John Hejduk

This semester, our studio is structured heavily around the teachings and legacy left by the architect John Hejduk. It is fitting, seeing as we are now being pushed to consider the heightened role of context and the poetic in architectural form, which arguabaly is what Hejduk excelled in from what I've read.

John Hejduk. Bye House (1971), from the League's exhibition 200 Years of American Architectural Drawing

John Hejduk. House of the Suicide, from the Lancaster/Hanover Masque 1980-1982

"Through colliding architecture with poetry, he extended it. Extended the understanding of it in an ontological sense. And in my mind extended the possibilities for it. This was often, and I'm being very general here, accomplished through themes of the mythical, the pathos of history, narration, and anthropomorphism."   - Thomas-Michael


Thomas-Michael eloquently articulates the manner in which Hejduk approached his trade, and it definitely resonates with my impression of the architect. In my opinion his designs are just as much about storytelling and myth as they are about form and space.  The structures he creates are characters who inhabit the city, each with their own imbedded history and stories. This will be the basis for my studio course this semester, as we are assigned a unique character from one of Hejduk's works, to then create a design solution for.