Ventana House, Designed by Associate Professor of Practice Michael Kothke and His Firm HK Associates, Featured in Wallpaper* Magazine

The work of HK Associates, the architecture firm established and led by College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture Associate Professor of Practice Michael Kothke and his partner Kathy Hancox, was featured in the May 2020 issue of Wallpaper*, a highly esteemed, widely circulated magazine of design based in London.

The article notes how “the newly finished Ventana House is a showcase for the HK approach, described by the architects as ‘a window on the desert.’” The two-story, 3,500-square-foot custom home is built into a rocky slope near the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona. “The façade that greets the visitor is treated like a geological outcrop, with rugged exterior walls, deep window reveals and overhangs that are sharply delineated by the strong desert sunlight,” writer Jonathan Bell says.

“I think the most successful aspect of the project is the immersive connection to the outdoors as one moves through the home,” says Kothke in the article. “Turning each corner brings a new engagement with the desert setting.”

Kothke, who joined CAPLA in 2006, is a studio coordinator and course lecturer. Over the last 14 years he has taught at every year level of the Bachelor of Architecture curriculum, from Foundation to Capstone, and is currently the ARC202 and ARC401 coordinator. Kothke holds a Master of Architecture from Dalhousie University and is a licensed architect who has contributed to award-winning projects in Canada and the U.S. HK Associates believes in the power of thoughtful design to enrich life, and views every project as an opportunity to create something meaningful. Good design, when tuned to place, is inherently sustainable.