A MUSEUM FOR MV? BY SOUTH MOUNTAIN? (Part ll)

February 24, 2011 · Posted in Collaboration, Design, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company · 8 Comments

So. . . we got the job.

The next two and a half months (mid-November through January) became a wild whirlwind of committee meetings, inquiries, design excursions, public meetings, and pedal-to-the-medal production of the deliverable products we had promised. The holidays didn’t help, and it didn’t help either that we were establishing an intense collaborative relationship with a firm we had never worked with before, and doing it under the gun.

But we got it done. We’re very proud of the products of this work. And pleased with the collaboration with the Museum staff and planning committee, and with Oudens Ello, the Boston firm with whom we partnered. Talented architect Ryan Bushey, the youngest SMC owner, did a superb job leading our charge – pulling together complex programming information, working closely with our Boston team, and pulling a few late-nighters to get all the drawings done.

Tags: Martha's Vineyard Museum, Oudens Ello Architecture

A MUSEUM FOR MV? BY SOUTH MOUNTAIN?

February 14, 2011 · Posted in Collaboration, Design, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company · 2 Comments

For more than a decade I have had a low-grade obsession with the St Pierre property in Vineyard Haven, the site of an old Marine Hospital that sits high on a bluff overlooking Lagoon Pond and the Vineyard Harbor beyond. The evocative 4.4 acre property is a short walk from downtown. It is surrounded by small lots with small homes.

The imposing wood-frame hospital was built in 1895 by the U.S. government to treat soldiers, sailors, and their families. In 1935 they expanded with a brick addition on the rear and continued to operate the hospital. When it closed in the mid-fifties the St Pierre family bought it and operated it as a school and summer camp (and then just a summer camp) for 50 years. In 2007 Barbara St Pierre, daughter of the founders of the St Pierre School, ceased operation. The 10,000 SF building is in a state of disrepair, but it still has very good bones and begs for new life.

Tags: Martha's Vineyard Museum, Oudens Ello Architecture

This blog provides up-to-date news of goings-on at
South Mountain Company and occasional musings
and short essays from John (and others).

JOHN ABRAMS is co-founder and CEO
of South Mountain Company and the author
of COMPANIES WE KEEP read more
Reading List
- THE WATCHMAN'S RATTLE: Thinking our Way out of Extinction by Rebecca Costa | Sociobiologist Costa explores the capacity of the human brain, and how we can use ours to solve our greatest problems.
- THE GREAT DISRUPTION by Paul Gilding | The former director of Greenpeace and long-time corporate sustainability consultant takes us on a journey to the future of our economy
- EAARTH: MAKING A LIFE ON A TOUGH NEW PLANET by Bill McKibben. For McKibben, climate change is not about the future – we’ve already changed the planet irrevocably. Now, as we try to minimize the damage, we have to learn how to live in this new place.
- WHAT I WISH I KNEW WHEN I WAS 20 by Tina Seelig | The subtitle is A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World – it’s about innovation, radical collaboration and harnessing the unexpected.
- PLAN B 4.0 by Lester Brown | For over 30 years Lester Brown has been keeping us abreast of the State of the World, environmentally. His latest, Plan B 4.0, is a road map to real climate change solutions
- THE REAL WORLD OF EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP by John Logue and Jacquelyn Yates | The best primer on employee ownership, this useful book comes from the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, which has actively and successfully helped Ohio companies for decades
- WHOLE EARTH DISCIPLINE: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto By Stewart Brand | One of the most provocative thinkers of our times makes a powerful myth-shattering call to arms to save the planet. This book changed the way I think about topics I’ve thought about for a long time.
- THE MYTH OF PROGRESS: Toward a Sustainable Future by Tom Wessels | In this beautifully written small volume the author makes a compelling statement about why perpetual growth is not – and can’t be – the answer to our economic struggles.
- COME HOME AMERICA: The Rise and Fall (and Redeeming Promise) of our Country by William Greider | The noted author and National Affairs Correspondent for the Nation helps us understand the profound challenges and opportunities of the great transitions to come.
- BORN TO RUN by Christopher McDougall | An epic adventure about the reclusive Tarahumara Indians in Mexico which, through remarkable characters and stories, becomes a journey about values, community, and human evolution.
- DOWN TO THE WIRE: Confronting Climate Collapse By David Orr | Another eloquent – and troubling – call to action for the planet. Orr combines science, history, and public policy to make a compelling case that effective political leadership is the essential missing ingredient standing in our way.
- CHANGE BY DESIGN by Tim Brown | The CEO of the legendary design firm IDEO proposed that Design Thinking – the idea that every problem is a design problem – wil need to become a part of every successful organization.