5 Ideabooks by Josh McCullar | SMBW

What is the language of a wall? A wall can tell a story about the nature of the space it bounds. In the Japanese Tea House, the wall is additive: a layering of wood frames and sliding screens. In the ancient ruins of Mesa Verde, the cliff is carved into...

Contrast is the most potent of design tools. The genius lies in how and when to use it. It is often said that music is born in the space between the notes. Similarly, architecture is not found in the making of things, but in the residual space between...

The arrangement of a house can be a strong influence on the landscape itself. Formal houses like center-hall colonials appear as strong singular objects in the landscape to be viewed from its approach, while informal, site-specific houses can be used...

The dogtrot house is one of the most iconic forms of domestic vernacular architecture in the Southern U.S. Its lineage can be traced to the one-room square log cabins along the hills of Appalachia. As family life and functional needs expanded, the farmer...

How do houses connect to their sites? It has less to do with style and a lot to do with the plan. An L-shaped house plan is inherently a fragment of something larger — an incomplete enclosure around the outdoor "room." The inside corner of the exterior...