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EK: Miller/ Hull's houses on Decatur Island are characterized as having been influenced by vernacular architecture. What do you th ink about "the vernacular"?
OM: I think we understand the regional forms that have developed in the northwest. They tend to be roofs with overhangs that shed water. They tend to be fairly open and transparent because light is so important in our cloudy environment. They tend to be connected to the land, because most are on sloping sites, which are hard to build on. I don't think I've built on very many flat sites in my career. I think we really understand how you build in the northwest, so I guess you can call that vernacular. We're very happy being architects that practice there. We understand our climate and our topography, and we use those lessons in many ways. It's taken us twenty-two years to feel like we really have our arms around how one builds in the Pacific northwest. EK: What is the role of the computer in your offi ce?
OM: Everything is done on computers now. Bob and I still have a Mayline and we encourage people to draw manually. I don't think that we should give up on the lowly pencil. 1think there's still something about the pencil that makes a very direct connection with your mind. But. in terms of correcting and altering drawings, the computer is great. All of our projects are done on the computer, even the houses. We have a lot of new people that are much more comfortable drawing on the computer than they are drawing manually. It's a great tool for most things, but not all. We can do more precise dimensioning and coordinate between the mechanical, electrical, and structural systems. At the same time, I'm not sure if it's helping us design any better, but it's certainly helping us present our work more effectively.
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