I love houses that cannot be categorized. Or maybe they all can be……anyone got a name for this style?
Archive for the ‘Found Objects’ Category
A truly unique piece of architecture
Posted in Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, houses, humor on January 19, 2011| 4 Comments »
HVAC design ideas
Posted in Found Objects, tagged HVAC, patterns, Rem Koolhas, Renzo Piano on January 16, 2011| 3 Comments »
This is an art museum in Houston designed by Renzo Piano called the Menil Collection. One particularly cool detail there is the floor registers that are turned into an artistic accent. Long straight lines with smaller lines within in the long straight hallway….nicely contrasting with the accentuated wavy wood grain. It is also nice to have such an even distribution, rather than small holes in one corner of each room.
Rem Koolhas’s team also likes to carefully consider their HVAC details. This elegant supply register is in the Seattle Central Library….scattered throughout the lobby punctuating the varied pallet of flooring materials.
Municipal Natatorium, Pt Richmond, CA
Posted in Found Objects, tagged green, humor, lighting design, Richmond, signs on January 14, 2011| 2 Comments »
The public swimming pool in Point Richmond reopened with a grand celebration recently. In the interior, the beautiful structure is washed with daylight, and a floor to ceiling mural at one end by John Wehrle really completes the experience. I took a photo of the huge lighted sign the other night because it amused me. Maybe more buildings should be clearly labeled like this. I’ve considered it for my house, in part because I like to paint. The street numbers could be 8″ high and painted in glow in the dark paint. We could bring in a new era of sign painting arts and put neon sign makers to work. I’m not sure all the signs should be mounted at an angle to the building like this…and they could be slightly more subtle perhaps….but they should all be as beautiful as possible. No shiny plastic.
These tables made from old bike parts are cool
Posted in Found Objects, tagged furniture, recycled, salvaged on December 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
They are made in New Zealand by Carbon Footprint Design
Unfortunately it would up the carbon footprint a bit to ship them across the Pacific. I imagine that they are pretty lightweight though.
Northern California Fall
Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, tagged garden, green, landscape, Northern California seasons, passive solar, plants, trees on December 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »
In honor of the Northern California Fall I am posting a few photos of the glorious trees that might be the most important architectural feature of my apartment. Without this pair of venerable deciduous Zelcova trees I would have much less privacy in my bedroom and the house and yard would be much hotter and sunnier in the summer months. The beauty of a deciduous tree smack on the south side of the house is that in the winter the sun streams into the south-facing windows. warming and cheering the rooms. Of course the fall foliage is a nice side benefit.
The seasons in Northern California have always seemed a bit confused to this native of Detroit. I recently realized why: When the fall foliage begins, it is usually also the beginning of the rainy season. This means that simultaneously some trees are turning red, orange, yellow and brown, and most other plants and trees are turning bright green from all of the rain. In the spring the reverse is true. The deciduous trees are sprouting little green leaves and buds….and most other things are turning brown as the water supply diminishes.
I painted the burgee on my art studio new colors for the fall. This building also has the benefits of a deciduous tree to the south. This time it is the spectacular California Buckeye. 
Architecture in the Grand Canyon National Park
Posted in Found Objects, tagged bright colors, camoflage, color, desert architecture, desert colors, grand canyon national park, landscape, Mary Coulter, metal, metal railings, national park architecture, patterns, railing, stone on November 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »
The architectural highlights of my visit to the south rim of the Grand Canyon were a study in contrasts.
Mary Coulter’s Lookout studio, perched right on the rim is built of the canyon limestone and meant to blend right into the backdrop.
Lookout Studio from afar
She is successful in this goal. Up close, once you realize there is a building, the rustic charm is clear.
Lookout Studio: 1914, Designer Mary Colter, rough cut limestone to blend with the surroundings
On the other end of the spectrum, there are many buildings and parts of buildings painted vibrant colors. These sorts of color schemes are best in the bright clear sunlight of the desert or tropics.
The bright desert sun on some bold color choices
Bright painted doors
I included a photo of the curving metal railing that follows the rim just because it is simple and elegant without being institutional.
elegant curving railings at the edge of the canyon
The High Line in the Fall
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, garden, landscape, New York, plants on November 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Also in New York City, I revisited the wonderful High Line to see how all the plants are doing. The are doing great! In late October the High Line is alive with fall colors:
PH Tour 2: Nabih’s details
Posted in Found Objects, tagged energy efficiency, heat recovery ventilator, HVAC, passive house, rainscreen, windows, wood on November 4, 2010| 2 Comments »
Passive house is a fairly new word. This recent evolutionary step in building technology comes from Austria, but many of the concepts are ancient. The basic idea is to insulate really well and eliminate random air leakage and thereby require way less heating energy. Ideally all the heat needed will be generated by occupants, their computers and light bulbs, and the sun.
Pretty simple, right? The devil is in the details. Real Passive Houses also must pass a performance test to prove they actually work.
Nabih Tahan was an innovator on the west coast. The New York Times published an article about Passive Houses a houses in 2008 that mentions his Berkeley California renovation project.
Unfortunately, Nabih’s house failed the blower door test for leakiness, so doesn’t actually qualify as a passive house, but he has measured his energy use over the last two years and it performs extremely well. He had to install electric baseboard heaters to satisfy the building code. He rarely turns on these heaters, but since electric heat is inefficient, (a lot is wasted in transmission) his “source energy load” is slightly over the Passive House requirement. He thinks that he would have qualified if he had used gas heaters.
Here is a picture of Nabih’s Air to air heat exchanger (energy recovery ventilator) from Ultimate Air:
The guy in the picture designed and installed the system. His name is is George Nesbitt, and he has a company called Environmental Design-Build.
Nabih installed redwood rainscreen siding. I think it was made out of the old siding, milled into flat slats. His window details are pretty nice:
Woven tapestries and plants are better than acoustical ceiling tiles
Posted in Found Objects, tagged acoustics, garden, New York, plants on November 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is a very quiet and peaceful retreat from the clamor of Manhattan.
Instead of more mundane and technical solutions, they chose to achieve the desired quiet by commissioning a textile artist to weave giant tapestries and growing plants on other parts of the walls. A subtle water feature completes the effect perfectly.
The plant covered wall and one of many round skylights
The water fountain and the living wall
Handwoven Tapestry and a Computer Screen
Passive House Tour #1: San Jose (under construction)
Posted in Found Objects, tagged energy efficiency, green, passive house, process on October 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This past Sunday I went on a tour of some cutting edge energy-efficient houses. (They are hoping to meet the Passive House Standard) These photos are of one house in San Jose (1820 Cottle Avenue) by One Sky Homes. It is a conventional, 3200 SF luxury tract home, but will need much less energy to operate. According to the Passive House calculations it will be Net Zero Energy (Solar panels on the roof will provide all the required energy)
So far the house is only partially framed, but we were able to see the advanced framing techniques coming together, including this insulated header:
The house sits a top an insulated crawlspace. This is the first insulated crawlspace I have seen myself. The point of an insulated crawlspace is that all the ducts and water lines can run through conditioned space and energy is not lost. The insulated crawlspace also eliminates some of the thermal bridging that usually occurs where house meets the foundation and the earth. Finally, the conditioned crawlspace stays clean and dry, which makes it far more pleasant when maintenance requires someone to crawl around under the house. Here is a photo looking into the crawlspace from a ventilation hole:
There is, of course, a french drain all the way around the perimeter and also a floor drain in the slab to make sure it stays nice and dry down there.
The walls are insulated concrete forms, and there is 3″ of insulation under the concrete slab as well.
Here is a photo of some of the graphics explaining the heating, cooling and ventilating system:
and another showing the anticipated energy breakdown for lighting, appliances, thermal comfort, electric car charging, and entertainment:
Portière in Cold Spring Harbor
Posted in Found Objects, tagged buildings on the water, Cold Spring Harbor, doorways, houses, interiors, value on September 21, 2010| 1 Comment »
Portière: a curtain hung in a doorway, either to replace the door or for decoration.
I visited my friend Duncan last week at his parent’s house in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island:
I learned this word from Duncan’s mother, Elizabeth Watson, an architectural historian. She has a these good examples of simple, utilitarian portière in her own house:
This architectural term comes from the French word for door, porte. Common in wealthier households during the Victorian era (according to Wikipedia,) curtains are still a great way to create privacy, mitigate drafts, hide a messy closet, subdivide a space, or create a cozy nook. Its much more affordable to put up a curtain than install any sort of door, and it is especially appropriate if you need a temporary or quick solution, or if you get excited about fabrics or a splash of color.
Here is a fancier example of Portière from the National Gallery in Washington DC:
I also found this drapery design blog with all sorts of examples of portière.
The Diner: 85 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Posted in Found Objects, tagged Brooklyn, derelict chic, lighting design, metal, New York, restaurant, rustic, tile, wood on September 21, 2010| 2 Comments »
I just ate dinner at this cool restaurant in Brooklyn. It was dark outside the whole time I was there. I am sure the place would feel pretty different for breakfast.
The building is an old diner train car with all the inherent architectural charm that you might imagine….. cozy narrow space, curved ceiling, lots of windows.
Instead of accentuating the 50s style, this restaurant has a different, edgier and classier sort of atmosphere.
It easily could have been overly trendy with its “derelict” finishes (ala Zoolander)
The old tile floor is patched with no attempt to hide that fact that it has been patched.
but some how it just works.
Once again the lighting is key. In this case the general lighting is dimmed, and warm flickery candlelight creates the mood. Mirrors, shiny ceiling and glass tiles add to the sparkle.
Lara Kaufman, who took most of these photos for me, is pictured on the right and Elissa Steglich, the local friend who took us here is on the left
Photo from Lara K showing some artful floor patches
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