An Honest Frame
by Matt Fajkus, AIA
Project: Prospect House
Location: Dripping Springs
Client: Mackintosh Partners
Architecture Firm: Max Levy Architect
"Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius." - George Bernard Shaw
The procession from Austin to Dripping Springs where the Prospect House is located, unfolds as a series of progressively smaller winding roads through the Texas Hill Country landscape, clumps of trees alternatingly conceal and reveal sight lines; hectic city lifestyles gradually fade in the rearview mirror as the destination nears. Suddenly, the building's volume presents itself to the approach, with its bold yet humble presence on the terrain. Fitting the rural simplicity of its context in form and materiality, the structure's corrugated galvanized sheathing subtly glistens as it reflects, moment by moment, daylight and atmospheric conditions as well as seasonal changes.
Small Stuff
by Ben Koush
Project: Scaled Resolutions, Austin
Client: University Fashion Group
Architecture Firm: MF Architecture
Working against a tight schedule and a meager budget of $3 per square foot, Matt Fajkus, AIA, principal of MF Architecture and a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, used Rhino to create a temporary backdrop for a 2012 fashion show featuring garments created by design students at UT. Given the constraints of the project, Fajkus decided to use cheap and lightweight Styrofoam, carved by a Rhino-guided CNC router. Price point aside, the result was a striking, 40-ft-long translucent backdrop with a gently undulating, gridded pattern based on Le Corbusier's Modulor proportioning system.