve.

Q: What is a fad you hope to never see again?

Steve: Lava rock. We had a huge wall of it in our place in Oxnard that we just had to plaster over.

The lava rock wall: before.

The wall after Steve plastered over it. This space continues to evolve - Brooke has been documenting the renovation of the house on her blog.

I hope you enjoyed this interview with Steve Giannetti. Although I have admired his work many times over the past year, I really did not know much about Steve other than the small tidbits I read on Brooke's blog. As you can see in this post, Steve's inspirations are from the Classical tradition in architecture, yet he is putting an exciting new modern framework on these Classical designs, which makes them so suitable for life in the 21st Century. Steve truly said it best when he wrote of wanting to retain the proportion and humanity of the Classical tradition, with the space and flow of modernism. For more information about Steve, Giannetti Architects, Giannetti Home (Brooke and Steve's store that sells Steve's original furniture designs), and Brooke's blog, please visit the Giannetti website.

Come see what everyone is posting about on BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday!

Inspirational Architect: Katie Hutchison

A few months ago, Terry from Architecture Tourist forwarded a wonderful online magazine to me, called 'House Enthusiast'. It is written by an architect from Massachusetts, the state where I was born and where I returned for a few years when my husband was attending graduate school. As much as I love living in the South, there is a part of me that is drawn to New England, and I was thrilled to learn about Katie and her inspirational work. On Katie's site, she writes 'Inspired by the simplicity of New England vernacular buildings and landscapes, Katie Hutchison Studio composes, promotes, and photographs meaningful architecture and design'. What a creative life, and what a wonderful subject for my 'Inspirational Architecture' series.

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Katie Hutchison - architect, writer, and photographer

How did you decide to pursue a career in architecture?

I’m not one of those people who discovered while playing blocks as a child that I wanted to become an architect, and only an architect. I have at different times wanted to be any number of things. Three interests have persisted more, though, than the others, so it’s those three that I pursue today. They are architecture, writing, and photography. In fact, I have three bachelor degrees: a B.A., B. Arch., and B.F.A. I’m a licensed architect in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; a writer for shelter magazines: both those produced by others and the online magazine House Enthusiast (http://www.katiehutchison.com/house-enthusiast/) which I produce; and I’m a fine art photographer. I practice all three disciplines via Katie Hutchison Studio (www.katiehutchison.com) in Salem, Mass. Each discipline allows me to explore the physical world in a different way: designing it, commenting on it, and reframing it. I believe each contributes to the other, a philosophy I first considered while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. I enjoy the variety, overlap, and synergy of the three. It’s a creative life that suits me.

A beautiful new home in Martha's Vineyard, with architectural design by Katie Hutchison and her colleagues. The shingle style is so quintessentially New England to me.

What type of projects do you work on?

As a residential architect, I enjoy placemaking. I seek projects, whether they involve new construction, renovations, adaptive reuse, or additions, which allow me to shape unique environments, rooted to their sites and context, where everyday living is embraced indoors and out. In general, my preference is to design smaller homes, rather than large. For one, it’s a matter of sustainability, and for another; I actually find it a more satisfying design challenge to accomplish more with less.

A garage/garden room designed by Katie epitomizes an incredible use of space: in the winter, it is a garage, but in the spring through fall the 12'x18' space serves as an outdoor living space. On the side facing the driveway are a pair of garage style doors that swing open.

Another view of the living space; on the side that faces the garden are sliding doors that slide open for easy access to the yard.

From where do you draw inspiration?

It sounds banal, but beautiful things and places inspire me.

I have an old, wooden, hand-made, 36-inch measuring stick with a flush, brass pivot hinge and two inset butt hinges that fold the stick into four. I found it at an antique store. I picked it up the moment I saw it and ran my fingers across the carved measuring lines, worn more smoothly on the outside face then the inside. It’s beautiful. It’s practical, while elegant. Exquisitely crafted, but not fussy. It invites touch and wonder. It’s a tool made for a person by a person who clearly loves tools. These are the same qualities and realities I aspire to convey in the homes, outbuildings, additions, and renovations I design.

Katie's cherished antique measuring stick.

I grew up mostly in New England and live here today. I’m endlessly fascinated by its historic fabric, rustic farmlands, and weathered seascapes. I take great pleasure in day trips to explore small villages, urban pocket neighborhoods, remote barns, and coastal constructs: boats, sheds, and cottages. The language of New England is second nature to me. Many say that you’re fluent in a foreign language, when you begin to dream in it; I dream in the language of New England, when I’m daydreaming about a project. It infuses and informs my design.

New England beach house, photography by Katie Hutchison.

A photo from a house addition that Katie designed. Photography by Katie. I love this scene - it is here that you can see the wonderful eye of the fine art photographer.

Do you have a particular style you favor?

I talk about architectural style in a letter on my website. To quote myself:

I steer clear of reproducing formulaic styles such as “Georgian,” “Arts and Crafts,” “Modern”, etc. Such styles were developed in specific time periods in response to a specific set of circumstances, be they cultural, material, or political.

Instead, I believe in determining what it is about a certain style that a client would like to express in a project. Is it the delicate proportion, the craftsmanship, the massing, the materiality, the openness? The answers to such questions then inform my design which is further driven by the nature of the site and client program.

Of course, I have my own aesthetic proclivities too. I enjoy reinterpreting the regional vernacular for today's lifestyles. I’m particularly inspired by the charm and simplicity of New England vernacular folk and work buildings: like fisherman cottages, farm houses, barns, sheds, and boat houses. I delight in the way that traditional Japanese architecture engages the landscape and modulates levels of enclosure. I appreciate lush, sustainable materials: warm woods, dry-laid stone, glass tiles, natural fiber rugs, tactile fabrics. I have a fondness for colors found in nature. I’m influenced by the creative arts. I bring these preferences with me to the drawing board. It’s part of who I am.

New England village, photography by Katie Hutchison.

What are your favorite exposures for quality of light?

Effectively harnessing natural daylight is an architect’s great joy. I believe in orienting a house to capture low morning light, while shielding harsher afternoon sun with overhangs, pergolas, or even deciduous trees. Where possible, I invite indirect daylight, reflected off surfaces, too. Unless seeking to light an artist studio, I usually limit windows on the north side in order to keep the chill out in the winter. I’ve lived in and visited homes in the northeast that are oriented toward the north, and found them dark and uninviting. Instead, I generally try to orient a house to the south, so its long axis runs northeast/southwest, if the site allows.

A kitchen renovation by Katie Hutchison Studio; I thought the quality of light in this room was beautiful.

A view of the newly renovated space, a place created with family life in mind.

A Katie Hutchison Studio renovation of a condo within an old house that used to belong to a sea captain. I love the location of the breakfast nook, in a corner with light on two sides.

What projects are you working on now?

I’m currently brainstorming the design of three or more homes to sell as design and/or construction sets available to any and all who might wish to purchase them. They will be small, ranging from approximately 1000, to 1400, to 1800 square feet. I envision each design springing from a vernacular type, reimagined for today. Since only a fraction of the population can afford to retain an architect for a custom design, I hope that my drawings will enable a larger audience to own an architect-designed home. Since no site or homeowner is alike, I plan to include a range of extra services to assist with customizing the drawings to suit a specific situation. Since it’s still early in the planning stage for the three designs, I’d be interested to learn from your readers what attributes they might like to see in the three homes.

Katie and her colleagues designed a new two car garage with studio and full bath above it, built to work with the slope of the site. The location is Martha's Vineyard.

What’s something you shouldn’t skimp on when designing your home?

Architectural services. Really. Time invested in planning, designing, and implementing the design of your home to suit your specific site and program is invaluable. Far too often, in the interest in forging ahead quickly, before resolving or thoroughly investigating options, design opportunities are regrettably lost. A home built today should last generations; it should reflect and enhance your lifestyle; it may be your single largest investment. Making the right and best decisions for your home prior to construction are imperative. You know the expression: “Measure twice; cut once.” It’s good advice. Plan. Plan. Build.

A renovation project on Martha's Vineyard, in which a new dormer was added to increase the room and quality of light in a bedroom, and add space for a new bathroom and closet.

Inside the house, in the space expanded by the dormer. I love the unique character of rooms created out of dormers.

A fad you hope to never see again?

I’m not a big fan of fads in general. I believe in timeless design. Fads are by definition short-lived. I prefer spaces and environments that adapt over time to the lifestyles of those inhabiting them. To me, a good home design speaks to many folks, across time, like a work of fine art or book might. If it’s a meaningful design, through the years, it will reflect something elemental about human nature and our capacity for home.

I encourage anyone with a love for architecture, homes, and gardens to visit Katie's online magazine 'House Enthusiast', and her website, www.katiehutchison.com. On the sidebar are helpful links to recommended 'House Enthusiast' posts. If you have any questions for Katie, please leave them in the comments. In particular, Katie is interested in hearing about features that my readers might like to see in the small home plans that she is working on.