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Crystal Bridges Museum Announces Architecture and Design Fellowship

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Written by Lynn Berkowitz   
Friday, 06 November 2009 00:37

Dittmar/Mulfinger Cabin - Lake Vermilion, Minnesota - Designed by Dale Mulfinger, Gunter Dittmar, Jan Mulfinger and Susan Dittmar.

BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Dale Mulfinger, a Minnesota-based architect and noted author who has designed cabins throughout North America, will further develop his next book at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Ark. thanks to a new fellowship sponsored by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. As Crystal Bridges' first Architecture & Design Fellow at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow, Mulfinger will spend Nov. 12 - Dec. 9 working on a book that outlines a new way to practice residential architecture. Best-known for his award-winning book The Cabin (Taunton Press, 2001) and follow up books The Getaway Home (2004) and Cabinology (2008), Mulfinger has frequently been asked to write a book about the collaborative approach used by his firm, SALA Architects.

"A lot of firms are created on the heroic model around a central figure - a very top-down approach," Dale Mulfinger said. "At SALA it's a shared experience, more like a studio or law office." The collaborative atmosphere and the smaller scale of residential projects allow Mulfinger's firm to involve clients and contractors more fully in the design process. Ultimately he hopes to open up opportunities for more people to live in custom-designed homes: "That's our professional challenge - to find ways to serve people without costing much more," he said.

"Supporting designers and writers in significant fields of inquiry is precisely what this fellowship is designed to do," said Lynn Berkowitz, director of learning experiences at Crystal Bridges. "We are thrilled to bring Dale Mulfinger to Arkansas."

Dale Mulfinger - Minnesota based architect and noted author. In addition to writing, Mulfinger will share his expertise with the larger community. On Friday, December 4, from 5:30 - 7 p.m. Mulfinger will present a lecture titled Cabinology - Designing Your Private Hideaway at the Massey, Crystal Bridges' temporary gallery space in downtown Bentonville. This free drop-in program, part of the museum's Books and Biscotti lecture series, is best for adults and teens; light refreshments will be served. Mulfinger's book will be available for purchase courtesy of Borders.

A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Mulfinger is well known for creating intimate, finely detailed residential spaces infused with the architectural character of historic homes. He cofounded SALA architects as Mulfinger and Susanka Architects in 1983, and the firm has received numerous awards, including the Minnesota AIA's Firm of the Year award. Mulfinger teaches a class on cabin design at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture and lectures frequently throughout the United States. In the fall of 2003, he was the first Fay Jones Chair in Architecture at the University of Arkansas.

The Crystal Bridges Museum of Art Architecture and Design Writing Fellowship offers qualified professionals a four-week residency to pursue writing projects with an emphasis on the fields of American architecture, landscape architecture, crafts and furnishings.

"The Crystal Bridges fellowship allows The Writers' Colony to support arts and design writing in a deeply productive way; by giving noted arts and design writers protected and supported writing time to accomplish serious works," said Jennifer Hansen, executive director of the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow.

"It's a nice break," Mulfinger said. "I'm really grateful for the opportunity to return to Arkansas."

Visit : http://www.crystalbridges.org/

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