Blade - Framed Mirror

During the office renovation, several bathrooms in the building were redone.  The tile colors and even the fixtures were thirty years out of date.  In order to overcome the "dating", I chose white 3"x6" subway tile, laid up in common bond (reference to the masonry roots of the company) and white porcelain antique-appearing fixtures (a reference to the 70 year age of the company).

In order to make the otherwise cold white bathroom appear warmer, the floors were done in slate grey, and wooden details were added, including these mirrors over the sinks.  They measure 24" x 27" and the frame is just 2" wide.

Because they were cut and assembled by workmen on site, I had to limit the detailing - in this case to just a singular routed groove, cut by table saw.

Corner detail.

The Kite Light

In my fourth year of architectural school one of my projects was the design of an addition to the Princeton Public Library.  As part of that project I designed a large wooden chandelier that would hang in the high-ceiling space of the main reading room.  Although it wasn't a schoolwork assignment I went ahead and constructed a full-scale, working, finished model of that chandelier.

The design had the look of a box kite, and measured 40" tall, with two floodlights, one pointed up, the other down, and each on a dimmer.  The concept of the design was that in the morning, the uplight would be on full brightness, the downlight off.  Over the course of the day, the downlight would slowly brighten.  At mid-day both would be at full power.  After mid-day the uplight would slowly dim, until at closing time, only the downlght was lit.  The reasoning behind this idea was to change the size of the space, from large and open first thing in the morning to more cozy and intimate by night.

Because I knew the fixture would put out a lot of heat (300W) there were multiple cuts and slices to allow for ventilation of the lamps.  My studio mates frequently used it to heat up pizza.

Hanging in my garage.