Photos by Sam Slifer
With his grandfather as a play date, a young Edward Eichten loved building with Legos. Did that inform his future as an architect? Perhaps, but that’s kind of cliche. “For me, Legos equate to a level of play and exploration in life that I like to maintain,” says Eichten, who founded his firm, ERE Architecture, in 2017. This specific project, dubbed Cabin Squared, is a core example of his playful spirit at work.
Not your typical up-north cabin, the remote, rugged structure acts as an escape from reality for its owner. And for Eichten, it was a challenge that reinforced an existential reality sometimes overlooked in architecture today.
The Cabin
Many Midwestern cabins fit a traditional model: a rustic weekend getaway for the family with all the comforts they can pack in their SUV. This outdoor getaway, though, breaks that mold. At 320 square feet, the off-the-grid cabin is without running water and has electricity only when the sun happens to provide it. The owners arrive by hiking a wooded trail to find a canoe they then paddle to the cabin.
Building materials, however, don’t do well in a canoe. Framing, roofing, and more made their way to the cabin by snowmobile the winter prior to the construction process, which was completed in collaboration with A-Squared Design + Build + Remodel. Fortunately, a small structure means a small materials list, and open-frame walls meant no need for 4-by-8-foot sheets of wall board or plywood. No need for fancy (or heavy) plumbing fixtures either.
The Why
“My favorite thing about this cabin? Not often do I get to do something bare bones,” says Eichten. “It’s a nod to cabin building of old.” As a sort of reduction of form, the owner gathered a few windows from other building projects, and Eichten designed the cabin to fit them. “This was a balance of reality,” he continues. “We can dream up a whole ton of stuff, but it has to exist in the reality of structural limitations, budgets, timelines, and labor.”
But the most difficult aspect? “The small footprint,” says Eichten. (More like a thumb print, maybe.) Every space has multiple purposes by design. “It needed to be flexible for dining, sleeping, and living, and [now], it [gets] to evolve with a young family.”
