This was one of Donald Judd’s rules, according to our docent who was showing us around Judd’s home and studio, La Mansana de Chinati. The docent was also skeptical that Judd and his extended family really lived in what now seems like a minimal work of art, “with only one closet in three buildings,” she said. I replied, “he probably had people.”

It doesn’t feel minimal though. Judd was a collector and the collections filled in the gaps of the beautifully walled spaces and grounds. Geology being one interest among many, there are rocks on windowsills, and under the massive bookcases. The books, organized in some dewey desert decimal system, fill two enormous rooms. One has a large table in the center next to a wood stove that holds more collections. The red haired intern said that the shelves and interiors were just as they were when Judd died. The brown felt hat on the table stood in for the former occupant as if to verify the fact. Among his other collections are Native American blankets, turquoise jewelry, and several pieces of antique furniture. The one closet in his bedroom was locked with two enormous padlocks and a security sensor. One thing for sure, he was a good architect. While it might not be one idea per space it is certainly the space enriched by material & proportion that is powerful. It is built with an attitude that makes the petty distinctions between landscape architecture and architecture seem not just trivial but wrong.