Architecture of Place – Oro Editions – Publishers of Architecture, Art, and Design

Architecture

Architecture of Place

“A stunning follow-up to the monograph, ‘Bespoke Home,’ Bates Masi + Architects dives deeper into residential design in Architecture of Place. ”

The title of this book, ‘The Architecture of Place,’ is a particularly apt one. Since its founding, Bates Masi + Architects has remained true to its Modernist roots, designing thoughtfully organized, elegantly detailed houses that are open, warm, and comfortable, with a considered and imaginative approach to materials, and which embody the functional and environmental issues of the present day. These houses, the majority of which are weekend homes on the East End of Long Island, address the needs and wishes of clients and the physical and historical aspects of a site, as well as historical archetypes like the pitched-roof forms of the saltbox houses that are still common in the area. The East Hampton-based firm began as an unlikely but successful partnership between Harry Bates, who was in his 70th year, and who—after founding his office in 1965, became known for the Modernist houses he designed in the Hamptons and on Fire Island–and Paul Masi, who was then in his 20s and starting out in the profession. Since Bates’s retirement, Masi has directed the firm, maintaining his former partner’s philosophy of “considering the totality of the project,” he says. “It was interesting to talk to Harry about the evolution of second homes on Long Island,” Masi recalls. “The houses became more sophisticated, but still addressed the question of how you maintain the essence of an exciting place to live.”