The Exploded View

I'm feeling hopeful today. I don't really know why - things are still at a standstill and we still have two contractors to sue - but maybe it was running across our architect's original vision for our addition combined with the bright winter sunshine that makes me think the dream is still attainable. From top to bottom that vision is: (a) the green roof and patio; (b) the new living room with EPA Tier III wood burning stove sitting on the concrete ribbon; (c) the new music studio - the piano just fits inside the ribbon which (d) turns to form the stairs outside which lead to (e) the outdoor kitchen; the whole house is (f) clad in copper covered asphalt tiles with (g) the wall of glass.

Our architect, Camilo, who is also a neighbor and a friend, has what I call "the eye." My version of "the eye" comes not surprisingly out of "an eye for detail" but it's bigger than that because frankly, when someone in my field (law) says "an eye for detail," they usually mean that person in your office who is going to hold the whole thing up over whether there's a semi-colon or a comma and it's not that I don't appreciate perfection, but it should never get in the way of the good, and it certainly shouldn't waste paper. The eye, for me, is about injecting art into the ordinary. It's what elevates the snapshot to the framed photo that floods you with the memory of that moment - how you felt, how the air smelled - every time you look at it. And it's not just applicable to art and design (and I don't necessarily think all artists have "the eye") - it's about having a way of finding and exposing beauty and good, of improving things, creating, innovating, and succeeding in areas where others see intransigence, blahness, or a void. It's about seeing things in multidimensional and innovative ways. Examples of famous people with "the eye" in various fields in no particular order: the Google guys, Helen Keller, Frank Lloyd Wright (although he was also that semi-colon guy), Chuck Close, FDR, Warren Buffet, Wilco and Bruce Springsteen (before the schlock), Einstein, Malcolm Gladwell, John Rawls, the Impressionists, the Founding Fathers (and Mothers), Steve Martin (before the Pink Panther remakes), Justice Breyer, and Barack Obama. But again, "the eye" is not solely about genius - you probably know people with "the eye," at least in some realm of their lives. You yourself may have "the eye" for something. I occasionally have the eye for photography and on good days I have the eye for my job.

As I was saying...Camilo's architectural vision for this little addition is really impressive. The area behind our house is a dreary, feral-cat infested (thanks, neighbors!) alleyway. Almost nobody uses their back yards unless they've got a privacy fence, because who wants to hang out next to the junk yard, the ratty Silver Maples, and the empty Friskies cans? Where Camilo found inspiration for something so cool in such muck, i don't know (except maybe for the fact that he lives down the street and has had some time to think about it). His description in the project statement summarizes my thoughts pretty well: "All buildings impact the environment; this project seriously considers the effects of even the smallest structure. With this understanding, the addition offers back thoughtful environmental systems and enlivens the shared alley space." Word! Even at this incomplete stage, I have already met several random neighbors who have said "we LOVE your house!" (Inevitably followed by, "When is it going to be finished?")

So if you're wondering what this addition is supposed to look like, you can see it here. While more than one person has wondered why my husband and i are arguing in the back yard (i think it's about who has to make the next Lowe's run), my favorite part is the "exploded view" of the project. Which is sometimes what we have wanted to do to it. But that's only on the dark days...not today, when it's sunny and hopeful. I know when this thing is done we'll be featured in Dwell, I just know it!!