Archive for December, 2010

Dec
0

Winter is here…but not everywhere.

Ran across this video and wanted to share it not only for its message of ‘living in the moment’ this holiday season but also to bring a bit of warmth to those of us buried in snow. Let us all take some time to enjoy family and friends and to build new lasting relationships this new year!

Live in the moment. from Kune Hua on Vimeo.

Dec
1

Project Update -Riverview Baptist Church

Project Update -Riverview Baptist Church

We are under construction!

The primary goal of the congregation was to make the facility accessible to all. Other challenges that were brought forward included security issues, interior space and circulation congestion, inadequate bathroom and kitchen facilities, etc.

It was decided to take a step back and create a long-range Vision Plan for the church.  Through discussions, workshops and studies, we were able to resolve these issues and more.

The result and implementation of Phase One includes a 6000 square foot addition that houses administration, meeting rooms, a future kitchen along with an elevator and restrooms.  A curved circulation link at the front helps alleviate internal congestion, expands the Narthex and leads to a new and welcoming entry.

The church has put together a blog highlighting the construction progress.  You can watch it here!

Future phases include interior remodeling and a youth and choir addition.

General Contractor:  Langer Construction

Dec
1

Chimney Fires – My Story

Last year, I had built a fire in our wood burning fireplace -not unusual for a Saturday evening in the winter. It wasn’t a raging or large fire, just a normal one.

My wife went upstairs to get something to drink and yelled down to me that there were sparks falling on our deck. I thought ‘Big deal’, we do have a fire burning after all and a rouge spark falling in the snow didn’t seem unusual. I went upstairs to reassure my wife and my eyes went wide. It was raining sparks past our windows like hundreds of sparklers lit at once.

I ran out on the deck and looked up at the chimney. There must have been a six foot high flame shooting out of the top. And the sound, you cant’ forget that hum of the rushing air and flames. At the same moment, my neighbor was racing up the driveway. They said it had looked like a bomb went off and lit up the whole neighborhood. 911 had already been contacted, including by us, and we were told to get out of the house.


On my way out, I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the wood fire and sprayed up into the chimney. The fire department came quick, even though that was the longest 10 minutes of my life. They used an infrared or heat detector to assess if there was still fire burning within the chimney or adjacent structure. They also looked down the chimney to visually inspect it.

They said it appeared that the chimney cap had a build-up of creasote and that was what had ignited.

The next day, I spoke with a Chimney Sweep and he said:
1. You should have the chimney swept every 2 years (every year it should be inspected if you have lots of fires).
2. Do NOT burn paper -even to start the fire. He said people often burn gift wrap this time of year and there are even more chemicals within that paper that creates creasote.

A typical chimney cleaning is around $150. Well worth it considering we could have lost our entire house let alone pets or ourselves! Here are a couple of other resources worth a read:

Chimney Fires, Causes and Cures & Facts about Chimney Fires

Oh and, a big thanks to the Hudson Fire Department!

Dec
4

HDR – High Dynamic Range Photography

HDR – High Dynamic Range Photography

Some of you may be familiar with HDR photography. It is basically the layering together of multiple exposures into one image. The overexposed shot picks up the details in the shadows while the underexposed shot eliminates ‘blowouts’ of highlighted areas. This is extremely helpful for us architects, especially in photographing interiors. Our eyes see many more levels of light then a single camera exposure can capture so an HDR image is more visually accurate…if you want it to be.

I was first introduced to HDR Photography by the talented photographer Steve Silverman and I thought I would try it myself!  The test images at the top of the page (I know, not that inspiring of a scene!) are 3 different exposures of the same shot taken at 2 f-stops apart. Most newer DSLR cameras have this as a standard function. I then imported them into Photomatix, one of the more popular HDR programs. Trey Ratcliff, an expert in HDR has a link from his website for a discount plus some great tutorials.  The program has several presets to try and a bunch of sliders to…well, slide.  It is fun and frustrating to play with the settings and it takes a bit of trial and error to get something you like.

This first image is my attempt  to get a somewhat accurate representation of detail in the shadows as well as the highlight areas.  This image is right out of Photomatix.  I would then adjust the color, etc. in Photoshop.

The other image is a more surreal or ‘painterly’ look.  Kind of fun!  Please click on the images to make them larger.

Here are some examples of HDR Photography from people who know what they are doing.

Dec
0

Podcast #22 – Lets give this a try!

Podcast #22 – Lets give this a try!

Have to start somewhere!  This is a quick audio post to get my feet wet in the podcast world.  Meaningful, insightful and witty commentary will follow in future episodes as we discuss Design and Architecture… or we will at least be able to enjoy the theme music.  Click on the player below to listen.  Thanks!