About L I M A ç O N D E S I G N
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 masonry design as well as heritage preservation work, LD's foremost aims are 1: to revalorize traditional building methods and land management practices for renewed relevancy in contemporary design and structural design, and 2: to look at how specific design scopes (such as a building) may draw from and influence the cultural landscape (for example, how historic masonry methods were employed for sustainable water management in the built environment).
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. i.e. local methods have the greatest technical intelligence and fitness for a local place as well as its 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
Limaçon Design was first established in 2001. After more than a decade of experience working with master-builders abroad, LD is now established in Rhode Island, serving the greater New England region as well as projects abroad.
Services
LD specializes in the custom design, construction and analysis of vaulted masonry – especially at the landscape scale – with raw earth, fired brick and stone. This includes the use of dry-stone structures and non-traditional mortars such as raw/ stabilized earth, rapid-setting gypsum, fat/ hydraulic lime, natural cement, and local bio-polymers.
Services for New Masonry Design and for Historic Preservation + Conservation include:
Technical design, Shop drawings and CD's; Analysis of vaulted structures; Masonry Specifications; Condition Assessment reports; Field assessment of soils; Mortar development, evaluation and testing; Mockups; Hands-on training for masons; Site surveys, mapping and documentation.
(Note: For full service construction scope LD typically partners with licensed contractors or other traditional trades workers; and for structural assessments LD partners with licensed structural engineers.)
Services for New Masonry Design and for Historic Preservation + Conservation include:
Technical design, Shop drawings and CD's; Analysis of vaulted structures; Masonry Specifications; Condition Assessment reports; Field assessment of soils; Mortar development, evaluation and testing; Mockups; Hands-on training for masons; Site surveys, mapping and documentation.
(Note: For full service construction scope LD typically partners with licensed contractors or other traditional trades workers; and for structural assessments LD partners with licensed structural engineers.)
Founding Partner
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 CoA India), with work that has crossed over the cultures of landscape, structural engineering, heritage preservation, historic/ 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 the Board of Directors at Opus 40 Sculpture Park and Museum. She previously served for ten years as Co-Director of the Auroville Earth Institute in South India and 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's inter-departmental “Sustainability Design Lab”, 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.
Contact LD!
Foster, Rhode Island