The haunting Halloween decorations created by Tom Saltsman, a CalArts and Harvard GSD graduate and the Principal of Boston-based firm SaltsmanBrenzel, are taking the spotlight once again in the architect's own driveway.
Saltsman says the inspiration for his crowd-pleasing designs stems from a desire to create perspective illusions of the home he and his fellow architect wife own in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He has been harkening his background in fine arts to create designs for trolls, a shipwreck, and other sculptural decor. He also told WBUR it takes the family and their fleet of volunteer builders months to plan and complete. Some have been realized at costs under $200.
Visitors from as far away as China have been flocking to see the annual display, which the Saltsman family started 15 years ago. His high school-aged daughter and their neighbor both plan on studying architecture at the college level. Their work on last year's Egyptian-inspired installation drew some 1-on-1 attention from the Boston Globe.
"It’s a lot of elements from other years," he told the paper. "There’s kind of constructed perspectives, and there’s kind of this surprise. I think most people don’t realize that there is an interior element to this. They just think this is another thing in the driveway and so, with that, what I create in the driveway still has to have some interest and not feel like it’s repetitive. And then I like to explore with ideas about things I can do with movement that are kind of interesting and captivating.
“People really get a kick out of it," he told another outlet recently, adding: "[And] I’ve got very patient neighbors."
Some of his more recent Halloween designs can be viewed below.
1 Comment
wow! Really nice.
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