Design Diary: Hurry It’s Lovely Up Here

Posted on February 21, 2012

One of the rare treats of this apartment is a fantastic city garden. Measuring 50 x 30 feet, it’s actually bigger than the apartment itself. And every room faces onto it. I had a simple concept for the garden. I wanted it to be clean, modern, and very architectural– enhancing the spirit of the apartment itself. We enlisted Paul Harness of Plant Specialists who came up with a fantastic scheme.

There were a few inherent problems. Light is an issue. Paul analyzed the space to figure out what will grow best and in what location.

There is an ugly fence on the West Side that we can’t change. He suggested a great fence to place in front of it made of horizontal knotty cedar boards. We are also creating an area behind the fence to hide the air conditioning units and for storage.

New fencing concept

The blue-stone pavers were laid in an  ugly random pattern. Paul is sorting them and laying them in varied “stripes” in a great modern way.

The center will have birch trees that form a custom-designed personal park. Other areas include chaise lounges to read and sun, and a dining area for dinner parties. He selected beautiful vertical trees for the Eastern wall.

Birch trees

Trees for Eastern Wall

One of the most unique features is a huge mirror that will extend the western view of the garden and double the size of the planting.

Lighting throughout will create a great mood from every window in the apartment.

The client also asked for a swing for the grandchildren. Paul found this minimalist piece that will have rubber chips underneath so they don’t get hurt.

Swing

Rubber chips

Construction started on the garden this week as you can see in the photos.

Plan by Plant Specialists

Before Photo showing existing fence

Before shot of East WallLaying out the new “park”

Week one in the garden

Proceeding apace

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You’ve got to crack the eggs. . .

Posted on February 8, 2012

Construction has begun and our contractor, Mark Azzapardi, of KNG Construction has gutted the apartment back to the structure. It’s a bit shocking, but exciting. I’m glad the clients are away so they won’t see how little is left of their expensive NY investment.

There were no bad surprises. We picked up lots of extra inches, pipes where where we hoped they’d be.  There were some hidden leaks that would have caused future problems that we can repair.

Today, they will start framing the walls.

The view toward the future guest room

View toward the future Master Bedroom

View from future living room looking out at garden

Reminder of pre-demo living room

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Goralnick is featured in first issue of New American Luxury

Posted on January 9, 2012

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A Visit to the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver

Posted on January 4, 2012

An Early Work

I was fortunate enough to be in Denver over the holidays where the new Clyfford Still Museum recently opened. He is one of my favorite painters and the new museum highlights his work beautifully.

Clyfford Still was among the first generation of Abstract Expressionists who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II. Still’s contemporaries included Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. Though the styles and approaches of these artists varied considerably, Abstract Expressionism is marked by abstract forms, expressive brushwork, and monumental scale, all of which were used to convey universal themes about creation, life, struggle, and death, themes that took on a considerable relevance during and after World War II.

Prints and Sculptures By Still

Described by many as the most anti-traditional of the Abstract Expressionists, Still is credited with laying the groundwork for the movement. Still’s shift from representational painting to abstraction occurred between 1938 and 1942, earlier than his colleagues, who continued to paint in figurative-surrealist styles well into the 1940s.

 

After the artist’s death in 1980, the Clyfford Still Estate was sealed off from public and scholarly view. Still’s will stipulated that his estate be given in its entirety to an American city willing to establish a permanent museum dedicated solely to his work. The City of Denver was selected by Still’s wife, Patricia Still, to receive the collection. In 2005, Patricia Still also bequeathed to the city her own estate, which included select paintings by her husband as well as his complete archives. The Still Museum collection, which represents nearly 94 percent of the artist’s lifetime output, includes approximately 2,400 works created between 1920 and 1980.

The Museum, designed by Allied Works Architecture is conceived as a solid, a mass of concrete, deriving its presence from the earth—a single construction that is opened up by natural light and that itself becomes the source of light for the art within. The museum structure exists to make room for the voice of a single artist. The Still Museum’s final design is a structure made of highly textured and resurfaced concrete that will modify light on both the exterior and interior of the Museum. Galleries, totaling approximately 10,000 square feet, feature changing exhibits of work from throughout Clyfford Still’s career.

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Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 15, 2011

I just received this great topiary from Paul Harness at Plant Specialists in Long Island City. They are the landscape designers for the new apartment project.

Paul says, “It’s the perfect silly holiday gift for the person that has everything….without offending any religious sensitivities :)

These little trees can be made from any soft pyramidal tree, wrapped with colorful wire and finished off with a single glass ornament.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

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Design Diary – Bringing the Lighting Designer Onboard

Posted on December 7, 2011

Plans are developing and I have brought in a lighting designer to help with the project.

This is an important element, as they have all the technical knowledge for determining light levels and color, and are up on all the latest technology and product. There are some interesting challenges to be met.

The space is very tall.

The existing room is 12’-6” tall, and after doing probes we found that there is an additional 3 feet of ceiling above the dropped ceiling. I planned a floating cathedral type ceiling to emphasize the height of the space, but to also bring it down to human scale. In between the two flooring planes is a “crack” through which the lighting fixtures will hang down “magically”.

The owners are art collectors so the walls must be washed with light for the art.

The foyer is very narrow.

We need good, functional light for reading, cooking, working, playing piano, and all general uses.

Gan Leehanantakul of G2J Design has some great ideas combining regular fixtures with LED lighting throughout. The light color and quality is good, it gives off very little heat, the are small and flexible and last for a long time so we won’t have to change fixtures in these very tall rooms.

She has great solutions for making the living room ceiling float and added details at the edge of rooms for clever sources of light that won’t look obvious or cliched. She created a faux skylight in the kitchen with LED fixtures.

Gan’s sketches follow. She has put in furniture and art as place holders, which we will select at a later date.

Sketch of Living Room Section with "Floating Ceiling"

 

Section through Living Room

Master Bedroom 

Entry SpaceSection Through Dining Area and KitchenSection Through Dining Area and Kitchen

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