Animal Hospital of Hinesburg
Williston Information Areas
Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf
Plainfield Health Center
Cornerstone Building
Enosburg Redevelopment
Camp Hochelega
Park Place
Putney Village Housing
Teela-Wooket Dining Hall
Tibetan Community Cultural Center
30 Commerce Street
Duncan Wisniewski Architecture Studio
Winooski Community Center Proposal
Philosophy
"Design, after all, is the art of finding a
single solution to multiple desires."
Mark Wilson Jones on the Pantheon
Mark Wilson Jones on the Pantheon
Principles of Roman Architecture
INTRODUCTION
We have filled this site with pictures of our work, prosaic and poetic. Enjoy them and perhaps you will respond to something you see and be curious to speak with us in more depth. The diversity and sheer amount of work reveal a great deal about us, but the pictures don't tell the full story; some words are also needed.
We've stayed small to concentrate our strengths of detailed attention and personal contact on each client. We pursue design with a wide vision to integrate the competing forces of practical, private, public and poetic desire into a single solution. Our commitment to our non-profit partners, addressing unmet social needs and sustainability with limited funds and our special staff is unwavering. We then use our construction backgrounds to carry these ideals and ideas into the real world and realize them by leading teams of good people.
HISTORY
Bob Duncan and Michael Wisniewski formed Duncan • Wisniewski Architecture in 1985 after enjoying working together in another firm. We shared a commitment to certain principles related to architecture, society, the realization of design as built work. and what would come to be called sustainability. Pursuing these ideals, we chose to remain a relatively small firm to devote our personal attention to clients and their projects. On any given project, big or small, either Bob or Michael will be the partner in charge and intimately involved from design through construction. Over the past decade we have developed a small, but very dynamic and talented staff who are taking us to the next level in our work. Our work ranges from small renovations to large structures and even entire neighborhoods.
ARCHITECTURE
Design is not a linear process where a grand vision is articulated and the rest is just rote implementation while trying to prevent practical realities from intruding. It is more dynamic, full of feedback loops and revisions as layers of information that go far beyond the artistic are distilled down into a design. Design is elegant when the artistic and practical are welded into one; when, as quoted above, multiple desires are expressed in a single solution.
At the beginning of design we think of many things at the same time; program, site and context are in the foreground, but we are also looking down the road and using our experience to find solutions that will integrate vision with pesky reality.
A perfect example is a parking garage under a building which, per code, can be open or closed. Open is a visible and a thorny design element to address. Closed is hidden but needs ventilation which has upfront and operating costs as well as a long term negative carbon footprint for the electricity to run the ventilation. Either solution might be appropriate, but being aware of what seems to be a detail early in the process allows us to balance the design and energy equation early on and integrate the decision into the solution.
Everything else, including our respect for history, function, neighborhood context, materials and beauty are all treated with respect while being subjected to this same method of keeping our minds open and looking ahead in the process.
SOCIETY
It is simplistic to say that design - good and bad - has an impact on society. The built environment does shape our experience although social forces shape it more and often only the most privileged can afford design services. From our beginning we have been committed to serving the underserved. At any given time 60% or more of our work is for non-profit organizations trying to address inbalances in our society. We have been privileged to work with so many dedicated and wonderful people who are also committed to improving our world.
We have designed over 500 affordable dwellings and a variety of special program housing for specific populations such as seniors, the homeless, and teenage mothers. We have also completed several community health centers, an emergency food shelf and a multigenerational center with daycare and senior center. The budgets for such work often do not support high end or sustainable design strategies but such work sustains our social fabric serves unmet needs and will remain a primary focus of our work.
REALIZATION
It is discouraging to regularly hear people say, "My architect was so creative, but we had problems with the drawings and during construction......" And from contractors, "It was an aesthetic statement, but the architect just doesn't understand how to actually....". This perpetuates the notion of design as separate from realization and of architects as peripheral lightweights who can dream but cannot do.
Vitruvius codified the principles of classical architecture for Augustus Ceasar in 27 BC; most are design related but he devotes significant attention to Distributio, the name he gave practical and organizational skills needed to realize a design within a budget and other constraints with the available materials and technologies.
We learned Distributio on construction sites; Bob was a union mason and Michael a carpenter and we put ourselves through architecture school with these skills. It is not just the technical knowledge of laying brick or squaring up a stud wall; it is a way of thinking and communicating about design that is in accordance with the organization and realities of the construction process from estimating through actual building.
Distributio pervades the way we think about design, construction drawings, specifications and construction review. We strive not just to be practical but to clearly communicate design intentions. We accept that neither drawings nor craftspeople are perfect; construction always surprises and owners will ask for changes but we foster an atmosphere of teamwork and fairness to fluidly move the process forward. The feedback we receive from owners and contractors is that the result is more positive and successful than their typical experience.
SUSTAINABILITY
A significant portion of our work is sustainable before we draw one line on paper: Compact, affordable housing, including renovation of existing structures, in village and city cores is at the heart of creating sustainable, less auto intensive development. From the beginning we have explored sustainable design where possible. In the 1980's the Solar Staircase House was one of the winners of the Garden Way Compact House Competition and in the mid 90's the Cornerstone Building included an innovative urban stormwater collection tank integrated into the building facade and a stormwater garden to filter the outflow as well as recycled materials and a state of the art HVAC system shared by three buildings. We are committed not just to sustainable design but also to using local materials and systems when possible.
Still, it has been a struggle. These strategies do add some cost to the total budget and most often, especially in the non-profit, affordable housing field, funding is not available for that surcharge. Therefore, we have focused on wringing the maximum amount of greenness out of our limited budgets and have learned to do more with less. Our world is now at a tipping point and we are seeing a new interest from everyone in pursuing sustainability and we look forward to doing even more with just a little more. Presently, we have initiated the GrassCube Manifesto; research into a small, affordable, sustainable and local single family home.
INTRODUCTION
We have filled this site with pictures of our work, prosaic and poetic. Enjoy them and perhaps you will respond to something you see and be curious to speak with us in more depth. The diversity and sheer amount of work reveal a great deal about us, but the pictures don't tell the full story; some words are also needed.
We've stayed small to concentrate our strengths of detailed attention and personal contact on each client. We pursue design with a wide vision to integrate the competing forces of practical, private, public and poetic desire into a single solution. Our commitment to our non-profit partners, addressing unmet social needs and sustainability with limited funds and our special staff is unwavering. We then use our construction backgrounds to carry these ideals and ideas into the real world and realize them by leading teams of good people.
HISTORY
Bob Duncan and Michael Wisniewski formed Duncan • Wisniewski Architecture in 1985 after enjoying working together in another firm. We shared a commitment to certain principles related to architecture, society, the realization of design as built work. and what would come to be called sustainability. Pursuing these ideals, we chose to remain a relatively small firm to devote our personal attention to clients and their projects. On any given project, big or small, either Bob or Michael will be the partner in charge and intimately involved from design through construction. Over the past decade we have developed a small, but very dynamic and talented staff who are taking us to the next level in our work. Our work ranges from small renovations to large structures and even entire neighborhoods.
ARCHITECTURE
Design is not a linear process where a grand vision is articulated and the rest is just rote implementation while trying to prevent practical realities from intruding. It is more dynamic, full of feedback loops and revisions as layers of information that go far beyond the artistic are distilled down into a design. Design is elegant when the artistic and practical are welded into one; when, as quoted above, multiple desires are expressed in a single solution.
At the beginning of design we think of many things at the same time; program, site and context are in the foreground, but we are also looking down the road and using our experience to find solutions that will integrate vision with pesky reality.
A perfect example is a parking garage under a building which, per code, can be open or closed. Open is a visible and a thorny design element to address. Closed is hidden but needs ventilation which has upfront and operating costs as well as a long term negative carbon footprint for the electricity to run the ventilation. Either solution might be appropriate, but being aware of what seems to be a detail early in the process allows us to balance the design and energy equation early on and integrate the decision into the solution.
Everything else, including our respect for history, function, neighborhood context, materials and beauty are all treated with respect while being subjected to this same method of keeping our minds open and looking ahead in the process.
SOCIETY
It is simplistic to say that design - good and bad - has an impact on society. The built environment does shape our experience although social forces shape it more and often only the most privileged can afford design services. From our beginning we have been committed to serving the underserved. At any given time 60% or more of our work is for non-profit organizations trying to address inbalances in our society. We have been privileged to work with so many dedicated and wonderful people who are also committed to improving our world.
We have designed over 500 affordable dwellings and a variety of special program housing for specific populations such as seniors, the homeless, and teenage mothers. We have also completed several community health centers, an emergency food shelf and a multigenerational center with daycare and senior center. The budgets for such work often do not support high end or sustainable design strategies but such work sustains our social fabric serves unmet needs and will remain a primary focus of our work.
REALIZATION
It is discouraging to regularly hear people say, "My architect was so creative, but we had problems with the drawings and during construction......" And from contractors, "It was an aesthetic statement, but the architect just doesn't understand how to actually....". This perpetuates the notion of design as separate from realization and of architects as peripheral lightweights who can dream but cannot do.
Vitruvius codified the principles of classical architecture for Augustus Ceasar in 27 BC; most are design related but he devotes significant attention to Distributio, the name he gave practical and organizational skills needed to realize a design within a budget and other constraints with the available materials and technologies.
We learned Distributio on construction sites; Bob was a union mason and Michael a carpenter and we put ourselves through architecture school with these skills. It is not just the technical knowledge of laying brick or squaring up a stud wall; it is a way of thinking and communicating about design that is in accordance with the organization and realities of the construction process from estimating through actual building.
Distributio pervades the way we think about design, construction drawings, specifications and construction review. We strive not just to be practical but to clearly communicate design intentions. We accept that neither drawings nor craftspeople are perfect; construction always surprises and owners will ask for changes but we foster an atmosphere of teamwork and fairness to fluidly move the process forward. The feedback we receive from owners and contractors is that the result is more positive and successful than their typical experience.
SUSTAINABILITY
A significant portion of our work is sustainable before we draw one line on paper: Compact, affordable housing, including renovation of existing structures, in village and city cores is at the heart of creating sustainable, less auto intensive development. From the beginning we have explored sustainable design where possible. In the 1980's the Solar Staircase House was one of the winners of the Garden Way Compact House Competition and in the mid 90's the Cornerstone Building included an innovative urban stormwater collection tank integrated into the building facade and a stormwater garden to filter the outflow as well as recycled materials and a state of the art HVAC system shared by three buildings. We are committed not just to sustainable design but also to using local materials and systems when possible.
Still, it has been a struggle. These strategies do add some cost to the total budget and most often, especially in the non-profit, affordable housing field, funding is not available for that surcharge. Therefore, we have focused on wringing the maximum amount of greenness out of our limited budgets and have learned to do more with less. Our world is now at a tipping point and we are seeing a new interest from everyone in pursuing sustainability and we look forward to doing even more with just a little more. Presently, we have initiated the GrassCube Manifesto; research into a small, affordable, sustainable and local single family home.