Massachusetts
Anything that deprives architecture of the sense of the limit, it deprives us of harmony with Life and Nature. Skyscrapers do this more than anything else.
Thomas Allocca
Cape Cod and Greater Boston
Centerville, Hyannis, Wellfleet, Duxbury
Cape Cod is a place shaped by limits: scarce arable land, coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, fragile ecosystems, and an exceptionally demanding real estate market, unique in the United States.
Yet, these constraints have not weakened its attachment to the land, strengthening its culture of care, improvement, and long-term investments, in exemplary infrastructures, environmental preservation and enhanchment, and on the distinctive architectural identity, between tradition and innovation.
Innovation rarely succeeds when it ignores the past, and Cape Cod is an iconic place in the whole United States where one can learn and experience how architecture can be an engine and pulse of the economy, while remaining a guardian of identity.
Since 2023, White Oak Arkitecture has been involved in private residential projects and consulting in Centerville, Hyannis, Wellfleet and Duxbury.
photo by Steven Smith, The New York Times, 2023
Marcel Breuer's Summer House
Wellfleet
In November 2023, I was invited by architect Peter McMahon, founder and director of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, to inspect Marcel Breuer's historic Summer House in Wellfleet. Peter was interested in my assessment and possible solutions regarding the cantilevered timber porch. At the time, the Trust was in discussions with the owner of the House, Tamas Breuer, son of Marcel Breuer, regarding its possible acquisition and restoration.
My assessment focused on the structural concept, structural dimensions, and connection systems, identifying several critical features that were at the origin of Peter's concerns. The assessment indicated that the restoration would need to address not only aesthetic and conservation aspects, but also structural reinforcement, replacement of some elements, and revisions to the connections between pillars, beams, and foundations, for reducing torsions and cracks.
