Bill Turnbull’s work is celebrated in a new monograph, William Turnbull, Jr.: Buildings in the Landscape, recently published by William Stout Publishers. The book explores twenty of Bill’s projects, all but two of which are dwellings. Among these is the modest Sea Ranch Employee Housing of 1986, shown here in one of the many exquisite photographs by Morley Baer that grace the book. In his introduction to the monograph, Donlyn Lyndon, FAIA, writes,
“Bill’s most fundamental mentor was the landscape itself. His closeness to the forms and processes of nature made him ever alert to its demeanor. In placing buildings, he was especially adept at finding positions of advantage and imagining ways of building that complemented the character of the site. His approach to the landscape—as to his life—was not one of emulation, but of cultivation. The land, the family, the acts of building, the joys of inhabiting, all merged in Bill’s mind into homes for the imagination. He created places that are both precise and alive, that inspire even as they accommodate. The integrity of his buildings, delineated with quiet care, reflects the intensity of their conception and the passion with which they were nurtured. They are buildings that honor human presence in the land.”
Photo by Morley Baer, courtesy of William Stout Publishers.
Originally published 2nd quarter 2001, in arcCA 01.2, “Housing Complex.”
