On Monday for our Field Studies course, the students got to take a break from the slab site work and participate in sketching the “Sword Gate” house at 32 Legare Street. The study of the site plan for this house was uniquely interesting, as it was essentially a compound of various structures within one property. Different sides of the property felt like different zones of program, each with unique characteristics. One of my favorite areas to study was one of the flanking courtyards. While I was sketching the plan layout, I noticed it almost read like a cathedral. Three crepe myrtle trees acted as columns that ran down the main promenade/nave towards a greenhouse which capped it off (the apse of the church). The branches of the trees created a “vaulting” effect that alluded more to this metaphor of a cathedral.
