Rapson Revival

This was a renovation of a Ralph Rapson, the famed modernist, designed home. Charles R. Stinson, a former student of Rapson, led the renovation. A “Cube in the Woods” was the concept granted by Rapson, which led us to strengthen the contrast between the building envelope and it’s context, a high quality woodland plant community. We began by walking the site extensively to find material inspiration. We found fallen trees, boulders, sedges, and moss. This became the palette for the project. Planks of Black Locust resemble the nurse logs of the forest. Fieldstone boulders orient movement. All plant species used are native to the site. Moss was harvested from the back woodland and replanted. New plantings were placed in grid format, adjusted to the architecture as any new planting, despite it’s nativeness, is introduced and made. Thus, the grid is a more honest representation of the work. However, the natural processes of the plantings will allow the grid to break down over time, revealing a truly natural pattern evocative of the forest and nature itself.