Writing about architecture is a very distinct challenge from making architecture- I am best at the making.

With apologies, I turn to the opening stanza of John Keats’ Endymion to articulate a succinct ethos around which my practice revolves:

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."

It is my observation that beauty in the modern world is an increasingly elusive - and consequently treasured- experience. Thus, I am committed to the notion that architecture can be a steward of beauty, providing a critical counterpoint to the accelerated, technological and overwhelmingly banal realm in which we exist for a great deal of our lives.

A meticulous attention to detail. A commitment to craftsmanship. A devotion to poetic composition.

These qualities are the hallmarks of my practice. The journey of human experience in architecture- approach, entrance, procession, arrival- is framed as a precise choreography of movement and rest in which these qualities are quietly felt and savored.

Each of my homes is intentionally approached as a vessel for contemplation of beauty- architecture, artwork, furnishings, landscape - which seeks to counter modern life with elegant silence and stillness.

Louis Kaufman is an American architect and designer based in Hailey, Idaho.

With over 40 years of experience, his residential portfolio includes commissions located in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. He also has extensive design experience in commercial and institutional architecture, notably in healthcare and education.

A graduate of Deerfield Academy, Louis holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California / Los Angeles and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and he maintains professional registrations in California and Idaho.