Birdseye was invited to participate in the Time-Space-Existence Architectural Exhibition, organized by the GAA Foundation and hosted by the European Cultural Centre as part of the 2018 Venice Biennale. The text below is taken from the exhibition catalog, explaining Birdseye’s contribution to the event. We continue to be deeply honored to be invited onto the world stage and are proud to contribute to the international event:
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost
Vermont Poet Laureate 1961-1963
These words resonate with us as we reflect on our work and ourselves within the context of Time Space Existence.
This moment in time is ours. We live and work in the foothills of the Green Mountains, in the American State of Vermont. The landscape of this place is marked by the agrarian pursuits of past and present inhabitants. Their values are preserved in the living history of the buildings and the land. Timber frame bank barns with high drives and cupolas, milk houses, corn cribs, silos, farmhouses, and woodsheds. The rolling fields, surrounded with walls of stone, tree lined roads, farmyards and mountain vistas. This physical history provides context for our existence, and is reflected in our practice.
Our contribution to the exhibition seeks to convey the essence of the rare and powerful moments when our existence is brought to our acute attention, and time is folded upon itself, past becoming present becoming future. We celebrate the reverence and mystery that the humble and working architectural space of barns can evoke, like a forest in the hush of snow, or the splendor of a cathedral.
Our work represents a continued evaluation and refinement, rooted in the building tradition of place, as well as in the cultural history of our company and its people.
Through our creations, we mark our passing through this time, and the spaces we are called to work within. Our trajectory is sustained through a rich dialogue, and an openness to change. We move forward by looking back; drawing from the regional vernacular and the rich tradition of American craft, to create an authentic expression, unique to our time.
In this moment, we pause to consider where we came from, what we have accomplished and what we hope to achieve.
We still have miles to go.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost.
