Sunday, October 28, 2012

Material, Process, Product - The Tactile Object



Material systems play a critical role throughout our design process and informs our thinking as we make places. Buildings and spaces need to become a heightened journey of varying tactile experiences. Our goal is to make spaces that are human-centered and play on all the senses. We choose to deploy honest and authentic materials harvested from the place in which the building will be rooted.. Morever, it is essential to conceive a building which strives to achieve a lasting aesthetic and resonates with its place.

Recently, we interviewed for Kansas State University College of Architecture Planning and Design. The interview was spirited and passionate and centered around a tactile object. This object is fabricated from Bayer Limestone quarried in St. Marys Kansas and Hedge wood harvested from the Kansas landscape.
 


Complimentary yet contradictory, these materials offer unique properties that can only be discovered when making the object. The Hedge Tree, a very dense and rot resistant wood is considered the natural fence post that defined the Kansas landscape. The tree's form and properties were influenced by the natural forces of the Midwest and grew out of the soils of the praire. The density of the Hedge made shaping, cutting and finsihing the wood extremely difficult. In spite of that difficulty, the final outcome yielded a glowing rich amber and striking grain patterns.
 

Contrast that with Limestone, sedimentary layers of earth compressed by the forces of nature for hundreds of years. The stone is suprisingly soft and easily shaped. We are intrigued by the varying colors, finishes and textures it could yield.



Carefully married with a steel and copper mortise and tenon joint, the two manicured raw materials compliment beautifully as one cohesive object.

Friday, October 19, 2012

SFA News – KPCC Profiles Kate Carter


Kate Carter (@carterkate11), one of SFA’s own, received the top honor in a self-portrait contest on Instagram, a photo-sharing social media network. Her winning image, “Hope”, is a poignant and personal self-portrait depicting Kate, hand-in-hand with her ailing grandmother.


"Hope" by Kate Carter

The competition, “Express Yourself,” challenged InstaGram users to submit creative, out-of-the-box self-portraits. The competition, which received 450 entries from around the world, was sponsored by InstaGram Lovers Anonymous (IGLA) and KPCC, a public radio station in Southern California. The sponsors selected eight finalists, and InstaGram user had 48 hours to vote for their favorites.


 "IGmeet Steelstacks" by Kate Carte
r
As part of the top prize, Kate will be interviewed by Grant Slater, photo and video editor for KPCC radio station. In the interview, which airs Saturday, October 20th at noon PST | 3:00 PM EST, Kate will discuss her winning self-portrait, as well as her efforts to integrate and leverage the use of mobile technology into the practice of architecture at Spillman Farmer Architects.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2012/10/19/28919/kate-carter/
 


"Filter" by Kate Carter


"Das Kluuunk" by Kate Carter


"Architecture" by Kate Carter

We’d like to thank Kate for all of her efforts to keep Spillman current with mobile technology and social media, as well as congratulate her on an incredible win with an amazing self-portrait.


“Old City Gothic Modern (portrait of Kate Carte)…aka But 
Officer, The Sign Says No ‘No Parking’, Not No Digging”
by Vicki Liantonio (@piccolotakesall)

Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) is a member-supported public media network that operates 89.3 KPCC-FM in Los Angeles and Orange County, 89.1 KUOR-FM in the Inland Empire and 90.3 KVLA in the Coachella Valley. SCPR also informs and interacts with their communities through our web site, mobile and social media channels and live events. Grant Slater is the photo and video editor for KPCC, where he oversees the photo and video elements of KPCC's news coverage.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Living in the Brownfield - Wright Stuff, Wrong Idea

"It’s hard to say which is more startling. That a developer in Phoenix could threaten — by Thursday, no less — to knock down a 1952 house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Or that the house has until now slipped under the radar, escaping the attention of most architectural historians, even though it is one of Wright’s great works, a spiral home for his son David. "

excerpt of Michael Kimmelman's
article for the New York Times 
"Wright Masterpiece Is seen In New Light; A Fight For It's Life"
      
 
photo of the david and gladys wright house by scott larson
 
Please sign the petition to save this important building from the wrecking ball, they're not making anymore of these beauties and your signature could make the difference as to wether or not future generations get to experience the genius of a Frank Lloyd Wright design.

NYT article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/arts/design/frank-lloyd-wright-house-in-phoenix-faces-bulldozers.html?_r=1&

Sign petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-phoenix-save-the-david-and-gladys-wright-house