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Gerry Cowart's designs are based upon a complex The work of Cowart Group spans what might be described as historic to contemporary. What becomes apparent, though, is not the differences but the similarities. Cowart Group's philosophical virtues hold true in all of these works, whether they be the design of Classical Low Country Style homes carefully situated along the coastal marshes, the Vernacular Style of homes that takes one back to a time when tree canopied roads snaked through sprawling plantations dotted with tin roofed, clapboard homes, or the In a time of sprawling land development, Cowart refuses to believe you have to destroy the land to live on it. He takes great pains to ensure that the work of his firm respects and grows with the landscape, rather than in spite of it. It is not at all unusual to look out one of the huge windows of a Cowart home and see a hundred year old live oak just inches away --- a tree that few architects would have left standing. Cowart is proud to show off the trees and native understory and that he has saved from earth movers. At one homesite, he points out a patch of rare and unique undergrowth Cowart describes his awareness of history as second nature. "Our (Cowart Group�s) effort is an evolutionary one. We're not trying to copy Southern Architecture. We "Since Graduate School, my goal has been to design new architecture that is sensitive to its context and equal to the challenge of the time --- architecture that would be thought of 100 years from now as a defining point of the continuum." (G. D. Cowart) Pro Bono WorkWe are proud to give our talents to needy and worthy causes. We find this benefits all of us as well as our community.
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philosophy that has grown from a love and respect for history, nature, science and the art of Architecture. Cowart is quick to tell you that he is not an imitator of history but a part of the continuum of Southern Architecture. "I was taught the philosophies of modern Architecture while I was at Georgia Tech in the 1970's - glass, steel, less is more, truth in materials, that kind of stuff. So, I cut my teeth on it. I see myself as a modern architect that respects context and history. I don't worship the past. I just happen to feel that when Architecture shows its respect for the past, it is more beautiful than reinventing Architecture with each new project. Learning from the past, respecting place, and incorporating the best of the present are my design goals."
historic urban Architecture typical of Savannah and Charleston.
that he fenced off in order to protect it from being trounced to death. "I told the workers it was off limits. If your hammer falls into that area, it's my hammer," Cowart says with a laugh that belies his seriousness. As for his love of history, Cowart is just as apt to give you a Low Country history lesson as a lesson in Southern Architectural design. His deep, intimate awareness of history and desire to be a part of what he calls "the architectural continuum" is an immutable aspect of his work. "You know, I just always enjoyed history. Because we moved often, I learned the history of many different cultures. I was happy to find an opportunity to combine what I had learned in school with what I thought Architecture should be." It is just that respect for history and indigenous life that has earned him the privilege of designing homes for such sanctuaries as Palmetto Bluff, Brays and Spring Islands in Beaufort, South Carolina and to participate in the restoration efforts of Historic Downtown Savannah and the Isle of Hope.
are, in fact, participating in history. We know the past so intimately that we can evolve it rather than copy it." Much of the firm's philosophy is summed up in a quote by Sir John Soane, dating back to 1795, that appears often in his company's literature. "We must be intimately acquainted with not only what the ancients have done, but endeavor to learn from them what they would have done. We shall therefore, become artists, not mere copyists; we shall avoid servile imitations, and what is more dangerous, improper applications." Cowart is quick to point out that traditional Southern Architecture is often imitated by his contemporaries simply because it is the fashion of the day. It is his intimacy with Southern Architecture and its architectural history that, he says, sets his work apart from the rest.