By Ron Broadhurst, Rizzoli, $60.00 300 pages
Architectural dream, Houses: Modern Natural, Natural Modern by Ron Broadhurst portrays visually complex designs from around the world in stunning photographic marvels, sketches and documentation of each site in this large coffee table book. The author highlights the natural marriage of settings and materials indigenous to each case study. While the focus is natural venues; the homes and buildings are not necessarily attractive or livable but they sing authenticity, uniqueness, picturesque prowess within the environment they are built upon. The proficiency is there in the quality, in the eye for detail, in the understanding of the surroundings without the pretense of million dollar homes and overly luxurious amenities. Some homes expose the unrefined lifestyle of a particular area with the same raw materials of a prairie homestead of stone, mud and clay, allowing the beauty of nature to be fully exposed and explored. Some very pleasant designs mingle with the less appealing but all in all, an aesthetically pleasing collection of work.