ELEGANT SOLUTIONS:
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
If there’s one thing you can always expect from a Bernbaum/ Magadini home it’s that it will have a magnificent front entry. Some are more dramatic than others, but they are always distinctive and one would never be confused with another. Their new build at Ricks Circle meets guests at the walkway with a protective screen overhead, an expansive wall of roughcut Oklahoma Silver Mist stone mixed with multicolor, and a calming plinth-like fountain. This
blend of materials and the expansive glass sections that opens up the house at the front and back all work together to create a seamless experience of the interior and exterior spaces. The unique ‘U’ shape of the design helps to fold part of the garden at the back into the home itself, and the outdoor sculptures by Deborah Ballard standing in the crook of the ‘U’ bridges it even further as an extension of the owner’s art collection.
Whether you’re indoors or out you can see the many paintings and sculptures from any number of positions, but the glass doesn’t leave the house vulnerable to the heat of the sun. Tricy Magadini noted that one of the best features of the lot was that it had multiple mature trees, which also influenced the overall design of the home. “The house faces North, so all of the glass at the back is facing South, which is nice. Honestly, at the front it has so
many big trees it’s so shaded, and even the back of the house and the overall way (the house) is shaped the large expanses of glass are really not an issue with the sun most of the day.” The design prioritizes an open and airy feel, and maintaining that while also creating some distinction between spaces led Tricy to one of the home’s most unique and stunning features.
H A P P Y H O L /D AY S
“We needed a divider, and I thought of this artisan, a metalworker, that I had worked with before when I worked with Bill Booziotis, Jim Cinquemani, I thought ‘Wow I bet he could do something really interesting and it would be art rather than just a room divider.’ (Jim) got together with (the clients), and the glass in the screen was actually all picked out by them, all the different colors and they kind of worked together to come up with a theme for the shapes in the panels… They loved it so much that they decided to create
a door to their wine room with the same steel pattern, but the glass in it is actually glass from wine bottles from special bottles of wine that have in their collection.”
Finding unique solutions that would end up elevating the overall design would continue for the covered area by the pool. “Studio Outside were the landscape architects, and we came up with the idea of that floating pavilion because the lot was narrow in the
width and very deep in the length. We have a lot of houses that have outdoor terraces connected to the house and it comes off the family room that have those big sliding doors, but in this case I thought ‘What if we just detached it completely and just had this pavilion that sort of separated the courtyard where the art is and the back area where they have a pickleball court, so you almost have a sporting area back behind the house and then this other more intimate area closer to the house. The pavilion is open on
three sides and it kind of floats over the pool, and the shading device sort of floats over the pool to offer some shade.” While most of these solutions were put in place there was one situation where a completely different approach had to be taken after the work was underway.
“When we were in the design phase part of the program was to have a big gym. (The client) wanted it to look out over the back-
yard, so we designed this space above the dining room that has a big wall of glass overlooking the backyard. It’s a beautiful space. Well, his daughter works with him, and he works from home, and he said ‘Oh, don’t worry about my office. It doesn’t have to be fancy.’
Well, his daughter went over with him (to the house) one day when they were framing and said ‘Hey, Dad, if we’re going to work to-
gether I want to be in this space and look out over the backyard. That would be really beautiful.’ So we actually had to make a change. It required a little additional framing, but the office is just fantastic.” The view isn’t alone in making the office a fantastic place to work. The interior designer, Rick Rozas, designed a large desk made from live edge wood that the father and daughter can both sit at, which is complemented by a fireplace, a Barnaby Fitzgerald painting, and cozy rows of bookshelves.
// bernbaum/magadini architects
The gym may have been sidelined, but that’s hardly compromised the home and the experiences it offers. For Tricy, the greater success they achieved with the home is simple. “We had a really good team, and that always makes a huge difference when everybody is on the same page and working together from the schematics all the way through and trading ideas. Maybe it’s mak-
ing space for the fountain or the interior designer saying ‘I’d really like for this painting to be on this wall’ and then we work to get the lighting right. The collaboration is what really makes a project successful,.
// bernbaummagadini.com
Conduit Gallery
Craighead Green Gallery
Cris Worley Fine Arts
Erin Cluley Gallery
Galleri Urbane
Holly Johnson Gallery
James Harris Gallery
Keijsers Koning
Laura Rathe Fine Art
Meliksetian | Briggs
PDNB Gallery
Pencil on Paper Gallery
RO2 Art
Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
Benjamin Terry’s latest exhibition at Galleri Urbane his fifth with the gallery is described by the artist as “not a midlife crisis show, but an anti-midlife crisis show.” Even without knowing what has come before you can certainly feel that sentiment in this collection of work. It’s the opposite of lashing out. The color palette of
pastels and calming greens and blues establishes that this is the work of serenity, not desperation. Fittingly for this artist, the edges have literally been sanded down.
Terry is a painter, and like many painters he creates his own can-
// pardoned sins detail
// making love to the camera, paint, wood, and glue, 21 x 16”
vases. However, rather than just stretching canvas over a frame he constructs them surface and all from plywood. In the past there was no pretense about what lay underneath the paint. In fact, the wood was often left exposed or with only a thin layer of paint applied that allowed the texture and divots beneath to show
through. The raw feel of it simultaneously gave the work a sense of honesty that also seemed to say “whatever” and “so what?”
This confrontation would expand into other forms in his third and fourth shows Bits and Bobs and Inconsiderately Happy. In each
// you and
i are earth, paint, wood, and glue, 21 x 15”
pardoned sins, paint, wood, and glue, 21 x 16”
show shapes made of cut wood, either applied to the surfaces of his work or left on display on their own, would build on the inspiration Terry found in working with plywood. The crude edges, the craggy and wonky layouts, and the general state of work that appeared unfinished left us with the impression that perfection was less important than the act of creation. However, from show
to show, there is a progression in craft, which has led us here.
Rawness has given way to refinement.
There’s a confidence in this body of work that communicates the artist’s settling into his own established rhythms and fascinations.
// ambling, paint, wood, and glue, 21 x 16”
// secret handshake, paint, wood, and glue, 21.5 x 16”
The paint strokes show the movement that created them, but the banks of excess paint we saw before that built up in the wake of those same gestures are now smooth and even. In each piece there are areas of solid color that are emphatically smooth. Terry has already travelled these roads and knows them by heart. Like the artist, rather than grappling with discovery we are instead seeing something anew, and, naturally, we feel the
anticipation of what comes next.
Benjamin Terry lives and works in Dallas, TX. He received an MFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in 2013. The exhibition is open until December 28th.
// humming a little tune, paint, wood, and glue, 21 x 16”
Engage Educate Experience Enjoy
The Dallas Architecture Forum is for everyone who wants to experience inspired design. The Forum presents an award-winning Lecture Series that brings outstanding architects,interior designers, landscape architects and urban planners from around the world, as well as Symposia, Receptions at architecturally significant residences, and Panel Discussions on issues impacting North Texas.
Ron Wommack
Dallas Architecture Forum presents Ron Wommack Legacy Program
Tuesday, December 3 // 7:00 pm
Reception FOLLOWING the Program with Cake for Ron’s Birthday
Ron Wommack created award-winning buildings that have influenced many other architects and designers.
He was a brilliant man with a big heart, a true philosopher who loved people as much as he loved design – and he always brought great vision to his projects.
“Braided” is an all too apt description of Ron’s buildings. They are, of course, a part of the world, but there’s a refreshing lightness to them that sets them apart like they could lift up and float away. They’re delicate, with a weightless balance of forms that
are almost like the wrapping paper of a present that follows the shape of what’s inside waiting and eager to delight. The way his buildings play with the open air is just remarkable.
“Whenever you ran into Ron you were always just so glad to see Ron. He was just such a warm guy, so that filters through his work.”
Understandably, when we go about the celebration of the life of an artist we tend to celebrate the work, but time and time again, and certainly in talking with Max Levy, you see people celebrate Ron himself and his presence in their remembrances of him.
sharing about Ron will be:
Eurico FRANCISCO Moderator
Russell BUCHANAN
Max LEVY
Josh NIMMO
Dan SHIPLEY
Everyone Invited, No RSVP Required
Angelika Film Center | Mockingbird Station
