. . . is a program for architecture students that over the last two decades has become one of the most influential environmental and cultural forces in reshaping the built environment while creating the archeology of tomorrow. The program has received numerous design and educational awards over the years. The Spirit of Place has recently been featured in the Smithsonian, Architectural Record, National Geographic and Dwell.
Travis Price, one of the most influential Architects of our time, works together with The Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture & Planning to co-sponsor and coordinate international design build expeditions for students. Students have the opportunity to research, design, and construct a project in a remote landscape, as a team with the leadership of Travis Price and Kathleen Lane. The awarded program focuses not only on design and build architecture, but also associates itself with the fields of anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, environment, and the arts.
The objective of the program is to explore and educate about the design and construction of architectural forms that are able to respond to their natural and cultural settings in a modern idiom to foster a new language of modern architecture. In the program’s intense construction phase, students work hand in hand with Travis Price and his team to create outstanding legacy markers in remote areas under strenuous conditions. The design process of the program takes place over the period of a semester, while the construction phase is completed in less than nine days. For many students, this hands-on experience is their first exposure to construction techniques.
Over the past decade, the expeditions have resulted in a series of international investigations into the spirit of remote landscapes, the diversity of the appropriate cultures, and the fusion of these into practical and metaphorical architectural objects. The preservation of cultural metaphors in those distant landscapes continue to guide the development of the program’s award-winning projects.
SPIRIT of PLACE / SPIRIT of DESIGN inc. is a 501 C3 Non-Profit welcoming financial and intellectual contributions.
1992 – ‘Crow and Sacred Greek Geometries’ – A temple. Yukon Border, British Columbia
1993 – ‘The Spirit of the Mask’ – Outhouses. Yukon Border, British Columbia
1996 – ‘The Meeting of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water’ – A Sweat Lodge. South Trail Island, British Columbia
1997 – ‘The Shrine of the Salamander & the Second Chakra’ – Bathhouses. Santa Barbara, California
1998 – ‘The Fullness of the Void’ – A Bridge. Vargas Island, Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia
1999 – ‘Floating in the 10,000 Senses’ – A Casita. Yacumama Lodge, Amazon River, Peru
2000 – ‘A Stargazing Portal to the Inca Mayu – Milky Way’ – A Temple. Machu Picchu, Peru
2001 – ‘Sukhavati (Bliss) & The Nagmani (Snake’s Eyes)’ – A Temple. Nagarjun Mountain, Kathmandu, Nepal
2002 – ‘The Thin Places’ – Two Shrines dedicated to those Lost at Sea. Anagh Head, Doonamoe, Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland
2003 – ‘Where the Daughter Winds of Islam Caress the Mirror of Venus’ – A Temple to Venus. Pantelleria, Italy
2004 – ‘The Vault of Heaven and the Children of Erris’ – A Shrine Processional dedicated to the children of Erris. Scotts Port, Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland
2005 – ‘A Home for the Children of Lir’ – County Mayo, Carataigh, Ireland
2007 – ‘Temple of the Tides of Time – Tearmon na Taoide’ – County Mayo, Belmullet, Ireland
2008 – ‘National memorial to James Hoban, Architect of the White House’, County Kilkenny, Desart, Ireland
2010 – ‘Kalevalakehto: The Shaman’s Haven of the Kalevala’ – Helsinki, Finland
2011 – ‘The Sea of Souls: Memorial to the Magar Ancestors’ – Namje-Thumki, Nepal
2012 – ‘Amerigo Vespucci Memorial’ – Florence, Italy
2013 – ‘Tale of the Tongs – The Gathering’ – Inishturk Island, County Mayo, Ireland
2014 – ‘The Crossing’ – DownPatrick Head – County Mayo, Ireland
2015 – ‘Procession of the Souls’ – Swinford, County Mayo, Ireland
2016 – ‘‘The Mhuysqa Offering’ – Tenjo, Lake Guatavita, Colombia
2017 – ‘‘Fishers of Men and Manannán Mac Lir ’ Cong – County Mayo/County Galway, Ireland
2018 – ‘‘Macbeth Memorial’ Inverness – Scotland
For more information about SPIRIT of PLACE / SPIRIT of DESIGN visit: http://www.spiritofplace-design.com