- Stainless steel support brackets that doubles as a towel bar
- Linen cabinet underway
- Choosing colors
Posted in Design Projects, tagged bathroom, Berkeley, cabinets, color, houses, paint, remodeling on April 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged curves, furniture, paint, painted plywood, patterns, value, wood on April 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I made this painted plywood seat for my friend Matt’s family heirloom chair a while back. Just happened upon the photo while searching through my files.
Posted in Information, tagged architecture for good on April 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My Dad just sent me this interview of Rahul Mehrotra, an architect practicing in Mumbai, India . He presents some of his ways of helping to connect society, “soften thresholds,” and bridge the gap between rich an poor in a very economically stratified place. In case you don’t have time to read the article, here is one excerpt from the interview that I found meaningful:
“This idea—how architecture can deepen social divides, depending on how it is used—is a major theme in your work, and obviously something you care deeply about. Do you ever have a private client who wants to build a very ostentatious house? How do you handle that?
I try to steer my wealthy clients toward “introverted worlds”—marble floors, nice fixtures. Ostentation on the inside rather than the outside. Polarization occurs when wealth is flaunted, and architecture can get co-opted in that process.”
Posted in Found Objects, tagged furniture, holes, Julia Morgan, whimsy, wood on April 24, 2012 | 4 Comments »
I am so excited about this bench that I can’t wait for better photos. I’ll add some later. My friends Jim and Treacy Malloy bought it for me at an auction at the YWCA. It is originally from the Oakland YWCA, designed by Julia Morgan and completed in 1915. It is perfect in my rustic kitchen. You will see this better when I add some photos not taken with my phone. (although this photo does have my cat Frodo’s tail, which is hard to beat.)
Posted in Design Projects, tagged plywood, wooden boats on April 23, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, neon, patterns, salvaged, turquoise, wood on April 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, commercial, utilitarian on April 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
This project is the opposite of my last post. 14000 SF of beautiful space is very nice if you want to fabricate things. No need to squeeze in storage space in every nook and cranny! We are working on improvements to the space for a technology start-up to use it for fabrication and testing of their prototypes.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged green, landscape, paint, painted plywood, passive solar, rainscreen, redwood, salvaged, small buildings on April 10, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Posted in Found Objects, tagged Detroit, historical styles, houses, stone on April 9, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
My Detroit, Michigan correspondent just sent me these photos of a stone house for sale.
Here is an article with more photos of the house from the local paper.
Some of the details include carved wooden heads of Tigers baseball players decorating the mantle.
It looks like it has been well maintained. Move right in!
Posted in Found Objects, tagged desert architecture, historical styles, houses, landscape, prospect & refuge, urban design on April 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Built into a valley with steep hills all around, Bisbee has very interesting sectional properties (archi-speak for lots of level changes and three dimensional relationships between structures and spaces.) Every view is slightly different and the absence of significant trees makes the effects of the topography more dramatic. In addition to the elevation changes the curving streets make things even more picturesque.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, cabinets, holes, interiors, natural light, process on April 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
These are “sketches” of a cabinet upgrade. This existing deep cabinet will get glass doors and translucent glass back so that light from the stairwell skylight behind the cabinet will light up the glassware and shine through into the dining room. I’ll post a photo when its built.
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, faded red, gates, landscape, turquoise on April 5, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I am going to treat you to a few days of pictures of this creative and historic town in Southeast Arizona. I climbed the hills in the late afternoon and enjoyed stunning views of the coppery mountains with houses in sun and shadow. This first series captures some of the colors. As you can see, turquoise and green are popular colors. Warm, rich reds, yellows, and oranges also are common choices. Even the hills are many different colors. Some are vivid rusty red-orange, and others are a less flashy brown with green shrubs dominating the pallet.

Its a long walk up to this colorful hillside enclave. The late afternoon sunlight lights up the hillside and brings out the warm colors

This outdoor dining area is very festive with its colored lights and faded red painted fence. This color reminds me of an ancient pickup truck faded by the desert sun.

You should zoom in to see the intricate details of these copper entry gates. What a nice tribute to the history of Bisbee and its copper mines.

This slightly faded USPS mailbox nicely complements the green bench. Again, the desert sun quickly adds a nice patina to painted objects.