Building Moxie :: The Do Together Daily

Like The Forest or A Gameshow :: A Cage, The Keepers and The Cuts

2010-09-02T18:23:25Z

aka the Beauty and the Beast . . . and, well, a few other things . . . like a Show

After ten years of homeownership, it is a sound that I have grown quite accustomed to . . . . Rrahhhwonoonnnnn . . . ting!

Kinda like a rooster’s crow (you know, down here on the farm); and that’s the sound of a circular saw. From the north, south, east or west – truthfully — it’s usually quite in determinant . . . but the call comes, most weekend mornings . . . from somewhere, here . . . in the ‘hood.

And maybe this is a sound you hear . . .*errmmmm* in your neck of the woods. But I know it well, I mean — we have paid for it. In fact, it has come with every house we have ever owned (and that’s only four total . . . now). We have bought into our neighborhoods. And here . . . where there are many old houses, the renovation activity is, well, performed.

And this is a sound too that I have contributed to quite frequently. Rrahhhwonoonnnnn . . . ting! — the saw cut (and I just like typing it) intermingles with the whacks of the hammers and the occasional high-pitched squeal of a hammer drill, a plunge router or some other rotary-type tool.

. . . Most weekend mornings, of course – this is when the work gets done . . . or maybe it is just me, here, standing in the trees . . . and able just then to hear it. It makes like a symphony sometimes, but at others, though . . . it seems more like a gameshow.

“Name, That, Toollllll! . . . .” and I have actually gotten quite good with it. Too bad for the contestant (me) no chance of winning prizes.

And still sometimes, you see, these sounds too can cut. And on those days, I had one just this past weekend — I was confined early to playing dad. Later . . . I would be assigned to the hazardous material (lead paint) clean-up crew, and yeah – it was me . . . working alone.

And while I enjoyed my time, and more than any gameshow — it, for me, makes like some such call of the wild. A rally cry (maybe) — “Get out!” my little foreman barks . . . “and get it done . . . .”

I mean – on weekend days that I cannot work, you know, really work . . . with power tools and such – it’s easy at first, but it gently works its way in — those sounds just eat at me (simile:) like a drill bit boring right into my brain . . . and I guess it is simply how I am wired . . . to think and to do.

Are there others like me? These mornings like an elephant that has spent a week and way too much time on things meant to entertain the paying guests . . . but then trapped there, held up inside — left to circle in my cage.

I have said it frequently and I have even created a tag for it >> in the cloud . . . “My Life is a Home Project.” And this itself, an idea that I have tried to elucidate on at least two occasions recently – the house, our houses are simply a microcosm of life itself. No?

I could go on to develop a rough sketch around Maslov’s needs or to provide an extended description around the human body, used to support it all – but I won’t. The point though, decidedly . . . for this . . . and maybe for you too — as the house, and my work on it, goes, so do I . . . sounds, silence, show, and all.

And it seems recently that these sounds, billowing out from around the neighborhood, make more like a hyena’s laugh . . . me in my cage, a onetime fortress of something or other (and yeah I do like Spiderman more, but he doesn’t have an awesomely named pad).

*******

It’s odd to think that this actually started out as a post about Barry & I working on my house together (maybe next time).

Thanks for reading and BMoxie BMore!

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Forbidden :: One Day Out

2010-09-01T16:40:37Z

“Forbidden”

Your host is failing, your speed is trailing and you have a post due tomorrow.

Due?

What’s new? It is what we do when trying to maintain a continuity of content (slash) the written word and something new is always due but sometimes you go with something borrowed or the hard to publish – something blue.

But wait “you don’t have permission to access / on this server.”

What gives this rolling write along a breakneck pause, and causes the loss of your site?

Unknown -Your homepage all stripped down to white…

“Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an Error Document to handle the request.”

This is the terminology for it. The clicker is broken like links sinking into our fragile features future. Fresh off the press, we ponder the accessibility of all things on line, off line and off limits.

“Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.buildingmoxie.com Port 80”

A patch enables ports to remain open and the www dot 404 to become ever more a nevermore or so they would have us believe.

Their technology might be too big for its britches with potential invoked by marketing witches who intone:

Google, Google surf and struggle,

With Martha Quinn and the timely Buggles,

video killed the radio star.

Now, who’s zoomin’ who in a big pink car?

Your phone’s your watch and your Mac’s your daddy

Cram 5000 friends in your laptop caddy.

Do not give up your E-mail addy.

That girl you like might be a boy.

That tool could turn into a toy.

Each post, another node to joy.

But,the host can giveth and the host can taketh,

so a mirror site the wise web master maketh.

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Embrace your Eclectic :: 3 Steps to Make it Work

2010-08-31T01:43:35Z

Lots of people claim to be, or claim to like a vague, indefinable style called “Eclectic,” but what does that actually mean? My Webster’s dictionary defines it as: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles; composed of elements drawn from various sources.

Eclecticism can make a room bold and invigorating if it’s done right, but more often than not, I find the term used as an excuse for liking everything and yet nothing. The danger is in spreading yourself too thin, weakening and diluting your passion, your decorative statement and style-sense. Do you accommodate too many others’ styles, furnishings, and expectations to the point that your house and all the things in it don’t reflect you anymore?

There are three steps to make “eclectic” décor live together happily, and keep your home-sweet-home from becoming a repository of unrelated junk:

Edit (the nice way of saying “get rid of it”)
Change it
Harmonize

Edit

So many times we take in hand-me-downs, leftovers, inherited furnishings, salvaged items. It’s not always because we love these things, but because we want to please others, avoid hurt feelings, or prove that we’re economically sensible (hey, that’s a perfectly good dining set! Three-legged chairs with shag upholstery were all the rage back then! Do you know how much it would cost to buy that now?).

Get over it. You don’t have to keep everything that comes your way. Check with other family members and friends to see if someone else can provide a loving home for old Uncle So-‘n-So’s dining set, or donate it to a good cause. This is your home, filled with items you’ve acquired because you love them, they make your heart sing, and support your life energy. Be selective. Be choosy. Don’t horde crap.

Change it

The power of transformation. Reupholster. Put slipcovers over chairs. Repaint. Refinish wood frames. Use a high-gloss or matte finish solid color paint to change the appearance of an old-fashioned and dowdy piece of furniture into something modern, daring, and whimsical. I don’t recommend this for real antique furniture, but most furniture is not so precious that it can’t be altered.

Technically, an antique is defined as something at least 100 years old or more (except cars, which are considered antiques at 25 years or older). Anything less than that is vintage, and if the original color or finish doesn’t work for you, change it. Don’t be afraid; the decorating police won’t come knocking at your door.

Here’s an example of a transformed item I used in a home:

This mirror has an ornately carved, gilded gold frame. It’s very traditional, and wouldn’t work with the new, more contemporary interior design I planned, so I painted it.

Now, with the frame painted a solid color, it has become more of a sculptural, funky piece that retained the traditional form, but now harmonizes with the modern interior.

Harmonize

This is the trickiest of the three steps; creating harmony amongst disparity. It’s a step that requires a good eye for color, form, and scale. It’s okay to use very different styles of furniture together, as long as there is some element that is similar about them- a through-line, a common thread. It could be color, or maybe the shapes of the different items, or balancing the scale and proportion of the pieces.

Curvy chairs with a straight-lined table, or vice versa. Maintaining a certain amount of similarity in the shapes of furniture from different styles and periods can help them work together in the same room. Are the curves organic and random, or rigidly geometric? In the mirror example above, the through-line to mesh the furnishings was the color. The traditional style of the frame used with the clean-lined shelf and floor lamps created a focal point for the room and the style differences are balanced.

Play with different arrangements, try things out. And trust yourself. Most of the time, you’ll know instinctively if a furniture grouping is working or not. It will feel right, easy, calming. You can feel it in your body if you pay attention and are in tune with your physical presence in time and space.

Some people are completely oblivious to these types of physical signals. They throw whatever furniture together that comes their way, because of utility, price, convenience, or someone else’s opinion. These are the people that live a superficial, one-dimensional existence. They’re not the happiest types. They’re usually nervous and high-strung, or apathetic. We all know these houses and have encountered these people before. Their homes are uncomfortable, and you feel uneasy. As a guest, it’s impossible to get a good night’s sleep there. Hopefully, that doesn’t describe your house!

*******

“Eclectic” is sometimes a catch-all term that really indicates indecision. Be clear about what you like and dislike. Take the time to weed out the ugly and unnecessary, change and improve furnishings that can work together, and find the shared elements that make seemingly mismatched furnishings look great together.

Note from the hosts: We want to give contributor Tammy Dalton a big shout. Another thoughtful yet practical piece here. It was originally published on her blog in February, check her site out here — http://tamaradalton.net/. Thanks to Tammy for her ongoing support. jb

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Strung Out on Caffeine and . . . Remodeling. Solution: “My Kids”

2010-08-30T03:49:02Z

My first day off in ages, and what am I doing? I am blogging of course! Michael was nice enough to take the “kids” on the weekend job — we are putting a sliding glass door in where there is now a window. By “kids,” I mean the guys we work with, the team. So today is like a paid vacation, and paid meaning — one I have to pay the guys overtime for.

Speaking of the guys, they should all be back on board soon. Jim is finally done with his “shoot from the hip, I didn’t make any money and the job took forever” work. Scott is almost done building a house. Junior is coming back from vacation to Niagara Falls. Isaiah, the newest addition, has been working his butt off this whole time. It looks like we will soon be able to reinstate weekends off.

So how was I lucky enough to get a Saturday off? I begged for it! No, actually my doctor told me I had to take it. We have been working 30 days straight trying to get three whole house remodels done. We’ve been doing it short-handed too. And sad to say when you are short-handed and spread too thin, nothing gets done . . . on time. And this was starting to make me . . . physically ill.

So how does one go about getting a job done on time? Well, it all comes down to planning. By planning I mean — get your (special) orders in on time. That has been what has been slowing us down recently. I am constantly waiting for this . . . to be able to do that. The granite can’t be measured for the kitchen, because the cabinets came in wrong. The shower door can’t be measured for the custom shower, because the client couldn’t decide on the marble they wanted for the enclosure. These things, I felt, were totally out of my control. Yet . . . they have left me strung out on remodeling and . . . caffeine.

Our days have turned to nights, our weeks to weekends, and the work is not getting done. Why has this happened? I prefer to blame Jim. If he hadn’t taken that silly job of his — the one he did for a discount for a friend, we wouldn’t be in this situation. A three week project took him over three months. She (the homeowner) just kept adding things, and upgrading things, and changing things. Now, she is filing bankruptcy and he is not going to get paid. I tried to warn him, but he didn’t listen.

Now before this starts to sound like a rant (which I suppose it already does), I do want to say that Jim does awesome work and we would like to have him back. We would also like to pay him handsomely to help us finish our projects. I think he is looking forward to this too. He would like to make some money for a change. Plus, then . . . we can all be one big happy team again!

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Charles R Wolfe :: Achievable Placemaking on a Morning Walk

2010-08-27T14:51:34Z

aka Six Starter Principles

In the city, as always, new and old seek balance, against a backdrop of trying economic times.

At the doctrinal level, old battles return: Is “new urbanism” with its inherent and neighborhood-based “walk, bike and ride” really overly nostalgic and prescriptive? Is the prescription unsustainable because it can ignore an existing and organic urban fabric, regardless of reduced carbon footprint?

The Seattle Times provides examples of the recurring battles. Today, one article shows the litigation tensions of changing times, where a neighborhood’s maritime industry fears for its vitality in the face of the slated completion of a regional bike trail. Yesterday, a guest editorial encouraged the City Council to relax density limits and parking requirements in its pending Multi-Family Land Use Code update, consistent with less reliance on the automobile and greater affordability.

Yet as the city evolves, refined ideas offer “quick wins” for a renewed, urban-scale lifestyle, as depicted in another Seattle Times example today. In the article, “Seattle Sketcher” portrays prospective art in empty storefronts along the city’s Aurora Avenue, not unlike the well-publicized “fake shop front” effort in the English borough of North Tyneside.

Addressing empty storefronts is not the only potential “quick win”. We’ve also learned from the movement to remake alleys about a laudable focus on the achievable, aimed at success that is not dependent on massive public expenditures or conclusion of lifestyle debates.

The list could be expansive, and include a renewed economical public/private focus on bus-stop appeal, enhanced street trees, tasteful street banners and encouragement of increased food-cart licensing.

Neighborhood walks can further show the predicament and challenge of adapting public and private to the old and new, as well as suggest some additional “quick wins”.

From such walks, here are six myurbanist starter principles for ongoing consideration, followed by illustrations:

Don’t forget the school building and surroundings, even in trying times. School districts may have limited funds, but coalesce around parent-driven non-profit organizations to keep the focus on the neighborhood school.
Initial American attempts at outdoor commerce can be monochromatic. Businesses that bring street life should be encouraged, both through public permitting (and street use fee) flexibility and private encouragement to add color and appeal.
Scooters are becoming increasingly visible. We need to know the rules for parking, and enforcement needs to allow for “overburdening” striped or customary automobile spaces.
Often, interim bike striping is the only affordable means for a city to encourage use of bicycles and simultaneous use of streets with automobiles. Rules of the road are not enough to assure safety. At a minimum, work with advocacy groups to monitor repainting needs and visibility and work with preexisting business to integrate with necessary and historic ingress and egress.
Reuse, integration, mode splits, diversity of paving, walkable paths and mixed housing types are often already a part of cities, predating the widespread application of American zoning in the 1920′s. Learn from, adapt and integrate what is already there.
Finally, pedestrians walk with pets. Public and private approaches to tie-up stations should not be forgotten.

*******

1. Don’t forget the school building and surroundings, even in trying times. School districts may have limited funds, but coalesce around parent-driven non-profit organizations to keep the focus on the neighborhood school.

2. Initial American attempts at outdoor commerce can be monochromatic. Businesses that bring street life should be encouraged, both through public permitting (and street use fee) flexibility and private encouragement to add color and appeal.

3. Scooters are becoming increasingly visible. We need to know the rules for parking, and enforcement needs to allow for “overburdening” striped or customary automobile spaces.

4. Often, interim bike striping is the only affordable means for a city to encourage use of bicycles and simultaneous use of streets with automobiles. Rules of the road are not enough to assure safety. At a minimum, work with advocacy groups to monitor repainting needs and visibility and work with preexisting business to integrate with necessary and historic ingress and egress.

5. Reuse, integration, mode splits, diversity of paving, walkable paths and mixed housing types are often already a part of cities, predating the widespread application of American zoning in the 1920′s. Learn from, adapt and integrate what is already there.

6. Finally, pedestrians walk with pets. Public and private approaches to tie-up stations should not be forgotten.

*******

Note from the hosts: Without a post set for tomorrow/today and in the flurry of tweets surrounding Ana M. Manzo‘s fantastic post on the Emotion of Architecture, Charles and I got into a chat. After a short back and forth, he offered a re-print from his site http://myurbanist.com. This post in particular was originally published in March of this year. And being how we have never hosted anything regarding urban planning, I said what the heck. Besides who could pass up a nifty little term like “placemaking.” Charles may be found on Twitter @crwolfelaw. Please read, comment, happy Friday to all, and enjoy! jb

This post was originally published in March of this year

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Ana M. Manzo :: Emotional Architecture

2010-08-26T12:17:24Z

aka The Architecture of Emotion

Much has been written about the way architecture affects people’s emotions. But what if we look at it the other way? What about the way our emotions affect our designs?

On countless occasions we have heard (or said) the phrase “creative block.” How many of those times has it actually been associated with an “emotional block?”

It takes a lot of courage to open our hearts and express to the world how we feel at any given time, especially if the emotions that invade us, at that particular time, are negative. Some, those who dare, express themselves by crying, screaming, laughing, talking. But there are those too, who display emotion through creative expression (sometimes even unconsciously).

This theory has been discussed countless times from the point of view of art. And being how architecture is an artistic profession, creativity one of, if not the most important ingredient, it is logical to think that it too could be affected by our emotions. It is even possible, if we analyze architectural movements in history, that we would find clues suggesting that these movements were caused by the various situations (emotion-provoking) happening at the given time.

What could an architect who feels relaxed create?

Or sad?

Or happy?

Or playful?

Or angry?

What about one who feels like dancing?

*******

Subjective experience and the emotions of people are directly related to the way they think creatively. This is a fact. So, why not ask how Frank Lloyd Wright felt when he designed Fallingwater?

or Mies van der Rohe when he created the Barcelona Pavilion?

or Frank Gehry when he made the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao?

Perhaps these architects had followed a consistent design line from start to finish, but what about those who have surprised us with an architectural work that is unrelated to the rest of the work done in his/her career?

I remember feeling an enormous sense of anxiety when after having learned “five points towards a new architecture,” formulated by Le Corbusier (and then reciting them as if they were unequivocal laws), I discovered that he toward the end of his career thought EVERYTHING he had taught was wrong. And he created the Notre Dame du Haut Chapel (Ronchamp, France) to prove it. In this project he breaks with his principles of standardization and geometric style, to give rise to a response with enormous plastic freedom that also responds to the environment.

Villa Savoye. Poissy, Paris, France

Notre Dame du Haut Chapel, Ronchamp, France

It is true that the experience gained over the years is one of the main factors influencing the evolution of an architect (and of any person of any profession for that matter), but I think, beyond that, emotions do a lot for any artist.

Then, it would be interesting to analyze in parallel the life and architectural work of this great master. I may be wrong, and this could be just some random thought from a romantic person, but is it possible that these changes have been produced from more than just experience and a sudden awakening to a new architectural reality?

Perhaps we do not want to admit that what we feel affects or influences our creations. We prefer to think that what we do is inspired solely by external agents . . . by emotions of others (the client), by the environment or by specific situations. Perhaps we dare not admit it, because we feel that this could weaken the seriousness of what we do.

But that is the easy way. I think we could see it as something positive and enriching, something that, if we learn to control it (reinforcing the positive emotions and limiting the negative ones), would be able to give a new level of emotionality to our buildings.

Selgas Cano Architecture Office (1)

Selgas Cano Architecture Office (2)

I would like to believe that this project was done by someone in control of his emotions…

*******

Note from the hosts: Wow . . . a beautiful essay in words and pictures. We’d like to thank the lovely and talented Ana M. Manzo for our first international submission. She is an architect living and working in Venezuela. She can be found on Twitter as @anammanzo. She may also be found blogging at The Place of Dreams: http://anammanzo.wordpress.com/. Many thanks Ana! jb

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2010-08-25T11:00:00Z

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