Cutler Anderson Architects have an environmental awareness and an approach to design that attempts to reveal the nature and detail of every circumstance.
The nature of an institution, the nature of the significance of the place in which it is located, and the nature of the materials with which we build. Responding to a site by capturing a sense of place through careful selection of materials and use.
CAA performs studies in landscape conservation and Cutler surveys the sites himself, crawling around in thickets and woodland on his hands and knees.
Fir-planked ramp, 53 feet long and spanning wooded terrain and a winding footpath, leads to a deck behind the retreat. The house perches on stilts to maximize the view and preserve trees.
Cutler studied under Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania where Kahn taught Cutler how to think and explore approaches to design in finding the essence of a material and its highest and best use. Kahn's influence also shows up in CA's disciplined plans and the spiritual quality of space.
subtle response to wooded settingnotion of 'site'-in fact not site, but LAND. site is something blank. land is a better term which shows respect and acknowledgement for a sacred, living thing. faithfulness to geology and culture of the surroundings.
cultivation of landscape vs. consumption of landscape.