Houses Made of Wood And Light

Move to an island and design the houses there, well, it sounds like many an architects dream come true! And it was for Hank Schubart, chief architect for the many of the homes on Salt Spring Island, near Vancouver. You can now peruse over 230 designs for wooden residential and commercial buildings, using primarily cedar and glass, in the recently published monograph, “Houses Made of Wood and Light – The Life and Architecture of Hank Schubart”  by editors Michele Dunkerley and Jane Hickie, photography by Jim Alinder.

Schubart interned under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in 1933, and continued his architectural legacy. He was well respected among his island community. Those who were interviewed for the book felt grateful to be a part of his vision. The homes are not only elegant, but resilient, requiring relatively little maintenance for their upkeep in the Pacific Northwest rainforest environment. In the last chapter of the book, the editors remark, “As the island continues to change, Schubart’s houses endure. He raised the bar for building standards on the island, and his houses are reminders that quality matters in small communities and in modest – as well as grand – homes.” photo courtesy of http://www.housesmadeofwoodandlight.com/