Defenestrate the Headaches
I couldn’t resist the temptation of using the word defenestrate in my title. So… windows huh? Have you ever wondered how to compare them? Wonder no more. It’s the NFRC to the rescue. There actually is a coucil that has put together a standard for rating windows. They are called the National Fenestration Rating Council. Five categories prove the difference between the good, the bad, and the ones that leak a lot of air. The categories are: U-factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, Visible Transmittance, Air Leakage and Condensation Resistance; and all of these categories are displayed on a sticker (if the window has been certified). Me and my wife wish our 50 year-old windows didn’t leak air and resisted condensation a little better. Atleast we’ll know what to look for now!
Throwback
Today, I throwback to Japanese joinery. It is an art, and I know that it was used in Japanese architecture, but I’m looking for modern applications. Anybody seen beautiful joinery used in a modern building’s structure?
RADA 2009 Winner: Habitat 825
via BLDGBLOG
Residential Architect magazine has posted its RADA (Residential Architect Design Awards) 2009 winners, and this project here is the Project of the Year. It’s called Habitat 825, and it’s located in West Hollywood, California. BLDBLOG was about a year-and-a-half ahead of the game here. They posted on this house in September 2007! Good-on-ya BLDBLOG! I don’t know anything about it but what’s on their post, so I’ll just redirect you there. Residential Architect doesn’t have pictures posted yet, but you can check out all of the winner’s names and projects at ResidentialArchitect.com. I do love brown, white and green.
via BLDBLOG
Reclaimed Wood and Bricks
So I guess that I’m in a rut, but here’s another cool product. The website is Elmwood Reclaimed Timber, and they have some really cool stuff including brick and stone. I’ve featured my two favorite pictures, but there’s lots more (check out the antique tin and the barn siding). The Barcelona Chair never hurts, but the wood does look beautiful. And I’m totally a sucker for herringbone. Prices on the flooring range from $4 – about $12 a square foot, which is nice, but I couldn’t find a price on the stone. Elmwood is a member of the USGBC, you can earn LEED points by using their recycled wood products, and they have been awarded the FSC designation.
Hunt for a “Green” Plywood
Plywood Bike via Ecotality Life
Recently, I’ve been looking for a “green” plywood. Whether it be recycled, or something else fancy, I haven’t really been able to find it. I have found some products, like Plyboo, but I don’t think they’re going to replace typical plywood sheathing on a house because they’re meant to look pretty. Also, I heard on a special feature of “Kung Fu Panda” (a very respected source around here) that a lot of the bamboo forests of China are being depleated to a point that the panda is endangered. However, I don’t know enough about it to say that those bamboo products are forested from a panda’s habitat… I almost forgot to explain the picture: this bike is called the OLC (one less car). The frame, as you can see, is made of recycled plywood. It is not meant to last forever, but it’s supposed to cost about 35 bucks and can be recycled easily. It’s the closest thing I could find to “recycled plywood.” So if anyone sees a replacement for typical plywood let me know, will ya’.
Casa Lazo
It’s not very hard to tell when there has been A LOT of thought put into a design. Though it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the process has been, our eyes and our minds know that somehow it’s different, and better. Such is the case with the 1700 sq. ft. Casa Lazo designed by Julio Salcedo. We begin with the fact that there is no standard “curbview” facade. The shape has been created instead by studying the climate, views and terrain and deciding how to best interact with them. It is intended that we “meander through the site” in a trail that follows a “lasso” (lazo in Spanish) pattern or a “figure 8.” Where the “figure 8″ crosses, and creates an “x,” Mr. Salcedo put two volumes- and that’s the “x” shape that you see in the picture above.
That is all great stuff, but it wouldn’t mean a whole lot without the amazing house to back it up. One of the most unique things to me is that there’s not a typical “front door” that I always think of. As we meander through the lot, we can access the house through one of several doors. And how about the thin ribbon of block that rises and folds over to create support for the balcony trusses?? There is a disciplined balance of window vs. block, control in the height and width of the different elements, and little details that keep me looking at the pictures. So many things make this house incredible, proving that we can have different and beautiful together. Even if we don’t have the fantastic views I hope innovative home designs, like this one, start appearing more often. So who wants to go to Trasierra, Spain??
Another Throwback!!
Today’s Thursday Throwback goes to front porches. I couldn’t love them more. Though it’s difficult to imagine them on a beautifully modern house, I have to think that there’s a way. The picture below gives a pretty good interpretation, but it has that screen that I’m not so much in love with. I’ve worked on a house where the owners were outside on a porch every morning at 8:00 am, when we got there. The porch was actually off of their bedroom, and they would watch the sunrise together and eat their breakfast. Another couple in a neighborhood we used to live in was very similar, and they would talk to us (from their porch) about how in the “good ol’ days” streets were so much more social because of front porches. They said that people started putting patios in the backyard for more privacy and now neighbors don’t have the same opportunity to converse. I want a really great house someday, but I’ll tell you one thing: ugly or not, I’ll have a front porch with a swing on it.
Blurb.com
As somewhat of a side topic, I wanted to post on portfolios today. There are, obviously, many ways to get it done, but I wanted to recommend blurb.com. For a pretty reasonable price you can create your own portfolio in an impressive book format. The software is pretty easy to use, and it’s pretty flexible. They have some layout options and chances are there will be one that fits your wants. A book with 0 to 40 pages in a 13″ x 11″ format costs $56.95, but there are much less expensive options as well.
The Azadi (Freedom) Tower
_Azadi_Monument_(built_1971).jpg "Azadi Monument")
I never would have guessed that this monument was built in 1971. It’s called the Azadi Tower, and it commemorates the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. The architect’s name is Hossein Amanat, and he was the winner of the competition to design the monument. It’s covered in marble, and there is a museum inside of it. The Azadi Tower is located in Tehran, Iran. Maybe that’s why I’ve never heard anything about it… we don’t tend to study much architecture from the middle east. Has anybody ever seen this before??
A Tribute to 3form
So I have this quest to find the sweetest architectural products out there, and create a resource for architects to use- when the need arises. I posted about a week ago on recycled roofing, but today’s post is more like a tribute. 3form is local company (located at 2300 South 2300 West, Suite B, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119), and they have been “working hard,” as the CEO says, “to produce beautiful, high quality materials using fewer natural resources and less energy.” We all know that they produce beautiful products (this picture is from the US Green Building Council LEED Platinum Corporate Headquarters), but they have also created their “Path to Zero” campaign. This means that they will “stop sending manufacturing waste to landfills by April 2009.” They also plan to be carbon neutral by 2017, they are using “garbage” in their products to make them more environmentally friendly, and they purchased wind power equivalent to all of their office energy use. If you have a minute, watch the video about their “Path to Zero,” and let’s all support local, green, spectacular products.
