NATIVE PLACES: THE NEWSLETTER
A collection of thoughts and hand-drawn sketches that illustrate the value of looking closely at buildings and places.
Thorncrown
We left Fayetteville, Arkansas, at 10:30 one recent morning and drove northeast across rolling hills dotted with dairy farms. We were on our way to see a tiny wood and glass structure nestled in the Ozarks near Eureka Springs.
At noon we arrived at our destination: Thorncrown Chapel, built in 1980 by a retired schoolteacher “to give visitors some inspiration,” he said.
That schoolteacher, Jim Reed, asked Fayetteville architect E. Fay Jones to design a “small glass chapel” on his property. Jones had apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright, and it showed. His stone and unpainted wood houses were celebrated for their uncommon, organic beauty within their natural settings.
Jones had waited 30 years for the opportunity to design a church. And yet, his concept for a roof woven from ordinary framing lumber, rising quietly among the trees, its whole footprint smaller than a pickle ball court, was too unusual for Mr. Reed. He rejected it.
Fay Jones, a gentle soul who never raised his voice, was crushed. So, Reed sought the opinion of friends and strangers, including “the lady at the cash register” at his local grocery store, who loved the design. So did many others. Kaboom! Mr. Reed built the chapel as Jones had designed it.
Seven million visitors have been inspired since.
Throughout history, nature always seems to be the setting for great revelations. A mountain top, a banyan tree, a burning bush. Sitting beside my daughter that January afternoon, we were bathed in sunlight inside a chapel made of 2x6s that anybody can buy from Lowe’s. But here they were put together with a tenderness akin to love. Suddenly I remembered that we are partly made from the residue of stars.
Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See: A book by Frank Harmon. To learn more click here.
Frank Harmon is an architect, educator, and writer who is well known for designing buildings that cultivate the “native wisdom” of their place.
He sketches often, finding that the practice enriches his connection to the world. In his recently released book, Frank offers an invitation: drawing as a way to inspire curiosity, presence, and everyday joy.