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As the building is approached, its appearance changes subtly, as strong form gives way to a tactile, material effect. From afar, the long, white bars are an abstract and self-contained form: a crisp, if somewhat unreal presence amid Fogo’s changing atmospheric conditions. As the visitor comes closer, the ghostly white shape becomes comprehensible as an aggregation of black spruce siding, milled on nearby Cottle’s Island. Relying upon the region’s skilled carpenters, Saunders and his team designed the facades using an inventive pattern of horizontal shiplap and vertical tongue-and-groove boards. This use of local building methods continues with the inn’s interior, which seeks to provide the warmth and hospitality of a Newfoundland living room for its jet-set visitors. Ineke Hans, Donna Wilson and other international artists have reworked traditional furnishings such as rocking chairs and knitted textiles, which are now being produced by local craftsmen. Together with Saunders’s architecture, they have produced beautiful objects that carry a heavy burden, navigating between the traditional rhythms of outport life and the hyper-connectedness of global tourism.
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