Happy New Year!

It's time for a new year, a new semester, and a new perspective on design.  

     I'm currently preparing for teaching the Sophomore level Residential Design course. 

Typically in this course I focus on Universal Design, Historical Preservation, Client Interviews, HOA restrictions, and Design Presentation.  I have a particularly gifted group this year (I had them for Design Psychology last year) and I've been thinking I should introduce some lighting basics and get them moving towards dynamic visual presentations.  Our field historically has been very "presentation board" heavy, but with current technology many clients no longer need to be local to their designers, which is changing the way we communicate with our clients and contractors.  Being able to get ideas in front of clients and allow the presentation to speak for you is critical in today's market.

This winter and spring, I’ll be working with three Continuous Care Living Communities (CCLCs- Independent Living through Assisted Living to Rehabilitation and finally Hospice Care- the complete embodiment of Aging-in-place).  The closest of the three is a two hour drive; one is in another state.  I am working on a variety of spaces for these communities: a chapel, four bathing suites, and marketing and builder’s packages for an expansion of several hundred Independent living townhomes.  All requiring long distance presentation of concept and ideas as the primary method of communication.

     Each of these projects pose their own challenges, but I find the combination of designing for the aging population- creating ideal residential spaces under the strict parameters of commercial building code restrictions while simultaneously maintaining the best interests of the Community ownership- my client- to be most interesting and thought-provoking.  Frankly, it requires a well-rounded designer to be able to anticipate the needs of these varied populations.  It’s not about throwing the newest, biggest, most expensive product at a design problem.  It’s about recognizing the nuances of the owner, the needs of the people who care for this population, and anticipating the end user’s abilities- and the fact that those abilities will change, sometimes rapidly, as they enter their final years.

     I love what I do.

Here are the final two submissions from the Verge to the Weaverville Animal Art Affaire.  This has been so much fun!  My only regret is that I got so obsessed with throwing cool shadows, I missed out on some opportunities considering the lamp isn't in darkness most of the day.  They both fell squarely into the "light sculpture" category and lost some functionality.  Which is OK.  But filed in the back of my head for further consideration.

The second, table lamp/sculpture is made entirely out of found or left over parts.  The only thing I paid for was the LED mounted in the base.

The first one...not so much.  But the small artist's stipend provided for the project covered almost all of it.  I opted not to take the stipend for the other one.  Yes, my time is worth something, but the challenge of making something out of what was going to be trash was too tempting.

Let me know what you think!

I'm working out a few designs for the Enchanted Animal Art Affaire this summer.  The theme is the phoenix.  I'm designing two, making one and I'll have one made.  I'll keep you posted on the final product, but here are some of my initial process sketches.

Exploring concepts in light.  I love this stuff!

The $9 storage solution that saved my marriage

Sometimes it's the little things.

Mint Museum in Charlotte NC

If you have the opportunity to get to the Mint Museum in Charlotte NC before the end of the month, take it. There is an excellent permanent display exploring craft and design, however there is alsoan exhibition exploring wood in craft, art and design that ends at the end of the month and should not be missed.  The idea was to have artists toe the lines between art, design and craft; three fields which constantly interact and are incredibly difficult to define.

The Mint

I'm challenging my studio students (two seniors, the rest sophomores) to explore this notion in their designs this semester.  What is the difference between art and design?  Is it simply functionality?  When is a chair all three?  How about a wall?  Where does the computer come into play here?  If the creator uses a computer, is it then design and not art? Or is the computer simply a tool, just like a paintbrush?

I'm interested in what you and my students have to say about this as well as fleshing out my own notions of art vs craft vs design.

Check out this link to Scott Carter's exhibition (currently on display in London at the Beers.Lambert Gallery)

What do you think?  Is Carter's work Art, Craft, or Design?

And thank you to The Colossal blog for an inspiring collection of artists, designers, and craftsmen.

Home office to guest room in 72 hours flat

We just completed a three day renovation of a home office to a guest room.  Paint, built-ins, and a murphy bed!  Here are a few in process pix and the after photos.  The space has three primary functions and a slew of secondary ones.  We needed to keep the space as a semi-functional home office as well as adding storage for a ton of art supplies and getting a decent sleeping space for guests.  We've created an art studio and study space with tons of natural light.  All needs were met and installed in record time!

On a side note (and I'll write a longer post about this later):  You needn't fear dark colors in a small room!  This room is 9 x10 and I chose a dark rich brown for three walls and a grey/blue for the space by the bed.  The notion that dark colors make a room small causes too many people to fear deeper tones in their spaces. In many many cases, there's no real need for a room to look spacious.  Our goal was comfort and intimacy here.  Spaciousness does not lend itself well to that.