Figuring something out is often referred to as “the light bulb coming on.” For his architectural inspiration, Philip Tidwell might prefer to think of it as the sunlight hitting his brain the right way.
Minimal, energy-efficient, eco-friendly living is something Tidwell’s been interested in for some time. Next summer, European architecture buffs will get to see the Emporia native’s vision of that type of living.
While studying last year in Finland, Tidwell, a 2000 graduate of Emporia High School, designed a day-lit, electricity-free summer home. He entered the design, which began as a “re-interpretation of the finished log cabin living typology,” in an Institute of French Architecture competition for designs of minimal living units. The winner of the competition gets to see his or her design built.
The first-round jury selected Tidwell’s project and nine others for the finals in Grenoble, France, where they made their presentations Dec. 8. Tidwell’s design didn’t win, but it and the other finalists’ projects will be displayed as models this August in the Venice Biennale, a prestigious art and architecture exhibition.
“It’s part of a kind of sustainable architecture initiative that’s been done by the Institute of French Architecture,” Tidwell said. “The only real grounds for the competition were to design a house which is under 30 square meters, which is something around 300 square feet. So it’s a very small living unit.”
Tidwell is now in his first year in the architecture master’s program at Princeton University. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis in 2004, he went to work for an office in New York for a couple of years, then applied for a Fulbright scholarship to attend school in Finland and study wood architecture in the Nordic countries. He received the grant and headed to the Helsinki University of Technology in September 2006.
Tidwell became interested in small-scale work while studying at Washington, and he said one reason he wanted to study in Finland was because of the ecological value of wood building.
“Wood has a lot less embodied energy than steel or concrete,” he said. “Although it’s not entirely renewable, it’s a much more ecological product than most of what we build with. And the Fins are some of the best in the world at wood technology.”
Tidwell’s competition structure is all wood and designed to exist off the electrical grid.
“It’s only intended to be used for three or four months of the year,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s trying to kind of get back to a very simple way of living.”
The design includes a major innovation that is entirely Tidwell’s: A “shell” for the home that slides over it to cover the windows during the months it’s unoccupied. During occupation, the shell slides off and becomes part of a summer terrace.
“One of the biggest problems with seasonal homes is protecting them from the elements, protecting them from vandalization and such during the off months,” he said. “So this is kind of a response to that. The house literally packs itself up and protects itself during the winter months.”
Tidwell was the only American among the 10 finalists in Grenoble, but he said that in a sense, he was representing Finland because the work on his project had been done there. All the projects, he said, attempted to display ways in which people can live with less, particularly less energy dependence.
“While all of the 10 projects, mine included, are pretty extreme examples — I mean, it’d be hard to imagine that you could live in the house that I designed year-round — but at the same time, it’s an optimistic way of reconsidering what we really need to live and what we really have to have on a daily basis.”
After watching the presentations of the other finalists, he felt that from a technical standpoint, his project was the most developed. But the second-round jury selected as the winner a French group that designed a house to be built into wine terraces.
“There’s a little bit of a political dimension too, I think, to the competition,” Tidwell said. “I realized that when I was there. It’s a French competition, and the winners were French, and I think it wasn’t entirely coincidental.”
Tidwell is headed back to Helsinki this summer to teach a wood construction studio for foreign students. He’s applying for grants in Finland that would help him get his design built despite not winning the competition.
The architecture master’s program at Princeton will keep Tidwell busy for three years. After he’s done with school, he hopes to continue to go back to Finland to teach during the summers. Above all, he said, he’d like to work for himself, and teaching would afford him the opportunity to do that.
“The nice thing about architecture is... if you want to be in academia, you’ll also be (expected to be) practicing as well,” he said. “That’s one of the things I like about it. It’s pretty easy to be involved with the school, teaching a studio or teaching seminars somewhere, and still doing your own work.
“So I’d like to do that. Where it might be is still up in the air.”
Shawna (anonymous) says...
Wow! What fabulous recognition and at such a young age! He is on his way to the top and will have a long career ahead of him! Great story!!
January 2, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
What a wonderful story of a young person going places. I love the log cabin idea. I wish he could tell us more about this "finished log cabin living typology." In Finland, I'm guessing that insulation is going to be top notch stuff too. Congratulations to young Tidwell.
January 2, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
purplelle (anonymous) says...
I happen to know this young man & his family. His parents must be commended as to their parenting skills and mentoring. His younger brother has been educated and is doing very well also. This family has been blessed with two very intelligent young men that graduated from Emporia High School. Kudos to this family!!
January 3, 2008 at 5:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )