Finished Weave Desk Model

The Weave Desk -- Model Making in Brass -- Progress

RIP, Oscar Niemeyer

A Legendary Modernist - Slide Show - NYTimes.com

Photo: Evanisto Sa/Agence France-Presse--Getty Images

Concert Hall Research

All semester I have been writing a paper on concert halls, specifically spaces designed for symphony orchestras (not opera or theater or dance, which really have different requirements). For most of the paper, I have been writing about Boston's Symphony Hall, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, and the Berlin Philharmonie. But now that I am in the final section of the paper, which addresses contemporary and future halls, I very much want to share some buildings with you.

Elbe Philharmonic--Herzog and de Meuron--Hamburg (under construction):

Copyright Herzog and de Meuron

Copyright Herzog and de Meuron

The Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg is currently under construction, and has had some delays, due to some technical challenges with its roof. The project is an adaptive reuse of a warehouse (former coffee bean warehouse!) along the Elbe River. The warehouse will become support spaces such as parking garages, etc. On top of the warehouse is where the fun happens. There will be an open air plaza over the warehouse and under the new construction, which is referred to as "The Crystal." The Crystal will house apartments, a hotel, retail and restaurant spaces in addition to a concert hall, which is basically a more fluid version of the Berlin Philharmonie (single room, no proscenium, theater in the round). I am so excited about this building that I'm pretty much going to plan a trip to Germany sometime after it is completed (looking like 2015).

Miami New World Symphony--Frank Gehry--2011

Copyright The New Yorker

Copyright Tampa Bay Times

Frank Gehry's New World Center opened in Miami in 2011. It is much smaller than the typical orchestra performance space, seating ~750 instead of the typical ~2200 to ~2600. The space has tremendous flexibility, with removable seating groups surrounding a central stage. It features 5 large projection screens (that also serve as acoustic reflectors) that may be used for video presentations to accompany the musical performance. But perhaps most remarkable is the adjacent 2.5 acre SoundScape park, designed by the Dutch firm West 8, where the public can view outdoor simulcasts ("Wallcasts") of performances. The sound outside is enhanced by an ERS (Electronic Reflective Energy System), specifically developed for classical music, which simulates the reflected sound one would experience inside the hall.

Also worth looking at: Paris Philharmonie (Jean Nouvel), Danish Radio Concert Hall (Jean Nouvel), Kyoto Concert Hall (Arata Isozaki), but we'll have to talk about those another day, because I've got to get back to my paper. 

Shangri-la Lantern

Reception Desk for a Yoga Studio--UPDATE

I reworked this by putting in a Podium rendering as a transparent layer. I think it adds more definition to the desk structure.

What do we think? Better? A little less free and sketchy, but I think appropriate for reading the complexity of the desk.
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This is maybe the second time I've started with a hand rendering and *then* brought it into Photoshop. I think it is overall reasonably effective, but due to the complicated geometry of the desk itself, I wish I had left the lines from the original Sketchup export in there for increased definition. I tried putting them back in after the fact, but I'd already departed too much with my colored pencil work. Lesson learned. I may hit this again with a ruler and my Sepia Prisma pencil.

Well this seems sad...

Architizer Blog � Oh No! New York City Is Officially Out Of Brownstone!

Portfolio Site @ Carbonmade

I have established a clean portfolio site (sans my free-form verbiage) over at Carbonmade. Take a look!

In Which I Attempt to Conquer PODIUM...

I took a timeout last Friday with a friend from school to sit down and try to master Podium, the rendering engine for SketchUp (well, one of several).

I have a masters in Engineering Physics and worked for 12 years as an optical engineer. And...I'm finding that only marginally helpful. I guess what makes these software programs tricky is the 7 to 15 minute rendering time each time you tweak a light or a setting means that overall progress towards optimizing your rendering is rather slow. But the results are starting to be pretty amazing. For comparison, see the SketchUp/Photoshop versions from this post.

I'm still working on a couple of these. I blatantly cheated at getting more light into the second perspective by making the ceiling transparent, which makes the shadows not rigorously correct, for example. And I'd like to increase the brightness and contrast in the entrance perspective (which may just be a Photoshop job).

Anyway, for this former Optical Engineer, one thing is certain: Messing with light rendering engines is pretty addictive and it was hard to pull myself away to work on other things! I could easily do this all day. It's a really fun fusion of my former and future careers.

Furniture and Detailing Studio

This semester I am taking Furniture and Detailing Studio with the excellent Debra Folz.

Here's some drawings!

Retail Project

Some perspectives from my couture space for (hypothetically) designer Roland Mouret:

Amazing Folded Paper Art by Polly Verity

Here.

Design for Department of Workforce Development "Rework" Office

Phillips DayWave Suspended LED

So beautiful. Here.

Entryway with Office Built-In

Paper Countertops On Apt Therapy

Cool! My comment on our Richlite countertops is in a little comment summary in Apt Therapy's countertop guide.

I do continue to love the stuff. I hate setting glassware down on stone and prefer the warmer, softer feel of the paper. But it is definitely not for fussy people. You have to be someone who can live with a surface that picks up a patina over time. I find it very visually calming, also. No glare, no crazy granite speckle.

Edge Lighting Scope LED

I am completely obsessed by these Scope LED track heads by Edge Lighting. They have an adjustable beam angle, so they can be used for accenting objects or washing a wall, or flooding a space. Three finishes available. 9.3W power usage, but equivalent to a 42W or 30W halogen, depending on the beam angle. 

FLOR is coming to Boston

Yes! We'll soon be able to buy sustainably manufactured and super cool FLOR carpet tiles in Boston, on Clarendon Street. I have this stuff playing various roles in 5 rooms of our house, plus the stairs. You could say I'm a fan. Plus, they are a great company and have pledged to get their environmental effect to net zero by 2020.

"Sidewalk Science" from Slate

"Piano Stairs" in Nanjing, China -- Yeah, I think these might violate US building codes

Slate has a great four part series about walking. Part two is especially fascinating and relevant to interior design and urban planning. There is discussion of individual and group dynamics on sidewalks, stairs, and escalators, and several related books are mentioned, including John Templer's The Staircase.

Lyonel Feininger at the Harvard Art Museum

Untitled (Night View of Trees and Streetlamp, Burgkühnauer Allee, Dessau), 1928, Lyonel Feininger

I will be checking out this show of his photos, for sure! Runs until June 2nd at the Sackler Museum.

Want it.

I'd also give you the link but it is an antique and there are only 2 available. Only after I have secured mine will I share my source....

New Yorker piece on Roger Thomas and Casino Design

Abstract and snippet here.

I admire Mr. Thomas's process and sketching habits, and enjoyed reading about the evolution of casino design. But I am still a snobby New Englander with no plans to ever set foot in Las Vegas.

Page Image from The New Yorker (web)

Piet Hein Eek

(Photo: Piet Hein Eek)

Spotted a table by this guy in Elle Decor. Made from scrap wood. Beautiful. Love the patchwork quality.

(Photo: Piet Hein Eek)

He also has a plywood line, which is super cool.

Lighting Project, in progress

Perspective of Hotel Bar (in Photoshop)

This perspective was exported from SketchUp and then enhanced/augmented in Photoshop, and then Prismacolor pencils. Side note: Do you realize how difficult it is to find a picture online of a bartender who is not either a) old-timey with handlebar mustache and bowtie or b) dressed like she's selling more than drinks? When I found this woman, she was like an angel sent from heaven, lemme tell ya.