Not that, ahem, we noticed back in March or anything, but W.G. Clark’s house is very cool. The local architect designed this unapologetically modern concrete-block dwelling for himself and this month, it appears in the Oxford American‘s Home Sweet Home issue. The OA asked contemporary architects to select "the best modern homes of the New South," and UVA architecture prof Edward R. Ford’s choice is Clark’s house.
A nice writeup by Ford explains that the west side of the house is made almost entirely of translucent glass block, so as to let in light while softening the view of the less-than-picturesque strip mall scene at Barracks and Emmet. Ford also makes clear his preference for architecture that’s no slave to tradition—in a line he quotes from Clark, "There is a difference between buildings that merely look Jeffersonian as opposed to the infinitely more difficult task of being Jeffersonian." For instance, says Ford, the Clark house contains "not a stick of white trim." Up the revolution!
Other chosen houses are scattered through the South, from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Sarasota, Florida. The feature is part of an issue that examines the meaning of home and includes odes to the dogwood tree, a flooded New Orleans shotgun house and life overlooking a major interstate highway.
See any bricks? Neither do we. And neither does the Oxford American.
