Monday, May 31, 2004

Plat House Construction Prints - zen of line weight

Bringing the drawings "up" through use of line-weight. I am "fleshing out" the plan drawings by using line weights. Different thickness of lines in a technical drawing emphasize the hierarchy of information - it makes the drawing easier to read, clearer.

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Friday, May 28, 2004

Reflections on the Housing Market - Opportunity?

An article appeared in the magazine Fast Company about design. The article talks about how design has driven business, and particularly how commodity products like cars and computers are distinguished by smart design and made into hot sellers. Reading this makes me realize how the production builders have been sitting on their laurels for many many years, and not really answering the market in the broadest sense. I believe the stage is set for a real redefinition of the category. Look at how hot the residential construction market has been through what has otherwise been an economic downturn. Where are the big companies chasing after this market? Sure, there are big companies in building materials, but nobody really in the sales and marketing of houses that has taken design to heart. When was the last time you saw a TV ad selling a car on a national broadcast. Ok, how about the same slot selling a house? Never. There is a yawning opportunity here for a smart marketer/retailer to run circles around the housing industry. -- post log: on Marshall Meyer's encouragement I put that into a letter to the editor and sent it off to Fast Company. I expanded some of it, so here is the expanded text, understand that much is a repeat of above: I read your article regarding design and its role in business. I was glad that you recognized architects in this article as there is much they can contribute to the success of a business. But something that you did not address which is related to architecture is housing. Reading your article makes me realize how the production builders have been sitting on their laurels for many many years, and not really answering the market in the broadest sense. I believe the stage is set for a real redefinition of the category. Look at how hot the residential construction market has been through what has otherwise been an economic downturn. Where are the big companies chasing after this market? Sure, there are big companies in building materials, but nobody really in the sales and marketing of houses that has taken design to heart. I'm not talking about the endless parade of McMansions that are promoted as being "design" when you see housing ads in the paper. They are like your father's Oldsmobile. Where are the BMWs and the Volkswagons of the housing industry? The smart marketers? The companies leveraging design? When was the last time you saw a TV ad selling a car on a national broadcast. Ok, how about the same slot selling a house? Never. There is a yawning opportunity here for a smart marketer/retailer to run circles around the housing industry. There is a lot going on right now to address this inevitable shift. Pre-fab houses in a modern style are hot topic. Modern style housing is emerging as the signifier of the "designed product" for housing. Modern focused Dwell magazine is a hot title. Check out www.livemodern.com and www.fabprefab.com and my own site www.lamidesign.com/plans But these are all just indicators of a rising tide. Who will it be? Will Target take it up and expand on their foray into Garden Pavilions? Will a revival of the Sears House revive the ailing retailer? Will smart houses pull up GM by its bootstraps? Or will it be somebody new? Who will take up the opportunity?

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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Plat House Construction Prints - foundation

Not the foundation for a house, but the foundation of a drawing. The first step in preparing a set of construction drawings is planning out the set. Each of the sheets is planned, and rough idea of how the information will be laid out is drawn. The drawing work begins with the template drawings that were prepared for the 3d model. These are very simple single line drawings with one very light lineweight. Each drawing in the set is "blocked-out" like this now, but for the wall sections which will be developed later in the process. Right now the plans and elevations look like this: Foundation plans, roof plans, building sections are being developed to the same level in this first step.

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Friday, May 21, 2004

Plat House Construction Prints - begin

Construction Prints for the Plat House have begun. Construction Prints for the Plat House are underway, and I am going to experiment with posting progress images of them as they develop. In the meantime, here is a section view of the Plat House from the Design Prints.

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Friday, May 07, 2004

Plat House progress - complete

The design images of the Plat House are complete. The Design Print images for the Plat House are complete and a new catalog page for this house has been added to our web site.

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Monday, May 03, 2004

Plat House progress - siding the house

The model is finished with siding. I am using a fairly rustic siding texture for the model, and I am trying out a stained appearance rather than the painted look I have used on the other houses. The color is a red-brown, a bit like redwood or stained cedar. That is about all for now. The next steps will be dressing the interior with props for the interior images, and putting the model in a rough context for exterior images. Next step will be announcing the availability of the Design Prints.

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Sunday, May 02, 2004

Plat House progress - windows in!

Everything is modeled and the house is ready to paint! The window units are all in, the exterior trim is in place, the overhang rafters and braces are in. It's time to paint the house! I really need some feed back from people reading the blog, especially from people who have been waiting for this house. Are you attached to the yellow color from the original sketches ? Or should I go for that grey plum I looked at for the Tray House ? I have to admit that I am leaning towards a natural wood finish. Hmmmm. Well this is how the model stands now: The modeling is close to done, but I still have to build the scenes for the final images. This means moving in furniture for the interior shots, and some sort of rough context for the exterior shots. I may reuse the trees and lake from the Porch House for this one.

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