Criss Cross.

In the late 1940s, the designer George Nelson, one of the icons of American modernism, stumbled upon an unconventional solution to lighting after being inspired by a self-webbing material used to mothball ships.

After a quickly-assembled Ball prototype proved successful, Nelson—originally trained as an architect at Yale—then developed several other designs which were produced by spray-coating a skeleton of steel wire with a layer of translucent plastic polymer. The tautly-stretched material emphasized the lamps’ simple forms and sculptural qualities, and resulted in an illumination that was soft and even.

The “Bubble Lamp” line, as it came to be called, launched by Howard Miller in 1947 was an instant classic, and continued to sell well into the late 1970s when they were discontinued.

Bubble, bubble…

20 years later, Modernica reissued the Bubble Lamp line—utilizing Nelson’s exact specifications and the original Howard Miller factory tooling—and “named” each individual Bubble Lamp design: Saucer, Ball, Cigar, Apple, Pear, Criss Cross, Lantern and Propeller (Nelson himself never named the original different lamp designs—they were simply assigned catalogue numbers by Howard Miller).

Today, the “airy and lighthearted” Nelson Bubble Lamps are, quite deservedly, part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA. The Criss Cross Bubble Pendant, in particular, can be seen each week illuminating the various diagnoses of everybody’s favorite misanthropic doctor. And, more to the point of all this, the Criss Cross is due soon for an open-ended appearance…

…at our house…

…where, it will be occupying exactly 25″ D. x 9.5″ H. of space in our dining room (just above the table)!

12.6.08

Awoke this morning to an email from Green Bottle Will:

…….

hey roy + liane_

have you visited the oc-17 house lately?

the painters plan to work on sunday to re-spray the front steel rafter tails and do touch-ups around the house. monday, they plan on painting the wooden rafter tails. also on monday, the roofers plan to install the master bath roof and have the gutter and side pieces for the dining room installed.

tuesday, the glass installation starts (temporary stops will hold the glass in place until we can trim them out; the installers will also seal the windows from the outside around the frames).

on wednesday, if possible, i would like us all to meet in order to discuss lighting. and, we also have another possible solution for the upper balcony that we’d like to discuss.

that’s all i have for now. let me know if you have any questions.

have a good weekend.

_
w.

…….

So there you have it—a partial agenda for next week.

Today though, busy day ahead…

…which includes a trip to DirectBuy (yuck) to order our appliances (yeah!)… but, perhaps first, a stop by the house to see the latest and greatest… but only after lunch at Pho Que Huong (18A without nuts!) and checking out that Aldi.

Gigantic!

When Will at Green Bottle asked us to consider CB2’s Industry Pendant Lamps as part of our kitchen lighting set-up, consider we did… for all of two seconds… before deciding that they were exactly what we’d been searching for.

They’re big (20.25″ D. x 23″ H.)! They’re black (although this may change once we start nailing down color schemes)! They’re steel! They’re affordable…

…and, right now, they’re shipping for FREE!

From the CB2 site: “The really big one. Over the top, hi-gloss black steel warehouse lamp rimmed in delustered metal replicates its big union predecessors at a minimum wage price. Frosted glass diffuses the beam. Retro black cloth cord tandems with metal cable for strong suspension. Professional hardwire installation recommended; hardware and ceiling plate included.”

So, we’ll be getting two of these bad boys to go above our kitchen island (should go real good with our Real Goods). And with our left-over-wedding-booty Crate and Barrel gift cards and FREE shipping, we’re hoping to pay only pennies.

I caulk the line.

As the short Thanksgiving week began, the painting and plumbing and HVAC-ing continued…

…and then…

…the glass for our windows arrived!

Glass and the friendly plumber (not Joe).

We’ve decided to go with the glazed.

IGUs—or Insulated Glazing Units—are “a set of two or more sheets of glass spaced apart and hermetically sealed to form a single glazed unit with a space between each sheet.” Cost-wise, they’re a bit more up front than the standard stuff; but the savings we’ll ultimately realize from lower heating and cooling costs should offset that and then some… and then some more (and then some more).

Glazed please (no sprinkles).

They should start going in next week… as soon as the White Dove dries on our steel spacers.

Also on the window-wise agenda in the coming weeks, the long-awaited enlargement of the wee dining room window. And just before we headed off to Mobile for a nice long Turkey Day weekend with Père & Mère & Uncle George, we spied Will and Matthew from Green Bottle Workshop discussing the resizing particulars with “Rudy the Roofer.”

Just a wee bit more…

And lastly (but certainly not least-ly), the ladybugs were back! In droves.

Continued good luck?

As long as they don’t bite.

Ladybugs!

Spot the sunning ladybugs.

Rub-a-dub-dub… it's the upstairs tub!

Ah, plumbing. That time-honored trade of working with pipes, tubing and fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of (ahem) waste. From the Latin plumbum for lead…

…but we’re having none of that.

Yes, plumbing (of course).

But no lead… or copper… or steel… or any other metal-ly thing.

Unlike Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, we’re gonna heed Mr. McGuire’s “just one word” of advice:

“Plastics.”

It’s CPVC for 1133.

Unlike metal, CPVC plumbing systems are more environmentally friendly and resist corrosion. The pipes themselves are also much easier to handle and install than metal, comply with most building code standards, and, best of all, within our budget.

Durability and affordability? There is a great future in that.

CPVC in the wall.

So, with tubing (and tubbing) in tow, our “Green Bottle Certified” plumbers began what is commonly called the “rough-in.” We hope that the process of creating what will become the backbone of our plumbing system will be a much more precise endeavor than “rough-in” seems to imply. After all, it’s going to take 2 weeks and some change to do.

Behind the headboard.

Judging from their handiwork thus far (which has included the installation of our American Standard Jetted Tubs!), it’s looking like we’re in very capable hands (as usual).

And, what’s that shiny something snaking through the rafters?

Air!

The end of week 19 also saw a start on the installation of our HVAC ductwork. When it’s all said and done, we’ll have two separate HVAC systems (one for each floor). While they’re at it, the HVAC fellas will also be installing the ductwork for the ventilation hood that goes over our kitchen stove (speaking of, it may just about be time to order those… and the rest of our appliances).

Before the paint, the primer.

Primed tails.

White out.

A white shadow creeps along the east side.

OC 17 (aka White Dove) to the left.

While the painters continued to caulk and seal, we met up with Will and Matthew to view the three whites in action on the west side of the house; and, after much debate and deliberation, we arrived at our choice—Benjamin Moore White Dove.

Actually, it was almost impossible to spot the difference between the White Dove and the two strips of white that surrounded it on the Hardie Board. So, after referring back to the swatch book, we thought that its (ever so) slightly warmer tone would nicely pair with some of the darker browns we’re (possibly) using on the deck and entry-piece.

Painting starts Monday… wrapping up (fingers crossed) by Thanksgiving Eve.

Vaulted.

Just over a 15-minute drive from Newbern is Greensboro, Alabama (pop. 2,731) and site of the next stop on our Hale-oween Rural Studio tour (and Liane’s second favorite RS project)—The Hale County Animal Shelter.

The 2005–2006 thesis project of students Jeff Bazzell, Julieta Collart, Lana Farkas, Connely Farr, the “Dog Pound”, as it’s sometimes called, was conceived and constructed to help underfunded Hale County fulfill a state-mandated legal obligation calling for an animal shelter in each county.

The back.

Vault and the box.

With assistance from consulting structural engineer Joe Farruggia, the team of four (each, with no previous construction experience) utilized a lamella roof for the overarching, open-ended shelter structure. This large sweeping span sits slightly off-the-ground on steel legs rooted in concrete, and is constructed of conventional off-the-shelf 2×8s connected in a diamond pattern and sheathed in 1×4s and sheets of corrugated galvinized aluminum.

Galvinized perspective.

Diamond ribs.

Steel feet.

Galv-alum with Plexi band.

Three Plexiglas bands—at the top and either side—are carefully placed to keep furry tenants coolly shaded during the summer and comfortably warmed by direct sunlight during the winter.

Back of the box.

Underneath this shimmery arc, the kennel structure is a modernist box comprised of 16 open-air pens (with under-floor heating to warm the animals during the winter), bookended by two enclosed air-conditioned spaces for kennel workers and the treatment of ill or injured animals.

Lou looking for pups.

Looking back.

Dead end.

The late Sambo Mockbee once said: “Everybody wants the same thing, rich or poor… not only a warm, dry room, but a shelter for the soul.”

The “Dog Pound” is a shelter for the soul… an expression of compassion and respect for all living things… another shining example of the Rural Studio ethos.

[Ed. note: Just a week prior to our visit, the Animal Shelter was shortlisted and highly commended in the Civic Category at the inaugural World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.]

1133 | Rural Studio
Beneath the roses
Fire!
Outside the Red Barn