Residential Architect articles from March 2003

Residential Architect archives from March 2003

Crash test your floor plans: would an extraordinary circumstance expose flaws in your design?(from the editor)
March 1, 2003... Automobile manufacturers do an admirable job of tailoring their vehicles to consumers' daily lives--their tastes, needs, and budget. Then they take their designs one step further and plan for the disaster everyone hopes will never happen: an...

Quantify, quantify.(Letters: keep those cards, letters, and e-mails coming.)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Even after 14 years in the residential architectural design business, I am surprised when the subject of architectural fees comes up. It is an ancient discussion, and one that never seems to reach any sort of resolution. Like Mr. Fania...

What in an acronym?(Letters: keep those cards, letters, and e-mails coming.)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Did I miss something? I have noticed people adding letters of all kinds after their names, and I am curious as to when some of these became recognized as an official part on one's title. As far as I know, only such initials as M.D., Ph.D.,...

Sustainable success.(Home front: tips and trends from the world of residential design)(architectural firm honored for sustainable development)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Miller/Hull Partnership's Modern, site-sensitive houses have been cleaning up at design awards competitions for years. Now the firm itself has been honored--with The American Institute of Architects' 2003 Architecture Firm Award. The 45-person,...

Tile, Italian style.(Homefront: tips and trends from the world of residential design)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... It's no secret Italians are on the cutting edge of design--their cars, clothes, and casas are cases in point. So it's no surprise the country hosts the world's leading tile design show. Cersaie, as it's called, is the industry's Fashion Week....

Grand banyan.(Homefront: tips and trends from the world of residential design)(Naturemaker Monumental Trees are functional as well as pretty.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The 25-foot-tall banyan tree in this great room of a Potomac, Md., home needs no watering. Or pruning. Or sunlight for that matter. Because it's a big faker--a really big faker, with cantilevered limbs spanning 30 feet across the two-story room...

Calendar.(Homefront: tips and trends from the world of residential design)(Calendar)
March 1, 2003... custom home design awards 2003 entry deadline: march 21 binder deadline: april 4 Houses designed for a specific client and site may be submitted by builders, architects, remodelers, designers, or other industry professionals....

Here comes the neighborhood: why urban mixed-use development works.(perspective)(housing in retail and office space)
March 1, 2003... Our 20th century cities were shaped with the best of intentions. The idea, I guess, was that by isolating the components of the city and approaching each in terms of streamlined processes and functional determinants, you would make cities more...

Ties that blind: working for loved ones can be the best or worst experience of your life.(practices)
March 1, 2003... As clients go, architect Mark Simon's mother was one of his most aesthetically adventurous. In 1973, fresh out of Yale Architecture School, he designed an underground house for her in Vermont. "She claims she asked for a tower," says Simon,...

The educations of Mark McInturff: a quartet of influences drives a Washington, D.C., architect to abstraction.(Interview)(Biography)
March 1, 2003... Mark McInturff, FAIA, talks like a historicist. He dislikes most Western American cities because they don't have enough old buildings. He uses details from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to help explain design concepts to clients. And he...

Light fantastic: kitchens and baths shine brightly in these open-plan houses: a house undivided.
March 1, 2003... Jay Chiat was a client who knew just what he wanted--and how to get it. After all, he was the legendary advertising genius who brought America the Energizer Bunny and launched the annual Super Bowl ad frenzy with the "1984" Apple computer...

Gray matters: the latest decorative concretes are more than a chip off the old block.(doctor spec)(Buddy Rhodes Studio, Concreteworks Studio, Soupcan and Cheng Design are leaders in this field.)
March 1, 2003... Once upon a time, concrete was like your unkempt childhood neighbor who had braces, a buzz cut, and thick glasses. But like your friend, who now flashes a winning smile and wears Brioni suits, concrete has blossomed into a snazzy trendsetter, a...

Big slate.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2003... When a project calls for slate flooring, Trogdon uses Midnight Black and Silvergrey products from American Slate Co. Fabricated in sizable 24-inch-square tiles and 3-by-6 1/2-foot slabs, the products allow the architect to work on a grand...

Pleasantly stout.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2003... When Trogdon needs high quality windows and doors, he specs them from Quantum. "The detail of design is very simple and yet technically resolved at the same time," he says. "The window members are stout and fabricated to withstand the test of...

Bruck stops here.(Architects' choice: product picks from the pros.)
March 1, 2003... Trogdon is a fan of Bruck Lighting because "it has advanced the idea of traditional 'track' lighting and taken it to a very delicate and beautiful sculptural expression." The company manufactures lighting systems (with an emphasis on...

Art house.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2003... Offered by the Italian manufacturer Mill-Due, the Clio collection of bathroom furnishings is part of a puzzle of high-style products that can be assembled to create or enhance modern spaces. The line includes: Ekotek sinks and vanity surfaces...

Disappearing act.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2003... The handmade Magic Square comes in either granite or travertine marble with a stainless steel bottom pan. A mosaic tray fits atop the stainless pan to conceal the drain mechanism. The 18-inchsquare sink measures 6 inches deep; the tray, are...

Clean machine.(New material: piping-hot products for your next project.)
March 1, 2003... This Eurotech dishwasher offers a wealth of options, but at $749, the manufacturer says it costs less than other products with similar features. Available in the United States for the first time through AM Appliance Group in Richardson, Texas,...

Clear choice.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... The Glass Series brings translucence to Avonite's group of solid surfaces, with opalescent tints such as cobalt, sky, antique, and frosted glass. Backlighting countertops or backsplashes make the material glow. The nonporous surface resists...

Material goods.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... The patented process for creating Imago encapsulates fabrics in a high-performance resin, resulting in the look of patterned glass. The scratch- and fingerprint-resistant resin is lighter than glass, however, and can be custom installed using...

Pandamonium.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... Four radical shades usher the Bamboo high-pressure laminate collection into the 21st century. Extreme green, red dragon, electric yellow, and Xanadu blue morph the natural grain of bamboo into vibrant waves of color. The patented "Armored...

Furniture fetish.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... The Metals collection comprises five pieces of bath furniture produced from solid surfacing and combined with metals or woods. The Java vanity shown here comes in two wood finishes, and its polyester-acrylic shelves are available in more than...

Hard core.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... Seven new colors boost Silestone's array to more than 35 options. Hues range from neutral beiges and browns to deep greens, metallic navy, and black-gray. Silestone is 93 percent quartz, and its low-maintenance, nonporous polished surface...

Natural selection.(Surface appeal: these new solid surfaces put the fun back in functional)
March 1, 2003... Corian has added six solid surface colors to their palette with the 2003 product line, each derived from tints found in the natural landscape. The new series of acorn, blue pebble, delta sand, doeskin, graphic blue, and willow brings the...

Splendor in the grass.(end quote)(The Peter Kerr House.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... peter kerr house, gearhart, ore., 1941 pietro belluschi, faia "i have always felt that in the plethora of choices open to an architect, only self-discipline, the understanding of physical laws, and sympathy for people's needs and desires...