For Weiss/Manfredi’s International Retreat – a conference center for international organizations to discuss issues and politics – the project exemplifies the firm’s emphasis of the integration of architecture and landscape. A series of existing early 20th-century buildings sit on the 400 acre site, and the project uses a network of gardens to create a framework for these renovated and programmatically transformed structures.
More images and more about the project after the break.
The landscape forms the organizing agent for the project as the new gallery wing for the informal gatherings sits at the center of these gardens. Running north-south across the site, the landscape is defined by a linear reflecting pool, trees, crushed stone, and flowering ground cover whereas toward the south, the design is more of a informal setting of water, trees, and outdoor seating which defines the garden. The east-west landscape links the renovated garage and stables, capturing residual exterior spaces and turning them into cultivated gardens.
