Style with Substance
primal modern
Contemporary design and primitive aesthetics share a stripped-down boldness that invigorates traditional adobes as well as ultramodern homes.
Lack of clutter and a pared-down simplicity define the common ground between contemporary and primitive styles.
This article first appeared in Winter 2008 Su Casa
Great architecture, like great marriages, is more often the product of unlikely matchups than the result of tidy, predictable pairings. To prove the point, look no further than the interplay between primitive art and contemporary design.
At first glance, the two seem totally opposed. Contemporary design is precise, machined, technologically sophisticated, and utterly man-made, while primitive art is rough-hewn, random, thoroughly natural, and wonderfully oblivious to rules of proportion or realism. Despite notable exceptions like Frank Gehry and the way he turned things upside down with structures such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, contemporary buildings have tended to be plumb, level, and square, whereas primitive work knows no such constraints.
The modern architect uses mass, color, texture, and light to create an artistic and (usually) secular effect. It’s an intellectual feat, the result of years of study and internship, and the architect is acutely focused on the form itself. At the opposite extreme, the unschooled primitive artist typically renders forms from the natural world for specific sacred purposes such as healing, blessing the hunt, or invoking ancestral spirits. He or she often seems to be moving in the darker and fantastic realms of shamans, and the underlying energy, not the form, is paramount.
Certainly there are plenty of similarities as well. Both “schools” tend to exhibit a stripped-down boldness that projects powerfully from a Zen-like emptiness. Perhaps it’s this incisive lack of clutter that invites the contemporary and the primitive to join forces. After all, every marriage needs at least a little glue! Whatever the affinity is, when you put the two together skillfully, you get sheer dynamite.
Such dynamite comes in many different packages. Look at the work of Pablo Picasso or Joan Miró, and you’ll see the primitive rolled right into the contemporary. Go to a museum, and you’ll invariably see primitive pieces exhibited against stark white backdrops. Or you can reverse the equation and note how striking modern art can be when displayed against ancient adobe walls. Come to think of it, that same adobe wall could easily pass as ultrahip and contemporary when left empty and unadorned! A famous example is the Georgia O’Keeffe house in Abiquiú, New Mexico.
Contrast is obviously part of this formula. If you take primitive or tribal art and display it in a traditional adobe context, it runs the risk of losing its impact and disappearing into the general decor. Similarly, modern art in a contemporary setting may shine beautifully against the sparseness of the surroundings—but it won’t get the additional “aha!” effect that contrast with the primitive can provide.
Contrast . . . boldness . . . emptiness . . . starkness. These sound like terms from art school or a Zen monastery rather than from home design. Yet they are incredibly relevant in creating dynamic living spaces. Any space will be more effective if clutter is minimized, if fewer objects compete for attention and you are free to really appreciate highly intentional details. In any given room, the feature that stands out and speaks to you is probably doing so precisely because it is not just blending in with everything else.
To apply this dynamic to home design, you could start with color and light. Just as a painting with bold red features can appear twice as bold against a white wall, the colors of ceramic tile or fabric take on much more power and definition against a field of white. A corner fireplace in terra cotta can be stunning flanked by white walls, as can an isolated wall of salmon or umber or blue. This is fun stuff! Whereas many homeowners take refuge in safe, monochromatic surroundings, you can create much more energy and interest with contrasting use of color.
The play of light and dark, whether natural or artificial, is equally dynamic. The eye is naturally drawn to pools of light—but there’s no such thing as a pool of light without surrounding darkness, so it’s essential to avoid even light levels throughout the house. Instead, place small skylights at strategic points like the end of a hall or above a special architectural detail, and let the rest of the hallway be a little dark. It’s the same principle behind nighttime accent lighting.
If the primitive/contemporary comparison teaches us anything, it’s that we are as primitive as we are modern and that our nervous system is capable of responding to the full range of human expression. If we evolved in caves where light at the end of the tunnel had specific, life-and-death meaning, why not harness such an ancient imprint and put it to use? If, as hunters and the hunted, we have been trained for millennia to detect anything out of place in the environment and instantly respond, then all you have to do is give a detail the right degree of contrast and let neurology do the rest. Although they may not be aware of it, even the best of contemporary architects draw from the most primitive roots, and so can you.
Vishu Magee designs homes around Santa Fe and Taos. He is the author of Archetype Design: House as a Vehicle for Spirit. Contact him at
archetype-design.com.