A special lecture by Caroline O’Donnell and Iris Xiaoxue Ma

Join is at the residency on Wednesday, September 21 for this special event with architect Caroline O’Donnell and Iris Xiaoxue Ma as they discuss the design and development of our accessible addition. This talk will take place in the building they designed! Built between June, 2020 and May, 2021, we are now able to accommodate artists and writers with disabilities as well as offer accessible space for public events.

• Location: Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts | 435 Ellis Hollow Creek Road
• Day/Time: Wednesday, September 21 at 6:00pm
• Parking: Parking is located at the Saltonstall office. (The first building on the right at the top of the drive.) You will then walk about 100 yards further up the paved driveway to the residency buildings, keeping to your left. Accessible parking is available directly in front of the new addition at the very end of the paved driveway.
• Other details: This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Masks are encouraged but not required. Weather-permitting, three sets of double doors and all windows will be open for added ventilation.

From CODA (Caroline’s design firm):

Salt Inc. is a project that compresses five desired spaces into three, functioning by time-sharing two of the main spaces with two programs each, depending on use and season.

At times, this addition is intended to accessibly house one of the artists in a five-person residency, along with the requisite collective cooking and dining spaces; at other times, the addition functions as a public gallery for one of the foundation’s frequent Open Houses. The design transforms from a domestic setting to a public state via a large rotating wall between the studio/gallery and dining room/gallery. On the exterior, a series of barn doors/screens create privacy to the studios during public events and form a backdrop to the performances in the courtyard.

Salt Inc. is conceived as a folded surface that wraps around an existing building. The skin folds to wrap the facade of the addition, folds diagonally to form an outdoor amphitheater, and finally folds diagonally to lie horizontally along the ground, creating a tail that lines the path leading to the existing main house. In this way, the addition ties together the two existing buildings on site.

Shousugiban (charred) cypress is used as the outer skin. Using this Japanese technique, the wood is carbonized by burning to produce a waterproof and sun resistant layer. The combustion neutralizes the cellulose that attracts insects and bacteria, so it requires minimal maintenance. Shousugiban connects the fragments of buildings on the site without literal mimicry to the material of the main house, which is a dark grey stained wood. Built in 1992 as a residence for founder, Constance Saltonstall, the modest house is domestic yet stoic.