Studio Houses, Fogo Islands

Architect: Todd Saunders
Text: Eszter Götz
Photos: Saunders Architects

Todd Saunders chose the barren cliffs of Fogo Islands off the coasts of Newfoundland as the site to build his uniquely positioned studio houses for an association of artists. The other part of the programme is the construction of a whole artists’ colony by updating the traditional dwelling-houses of the island so that the complex could accommodate an international camp of artists for several months year by year. Each studio house is made up of pure geometric forms. Extremely simplified, their lines evoke artificial cliffs limited by regular lines drawn by hand so as to distinguish them from natural forms whilst also contrasting them.