出處
By John Gendall
Built between 1903 and 1905, the Darwin D. Martin House complex is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most celebrated residential designs. With six constituent pieces—the Darwin Martin House, the George Barton House, a pergola, conservatory, carriage house, and gardener's cottage—the complex occupies a corner site in the prestigious Parkside East neighborhood of Buffalo. Though known to be important works, the structures were not always cared for: They either endured long periods of neglect, or, in the case of the pergola, conservatory and carriage house, were altogether demolished.
In 1992, nearby residents formed the Martin House Restoration Corporation (MHRC) in an effort to reclaim this important piece of the city's architectural history. Now, 17 years later, they are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, with the property entering its final phase of restoration work, and with the finishing touches being applied to a new Toshiko Mori-designed visitor center. Officially called the Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion—it is named after its benefactors—the visitor center opens to the public on March 18.
Mori, a New York architect and the former chair of Harvard's architecture department, says the Darwin Martin House is one of the three most significant residences designed by Wright, the others being the Robie House in Chicago and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. 「Each time I go there, I discover something different and complex,」 she says of the Buffalo dwelling. 「The details are exquisite.」
Her commission was to design a 7,775-square-foot pavilion that would contain exhibition and educational spaces. Although the pavilion sits on an adjacent site that falls outside the historical boundary, it is, nevertheless, visually connected to the original structure. Mori approached the design by clearly establishing separateness from Wright's building, while picking up essential cues from his design. 「This was one of the most difficult projects I have done,」 she confesses. 「How do you build so close to Frank Lloyd Wright?」
The pavilion engages in what Mori calls a 「double-reading.」 Referring to Wright's original structures, she says that 「the pavilion had to be read separately so that it didn't try to compete with Wright, but it should also be read as participating in a compound of six elements.」
Three of the pavilion's four sides feature concrete walls that were cast using a form that suggests masonry units with the same dimensions as Wright's elongated custom bricks. Therefore, the wall features the same pattern found on Wright's surface, tracing a memory of Wright without overtly mimicking it. Mori enclosed the pavilion's fourth edge, closest to the Martin House, with glass, providing an unencumbered view of the property.
The pavilion's module reflects the columnar spacing of Wright's pergola, while the reverse hip roof recalls Wright's trademark flat roof overhangs. But in no way can the new building be confused with the old. 「Toshiko's pavilion is entirely deferential, but also completely contemporary,」 says MHRC Executive Director Mary Roberts.
Meanwhile, next door, the Martin House itself is undergoing the fifth and final phase of a major restoration overseen by Hamilton Houston Lownie Architects, based in Buffalo. Having reconstructed demolished elements, along with restoring all exteriors, work is now under way on interiors, furniture, and the landscape. The MHRC hopes to complete the project by 2011, when the National Trust for Historic Preservation will hold its annual conference in Buffalo. The MHRC has raised $39 million of the estimated $50 million that it will eventually need to complete the project.
「Generally speaking, the economic downturn has made fundraising more difficult, and we are finding that, too,」 explains Roberts. 「We have a leg-up, though, since we are already three-fourths done, and since the importance of these cultural sites provides evidence as compelling economic investments.」
Despite current economic conditions, she remains entirely optimistic, understanding the significance of what they have accomplished so far. 「The project has been embraced at all levels—individual, corporate and public,」 adds Roberts. 「In many ways, Buffalo can serve as an example to other post-industrial cities across the U.S. that may be dealing with similar issues.」 Indeed, Mori notes that one of the most impressive elements of the project was the way citizens banded together to protect the Darwin Martin complex. 「They didn't wait for anything,」 she says. 「They did it all on their own.」
森俊子 Toshiko Mori
1970-1971年間就讀於庫柏聯盟藝術學院，於1976轉到庫珀聯盟建築學院。1996年，從哈佛大學設計學院畢業拿到碩士學位。森俊子是森俊子建築師事務所負責人，是哈佛大學建築系主任。同時，她也是哈佛大學講座教授。於2006年，應邀加入「普立茲克獎」（素有建築諾貝爾獎之稱）評審委員會。
2007 紐約市藝術委員會設計獎（愛倫坡公園遊客中心）
2005 美國建築師學會紐約分會榮譽勳章
2005 美國藝術與文學院建築獎
2003 庫柏聯盟首屆約翰海杜克獎
2002 羅馬美國學院：伯納地訪問建築師獎學金
2001 哈佛大學教務長的贈款
2000 NYC / AIA設計獎（科恩屋）
1999 第78屆藝術俱樂部董事獎（銀牌放心證物）
1999 I.D.年度設計獎，卓越設計獎（Pleats Please服飾）
1999 I.D.年度設計獎，榮譽獎（紐約現代藝術展示）
1999 庫柏聯盟榮譽校友獎
1998 NYC / AIA室內建築設計獎
2007 Open House：智能生活建築與技術：Vitra設計博物館 / 森俊子訪談錄
2006 當代設計生活：2006國家設計展：庫柏‧休伊特國家設計博物館
2006 現代薩拉索塔，Rizzoli出版
2006 新玻璃房，Bulfinch出版
2006 顏色：建築細節，Rockport出版
2006 熱帶極簡，Thames and Hudson編輯
2005 現代住宅3，Phaidon出版
2005 玻璃住宅，Federico Motta編輯
2005 當代招待所：花園中的建築物，Edizioni出版
2004 費登當代世界建築圖集，Phaidon出版
2003 材料、製作 + 表達，Brian Carter編輯，布法羅紐約州立大學出版
2002 非物質 / 超物質。森俊子編輯，George Brazillier編輯
2002 海邊的庇護所，Loft出版
2002 熱帶的現代主義，Harper Collins出版社
2007 薩爾茨堡競圖展，奧地利。建築與酒店，因斯布魯克市，奧地利
2007 國家設計展，Cooper-Hewitt，國家設計博物館
2006 城市，開門！，深圳雙年展，中國深圳
2005 萊特，更新遺產，卡內基藝術館
2004 紡織，材料和聚居，森俊子和其哈佛設計學院的學生，謝爾頓畫廊