A 1-minute tour through Lesley’s studio. Woven shawls, scarves and blankets. Knit hats that are hand-spun, home-dyed with natural dyes, Merino wool. Open house this weekend, 286 Dogwood Road, Bolinas.
We recently got a letter from architect James Horecka, parts of which are excerpted below:
I figured I’d recreate a geodesic pumpkin that I had carved-up back around 1990, shortly after I visited the Buckminster Fuller Institute (back when it was still in Los Angeles).
…on Monday morning, I came up with the idea of making a Geodesic Jack out of EMT, as I had some laying around. Over three evenings of a few hours each, I knocked it out.
The basics:
- 1v Icosahedron (obviously).
- Struts: 8″ long pieces of ½″ EMT. Two 10′ sticks yielded the 30 struts required.
- End tabs flattened in my 20-ton hydraulic press. They are long because I was originally going to just stack the joints, ‘Burner’ style.
- At the last minute, I decided to use hubs instead of stacking (cleaner look, less hassle). The steel discs are 2¾″ diameter cover plates for repairing holes where operating hardware has been removed.
- I drafted the Hub templates CADD; glued to the metal, center-punched, drilled, and deburred.
- Fasteners are ¼-20 × ½″ stove bolts & nuts.
- Two-tone paint: Honey inside (flesh), Amber outside (skin), plus Black.
Anyway: Creating this from scratch over just a few evenings was good fun.
I’ll probably go back and make another dozen hub plates, for the inside face of each node. With those and the bolts & nuts painted black, the assembly will look a little sharper still. Though now that Halloween is over, I’ve no idea what to do with this thing until next year! Cat House?
P.S.: I continue to enjoy reading your books. Cover-to-cover, one after another.
Sincerely,
James Horecka, AIA
Staff Architect, A&FE
Disneyland Resort, Anaheim
Lloyd: greetings from Victoria BC. Some five years ago I shot this pic … up north of here. I was up there to play at the island art festival. It’s likely that you have been there on your long and winding road. We took a little drive and when I saw this fabulous wall I shouted … STOP. I jumped out and grabbed the shot. I didn’t ask the owners permission as there seemed to be no one at home. I rediscovered the shot and have been admiring it again. Much love and gratitude to you.
Stuart
I wrote Stuart and asked if this was a painted-on optical illusion and he replied:
“No it’s not a painting. I walked up to it, sized it up, started laughing, and it’s just a very well made optical illusion in wood. Gobsmacked … I was a little.”
Indoor pool at The Berkeley City Club, designed by Julia Morgan in 1927. Photo by Danetha Doe – Reprinted with permission
Julia Morgan is one of my favorite architects. This is an article on her work in The Bold Italic:
A Local’s Guide to Architect Julia Morgan’s Legacy in the East Bay
Bob Easton, who designed (and did all the hand-lettered headlines and drawings of small buildings) in Shelter with me in 1973, has been an architect ever since, and today sent me this note, along with this photo:
“…got busy this week, in the middle of renovating 120-year-old Episcopal church here in Montecito.”
The church was apparently designed by Arthur Benton in 1900.
There are several additional accounts documenting this beautiful indigenous/
vernacular style. These folks seem to be particularly organized and have published a book, that I hope can be sold here somehow or maybe even reprinted in an English language edition. Phenomenal tradition. –Gazine Grenia
instagram.com/nalichniki
Val is that unusual combination of creative architect and master builder. He can build what he designs!
I shot this picture of his home in 1973. There’s a long interview and about a dozen other pictures of his work in Shelter.
Some photos from the building of a Suzuki copper camper by Jay, Foster Huntington, and Lane during the summer of 2015, at Foster’s treehouse hideout in Washington.
Go to Jay’s Instagram account for more photos of the building process.
“Nestled at the base of a hill, overlooking the Savannah, lies Tiébélé—an African village in Burkina Faso. First settled in the 15th Century, the 1.2-hectare commune is home to the Kassena people, their chief, and royal court—together making up one of oldest ethnic groups in Burkina Faso. In 2009, photographer Rita Willaert and travel blogger Olga Stavrakis were lucky enough to be some of the few people ever allowed to visit the isolated site.…”
www.mymodernmet.com/african-village-burkina-faso/
From Rick Gordon
Tom made this meticulous tiny home, cutting out all the mini-shingles by hand. It’s 7″ wide, 16″ long, 10″ high (to peak of gable). It was made for us to use as a display when selling our book Tiny Homes at fairs.
The best way to buy books is in an independent bookstore. But if you buy books online, see our website for a 30% discount, free shipping (in USA), for 2 or more books. We beat Amazon.
