Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Let Me Out! I'm Stuck in The Finish!

in many buildings, much gets lost in translation of what the thing should look like. In Colorado and other mountain states, the vernacular for a home dictates a Mountain Homestead sort of look; in Oklahoma, Texas and other southern areas the local taste may shape a commercial building as one would a prairie home. A structure is put up, the mechanical & electrical systems are installed, and barrage of finishes are applied to achieve the final look of the thing. What's wrong with this?: absolutely nothing - it works just fine. But it could be better with a little less effort:
It can be somewhat tragic to see what happens to a steel structure covered by drywall that, in and of itself, is a thing of beauty. Mechanical systems, mainly duct work, can add a dynamic that can't be achieved by the finest ceilings used to hide them. But that's what we do, we integrate the systems and cover them up.
A concept that is age old, "doing more with less," can be applied to so many situations. For example take a look at the economy: all over the world, people are having to apply this on an operational level. how about looking at this from a design/construction level? We can put a little more thought into the nuts and bolts of our buildings and use them to create a thing of unique beauty..

"
Less is more"
Robert Browning, 1855

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