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8 WHAT'S UP! SEPTEMBER 4-10, 2022 No Place Like Home Crystal Bridges explores improved design, affordable housing APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette A rchitecture affects our daily lives, whether we're aware of it or not. Five design firms from various parts of the country participated in the creation of a new exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to start conversations around contemporary housing, the challenges in making it affordable and the many ways in which we could live. Dylan Turk, Crystal Bridges special projects editor of architecture and design, says "Architecture at Home" began as a way to explore the challenges in the housing industry. That was in response to seeing local bungalows torn down and people needing a place to live — all amid rising inflation, the cost of living soaring and the housing bubble making it difficult to secure a residence. It made him wonder what could be changed if some of the best minds in design worked thoughtfully on the problems. Turk selected the five firms from a list of 175 housing experts and gave each one the assignment of designing and fabricating a 500-square-foot prototype of a house that could serve a family of three. "Initially I thought the exhibition would be … five solutions that we need to do tomorrow to fix housing," Turk says. In reality, as they got to work, they faced the covid-19 pandemic, George Floyd was murdered, the Black Lives Matter movement began, and the political situation caused them to turn inward about the sacredness of the spaces where we live. "What the exhibition is actually about is the important relationship of human beings and the space we live in and how communities can leverage these spaces to make (people) happier, more sustainable, more diverse and work as a better place to live." As a result, some of the installations became deeply personal to those making the prototype, while others were very localized to Arkansas through the materials used and the priorities around creating a place Arkansans would want to — and be able to afford to — live. The fun, Turk says, was in giving each firm a unique opportunity and giving the space for their creativity to shine without "putting up too many roadblocks." The prototype made by LEVENBETTS, a firm out of New York, stuck with that hyperlocalized approach by using only materials from Arkansas. It started with studying satellite imagery of Bentonville, since they couldn't visit in the thick of the pandemic, as a way to keep an eye on the changes of the region. Once they were able to travel, designers went to El Dorado for the harvesting of trees, in which the architects literally picked which ones they were going to use. The firm partnered with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative to better choose which trees to use in order to keep the forest ecosystem functioning smoothly. The timber of the prototype is stacked, laminated Arkansas pine. The hard scale CLT (cross laminated timber) panels were made through a company from British Columbia that recently built a factory in Conway. Once printed, they were cut to the exact shapes needed for the structure. "What's important about this to me is its affordability, attainability, accessibility and how it shows that innovation can also align with beauty," Turk says. "They've taken materials from our state to create a space that makes you feel a certain way." Turk says the way the structure causes viewers to notice how the light falls FEATURE This 700-square-foot housing prototype made by LEVENBETTS design firm out of New York is just one of five ideas featured in the "Architecture at Home" exhibit that officially opened last week at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Each prototype acts as a conversation starter for how to improve the places where people live, says Dylan Turk, Crystal Bridges special projects editor of architecture and design. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe) FAQ 'Architecture At Home' WHEN — Through 2023; the exhibition is accessi- ble daily from sunrise to sunset along the Orchard Trail, which leads to Crystal Bridges' main entrance WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville COST — Free; no reserva- tions required INFO — crystalbridges.org