I love Bryce Langston’s series, “Living Big in a Tiny Home”
on YouTube. This series is one of my favorites because it showcases
unconventional living and takes viewers through tours of unique tiny homes.
Bryce Langston interviews a different tiny homeowner in each video, talks
through the inspiration and design process, then gets a tour of the home. One
of my favorite tiny home videos is about a modern yurt built by Nicole Lopez and
Zach Both.
Zach and Nicole were inspired to build a yurt in Oregon
after deciding to downsize on their living space and take on a new challenge. One
goal that they had was to modernize the historical structure of the yurt to
bring it into the 21st century. The process of building the yurt
itself was highly collaborative because it is impossible to build correctly
with only two people. Their creative process was largely research, trial, error,
and reassessment, involving a large group of friends and family to help along
the way. Nicole said that this collaborative process was very special to them
in the build because it brought people together to build something really
special.
A yurt historically has a wide-open circular interior with
no walls, but Zach and Nicole adapted theirs to adapt to their lifestyle needs
by designing their interior to have a living room space, office space, and
kitchen space. Their bed is lofted in the center of the structure, underneath
which a bathroom is hidden away. When deciding how much space they would need
for each section of the yurt, they used a combination of sophisticated 3D modeling
and good-old-fashioned tape on the ground. Nicole and Zach said that they learned
while doing in this build, and they documented the whole process on their
website to encourage other people to experiment with creating their own living
spaces.
What I found interesting about Nicole and Zach as creatives
is that after enjoying their time living in their handiwork for 6 months, they’re
planning on selling it and moving on to another building project. They feel
that they completed what they set out to do and can feel proud of the work that
they accomplished. This really sets them apart from someone like Frank Ghery, for
example, who lives in a home he built himself and whose work is never done. In Sketches
of Frank Ghery, Ghery describes how he never feels quite finished with his
projects and continues to work out new designs in his head after they have
already been built, causing him to dislike the finished product. In class, we
talked about how creatives can have tendencies to think that their work is
never done, but on the opposite side of the spectrum, people like Zach and
Nicole can build an extremely creative space and complete it without continuing
to make changes. I would categorize them as little-c creative because they are
not professional designers or architects. Zach is actually a filmmaker and had
no experience in building a yurt before taking on this challenge. They both
seemed highly intrinsically motivated in that they genuinely love the process
of building and designing, despite not being professionals.
(Photos obtained from their website.)
Hello Audrey,
ReplyDeleteI think that your connection to Ghery was really interesting. I really liked how they incorporated an older traditional house style and made it their own by modernizing it. I especially think it's really cool that they both took on this feat, considering that neither one of them had any formal experience in building. It really is a testament to their appreciation of the yurt. In a way, Zach collected this experience and can potentially apply it to his filmmaking efforts in the future.
This is so cool! I love how the two of them set out to build this with very little experience, and their use of collaboration to accomplish the goal. I really appreciate how they took the common yurt and redesigned it to fit their lifestyle and needs, instead of following in the "status quo." They were able to get creative even beyond the building of the yurt itself.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the two of them would be considered little-c creatives but nonetheless, I feel that their work in producing this 21st century yurt is an extraordinarily innovative way to make this unique style of home attractive to a wider market. I like how you compared Nicole and Zach to Gehry because although the two are very different, I think it is a unique way to see the two different types of creativity on opposite ends of the spectrum from the same domain.
ReplyDeleteI find it cool how when they complete a project they don't get "stuck" on it, they enjoy it for a bit then move on. I think this ability to move on and not get stuck in the past/ on past projects is necessary in being a true creative
ReplyDeleteI admire the bravery that this couple had to start a project like this. They definitely had to put in a lot of time, effort, and money to design and build a yurt of this caliber. I agree with you that they were primarily intrinsically motivated, especially since they weren't contracted to do this.
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