Design Diary: People Who Need People

Posted on March 29, 2012 by admin

While reviewing my meeting calendar for March, it struck me that not everyone may realize how many key people it takes to do a job of this scope. Here’s a list of names and activities to give you an idea:

  • Mark Azzapardi of KNG Construction and his job captain Dan Vine run this project. We speak daily, meet formally every Wednesday morning, and get together on other days as well if necessary. When the client is in town, she joins us too. Just this month we had the following consultations:
  • Mark, Dan, and I reviewed all the framing issues with the electricians, plumbers, and framers.
  • Greg Greenwald of SoundSense is an acoustical engineer. He designed the abatement for walls separating the apartment from the lobby and those around the HVAC units inside and in the garden.
  • Howard Werner, a great sculptor, is designing and building a floating shelf with me for the foyer.
  • Mario Vrankovic of Modern Air in Long Island City is fabricating the air conditioning system.
  • Biagio Lucenti of Lucenti Altay is making the kitchen for us in Italy.
  • Gan Leehannanfakul of G2J Design is our lighting designer. We reviewed changes, some new ideas, and the ordering of all the fixtures.
  • Amos of Window Tech measured for blinds and shades that he will be fabricating. He also coordinated the electric for motors for all the blinds.
  • Tony Loizos of Hi-Def is doing all the audio-visual systems.
  • Paul Harness of Plant Specialists is the landscape designer. We met to coordinate the work, and review the electrical issues for irrigation and lighting in the garden. Isaac from his office pruned the trees that overhang our garden.
  • Ann Bitters, the client’s trusted Interior Designer from Phoenix has some wonderful ideas for furniture and finishes.

One thing we discovered amidst all these meetings was that the 15 foot ceilings above both baths were unobstructed. I decided to slope the ceilings and continue the theme of the floating cathedral ceiling in the living room. I sketched an idea (below) on site. Then we drew it in CAD and it’s being built.

 

Guest Bath Sketch

Framing for Guest Bath Ceiling

 

Living Room Ceiling Under Construction

Living Room Ceiling Under Construction

Overview of Living Room

Overview of Living Room

 

Posted in Design Diary, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning. . .

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

One of my favorite things on a project is selecting the bathroom fixtures and fittings. Rona Goodman at the AF Supply showroom in Manhattan is my “go to person.” There are so many new products on the market, and even though I read the shelter and trade magazines, Rona helps keep me current. I think it’s very important that the client sees the faucets and other fixtures in person, touches them, experiences how they feel in the hand, checks out the finishes. The AF Supply showroom is well laid out and a great place to do all this, so the client met me there to examine everything and make the final selections.

Before construction, I met with the Rona and the contractor to review all the technical requirements, sizes, plumbing needs, mounting instructions, and so on. I find this very helpful and it eliminates many potential problems down the road.

In a renovation one always makes discoveries. Every millimeter of storage is premium in New York, so we annexed a few extra inches here and there in order to gain maximum stowage space if we make custom medicine chests. We also realized that it would be better to choose a narrower tub than the one we’d originally selected. The new choice is a gorgeous tub from a German company called Kaldewei.

The lights, Inner Fire pendants from Tech Lighting, are hung low from the ceiling just above the sink. That provides better light than if they were 10 feet overhead where they’d create deep shadows on the face. There is additional recessed lighting in the room and over the shower.

As the apartment is so sleek and modern we chose fixtures that will complement the decor. We have ordered the following:

Chrome faucet from Gessi

Vanity from Wet

Sink from Wet

Steel Enamel Tub from Kaldewei

Toto Toilet

Pendants from Tech Lighting

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Desert Cool: Two Terrific Museums in Arizona

Posted on March 12, 2012 by admin

I have visited the Scottsdale-Phoenix area every six months or so for many years, but I’ve only recently discovered two interesting museums there that I was previously unaware of: the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix.

SMoCA, founded in 1999, is  located in the Old Town district of Scottsdale in a former corporate movie theater that was turned into a sleek, minimalist building by Phoenix-based architect Will Bruder. When I visited in January, there was an exhibition of wonderful paintings by the Los Angeles artist Kirsten Everberg. She paints mostly LA scenes—iconic architectural landmarks that have been used as locations in movies—exploring the elusive line between fiction and reality. Her images are composed of elements she’s taken from films, photographs, and memory, and are painted in oil and enamel, so their glossy and colorful surfaces shimmer seductively. This was Everberg’s first major solo exhibition in a U.S. museum–she’s definitely worth looking at.

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is housed in a former corporate movie theater transformed into a minimalist building by Will Bruder.

Cinema-LA-Theater-2010-Kirsten-Everberg

At SMoCA I saw an exhibition of  oil and enamel paintings by the talented LA artist Kirsten Everberg. This is Cinema, (LA Theater), 2010.

Bar, 2003, Kristen Everberg, oil and enamel on canvas over panel

Kirsten Everberg, Bar, 2003

LA Mill, by Kristen Everberg

Kirsten Everberg, LA Mill, 2008

Kirsten Everberg, Cinema, Balcony (LA Theater), 2010, oil and enamel on canvas over panel

Kirsten Everberg, Cinema, Balcony (LA Theater), 2010

Church, Haut du Lievre, Nancy, 2005, Kristen Everberg, oil and enamel on canvas over panel, 72 x 108 in.

Kristen Everberg, Church, Haut du Lievre, Nancy, 2005

My other Arizona discovery, the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, was founded by Robert J. Ulrich, former CEO of Target Corporation, and opened in 2010. The collection has more than 15,000 musical instruments from every country in the world. My favorite part was the Artists Gallery, where you can see and hear instruments from such celebrated musicians as John Lennon, Paul Simon, Les Paul, Eric Clapton, and Carlos Santana. There was also a very cool traveling exhibition about Elvis Presley, on loan from Graceland. The rest of the museum is devoted to music around the globe, which is divided into five geographical areas. There’s a beautiful small theater for live performances and an excellent cafe with a lovely desert-like garden to sit in.

Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

Opened in 2010, the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix was founded by Robert J. Ulrich, the former CEO of Target.

Galleries, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

The museum has more than 15,000 exhibits from around the globe, divided up into  five geographical regions.

Guitar Gallery, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

The massive collection includes many guitars that belonged to some of the world’s most famous rock musicians.

African instruments at the Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

MIM has a fabulous selection of instruments from Africa and other parts of the globe.

Theater in the Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

There’s a beautiful 300-seat concert hall for live performances.

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment