For two weeks each summer, architect Brian MacKay-Lyons uses his family farm on the east coast of Nova Scotia for a special event. Among the stone ruins of a village almost four hundred years old, he assembles a community of architects, professors, and students for a design-build internship and educational initiative called Ghost Research Lab.



The two-week project—one week of design and one-week of construction—rests on the idea that architecture is not only about building but also about the landscape, its history, and the community. Based on the apprenticeship environment of the ancient guilds, where architectural knowledge was transferred through direct experience, Ghost redefines the architect as a builder who cultivates and contributes to the quality of the native landscape.



This book is the photographic documentation of the authors experience of the Ghost Architectural Laboratory 11 in the Summer of 2009. This book contains images of the design and construction of a historic octagonal barn as well as images of the Nova Scotia landscape and work from MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects.