With 90+ categories and 300+ jurors, the Architizer A+Awards is the world’s definitive architectural awards program. In anticipation of the Awards Gala and Phaidon book launch on May 14, we are pleased to share the stories behind the winners of the 2015 Awards program — see all of them here.
Rangr Studio won the 2015 A+Awards, Popular Choice, for the Residential: Private House (L 3000-5000 sq ft) Category with Modern Cabin. True to its name, the form is composed of three long cantilevers, while the wood finishes on both the interior and exterior impart a rustic look and feel.
Your name: Jasmit Singh Rangr
Firm name: Rangr Studio, Inc.
Location: New York
Education: B.A., Yale College 1993; M.Arch Yale University 1997
© Paul Warchol Photography
When did you decide that you wanted to be an architect?
I took an introductory class as a sophomore in college. The teacher was really outstanding and instilled a deep interest in architecture in me — before that, I had not given architecture much thought. Then, in graduate school, another outstanding teacher introduced me to the works of Land Artists in the 60s and 70s. Seeing those works gave me a completely new understanding of what architecture could be and gave me a sense of a lifelong project — of making space deeply intertwined with the land and environment.
First architecture/design job:
A summer internship at the late Joseph Allen Stein’s office in New Delhi. Mr. Stein was in the office only a couple hours a day at that point (he was in his late 70s, I think), but he had a clarity and purpose only a few people achieve — that was a good introduction to the work world.
© Paul Warchol Photography
Design hero and/or favorite building (and why):
Tough question. It probably has to be Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe for the mastery of his spaces opening to their surroundings and his masterful urbanism that could invert exterior and interior space (Federal Plaza in Chicago, for instance). Eduardo Souta de Moura’s house that carves space out of landscaped terraces is a piece of poetry, and the way he creates landscape features (like stone retaining walls) that then become part of interior spaces is stunning. The elegant stony sides of Niemeyer’s UN building in New York, seen from the FDR, achieves subtle monumentality. There are lots of moments in many works I’ve seen, this could become a very long list!
What do you find exciting about architecture and design right now?
It’s great to be able to see so many more projects in diverse locations in the world, thanks to blogs like Architizer. That allows us to see that there isn’t a dominant current fashion, that there are many offices actually doing what architects should be doing — designing experiences and spaces first, not just objects in space.
© Paul Warchol Photography
Tell us something that people might not know about your A+Award submission:
There is a lot of back and forth between detail, function, and form. For example, the pool ended up having an infinity edge so that it would be easy to operate an automatic pool cover in a way that pushes leaves over the edge of the pool — the detailing of that function led to the idea of creating the two light-colored walls that appear to suspend a body of water between them.
Which jurors do you find most compelling and why?
There are a lot of people on the jury who I simply don’t know! I’m glad to see Deborah Berke — because I come from the same pedagogical lineage.
Among your fellow A+Award winners, what is/are your favorite(s)?
Sambade House by spaceworkers, House on a Dune by Oppenheim, Community Church Knarvik by Reiulf Ramstad Architects, and Seinäjoki Library by Decopic.
© Paul Warchol Photography
Other than your computer (or phone), what is your most important tool?
The nearest pencil and piece of paper! I’m partial to Carmine Red Col-Erase pencils and my Caran d’Ache 3-mm fix pencil (with a lead pointer in the cap!). I ought to draw everything in my sketchbook, but any piece of paper that’s closest is usually what I sketch on. I’ll have a detail sketch on the same page as an overall schematic — designs evolve in that dialogue.
Outside of architecture, where do you look for inspiration?
Landscape — manmade interventions in landscape and naturally occurring forms. The space under a wide shady tree in the summer is hard to beat as an experience.
© Paul Warchol Photography
What is the most important quality in an architect?
Humility. There’s so much to learn on every project. From listening to clients’ experiences and learning to see the world through their eyes, to figuring out how things go together to make a detail that’s sustainable, practical, and simple to build. There are so many people who are hugely affected by the decisions that an architect makes — from the consultants that one works with to the builders in the field, who put it together, not to mention the inhabitants whose lives can be profoundly affected by the spaces created. These are immense responsibilities.
Who would be your dream client, and why?
Anyone who cares about creating space that’s the absolute best it can be, space that creates a profound connection between its inhabitants and the landscape and environment beyond. I’ve been very lucky to have such clients so far.
See all of the 2015 A+Award Winners here and all of the Winner Q+A’s here — and preorder the book from Phaidon here.