Margaret McCurry is one the the most published female architects of American residential design. She synthesizes elements of both traditional and modern architecture in this extraordinary series of private residences. Her book, Distillations of the American Vernacular, presents her work through beautiful photography and drawings with a thematic concept which ties together her projects through the search for a new American architecture. Through this careful selection of private residences, Margaret McCurry's architecture conveys its warmth through sensitivity to light and landscape resulting in homes that are truly timeless. She describes her design concepts and gives a glimpse into the deeper thought process behind her homes and how they have become distillations of an American architecture as in the following excerpt: 'This new Wisconsin retreat has provided an interesting spatial and organizational challenge given the clients' varied program that includes many guest rooms, bunkrooms, an indoor pool and separate guest house/garage as well as both indoor and outdoor gathering spaces. McCurry sited the elements of the house and guest house to create a "pinwheel" off of an open clearing in the forest whereby the program spaces became the "spokes" of the wheel connected by an interior ?rim? of circulation, which also provides entry points into the house and axial views towards the lake. This scale reducing scheme also provides distance between the guest rooms, bunkrooms and the master suite so that privacy is maintained.' AUTHOR: Margaret McCurry, President and principal of esteemed architecture and interior design firm Tigerman McCurry Architects, is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and is known for her inventive synthesis of modern classicism and the American vernacular. McCurry received her Bachelor's degree in Art History from Vassar College and her Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Her principles of order and symmetry, a relationship with nature, and knowledge of both modern and traditional design and building techniques characterize her work, which spans from coast to coast. Her work has been published widely in architectural and interior magazines and exhibited at museums and galleries here and abroad. She lives in Chicago. ILLUSTRATIONS: 260 photographs r50 illustrations
