I realized on a recent trip to Virginia that what I still glean from experiencing the pre-industrial vernacular architecture of the Eastern Seaboard is a sense of appropriate scale. My definition of scale here incorporates relationships between people, between resources, and between the commerce, enterprise and production that connects them all. Despite the obvious (and […]
Tag Archives: innovation
Experiments in Wooden Planing Hulls
Top and bottom of my latest bellyboard, laminated from cedar and walnut veneers. I’m a purist when it comes to riding waves. Or maybe a minimalist. Or both. I grew up bodysurfing on the Jersey Shore in the Seventies, learning about tides and wind, sandbars and swell. We surfed beach breaks exclusively, daily, no matter […]
Introducing the BLAKE
The BLAKE table in situ (photograph by Mimi Gibion for Remodelista) I call my latest table design the BLAKE as an homage to the pioneeringĂ‚Â surfer/shaper Tom Blake, inventor of the hollow surfboard. BLAKE is a minimalist sculpture as much as a functional dining table, a floating white torsion box, compatible with Shaker and surfer alike. […]
Update from Swell Break: Deep Craft on the Edge
Rodeo Beach, viewed from the trail from Headlands Center for the Arts Located on a barren bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the Marin Headlands, the Headlands Center for the Arts (HCA) feels remote, like the edge of civilization, despite its close proximity to San Francisco. Founded in the early 1980’s, HCA occupies a series […]
Bellyboards Galore
Top and bottom view of my EggBellyboard in Western Red Cedar and Walnut I’ve made a few bellyboard prototypes for my upcoming Swell Break project at the Headlands. The first batch are deceptively minimalist, egg-shaped, about 39″ long and 23″ wide, 5/8″ thick at the middle, feathering out to about 5/16″ at the edges. I […]
Spinnradl
Concept rendering of Spinnradl in situ on Pendleton Street in Cincinnati Ene presented our concept for a series of public street sculptures to the key stakeholders in the City of Cincinnati yesterday. Our ‘Spinnradl’ concept was very enthusiastically received and we have the go-ahead to proceed with a final design. Here is a little archive […]
Trim the Sails
What’s tried and true is just that. While training in any tradition might lead to a skeptical outlook, leaving one resistant to radical change, innovation can often be the result of baby steps, so there’s always room to trim the sails once a course is set.