The High Line in Manhattan is credited with generating over $2Billion of new investment and the creation of 20,000 jobs.
High Line fall 2010
Archive for the ‘Information’ Category
Good Design is Good for the Economy (Obviously)
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged garden, landscape, New York, plants on February 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Cheerful Marmoleum Floor
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged color, flooring, green, linoleum, patterns on January 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
My friend Amanda installed this Marmoleum floor in her laundry room. I think the color choice is great in this small, mostly white room. It might be a bit busy in a bigger room with more colors, objects, and activity. Marmoleum is a great product – It is old fashioned linoleum made from “linseed oil, rosins, wood flour, jute and ecologically responsible pigments.” It comes in a wonderful array of colors…most are subtly speckled so dirt and crumbs and scratches don’t show so much.
Publicity for the Small Studio!
Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, Information, tagged Berkeley, small buildings on January 15, 2012| 2 Comments »
The internet seems to like our small studio. I have found many repostings of Lenny’s photos, and commentary about the little studio. Most of them seem to have just nabbed and revised slightly the written content from Dwell or the Washington Post, but here are a few that are more original:
House Vote has also posted a few other photos of my projects:
Yesterday Kirsten Dirksen and Nicolas Boullosa came all the way from Barcelona to make a video about the studio. I eagerly and nervously await my and John’s debut as movie stars on faircompanies.com.
Detroit: 138 Square Miles, by Julia Reyes Taubman
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged Detroit on January 12, 2012| 2 Comments »
Photo by Sarah Deeds 2010
I received this hefty book for Christmas from my dad. It contains a lot of great photos of the city I grew up near. Enclosed in the pages of the book was this New Yorker article about the book and its forward written by Elmore Leonard, also a native of suburban Detroit. It is mentioned in the article and forward that “Julia believes it should be preserved and appreciated any way it is, not restored.” Urban decay is beautiful, I agree, but honestly it seems like an insensitive statement from a resident of Bloomfield Hills. You could call her a poverty tourist. I know for a fact that many Detroiters are annoyed by all the hipsters from Europe who come in droves to photograph the urban blight. But in some ways I am inclined to agree with the author. (I too have the privilege of viewing the city from afar and on occasional visits home to another affluent suburb.) The people of Detroit deserve our compassion and it is sad to see some truly beautiful old buildings fall into unsalvagable disrepair, but at this point it might not be all bad to allow the city to slowly return to nature.
The New Yorker Article ends with reference to Elmore Leonard’s teasing attention to the origin of the holes in Julia Taubman’s jeans.
Republican Politician Houses 2012
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged Eames, historical styles, houses, humor, Ice Cube, Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames, LA, McMansion, Mid Century Modern Architecure, Republican, utilitarian on January 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Michelle Bachmann’s house with “a grand manor roof” and “European flavor”
Gingrich’s “Mansionette”
Santorum House: “a big rectangular box with holes punched in it for windows. It doesn’t have much to say. Need I say more?”
The New York Times ran this article recently about the homes of the Republican presidential candidates. The review, informed by “interior designers and design psychologists” (no architects) is generally unfavorable. They make fun of Newt Gingrich’s extensive use of mirrors and Huntsman’s pink love seat with yellow bows. Bachmann’s complex roofline is rather atrocious (no mention of the maintenance issues with such a roof,) and Santorum’s more simple house is called boxy with small punched windows. The houses are all quite big… mostly around 5500 square feet. One designer who commented in the article said that he’d call them McMansions, but that would give McDonalds a bad name. Wow. That is saying a lot. None of them appear to be designed by architects that were given much latitude, but most of the candidates appear to have dropped some cash on interior designers. The houses all scream “I am a traditionalist,” according to design psychologists that were consulted. Manicured green lawns and brick or stone are present in all.
Uh Oh. What would they say about my parent’s house, (the house were I grew up)? My dad took off the fake shutters at least….and it does have industrial chic concrete window sills. The windows are true divided lites, by the way, and my folks hired a local artist to make some stained glass windows for either side of and above the front door…Its not so big, but it is brick veneer with a green lawn and small punched windows.
Not a Republican house though
There is no discussion in the Times article about solar orientation or energy efficiency. There is no mention of simplicity, elegance, or economy. Creativity does not make an appearance, (except in Newt’s whimsical topiary.)
Perhaps the candidates can learn a bit from Ice Cube.
Tour of Modern, Passive Solar, Modular House in Emeryville, CA
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged Emeryville, house, modular, prefab, prefabricated on January 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
At lunch today I went with Guillaume Canivet to visit the Simpatico Homes prototype modular house in Emeryville. Seth Krubriner, the owner of the house explained the design and construction process from start to finish. The modules were constructed in San Jose by Eco Offsite. Swatt Architects was also involved. This sounds like a lot of cooks in the kitchen…..so I am curious how the collaboration worked. Seth gave a very interesting and honest presentation of the benefits and drawbacks of modular construction compared to conventional site built. His house actually has site built pieces added onto the modules.
To me, it seems that the best part of choosing a modular system over conventional is that you are limited by the modular system. There are fewer choices and therefore the design process is simpler. Just like a restaurant with a short menu, the specialization and simplification often yields a better product.
Without a good understanding of the system and a willingness to work with it and accommodate it in the design, a modular house might not be any less expensive than a conventionally built house, and could easily cost more, especially if the factory was not very close to the site.
In Seth’s house the joints between the modules are accentuated and celebrated. (you can see one of the joints, a black reglet, in the photo above.) This is an example of how the design should accommodate the system. If Seth were to try for a more traditional aesthetic he would have lost some of the savings.
This same simplification and cost savings could be achieved by an architect who presented a limited pallet of materials and a select contractor and offered to deliver a very specific product. Not a bad idea.
Big seismic brace bolted to a floor joist and the foundation
Posted in Found Objects, Information, tagged Berkeley, houses, structural engineering on October 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »
I recently helped my friend Rain assess the architectural merits of a house she wanted to buy. She also hired a home inspector who brought this seismic brace to my attention. It was his opinion that this is a poor design because in a big quake it concentrates the force and ends up busting through the floor rather than providing lateral stability. 
Jack White on Design
Posted in Information, tagged furniture on September 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Dwell Magazine interviewed my favorite musician, Jack White, about his design inspirations, philosophy, and plans to get back into furniture and upholstery. Here is the link.
New Chief Architecture Critic at New York Times Focused on Practical Human Concerns
Posted in Information, tagged green on September 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Michael Kimmelman is the new chief NY Times architecture critic. His debut architecture review, In a Bronx Complex, Doing Good Mixes With Looking Good, is a critique of a new housing development in the Bronx, NY. He calls the building handsome, but focuses more on the practical aspects of the design. It does sound like a nice place to live.
Here is another review of the review with photos.
Here are some words from Michael Kimmelman about his visions for his new job.
Bird-Friendly Building Design
Posted in Information, tagged birds, glass, green, windows on September 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The city of San Francisco is close to passing new regulations for new or modified buildings to reduce danger to birds. This document outlines the hazards and some solutions.
The most dangerous buildings are those next to lush parks with a lot of windows facing the park. It might seem like a hard sell to eliminate windows facing parks for the sake of a few birds, but the solutions are things like screens and external shading devices…and less glass….which are all good things for many other reasons.
It is also important to reduce light pollution because this can disorient birds flying at night. Less light pollution is also a good general practice.
Read more about the San Francisco Planning Department’s Progress on the issue here.
The New York Times published an article on this topic today.
I once had a dove crash into my living room window. The neighbor saw the incident and claims that the dove was being chased by a hawk. It was very sad to find the little bird dead on the window sill.
Sparkly Concrete
Posted in Information, tagged concrete, sparkle, urban sparkle on September 7, 2011| 3 Comments »
Its hard to get a good photo of sparkly concrete, but I’m sure you’ve all seen it on a sidewalk somewhere. Some people call it “urban sparkle”
A few years ago I tried to find out how to make it for my own house. I tried mica flakes, but it didn’t shimmer like I was hoping. Recently I searched the internet again and found several sources for sparkly sprinkles to add on top of still -wet concrete:
Sparklegrain
“Sparkle Grain is an eye-catching, black or white sparkle, concrete finish for interior or exterior concrete surfaces. Specifically designed for light to heavy usage on sidewalks, steps, ramps; in shopping centers, houses, garages, and stores; and in wineries, schools and public buildings.
Sparkle Grain also adds slip-resistance to concrete, which also means increased wear resistance compared to untreated concrete floors.”
“Concrete Shake-on to produce a decorative, glitter surface that is hardened, non-dusting, and non-slip.”
(Also for “General purpose polishing, lapping, blasting, compounds, vitrified and resinoid wheels, primarily for grinding and finishing non-ferrous and non-metallic materials.”)
Next time I’ll be ready!!!
An Interior Trim Paint That I Love: zero voc, biodegradable, and a pleasure to use
Posted in Information, tagged green, interiors, paint on July 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
For those of you who are house painters or who have done some painting you know that oil based interior house paint has been virtually eliminated from the market because of the dangerous off-gassing. The mainstream paint companies have replaced traditional oil paint with latex semigloss trim paint that in my opinion is kind of rubbery and sticky and unpleasant for the perfectionist painter to apply.
I am not a professional painter, but I have done a fair bit of painting- around my own house and also artistic painting on canvas with both oil paints and acrylic.
For a trim paint that flows like oil paint, dries to a low sheen, can be sanded between coats for a super smooth result, try:
Bioshield Aqua Resin Trim Enamel
I am not being paid by Bioshield, I just love their paint. In addition to the pleasing qualities, I am pretty sure the paint is zero VOC and compostable.
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