Been a long, long, time....

images of entry table (#15) underway.

This is the door type referenced.... courtesy of linearcity.com

Shop Sketch

New Work - beginnings

As I was dismantling the roof from my back porch, I cut away sections in order to safely remove it overhead. When the decking came away, I was struck with the character of the material on the underside...and what amazing condition it was in. The porch dates to the turn of the century (the last century). The seaming and the finish reminded me or metal-clad fire doors in old timber buildings and how much I liked the pattern and finish.

So I decided to use one of the sections as the basis for the next piece. I sketched the solution of a piece of wood in the shop (see post above), and began the piece without any scaled drawings.

The photos show me removing the built-up layers of "roof patch" that had been applied over the years.

Published (sidenote)

I just found out that a box I made was published in the latest issue of Fine Woodworking Magazine. It's also listed online at: LINK

It's fabricated from Tamo Ash veneer on the exterior, and opening it reveals a Pommele Sapele veneer with an aluminum bottom. The "hardware" is an aluminum ball that's been turned on a metal lathe and rotate arbitrarily and "polished" ... a bit difficult to discern that level of detail in the photo.

Thanks to Jerry Cox for the photography.

While taking a break to work a bit on the addition in the back, I removed the original metal roof (from the late 1800's), with a heavy coat (or more accurately, multiple coats) of roofing tar, and was struck not only by the condition of the metal, but the patina that had developed. I was also reminded about the interplay of building and designing, designing and building, and the relationship of large and small scale fabrication.

I decided to utilize the material, as much as-is as possible, and continue with the series of entry tables. The image from my sketchbook with the stair is that piece; the other is a "developed" solution. Once again, the immediacy of the "first idea" is stronger.

Once again...

Thanks to Designboom for featuring this... viewing the the simplicity of the facade belies what lies inside.

ET 13

The latest thoughts on the next piece. I'm in the throws of ET_12 and would like to have them underway simultaneously. The dialog between the two works, and a more intuitive "working method" might garner some interesting developments.

ET #12

Included in this posting are photos of the work begun on Entry Table #12. In a continuing effort to work intuitively, I am eliminating the beginning stages of full-scale drawings. I will undoubtedly need to produce details at full scale.

Getting on with it...

In the spirit of putting pencil to paper, or in this case, wood to saw..

These are preliminary sketches, beginning with the first inkling of an idea (13 Feb), of the piece I am embarking on. Also, a mockup (or "sample", although not 12x12) of the metal "hair".

Trip to the Keys

One of the most rewarding aspects of the recent family trip to the Florida Keys was snorkeling 5 miles off the coast in the John Peenekamp Coral Reef State Park. I was mesmerized by the brain coral...actually the multiple varieties of brain coral. 

I've been developing the piece that I'll use this patterning. I'm feeling a VERY strong urge to "just do it" and get a piece underway. Yesterday I began the layout of this piece. The investigation will continue alongside the fabrication of the piece. Hopefully, the dialog between making and imagining will reinforce each other, as they have in the past.

NOT my photo - copyright Bob Haff - http://www.seadwellers.com/picturegallery1.htm

Been a while

Having been to a conference in St. Louis, and then a trip to the Florida Keys, I've fallen a bit behind in posting. I came across "Clouds" from Eric + Ronan Bouuroullec. Apparent connections to the folded investigation mentioned earlier. Great way to "commercialize" the idea.

http://www.kvadratclouds.com/

Reference

I've mentioned a number of texts that have, over the years, proved either inspirational or invaluable. I realized today that I've not included "Immaterial / Ultramaterial" from Harvard/George Braziller, Inc.

After working with a variety of commonplace materials over the last few months, the following quote summed up what I've been working with. Marco Steinberg, in the "surface" section, says "Construction-related materials often have latent possibilities that exist well beyond the uses for which they were created. Usually generated in response to quantitative criteria, these materials tent to have significant (though often unsuspected) potential for innovation and progress". 

In many cases, it is this unsuspected potential that I seek.

Pattern

After working on the piece that was exhibited at the A+D Gallery, I've been looking a great deal at natural patterns. Funny, it grew out of a fascination with the non-repeating (at least visibly) pattern of quilting, which led me to topographic maps, and now to nature again. I've been looking at a good deal of brain corral patterns after being struck, upon a visit to the Brookfield Zoo, by the obvious correlation. 

Links to original images:

Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5

More Fold Sampling

Photos of gyp.bd. version of "folding" (and back showing ad noc support) and metal mesh "sample". I've been wanting to build "furniture" out of gyp. for many many years. What is more common place? I even enjoy the associative qualities. 

I regret the level of "mastery" of the material demonstrated, but it is a really quick sample/mock-up.

Looking outward

Discovered a wonderful piece of textural architecture.

Rest can be viewed at site.

Recent pages from sketchbook

I realized I'd fallen behind documenting some of the sketch investigation, so posted are various pages from recent activity. Sketch at upper right relates to the post below.

To early for images

I am often telling my students that the difference (at least one of them) between researching on the web and researching in the library is the ability to look at the book next to the one you thought you wanted, the ability to revel in the happy accident. While the equivalent of typing in the wrong address may arguably allow the same happenstance, and perhaps the presence of links even outweighs this... ok, I digress.

I was looking for technical references today and a book of Andy Goldsworthy's work caught the corner of my eye that I as not familiar with. It is called Enclosure (Putnam). I was unfamiliar with this particular body of work, and it was refreshing to view the clear photographs, but more importantly to read his words (diary like entries - similar to this blog). In a section, he speaks of "working quickly/directly and letting the work complete itself"(paraphrase). I have been struggling for many years to balance the intuitive desire to allow the material qualities to influence the eventual form directly and the "designer's" need to force the material to succumb to formal requirements. 

I think I'm thinking about this (@ 3:00 in the morning) because of the most recent "sample" I'm working on. It utilizes metal mesh (similar to the piece produced for the IIT exhibition). I've been enjoying working with the qualities of the mesh and allowing the exact form grow while keeping the general shape in mind from sketches developed. At this point, I have been thinking about using OSB as the "backer" and having the mesh (various densities) form a "layer" on top that the storage would then pierce. 

Scan of styrene scale model. In all of these, I am working directly, attempting to let the material itself dictate some of the final details like joining, deflection, etc. In this way I also hope to let intuition and haptic responses dictate a bit of the final form.

Model investigation from 8.5 x 11 paper. I'm trying not to add any paper but cut from one sheet. 

No photos yet, but yesterday I worked with 1/4" gypsum board as the "material". I hope to assemble, mud and sand, and then seal. This would further the blurring of architecture/furniture. By architecture (note small "a"), I mean the built environment.

Inspiration credit

I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the influence of  Kruek+Sexton's Spertus Museum located on Michigan Avenue. Since it is directly behind the building which houses my office at school, the proximity alone warrants credit. (All photos credit: www.ksarch.com ). I walked by the building this evening for the first time in many months and was hit by the significance.

It's a bit difficult to view in the photo on the left, but the interior wall (the "back" of the theatre) is most significant. Even though it is, in my opinion, terribly over-scaled for the space.

Animation

Preliminary "fly-by".

Folding

What started as a sketch has developed into model investigation; both physical and virtual. These are a few Google SketchUp models, although I'm not really excited about this part of the development process. I'm experimenting with process, to see which yields the most satisfactory result. I suspect it will, as in the past, end up being a hybrid between physical and digital.