Interesting...

[Kris Krieger]

Kind of cool - IMO of course ;)

- Kris

[gruhn]

The site looks lovely. I like that the designer didn't shy away from some crisp edges and planar surfaces.

The builtin.. brow over the baster bed is nice. Anybody think the bed/fireplace positioning odd? Suppose it's suits if you want to get heat off the fire. But then, a big european ceramic stove would suit better ;-). Ah, looks like Cali. Too dry then. I wouldn't like it enough. Skylight's a pretty picture.

I like the molded in ornament. (diff house if I understand their naming scheme correctly.) Had a prof with an old brownstone downtown Troy with lovely ornamental plasterwork in the front room. Delicate florally victorian stuff.

Is interesting for the exposition it gives of the boulder. You can see what they had to work with and then you can see what a cockup they made of the opportunity. Not sure what I don't like but I do think it's a failure.

I saved a copy of.

[Kris Krieger]

Heh, Blobitecture and Hobbitecture, cute ;) Spheritechture? ((Hmm, is a geodesic dome Buckytechtecture...?))

Then again,

"gruhn" wrote in news:5maKe.34$ [e-mail]:

Yes, it doesn't blend in" but it seems to "go with" the area. I liked the ideas that it poses. Of course, Desert and Desert-fringe areas seem ot be more amenable to ideas like this.

I especially liked the interior view of the "peeled up" section - reminded me of the inside of a seashell. I thought the windows up there were a good touch.

I've seen built-ins here and there in pictures, usu. in conjunction with "adobe style" but it seems to be a general aspect of what the websites called "cob building". I like the idea,k in general, of alcoves (which is what the molded "headboard" reminded me of) and courtyards and niches and so on, esp in combination with that hand-made smoothness.

I think the "tucked in" headboard has an almost protective feel, almost like a mini-cave or rther, niche in a large rock. The look is IMO soothing in a way.

A bit. But the place seems to be modest in size, so the position might be a result of the more intimate (i.e. small ) scale.

For actual heating, yeah, I guess the stove ought to have more exposure to the room - OTOH, I never actually thought about it but maybe those stoves (the built-ins, esp the rounded ones, commonly seen in SouthWest buildings) have the inner wall facing into the house - IOW, in most "normal" houses, the fireplace backs up to an outer wall, so if the wall gets warm, the heat dissipates to the outside. But a clay house shoud be fairly fire-proof, right?, so maybe the back wall can be inside of the house to retain heat. I'll have to look for that as I look at southwestern/adobe type styles (old ones, not new ones). Nights can get pretty cold in the desert, so it'd be a benefit if the central mass of the house could retain warmth, rather than leaking it to the outside.

Ceramic stove - I'm actually familiar with that idea, stoves big enough that people could even build sleeping areas next to it. I've seen pictures like that. What about building the house as a more torus-like structure - put the large fireplace in the center, so that the chimney (a robust one at leaast) could form the central support, sort of a tent-pole idea. Well, maybe that wouldn't work, since it'd be tricky to separate the bedroom(s) from the main area, and still maintain privacy. Or maybe there could be some off-center areas - an atrium (just cuz I like 'em) here, a large FP there, with the rest of the space flowing between and around, almost similar to 2 tucked spirals. That's the neat thing about the Cob Building idea, free-flowing design - but it'd be interesting to see it done using modern elements as well, if possible.

What I find about the molded things is that they invite one to touch them, interact with the house so to speak. I'm not a fan of Victorian style, but never throw out a good idea...and the older I get, the more I tend to like a bit more sculptural quality to the interior of a place.

The boulder was a great *idea* - more creative than just bulldozing it off to the side (if they'd evenhave been able to do that, given the size of it...). I wonder whether it also would transfer temperatures between the earth under it, and the indise of the house?

I think the problem is that there is this huge, impressive, unique feature, a monument so to speak to raw natural power/forces - and then there is this very conventional boring ho-hum room with boring ho-hum broadloom, and boring ho-hum stuff in the room, and that ridiculous wall that almost smacks into the rock. And what's the deal with that ceiling fan right over it? It could/chould have been a breath-taking space but instead, it just looks like a meteorite landed in the middle of Joe and Jane Mundane's boring ho-hum suburban tract house.

IOW, it's jarring, sort of like having a dresser top crammed with junk and boxes from WalMart, and amongst it, a large splendid Geode, with a box of Luvs crammed up against it. Visual Cacauphony.

I don't know how I'd do it, but I know that what was done was........*disappointing*. I suspect that it was done that way because of the client's lack of daring and imagination. After all, just look at how they shoved all that stuff right in front of the rock, like it's just another wall. Bleh.

It *could* have been an awesome space, and I don't mean simply large, either........((hmmm, I've been feeling particularly un-inspired 3D-wise lately, maybe I ought to start with that rock idea and see whether I can get a few coals to light =:-o ))

Same here, I like that one very much.

The Shimeall Guest House is also appealing in several ways. This one, tho', is pretty wild - not sure what I think yet

as you noted above, the bedroom is quite nice.

Now, this one is much less "organic", but IMO this entry is beautiful:

Well, enough for now I guess. Still looking for a Logarithmic Spiral/Chambered Nautilus structure.

- Kris

[gruhn]

see "New England"

You might like.. I think they were called "Russian Fireplace". I check..

Looked like a ... cupola above it for Dramatic Lighting (TM). Forget the fan. Maybe it's to encourage air circulation through the tower. Shouldn't the tower encourage it's own air circ?

To a degree... it wasn't the best rock.

How about putting a corridor around it? The way to the guest suite..

Cute details. May or may not appeal to me. I'd have to see a better pic to make a statement about the place. I think I did see better pics. I think the outside didn't grab me.

Just finished a book on Golden.

Might be a hard search you're under. I can't think of a benefit off the top of my head and all too much detriment.

Here's a fella who proves that you can draw a log spiral on top of any drawing. And a quote from a "designer" who doesn't know the difference between a mathematician and an engineer.

"We're gonna get all Fibonacci on your ass" Is that why there's 6, 8 and 12 trees in those rows? 8 being an actual Fib# and 6 and 12 are really close?

If you go to that page, don't believe everything you read.

[gruhn]

[Kris Krieger]

"Don" wrote in news:vVcKe.3395$ [e-mail]:

I hadn't made the connection, but you're right. They share the organic shapes, the colors, the desert location and light, and the, ah, somewhat suggestive forms.

Good call ;)

- Kris

[Kris Krieger]

"gruhn" wrote in news:5QeKe.44$ [e-mail]:

I don't understand...

Interesting document, thanks!

To the last Q., that's what I'd think. Either that, or have a subtle venting system.

IOW, I understand the air-flow/temp control aspect, but even *I* could think of a more aesthetic way to do it - which means that it's no mystery.

Joke...?

Interestingly, that's something along the lines of what I'd thought; I started fiddling saround with thye idea in 3D last night, and thought of a sort of atrium structure. I was trying to come up with something that, how to say it, sort of echoed the rock, the force/flow vectors (I know there has to be a better way to put that but that's what I thought offor now...)

Instead of trying to describe it, I'm going to see whether I can model it, and if I get anything marginally decent, post a pic.

That's IMO part of - prob most of - the problem with the whole question of "what do you like". In the end, a little of this, a little of that, and it gets really confusing when "this" and "that" see to be opposites (necessitating the search for the underlying concept/principle/structure that appeals). OTOH I'm the same way with everything (music, art, etc) so at least I'm consistently inconsistent...

This will sound odd, because I don't know how to put it well, but, it seems to me that there is such a thing as carrying a concept too far - to such an extreme that it almost becomes a parody of itself. That seems to be a pitfall that's often difficult to avoid...a person can get too, ah, "emotionally invested in" a particular concept, and that hinders growth - to be vital, one has to grow continually.

Achblyech - I'm mauling the idea because I can't think of how to put it properly. Hopefully the sense of it will come through...!

In all honesty, there's no benefit. I'm bacame a bit enamored of the idea after I'd read through "Architecture: FOrm, Space, Order", wherein Ching has a little illustration of subdividen Golden Rectangles and the spiral line (??logarithmic curve??) created by drawing a curve through the corners. From another source, I developed a "thing" for the "hinged spiral", which gets into the messy "philosophical ideas" section of my brain so I won't get into that.

But I've been wondering whether it would be possible to use the concept as a workable building design.

It doesn't seem so, but I keep a bit of a lookout for it.

But the below:

thanks.

I never believe everything I read

But it's still interesting ;)

[gruhn]

Lots of old buildings there with massive central fireplaces.

I recall seeing better pictures of them when I was a kid. But it'll get you started.

Nope. It's a lame looking boulder.

I don't like folk art and the accretionists. Some of the work on that page was getting kinda close.

Ching RULEZ!

[Kris Krieger]

"gruhn" wrote in news:2YsKe.1089$ [e-mail]:

Oh! OK, pioneer homes, in essence.

Oh...I didn't see it that way; I was assuming it was there, it would have cost too much to move it, so might as well make it a feature. I'm neutral re: the boulder itself - it doesn't hit me as either great, or boring, in part because I assume the photos don't show colors or lighting correctly (they seem a bit off).

Re: bringing boulders into a place from elsewhere, there is some beautiful sandstone in the West, and other samples of great rock in various places.

"Accretion" is a good word. Very true that there is a difference between some of the

I think so ;) ! I have, as mentioned, "Form, Space, and Order", "Architectural Graphics", "Building Construction Illustrated", and his illustrated dictionary/encyclopedia of architectural terminology. They're all a great combination of text and illustration, but they're also beautiful, even artistic - there's something about how he puts it all together that is almost palpable to me; he communicates that whole idea, maybe a better word is philosophy, of "ordered space" directly into my brain. It relates strongly in my mind with another book called "Science, Order, and Creativity", which is a loose sort of epistomology of Science - but the point is that Science, Art, and Philosophy are connected in 3D (OK, technically, 4D because of time) space, IOW, it's an ordered space, or maybe "strange attractor" (from Chaos theory) is more apt a term. At any rate, the sense I get from Ching's books is that connection between Science/Technology/Rationality, and Art/Sunconscious/"Heart-Spirit".

When I look thorugh his books, I fall in love all over again with Architecture, with the idea of it, the underlayment of it. Then I want to take out me camera and go around looking for neat buildings or elements of buildings to photograph Everybody says I just waste the film (esp. when I screw up my f-stops and aperture :p ) but if I can't build 'em, I can at least mess around with photos and graphics.

That of course is when all the politics BS goes >..poof..

[gruhn]

Figure, yeah. Still it wasn't good looking.

Yeah.

[Night_Seer]

Ya just need to get yourself a nice digital camera...no such thing as wasting film, only wasting hard drive space (which I think comes much cheaper :).

[Kris Krieger]

"gruhn" wrote in news:bl5Le.11$ [e-mail]:

I still tried to approximate it in 3D and am seeing what I can come up with as a space. I started with round, maybe oblong would be better, haven't decided, will have doorways to other areas of the house (I like divided "living/utility" and "private/sleeping" areas). Combination bench and small fountain. Fireplace? That'd be "earth, wind, fire", need something for "air", not "necessary" but just a thought, given the primal element of the rock (earth).

With any luck, maybe, just *maybe* I'll come up with something worth posting ;o

[Kris Krieger]

Night_Seer wrote in news:42fce104$0$18646$ [e-mail]:

[ snip ]

Oh, but I'm a film freak, what can I say. It's a challenge. I did get a cheapie digital, good enough for basic snapshots.

But the Digital I'd really want (in essence, a fully-functional SLR accomidating SLR telephoto and/or macro lenses...) is something like $800, and there are other things ahead of that in my list of "really expensive stuff to save up for and eventually get".

So,for now, I stick with my ASA100 Fuji Film - mostly because Ive had good experiences with blowing up to an 11X14 size while retaining a reasonably acceptable level of detail. But not as much as I'd like - I need "hi def" film

- Kris

[gruhn]

Cool. I'll wait.

Ceiling fan.

[Kris Krieger]

"gruhn" wrote in news:lNgLe.68$ [e-mail]:

AAAARRRRRRGH! Go ahead, *push* my buttons

It's turning out to be an interesting exercise. ((Now, I don't claim to be A Designer, remember, I'm primarily a 3D person who screqws around with things (design) regarding which I've no education ;o !)) I like the idea of putting it in an entry/connector area, living areas to one side, provate/sleeping to the other, whcih them made me thing of Water (a.k.a. hydrogen alcohol a.k.a. hydrol (sort of like stupid pet tricks - stupid chemist jokes)). At any rate, I'd tried putting it into a sqaure, a trapezoid, a hexagon ("benzene ring", basis of most Organic Chemistry). Didn't like any of it, so instead, went with a cylinder. Hmm, 2 wings, water molecule, I might end up with domes...I'll have to see how it evolves.

As an aside, I was talking to a friend the other day and said, "Hey, I was driving around and finally saw a house I like" - reply? "So I guess that means it looks like a parking deck?" I had to laugh, it wasn't all that far from the truth ;)

- K.