Wild Civility

Embracing the paradox of the human condition is to look at what seems to be conflicted opposites and to see only harmony. Wild Civility approaches this dynamic as a poetic study in a classically serene minimalism set against the wildness of nature. This pairing is done through the idea of creating a simple moment, a space, a place for thoughtful repose within the untamed richness of nature. The design contrasts the organic and expressive qualities of a 100-year-old garden with the minimalist elegance of a simple metal deck. The footprint is a modest 90 square-foot platform that extends beyond the rear addition of a one-bedroom home in San Francisco. The original small deck was a plain concrete extension to the foundation of the house. In a modern reference to the tea houses at the Katsura Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, the first texture is that of long stripes of wood grained porcelain tile, with the second layer consisting of a fine horizontal surface of aluminum grating, which provides an openness in transition to the garden, while the third layer increases this openness with thin stainless-steel rods that offers a delicate frame from which to view the garden. Every part of the metal deck has been carefully studied to maximize simplicity, economy, and formal clarity with the intention to make cold steel sing like music with Zen-like calm and grace. The minimalist design uses tapered vertical plates as posts with laser-cut tear drop details, open aluminum grating and horizontal stainless-steel rods, reminiscent of musical scores, to allow for a permeable delicacy that provides an open view of the garden and permits natural light to filter down thru the deck to the garden below.