thanks orhan... i was thinking of just looking for a cool jar or box or something... i might think about designing something in a few weeks once the semester is over and i have some time... the ikea ones might work in the meantime...
Nice post, Erin. It's an interesting topic and Will I do wholeheartedly agree that we architects have tended to be totally egotistical butt-heads about trying to educate others to what is good.
Philip, here are some plain box urns, in either stainless or brass. Other companies make these too if you google box metal urn. You can get them un-engraved. We ordered a sample of one of these at the office once and they are quite simple. The nice thing is they have a sliding locking mechanism inside that snaps shut when you close it and cannot be unlocked. One guy in our office accidentally closed it and boom, that was that, sample was now permanently closed.
Phillip, try Muji or MOMA gift shop for elegant boxes (or get a Quaker box). My kitten's ashes were wrapped in a simple cloth and held in a wooden box - not much different then a cigar box. no need to get a specific 'funerary' item as that is just license to rip folks off.
Wouldn't your taste question come down to opinion v. fact? Like a glossy tile can cause people to slip is a fact. There is a coefficient of friction; actual, testable, verifiable real life data to to support the claim. Someone who says 'I like that tile because it looks neat' is an opinion. This is probably where your client's opinion is better than yours since they're paying for it. You can say 'Le Corbusier would not like that tile' or 'that tile doesn't fit into the socio-political context of neo-marxism which is the ideology I'm trying to achieve with this project,' which may be true, but largely irrelevant and still an opinion.
I guess the architect's role would be to say 'no I won't specify that tile because the building code says I have to have a higher coefficient of friction on a ramp, and I could get sued if someone slips. I will not lose my practice over your bad taste.' Or, exercise your judgement and say 'even though I know that's against code, I will spec that attractive tile because I don't care if people fall and break a leg and that tile is so neat I'm willing lose my practice for it.'
curtkram, I can usually get a client beyond "it looks neat," can't you? Often when you dig into those things, "neat" actually means "expensive" (because glossy surface = $$ from a visual standpoint) or "clean." So once you figure out what "neat" really means, you can try to find something that still looks clean/expensive/whatever it is, and people won't slip on.
curtkram, I can usually get a client beyond "it looks neat,"
I'm trying to respond to this, since you asked, but I'm having difficulty. I think I lost the thread of what the original point was. Something like "taste exists as opinion," or "taste doesn't exist." Specifically to your question, sure I can sometimes say to a client 'do this instead of what you originally requested because of whatever reason.' That doesn't change the fact that the client has an opinion, which may or may not be the same as my opinion.
If I were to try to offer a substitute or whatever for something a client asked for, I would do my best to try and match their tastes/opinions rather than my own. Experience in the building industry may have given me access to materials or systems or whatever that they don't have access too, and I may be able to help them flush out their tastes better. However, if the client really likes limestone and I really like travertine, my tastes aren't necessarily better because I'm educated or experienced in the building industry. I just like something different.
I actually met a "Super-Taster" a few weekends ago. He said he had twice the usual number of tastebuds, and so flavours were over-powering, and he could only eat bland food. He had a plain cheesebuerger while I was with him. Meat, cheese, and bread. That's it.
Honestly, I thought he was just full of crap, but you never know....
William, the best part from that link (other than the photos) is the lead in text "To pass the time during long flights, artist Nina Katchadourian goes to the lavatory," and i just tend to sleep!
William, what I don't understand about those pictures - which are all over the internet today! - is why they don't show the backdrop of the lavatory. I think they'd be much more interesting without the black backdrop.
Tossing this question out there to the regulars and not so regulars. I'm looking for a source on American Soil who manufactures a door which is flush with the adjacent wall with concealed jambs and no head. Seems these are made in Europe but not much luck finding an American Manufacturer. I need these in a push condition where the door is flush from wall as the door is being opened. I also need in a pull condition where the door is flush with the wall at the pull side of the wall. It is kind of a treasure hunt.
snook are you talking about a job door? I've only done these once for residential and the carpenter did the jambs and head custom with drywall bead corner on a 1x then used a flush hollow core door to infill. Actually maybe it was a flush solid door - that lady was rich!
Donna.....I have seven of these doors....Bartels makes the door and hardware in German with a 12 week lead time. I also have an Italian Manufacturer, but they don't distribute to America. I offered to go to Milan, but it isn't going to happen. I think I'm going to talk to my metal fabricator about milling some jamb material out of solid tubes of aluminum and go from there. It can be done, but as you say it cost a few bucks. Oh my metal fabricator is more than a tin knocker. One nice thing about being in Connecticut we have some great metal workers kicking around who will do custom work, thanks to Pratt Whitney, the Groton Submarine base, Stanley Hardware, and all the New Haven Hardware Companies. I think I will just have to shake the tree and see what falls out. I need these doors installed in six weeks....yikes that is right around the corner. Sarah Bartels Model CT-24 does the trick.
snook I've done exactly what you're describing; I'll see if I can find some pics. In our case the door was fitted flush into a niche in the wall in the closed-hinge position, with only about 1/4" tolerance all around the door (!), and with the pull-side latch on the interior against the wall. We used a Soss hinge on the door, hung it from a custom solid wood jamb (can't remember if we reinforced it or not, that's a good question), and the pull-side latch required some custom fiddling around. We had an antique knob we still wanted to use on the push-side, and it required a square spindle. So we found a flush-mounted pull latch (I think it was from Baldwin) that we took apart and mounted onto the square-profile spindle with the antique knob on the other side. Worked like a charm.
I have the drawings for all this somewhere. Definitely takes a LOT of three-dimensional thought. Totally worked out though - the kind of detail the home-owner loves but probably has no idea how tricky it was, ha ha. I love those things!
Got a building permit for VisionDivision's wonderful Chopstick today.
I am inordinately proud. Getting something like this through the bureaucracy of a permit process is not easy. Foundation work starts next week. I am a very happy lady right now, and enjoying a celebratory Old Fashioned.
I sat with my hardware consultant today for about an hour. He is like the soup guy in Stienfeld. He found me two suppliers of doors one on the west coast and one on the east coast. He found me the right Rixson Pivot Hinges. So I think it is going to work like a charm. More important were putting a few Americans to work on this effort.
My other crazy project this week has to deal with a combination pair of sliding pocket screens which pockets into a pair of hinged door door which swing. So were working with a group of people to make this one happen. The Screen portion of the door will have glass set in brass channels with a lazer cut screen behind it to conceal the Torahs with in an Arc. Nice thing about this project is I have been really working with some great people. who design like they Care!
Just read this on Jezebel: One of the very worst things about the already pretty bad show Smash is Debra Messing's wardrobe. It's all kinds of flowing robes and chunky things and she looks sort of like Stevie Nicks if Stevie Nicks were an architect.
WTF does this even mean?! If I could be Stevie Nicks AND an architect I'd be awesome!!
Donna, I don't know what that means. I get told I have Stevie Nicks hair all the time, or that I look like her - which is weird. Luckily, I'm a fan, so I not only know who she is, but take it as a compliment. And I kinda like the show Smash, so I think the Jezebel writer must just be crazy. Maybe an architect broke up with her at a broadway show, and their song was Leather and Lace.
so i have a deadline of Monday EOB and am at work today and closed document for lunch then went back in and everything i did since yesterday afternoon at 3 (and i worked on it till 5) is no longer there and the document modify history shows last modify date/time of yesterday at 3...
It's been a hectic couple of weeks, from the end of the month straight to the weekend after my birthday - both professionally and personally. Things are great though two birthday surprises from the wife, one a farm to table dinner with a couple friends in the island's bread basket - where they grow 80% of the produce. About 30 minutes into appetizers the moon came up over a dark starless sky to the melody of the local fauna. And if that wasn't enough she surprised me with a party with family and friends for a mid week party.
Aw, holz I'm sorry I missed that. I'd lvoe to see the piggyback in real life but sadly none of them are coming near the Middle.
If I could write this following in red text I would: 3Form is SO FUCKING DIFFICULT to work with! YOU have to double check every spec, YOU have to verify every dimension, YOU have to tell them how to get optimum usage out of each sheet (this is unbelievable to me except of course the more waste the more $ they make), YOU have to arrange shipment of samples to the correct address, YOU have to check with their engineering to make sure what the salesperson is telling you is true, and YOU even have to send them a copy of your cashed check to remind them that yes, indeed, the order was placed!
Argh. The product is beautiful, the quality has always been right on, but they are so disorganized it's painful.
Yes, that's hilarious. My favorite was a college kid's status update was "Dry spell = over" and his mom "liked" it! His post immediately under her "like" was OMG Mom wtf?!
Also: iPhone spellcheck funnies make me about pee my pants. Love dumb humor.
Thread Central
thanks orhan... i was thinking of just looking for a cool jar or box or something... i might think about designing something in a few weeks once the semester is over and i have some time... the ikea ones might work in the meantime...
Nice post, Erin. It's an interesting topic and Will I do wholeheartedly agree that we architects have tended to be totally egotistical butt-heads about trying to educate others to what is good.
Philip, here are some plain box urns, in either stainless or brass. Other companies make these too if you google box metal urn. You can get them un-engraved. We ordered a sample of one of these at the office once and they are quite simple. The nice thing is they have a sliding locking mechanism inside that snaps shut when you close it and cannot be unlocked. One guy in our office accidentally closed it and boom, that was that, sample was now permanently closed.
Phillip, try Muji or MOMA gift shop for elegant boxes (or get a Quaker box). My kitten's ashes were wrapped in a simple cloth and held in a wooden box - not much different then a cigar box. no need to get a specific 'funerary' item as that is just license to rip folks off.
Philip saw you ask about cool urns and thought about this one too bad it's not for sale http://blog.buildllc.com/2010/06/the-architect-and-the-urn
That's lovely, Kevin, thanks for posting it. A small cast concrete urn could be easy enough to custom make, Philip.
Wouldn't your taste question come down to opinion v. fact? Like a glossy tile can cause people to slip is a fact. There is a coefficient of friction; actual, testable, verifiable real life data to to support the claim. Someone who says 'I like that tile because it looks neat' is an opinion. This is probably where your client's opinion is better than yours since they're paying for it. You can say 'Le Corbusier would not like that tile' or 'that tile doesn't fit into the socio-political context of neo-marxism which is the ideology I'm trying to achieve with this project,' which may be true, but largely irrelevant and still an opinion.
I guess the architect's role would be to say 'no I won't specify that tile because the building code says I have to have a higher coefficient of friction on a ramp, and I could get sued if someone slips. I will not lose my practice over your bad taste.' Or, exercise your judgement and say 'even though I know that's against code, I will spec that attractive tile because I don't care if people fall and break a leg and that tile is so neat I'm willing lose my practice for it.'
curtkram, I can usually get a client beyond "it looks neat," can't you? Often when you dig into those things, "neat" actually means "expensive" (because glossy surface = $$ from a visual standpoint) or "clean." So once you figure out what "neat" really means, you can try to find something that still looks clean/expensive/whatever it is, and people won't slip on.
curtkram, I can usually get a client beyond "it looks neat,"
I'm trying to respond to this, since you asked, but I'm having difficulty. I think I lost the thread of what the original point was. Something like "taste exists as opinion," or "taste doesn't exist." Specifically to your question, sure I can sometimes say to a client 'do this instead of what you originally requested because of whatever reason.' That doesn't change the fact that the client has an opinion, which may or may not be the same as my opinion.
If I were to try to offer a substitute or whatever for something a client asked for, I would do my best to try and match their tastes/opinions rather than my own. Experience in the building industry may have given me access to materials or systems or whatever that they don't have access too, and I may be able to help them flush out their tastes better. However, if the client really likes limestone and I really like travertine, my tastes aren't necessarily better because I'm educated or experienced in the building industry. I just like something different.
for me - taste is all about umami.
trick is to have Supertaster listed under Other Skills.
Pallasmaa told me that he likes his buildings salty.
I actually met a "Super-Taster" a few weekends ago. He said he had twice the usual number of tastebuds, and so flavours were over-powering, and he could only eat bland food. He had a plain cheesebuerger while I was with him. Meat, cheese, and bread. That's it.
Honestly, I thought he was just full of crap, but you never know....
perfect, rusty
Architect ranked 56th in the WSJ's Best and Worst Jobs of 2012 list:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304587704577335703058909284.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories#project%3DJobRankings2012%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive
JUST BEHIND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST!!!!
No word on where Super-Taster ranked...
Happy Birthday Donna!
I hope this brightens up your day as it did mine:
http://laughingsquid.com/airplane-lavatory-self-portraits-in-the-flemish-style/
William, the best part from that link (other than the photos) is the lead in text "To pass the time during long flights, artist Nina Katchadourian goes to the lavatory," and i just tend to sleep!
I agree. Her dour mugs really sell the deal. ;-)
Thank you Archinect!
William, what I don't understand about those pictures - which are all over the internet today! - is why they don't show the backdrop of the lavatory. I think they'd be much more interesting without the black backdrop.
Those self-portraits are sooo awesome! I LOVE them. Am sending this to everyone I know.
I just shared this with puddles. I miss puddles. It's hilarious.
Tossing this question out there to the regulars and not so regulars. I'm looking for a source on American Soil who manufactures a door which is flush with the adjacent wall with concealed jambs and no head. Seems these are made in Europe but not much luck finding an American Manufacturer. I need these in a push condition where the door is flush from wall as the door is being opened. I also need in a pull condition where the door is flush with the wall at the pull side of the wall. It is kind of a treasure hunt.
snook are you talking about a job door? I've only done these once for residential and the carpenter did the jambs and head custom with drywall bead corner on a 1x then used a flush hollow core door to infill. Actually maybe it was a flush solid door - that lady was rich!
Snook, I am so confused about what you want. Can you post a picture or something?
Donna.....I have seven of these doors....Bartels makes the door and hardware in German with a 12 week lead time. I also have an Italian Manufacturer, but they don't distribute to America. I offered to go to Milan, but it isn't going to happen. I think I'm going to talk to my metal fabricator about milling some jamb material out of solid tubes of aluminum and go from there. It can be done, but as you say it cost a few bucks. Oh my metal fabricator is more than a tin knocker. One nice thing about being in Connecticut we have some great metal workers kicking around who will do custom work, thanks to Pratt Whitney, the Groton Submarine base, Stanley Hardware, and all the New Haven Hardware Companies. I think I will just have to shake the tree and see what falls out. I need these doors installed in six weeks....yikes that is right around the corner. Sarah Bartels Model CT-24 does the trick.
Ooooh, that Bartels door is pretty.
I meant to write "jib" door up there.
Seriously, how can I *not* post this absolutely perfect picture?
wow, it definitely took him a while to grow into those lips, he looks like a little girl there.
snook I've done exactly what you're describing; I'll see if I can find some pics. In our case the door was fitted flush into a niche in the wall in the closed-hinge position, with only about 1/4" tolerance all around the door (!), and with the pull-side latch on the interior against the wall. We used a Soss hinge on the door, hung it from a custom solid wood jamb (can't remember if we reinforced it or not, that's a good question), and the pull-side latch required some custom fiddling around. We had an antique knob we still wanted to use on the push-side, and it required a square spindle. So we found a flush-mounted pull latch (I think it was from Baldwin) that we took apart and mounted onto the square-profile spindle with the antique knob on the other side. Worked like a charm.
I have the drawings for all this somewhere. Definitely takes a LOT of three-dimensional thought. Totally worked out though - the kind of detail the home-owner loves but probably has no idea how tricky it was, ha ha. I love those things!
Got a building permit for VisionDivision's wonderful Chopstick today.
I am inordinately proud. Getting something like this through the bureaucracy of a permit process is not easy. Foundation work starts next week. I am a very happy lady right now, and enjoying a celebratory Old Fashioned.
congrats donna!!!
mantaray
I sat with my hardware consultant today for about an hour. He is like the soup guy in Stienfeld. He found me two suppliers of doors one on the west coast and one on the east coast. He found me the right Rixson Pivot Hinges. So I think it is going to work like a charm. More important were putting a few Americans to work on this effort.
My other crazy project this week has to deal with a combination pair of sliding pocket screens which pockets into a pair of hinged door door which swing. So were working with a group of people to make this one happen. The Screen portion of the door will have glass set in brass channels with a lazer cut screen behind it to conceal the Torahs with in an Arc. Nice thing about this project is I have been really working with some great people. who design like they Care!
Just read this on Jezebel: One of the very worst things about the already pretty bad show Smash is Debra Messing's wardrobe. It's all kinds of flowing robes and chunky things and she looks sort of like Stevie Nicks if Stevie Nicks were an architect.
WTF does this even mean?! If I could be Stevie Nicks AND an architect I'd be awesome!!
Ooh, just heard thunder. Signing off.
Donna, I don't know what that means. I get told I have Stevie Nicks hair all the time, or that I look like her - which is weird. Luckily, I'm a fan, so I not only know who she is, but take it as a compliment. And I kinda like the show Smash, so I think the Jezebel writer must just be crazy. Maybe an architect broke up with her at a broadway show, and their song was Leather and Lace.
LOL Sarah!
so i have a deadline of Monday EOB and am at work today and closed document for lunch then went back in and everything i did since yesterday afternoon at 3 (and i worked on it till 5) is no longer there and the document modify history shows last modify date/time of yesterday at 3...
Fucking word!.....
Eff and A. That totally sucks, Nam. This is the point where I usually bang my head on the desk, and then go out for a drink.
that is basically what i did as I have a wedding to go to this evening. otherwise would be long day/night.
this very problem is why i switched to Google docs for all my personal writing a while ago!
Oh Nam I'm sorry. It's just work. Go enjoy the wedding and you'll make it all come together anyway!
donna that's what I ended up doing. by the way the project looks great! Congrats on getting to this step.
night all. in early tomorrow to see what i can make up.
EOB = egg on bagel. best hangover food ever. EVER!!!
ala puddles.... I'm alive.
It's been a hectic couple of weeks, from the end of the month straight to the weekend after my birthday - both professionally and personally. Things are great though two birthday surprises from the wife, one a farm to table dinner with a couple friends in the island's bread basket - where they grow 80% of the produce. About 30 minutes into appetizers the moon came up over a dark starless sky to the melody of the local fauna. And if that wasn't enough she surprised me with a party with family and friends for a mid week party.
She's a keeper, techno! So happy for you guys.
discovery landing at dulles on a 747 right now
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/discovery/index.html
Aw, holz I'm sorry I missed that. I'd lvoe to see the piggyback in real life but sadly none of them are coming near the Middle.
If I could write this following in red text I would: 3Form is SO FUCKING DIFFICULT to work with! YOU have to double check every spec, YOU have to verify every dimension, YOU have to tell them how to get optimum usage out of each sheet (this is unbelievable to me except of course the more waste the more $ they make), YOU have to arrange shipment of samples to the correct address, YOU have to check with their engineering to make sure what the salesperson is telling you is true, and YOU even have to send them a copy of your cashed check to remind them that yes, indeed, the order was placed!
Argh. The product is beautiful, the quality has always been right on, but they are so disorganized it's painful.
Sorry, Donna. Maybe the following image will brighten your day.
This cracked me up....
Yes, that's hilarious. My favorite was a college kid's status update was "Dry spell = over" and his mom "liked" it! His post immediately under her "like" was OMG Mom wtf?!
Also: iPhone spellcheck funnies make me about pee my pants. Love dumb humor.
Me, too. I haven't seen the dry spell one. I'm not Facebook friends with my parents. I'm not Facebook friends with many.
how is vado?
good question haven't seen him around these parts lately...
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