About Limaçon Design
Limaçon Design’s core commitment is to the sustainable co-evolution of natural ecologies and human habitats, with passive design methods, low-carbon materials and circular ecologies of natural resources. With a practice encompassing contemporary/ new masonry design as well as the conservation of historic structures, LD’s foremost aims are 1: To revalorize traditional building methods and land management practices for renewed relevancy in contemporary design, engineering and environmental policy, and 2: To look at how specific structures (such as buildings) may draw from and influence the cultural landscape.
Masonry is a part of the historical building fabric of virtually every location in the world. At Limaçon Design, our design practice has been influenced by the intangible heritage of many different building materials and techniques, from fired brick vaulting techniques, to raw earth construction, to early loadbearing lime and natural cement masonry. Our philosophy is that local innovation is best innovation; Local methods have the greatest technical intelligence and fitness for a local place, its cultural landscape, climate and ecology. Hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of years of bottom-up technology development offer sustainable, time-tested solutions from generations of past master-builders. This approach provides contemporary architects and structural engineers with a broad palette of tools for thoughtful and sustainable local design.
History + Team
Limaçon Design was first established in 2001. After a decade and a half of experience working with master-builders abroad, LD is now established in the greater New England region and continues to work on projects abroad. LD is a WOB and proud to have served three decades shifting the dialog of inclusive cultures in the building trades. In case you hadn’t noticed, we think women and minorities in masonry are very cool and set the bar for the industry!
Lara Davis is the founding partner of Limaçon Design with three decades’ experience in masonry design, structural design and construction. Specializing in earthen building and large-span vaults and shells, she is an architect by professional training (licensed by the Council of Architecture, India), with work that has crossed over the cultures of landscape, structural engineering, heritage preservation, vernacular materials research and building craftsmanship. She is a member of APT International, APT Northeast, CRAterre (the International Center for Earthen Architecture in Grenoble, France), ICOMOS ISCEAH (International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage), and has served on the Board of Directors at Opus 40 Sculpture Park and Museum. She previously led the Auroville Earth Institute in South India for ten years as Co-Director, where she served as academic representative for the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Constructive Cultures and Sustainable Development. She holds a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics, School of Art & Design at Alfred University and an M.Arch from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has taught at the ETH Zürich, the Auroville Earth Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and has led hands-on training programs on four continents. Notable professional projects include the Martin Puryear sculpture “Lookout” at Storm King Art Center, the Sharanam Conference Hall in Pondicherry, India, and the Kaza Eco-Community Center in Spiti Valley, India. She has exhibited work at the MoMA, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Venice Biennale and MIT Museum.
Why a Limaçon?
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