24 DIGS.NET | 8.7.2020
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P R O F I L E | O H A N A H O U S E
(FROM TOP)
OHANA HOUSE
FEATURES A
WIND-SHELTERED
COURTYARD WITH
A POOL; INSIDE THE
HOUSE, LIGHT-
FILLED SPACE FLOWS
AS FREELY AND
CONSISTENTLY AS
THE WIND BLOWS
BEYOND THE
COPIOUS GLASS.
PHOTOGRAPHS:
COURTESY
OF
ART
GRICE
O
n a generous plot of land where sugar cane was farmed
for over a century, the wind blows unrelentingly. Here,
on a hillside at the end of a road, the 2,000-square-foot
Ohana House is a work of architecture as remarkable as the
land upon which it sits. Originally designed as a prelude to a
larger house that never materialized, the structure commands
mile of waterfront views and stands alone in many respects, not
least as an ingenious response to the elements.
"The best way to learn a landscape is to physically engage in
it," says architect Jim Cutler of award-winning Cutler Anderson
Architects. "That means going out with an instrument yourself,
running a tape measure, or running a survey and really looking
at everything; finding those poignant views and making sure
W R I T T E N B Y J E N N T H O R N T O N
En Plein Air
On the blustery north shore of Hawaii's
Big Island, Ohana House by Cutler
Anderson Architects, is a product of its
extraordinary environment.
they're on the map. A surveyor never
tells you about the emotional content
of a property, you have to discover that
yourself by physically engaging in it. So
that's what we do." Lest one think this
a theoretical exercise, Cutler surveyed
Ohana House site himself and says that
the structure's shape, design and materials
(a regionally referential mix including
lava rock, Lyptus, and teak) is driven by
its physical circumstance—wind, sun and
typography. "There are very few places
where you can really capture all of the
forces and circumstances that generate
architecture," he notes. "We're constantly
searching for what is true about a place
and a circumstance." This particular
"place" is a small amazement, and almost
strangely perverse in its accommodation
of constant 20 to 60 mph winds, along with
spurts of rain and bursts of sun.
A former student of iconoclastic
architect Louis Kahn, Cutler is the product
of his environment, as well. This son of
parents who ran small clothing store
in an Appalachian coal town likens his
"There are very few
places where you can
capture all of the forces
and circumstances that
generate architecture.
We're constantly
searching for what is
true about a place and
a circumstance."
-Jim Cutler
CUTLER ANDERSON ARCHITECTS
