UPsTATE NEw yORk: A CULTURE OF COZiNEss

Two cozy villages sit quietly in the valleys of Upstate New York. Watkins Glen and Montour Falls lie only four miles apart and share many similarities in their architecture and in their history, but they each boast their own rich sense of culture and natural splendor. Two new buildings will create a dialectical connection between the two villages while simultaneously paying homage to their shared architectural lexicons and to their distinctive cultures.

hOMAgE AND MiMiCRy

Both buildings lie at the edge of their respective villages. Both have roofs which span across the road that connects the villages. The roofs are adorned with tapestries of rectangular shingles, broken occasionally by small windows. These shingled roofs call to the quaint and often refurbished shingles of many of the important buildings in both towns. Playing upon the few elements of notable verticality within the villages: their steeples and their smokestacks, both of the buildings are given their own steeple-esque tower. In Watkins Glen, this is an accessible outlook tower. In Montour Falls, the tower is a mirrored tube for illuminating a concert and play stage. From here, both buildings begin to embody their own respective village and its context.

The Watkins Glen building plays upon the multitude of adjacent vineyards in the hills above it. The program is a new winery and tasting room that sponsors and samples the local flavors. Across the building’s arch is a small visitor center and access to the overlook tower. Here, visitors can gain a stunning view of the village, Lake Seneca, and Watkins Glen Park. The Montour Falls building slices away roof and wall to create a moderatelysized open-air theater. The locals of Montour Falls take immense pride in their musical and theatrical productions which are tied to the history and growth of the village. The steeple here is not an accessible tower, but a light-collecting illumination device for the performers and a lightreflecting device to announce that a performance is underway.

These buildings share many similarities in form and material, but they, just like the villages they sit outside, are defined by their own unique cultures and contexts. Together, they create a shared lexicon between the two villages while simultaneously acting as architectural manifestations of the two different stories being told, mere miles apart.