An Argument for the Archive
Why we keep a wall of every material we have ever specified, and what it teaches us about restraint.
On the back wall of the studio, behind a long oak table, we keep a wall of every material we have ever specified. It is not a mood board — it is a record. There are roughly 4,000 samples pinned to it, organized loosely by year.
The wall teaches restraint
What the wall teaches, more than anything, is restraint. You see, over time, that the materials you return to are remarkably few. A particular verde alpi marble. A lime plaster from a quarry outside Verona. A brass that patinas just so. The temptation, with each new project, is to specify something you have not yet used. The wall is a quiet rebuke to that temptation.
Further reading.
The Patience of Patina
On why we never specify a brand-new surface when an aged one will do — and the slow art of letting a room find its own finish.
On Light, and Italian Villas
Notes from a recent site visit to a 17th-century villa outside Lucca — on shadows, shutters, and the discipline of a north-facing room.