More Modern Furniture Reproductions

As I have said before, I very much enjoy a modern aesthetic in buildings as well as furniture. And like everyone else, I can't say that I like every form of modern architecture and the same goes for furniture.

When it comes to furniture, my most important requirement is that it comfortable! Form follows function. If furniture is not comfortable (in regard to any type of seating) I basically see no purpose for it. There are numerous "classic" modern furniture designs that are pretty uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time. And I know there are many people who love or desire them, but I personally cannot see any use for them, even if they do look really cool!

I have been surprised numerous times when I have encountered one of these modern classics, and I sit down and think, "Wow, this is awful!" On such design is the Womb chair. I can hear some people screaming as they read this. Blasphemy!! A few years ago when I had a chance to try out the Womb chair, I eased myself into it and just said, Uhg! It was hard and didn't support my body well. The seating position was poor also. The big pillow at the base of the back pushed me away from the back of the chair so it offered no support at all. It was just bad. Nice looking chair, but not a good seating position. But then it looks really comfortable! As I am writing this, I am thinking that the next time I see one of these, I will test it again just to be sure.

But now to the purpose of this post. I recently bought a couple reproductions of the Eames plastic armchair. No, it is not an authorized reproduction as I simply cannot justify the cost. These cost about $75 each, delivered.

I am quite pleased with the chairs. The plastic of the shell is thick and solid. I chose the dowel legs over the Eiffel chrome legs, just a personal preference. The chairs arrived well packed and padded to prevent damage. The bases came pre-assembled so all I had to do was install the four bolts and washers that attach the base to the shell. They are quite solid and comfortable to sit in. I have always like the style of these chairs and the bright green color adds to my decor.

Before I purchased them from Amazon, I read all the reviews by other consumers. The vast majority of the reviews were quite positive and that is mainly what I based my buying decision on. I intend to add my own positive review in the next few days. Of course there were a few negative reviews. But none of these were about the quality of the product. They were typically complaining about having to attach the base to the shell and how they didn't know how to install a bolt or something just as silly.

So I continue to add more modern style furniture to my home. This time it was a reproduction. But I continue to keep my eyes open for that rare, original classic piece at an estate sale or in a second hand store. Maybe someday I will get lucky!

Is a love of architecture out of place today?

I have said for many years that I was born at least 30-50 or more years too late. I have always loved old sports cars. If I had been an adult when the Porsche 911 was first introduced, I am sure I would have purchased one straight away! And I would have loved to have been a young adult in the late 40s, 50s  or early 60s when there was so much going on in the architectural and design world. I love so many products from that era, cars, modern furnishings and modern buildings.

I love modern architecture, residential and commercial. That was not always the case. I think as I became more involved with architecture, my tastes matured and I was able to appreciate modern design in ways that I had not been able to earlier in my life. In some ways, I feel that my appreciation of modern architecture grew in part from a distaste for the boring and repetitive home designs that you see everywhere. Although I have lived in conventional style homes for much of my life, I have no desire to do so again.

While I can appreciate the simplicity of a Cape Code home, I can't say I have any desire to live in one. Instead, I built the home of my dreams in the country. Modern lines, lots of glass, every space well thought out. It took me many months to finalize the design. During that time I had a couple of epiphanies, which in all modesty, I have to say are pretty brilliant. I really can't say that I have ever seen a home design quite like it. My wife and I love the design and the flow of the home. I designed it for us to be able to live comfortably in while we have young children as well as for when they have moved on with their own lives. Several times I have thought about how I might have done something different that would have improved the design, but as of yet I have not come up with any changes that would have improved the design considering the location and our lifestyle. I have had many, many people complement me on our home, but I think maybe some of the comments I have enjoyed the most have been when I have overheard teen age friends of my children remark "You live in the coolest house!"

So from all of this comes my question, Is a love of architecture out of place today? Very few of my friends and acquaintances enjoy architecture to any extent. Nor do they care about the design aspects all that much that I can tell. They live in the suburbs in nice conventional homes. But if you took the numbers off the sides of their houses, I question if they could find their way home.

I was recently describing a road trip we took to the east coast to some friends recently. I told them that our very first stop was Fallingwater. They had never heard of it. Most people tell me that they have never heard of FLLWs masterpiece. When I show them a picture, some people recall seeing something of it before, but most do not. I took my children to see Fallingwater because I wanted them to experience truly great residential architecture.

I guess maybe my question is: With all the information we deal with today from entertainment, activities and online, outside of a very small percentage of people, is there really much interest in architecture by the general population?

BTW, I plan to very soon purchase that Porsche 911 that I have desired for over 30 years! I can barely wait!

IKEA

I have to admit that I am a fan of IKEA. I was first exposed to them several years ago when I visited a store in Frisco, TX. Being interested in modern design, I could not help but be attracted to much of the furnishings they have to offer.

If you have never been to an IKEA store, you may not be familiar with their products. IKEA is based in Sweden and they have stores around the world and many in the US. Until recently, the stores in the US were mainly located near the coasts, the exceptions being in Chicago, Minneapolis and Frisco. However, if you happen to live in the vast center of the country as I do, there was really not a convenient option for visiting a store.

When we built our house, I knew what a wanted as far as cabinet functionality. I wanted large drawers for pots, pans and cookware. I also wanted a modern look, good quality hinges and drawer slides. In addition, I needed to keep to a tight budget. IKEA cabinets seemed to fit the bill from the information I could find online. But you can bet that I was not going to buy cabinets for our new home without my wife's approval. And I wanted to her to touch and feel the cabinets so that I would be assured she would be satisfied with them. (can you tell I have been married a long time)

So one weekend, my wife and I made a quick road trip to Texas to visit the IKEA store and for her to get a good look at the cabinets. She gave me her blessing to use them in her kitchen. A month later, I drove a truck back to Texas and purchased all the cabinets for our new home as well as some lights, book cases and furniture. It has now been 9 years living with our IKEA kitchen and we are very pleased. They have held up very well to lots of use and three young children! I really would recommend them to anyone. Thankfully IKEA has now put a store in Kansas City. I was there today over lunch and bought a new comforter for our bed.

IKEA carries much, much more than cabinets. They sell couches, tables, chairs, dressers, linens, kitchenware, appliances, kids toys, lighting, counter tops, sinks, beds................. Lots and lots of things! Really pretty much anything you need to furnish and outfit your home. I guess I would say one of their main goals is to provide products that are very cost effective. Most of their furniture requires assembly. I have quite a few of their products and I am sure I will continue to purchase more in the future. I am currently considering an additional dresser and perhaps new living room couches in the not to distant future.

One thing they do with their display areas that I really like is to setup model rooms or apartments and kitchens so that people can visualize how to mix different products together. I think this is very helpful for many people.

Their products there are not intended to be high end, but I think many of them are very well made. I also think there are some items that probably will not hold up to daily use for very long. So you just have to analyze what you want to purchase, just like anywhere else.

The stores are quite huge affairs, almost always with two levels. If you visit one, plan on being there a few hours. And if you get hungry, they have a nice cafeteria that offers some traditional Swedish foods as well as more American style dishes.

Go and have fun!

Prairie Style in Wichita

I am a fan of FLLW and I have toured several of the homes he designed. I even had the opportunity to visit with one of his clients in 2003. That was a treat! Mr Schaberg gave me a tour of his home and we sat and visited about his experience as a FLLW client.

There are only a few FLLW homes in Kansas. The lone Prairie style home is in Wichita. It is one of the last Prairie style homes he designed.

The Allen-Lamb home in Wichita was built for Henry J Allen and his wife. Allen was a prominent politician in Kansas.

The home is a beautiful structure located at the corner of Roosevelt and 2nd St. Tours are available by appointment, www.allenlambe.org. I was in Wichita a few weeks ago and stopped by the house just to walk around and enjoy the architecture. I have done this many, many times. When I lived in Wichita, I would make a point of driving by the house several times a week on my way to work.

The Allen-Lamb home is a large two story, L shaped structure. The main floor is set above street level much like the Robie house in Chicago. You enter from a door located in the port-carche into a smallish entry hall, then step up into the living room. The living room is fairly large and ornately detailed as his homes of this period typically were. The brick used in the home would best be described as yellow roman. In the living room, Wright had gold leaf applied over the deeply raked mortar joints, something he never did on any other home.

The living room opens onto a beautiful patio with a large lily pool in the center. I can see sitting on the patio, listening to the sound of the small fountain and enjoying a cool drink on a warm day. There is no step down from the interior of the home to the tile of the patio. The only thing separating the two spaces is the threshold of the doorway. I very much like this feature, but, I can imagine there was always an issue of rain and melting snow entering the home from beneath the threshold.

The home was designed for wealthy clients with servants. The servant entrance and quarters are in the West end of the home while the owners access to the 2nd floor bedrooms was from a stairwell located in the East side. There is really nothing very remarkable about the 2nd floor or the bedrooms.

One other unique aspect of the home is the garage. Cars were a relatively new invention when the home was built and they were a bit of an unknown quantity. Either Wright or the owners had some concern of the cars catching fire and burning the home down. So Wright designed the garage to be entirely concrete and thus fireproof, even he ceiling.

So if you happen to be traveling through Wichita and you would like to see one of the finest examples of a FLLW Prairie Style home, make a detour and swing by the Allen-Lamb home. Even if you cannot arrange a tour, it is located in a beautiful neighborhood and you can walk around it and enjoy the architecture.

My process for designing a home

The home of one of my customers in nearing completion and I am anxiously awaiting the final pictures. The home is located near Carthage, MO.

We started with some drawings supplied by the customer and modified these into what became the final floorplan over a period of a few weeks. The basic layout changed fairly significantly and we added and subtracted to suit their needs. My design process usually proceeds in this manner; we start with a sketch and some ideas, discuss their "must haves" and other factors such as their building lot and orientation of the home.

Once I have this preliminary information, I then set about creating a first draft of the main floor which I send to the customer for review and feedback. They will send me back ideas on what they like or dislike. When a customer identifies a feature they don't like, I try to drill down on that issue and try to understand their desire better. I am practical about incorporating a client's desires. Some things can be added to the design, but then, some ideas are simply not practical. In the latter case, I have a discussion with the customer explaining the implications or cost of particular design element, what would have to be changed, etc.

Regardless, as the design progresses, I exchange several design drafts of the floor plan with the customer, each becoming more refined and closer to the final version.

At some point during this process of the main floor design, I will add additional floors as required. This may be a basement or second floor, or both. Again, I start with a rough draft and have my customer review it and let me know their thoughts. At the same time, I am again designing with the structure and mechanical requirements in mind. All the building loads have to be passed down from each floor to the foundation. Where will the HVAC system be located? How can we eliminate a post in an inconvenient location? How can we arrange the rooms for the best efficiency? There are lots of things to consider as the design progresses.

Once we have the various floorplans basically complete, I start sending elevation views to my customer. From these, we refine the type of siding, the sizes and configurations of windows and doors. Elevations are typically a two dimensional view, so I also generate various 3 dimensional renderings to help customers get a better feel for the design.

Once the customer is satisfied with the design of the home, I have to set about adding all the details that are required for their contractor to build their home. Again, I am incorporating or detailing the many items that create the structure into the plans. These can be foundation walls, beams, pier pads, grade beams, bearing points, bearing walls...... These details and many structural notes are included in the plans in order not only to guild the builder, but also to satisfy the requirements of the local building code officials.

Once I am finished with the plans and my customer has paid the remainder of the design fee, I email them PDF files of the plans from which they can print as many copies of the design as is required for the building code officials, contractors and sub contractors.

3D printing and architectural design

I recently bought a 3D printer kit off the internet. Before doing so, I did some research and spoke with a co-worker who had recently purchase one also. My research gave me a good idea what type/style of printer I wanted. My co-worker actually pointed me to a supplier who I eventually purchased my printer from.

Before making my purchase, I did some research on the supplier to see what kind of reviews people had given them and their products. In this case, both of these turned out to be quite positive.

The printer I purchased ended up costing me just under $400 including shipping, pretty cheap by 3D printer standards. The kit arrived in a large box full of parts and individually labeled bags. Nice!With their instructions, I spent a few days assembling the printer. I then needed to download the software, install it and begin the process of getting the printer to communicate with my computer.

Things went pretty smoothly until I started trying to set the endstops for the print head. It just wasn't doing what it was supposed to, at least according to the documents I had. Luckily, I do have some experience with computers and electro-mechanical equipment. After some time, I discovered that I had 3 wire connections that were faulty from the factory. I fixed these problems fairly quickly and was ready to make my first print.

As you might expect, my first attempts at printing were only marginally successful. There are some settings that need to be modified in order for everything to work properly, but after a couple failed attempts, I was able to print a good piece. As I sit here typing this, my printer is connected to this computer and is working away on my third attempt at my second printed item. I did say there was a learning curve.

So how will I use my 3D printer in my architectural design business, I don't really know at this point. I envision being able to print 3 dimensional models for customers at some point. Or maybe I will just use it for helping to visualize design ideas. I am limited by the size of an object I can print, only about 7 inches cubed. I can possibly break a design into 2 or 3 sections, print them and then put them together.

Now that I have one, it turns out the operationally, they are pretty simple. Programmers have done all the hard work for us. Creating printable designs is also pretty easy as there are several free programs that you can download and create your own 3D objects. On top of that, there are literally thousands of 3D objects available for download on the Internet today!

I also wanted to get a 3D printer so that I could learn about and understand the technology. I also wanted my children to understand the technology and be able to use the printer for school and fun. 3D printing is going to change our world! People are already using them to print buildings! Google it and you will be amazed!

It is an amazing technology that is now available to pretty much anyone who has the desire. You will probably see some 3D models of my designs here in the near future.

Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece!

I have visited Fallingwater twice so far. And I have little doubt that I will visit it a couple more times in the next twenty years or so. I have always admired the home for it's astounding beauty and elegant design. I have studied much about it's construction and history and had wanted to visit it long before I was actually able to do so.

At one point about 12 years ago, I found myself in Detroit with a free weekend on my hands. I knew the Weltzhiemer Usonian home was in Oberlin, OH, and not too far a distance. I made it to Oberlin and enjoyed visiting the home there, and I was seriously considering driving over to Mill Run, PA to visit Fallingwater. But a blizzard was pummeling Western Pennsylvania and I decided it would be smarter to wait for better weather. Although, it would have been beautiful to see Fallingwater in the snow.

It was a few more years before I was able to visit Fallingwater. My father's family hails from West Virginia and I was visiting the area with my mother and my siblings. Since we were going to be in the general area, I  told them that I had one request for our trip and one request only, that we visit Fallingwater. My family has little interest or knowledge of architecture and none of them knew what Fallingwater was. But, they all agreed to go.

It was a spring day when we were there and it was raining lightly. But the facility is well prepared for the weather and supplied everyone with umbrellas. I like that you cannot see any part of the home from the visitor center and it is only revealed when you walk the winding path down the hill through the forest. The beauty of the location is simply amazing. As the building came into view, my family was in awe of it's beauty!

We spent the next two hours on a guided tour of the home and guest house. Once finished, they all thanked me for introducing them to Fallingwater as they probably would not have known about it otherwise.

Myself, I loved the tour. I took over 100 photos of the home, inside and out. On the extended tour, you are allowed to take photos of the interior, on the shorter tour you cannot. The house is actually smaller than you might think and the ceilings are quite low. The living room really isn't very large. However, the balconies on each side add quite a lot of usable space.

There is no one thing that I specifically or particularly like about the home more than anything else. It just all seems to work together, how it works with the site, clinging to the side of the hill and extending out over the stream. I have wondered what Wright's inspiration was for the design? He had always emphasized horizontal features in his designs. In the picture above you can see the mass of the rock ledge under the home and how each floor or balcony and parapet mimic the mass of the rock ledge. Maybe that was his inspiration. But it is still very interesting, like a spark of genius that propelled him to conceive the design.

And it is a masterpiece! If you have ever wanted to visit Fallingwater, I strongly reccommend you take the steps to make it happen. You won't be dissappointed!

Modern furniture reproductions

I have spent the past couple hours on Amazon, looking at various types of modern furniture. Just browsing, but there are a few items I would like to add to our home.

This kind of started yesterday when my wife and I drove to Kansas City to do some window shopping. I do want a new coffee table for our living room. There is nothing wrong with our current coffee table. It is a nice modern style table that is a mixture of wood and glass. It looks good, we have had it for about 10 years and it has held up very well. But I am just a little tired of it and want something different.

We went to a couple of stores, just to browse, but kind of looking to see if we could find a replacement coffee table. We did see one coffee table that we liked. It looks nice and would certainly be a good replacement. But then, it is not exactly the style I want.

That is the main reason I have been looking at furniture on Amazon for the past two hours, I couldn't find what I wanted at a local store. One of things I like about Amazon besides the available selection are the customer reviews. I rarely purchase anything expensive from them that does not have a number of positive reviews. You kind of have to base your decisions on an average basis. But if half the reviews for an item are negative, it is probably not something you want.

The coffee table I really want is a Noguchi table. It is such a timeless classic! Beautifully simple and elegant and I have been in love with this design since the first time I saw it! You can buy the real thing from Herman Miller today for just under $1700. With most things in life, you get what you pay for and I am sure the table from HM is of the highest quality. But really, I simply cannot justify $1700 for a coffee table. I just can't. As much as I love modern design, classical modern design and I understand the value of the designer's idea, inspiration and execution, I can't spend that kind of money for a coffee table.

So, I am in a quandary. Do I buy a reproduction and live with the thought that another company is profiting from the original designer's work or do I buy something that is less beautiful than I want? I have this same dilemma when I consider buying any reproduction mid-century modern classic furniture.

I guess I might find some solace in the fact that most of these classic pieces were designed in the 1950's and the designers are no longer with us. Their designs are just being sold by a company. Does a portion of those sales revenue still go to the families of the designers? I don't know. I guess I would hope so, but realistically, I doubt it.

Anyway, I am considering buying some reproduction classics from Amazon. Primarily I am looking at a Noguchi table and a couple Eames shell chairs. Could I afford the real thing I wanted, Probably, but I just too frugal for that. I am just not at a financial level to be buying true designer furniture. I have a feeling that there are many people in the same boat as me.

Someday I hope to own a few original pieces, but for now, I will just have to settle for a reproduction of the real thing.

Small Modern Houses

I have been thinking more about smaller homes. Homes that while functional, have significantly less square footage than a typical home built today.

There are many examples of small homes in our past. Many variations can be found even today if you look around. It is only in the past 30 or 40 years that the homes most of us know have gotten larger. My father was a builder and a businessman, and I grew up in a fairly good sized home. But when I think of my grandparents house, it always seemed smallish. It was simply 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a living room and kitchen. They had added an addition, I guess I would call it a great room. But it was only about 20' square.

I am contemplating creating some smaller designs to offer customers, smaller than what I currently offer. Many people in large cities live in tiny apartments of only a few hundred square feet. I guess I am probably just piling onto a small trend of sorts. There many designs currently available from a variety of sources, but almost none of these designs have a modernist style. Why not build home that meets all your needs for bedrooms and dining areas and living rooms ect, just with a smaller footprint. A smaller footprint reduces your initial building cost, reduces your taxes and reduces your energy bills. A smaller home will also typically reduce the maintenance and cleaning required.

I believe there are a number of people that smaller homes might appeal to. Singles or young couples with no children, empty nesters, etc. Maybe a smaller house could function as a 2nd home or vacation home away from the city.

If you happen to have access to old plan books from the 50's and 60's, you will find a number of small modern designs. Below is an image from such a plan book. It is really a simple and small modern design. With a few tweaks, something like this would work very well today.

The biggest question for most people is what space do you take away from a typical design to create a small home. The answer is really, everywhere. You simply start with the idea of reducing the square footage in every room. You also eliminate duplicate spaces.

A living room can typically be reduced in size but it still needs to be large enough to accommodate guests when needed. The kitchen can be small and still remain functional. Maybe a galley style kitchen. There should only be one dining area, even better if it is integrated with the kitchen. Many space efficient designs utilize a large kitchen island that integrates the dining table. These areas can still be open and stylish, just smaller than the typical home.

Bedrooms can also typically be reduced in size. How big does a bedroom really need to be? The essentials for a bedroom are room for a bed and space for dressers etc. You don't want your bedroom so small that you can't walk past your spouse without turning sideways, but you don't need it to be 25' square either. Can you still have a master bath or en suite? Sure, I think most people want a private bath in the master bedroom. If you don't, then you can reduce the size of the home that much more.

Smaller homes may not be for everyone, but there is certainly a section of the population that sees appeal in what they offer. Look for some smaller stock plans to be added to my selection in the next few months.

The Rosenbaum Usonian home

We recently took a long road vacation to Florida and parts in between. On the way back home, we made a detour to Florence, Alabama to visit the Rosenbaum residence.

This Usonian home was purchase and restored by the city of Florence and is now open to the public for guided tours. Our tour was led by a very knowledgeable docent and lasted approximately 1 hour.

The home is located in Florence  near the hospital. The land and $7500 was given to Stanley Rosenbaum and his wife Mildred by his parents in 1938. Stanley and Mildred wanted a modern home. An architect friend suggested they contact Frank Lloyd Wright to design it. Their friend, Aaron Green, later became an apprentice of Wright and then had a successful practice in San Francisco.

The home is very typical Usonian. Rather modest dimensions, beautiful materials, flat roof and lots of windows. As typical with Wright, the budget of $7500 proved inadequate. The home cost $14,000 to build.

The Rosenbaum home is beautiful. It is beautiful from the outside as well as from the inside. It feels very comfortable even though the the size of the rooms are small by today's standards. As typical with Wright's Usonian designs, the doors and hallways are narrow in part due to his grid system of design. But, they are passable for most people, just not we are accustomed to.

The bathrooms are also small but still functional. The original kitchen on the other hand was far too small even in 1940. All in all, it is a beautiful little home.

I am in the process of designing a Usonian style home. The design is an L shape like many Usonian homes and like the Rosenbaum home. I have liked the L shaped design for many years, ever since I visited my first Usonian in Oberlin, Ohio, the Weltzheimer residence. There is something about the livability of this layout that I like; how each main room in the home has large windows and doors that open onto a common exterior space.

Yes, this layout is not particularly material or energy efficient, too many exterior walls because of the shape leading to higher material costs and reduced energy efficiency. However, the small size can help to offset some of the added expense. I consider quality of life or livability a fair trade for the added energy costs of such a design.

Usonians also benefited from the quality and beauty of the materials used in their construction. I liken them more to a jewel box than a home. It is not practical to build a modern Usonian style home today using the same materials, or not at least on a budget that most people could support. I will write more on alternative material choices in another blog entry.

Anyway, if you happen to be near norther Alabama, you might want to consider taking a short detour and visit the Rosenbaum residence, you won't be disappointed.

ICF owner / builder

In addition to designing homes for people, I am a distributor for Logix ICFs (insulated concrete forms). I think ICFs are a great product. My wife and I build our home with ICFs and we are very, very happy with the results.

As an ICF distributor, I sell the forms to contractors as well as individuals. Selling to contractors is fairly straightforward. They have a customer who wants a new home built and they have chosen to utilize ICFs. These contractors typically have experience at building with ICFs.

Selling ICFs to an owner/builder is a bit different.

Some people know they want to build with ICFs but have no experience with them. Many of these people have prior building experience, just not with ICFs. If they have building experience, utilizing ICFs is typically not a problem. ICFs are a very simple product to use There are just a few basic rules to the construction process. I do often provide advise to these individuals when they have questions and may visit the building site if requested. We also have a manufacturers rep that is available to answer questions or provide advice.

Other customers may have no building experience at all, they just know they want to use ICFs for their home. For these customers, I typically give them the names of some general contractors or ICF subcontractors to contact.

Owner builders are most often attracted to ICFs because of the energy efficiency, security and sound isolation they provide. However, often times the do-it-yourselfer will realize an economical advantage of using ICFs no only for the foundation, but for the entire structure.

A few years ago, I had a rather industrious owner who saw the cost advantage of an ICF structure when you build it yourself. In this particular case, rather than spend $20K for the basement alone, he spent around $9K for the ICF blocks needed for the basement and main floor. He hired a helper and they constructed the entire home, exterior walls with ICF, interior framed walls and a trussed roof. He got a better home and saved money at the same time.

I had another customer who was acting as his own general contractor. He chose to utilize ICFs for the basement and main floor. He and his wife performed all the ICF construction and hired a framing crew to build the rest. Again, he ended up with a better, safer more energy efficient home and saved money!

I realize that this is not an option for everyone, but it is certainly an option for some people. So, if you are planning to build your own home, maybe you should checkout ICFs and see if they offer some advantages that you have not considered.