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Showing posts from August, 2011

The Goldstein Residence

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John Lautner , one of the most innovative architects of the 20th century, designed the Sheats Goldstein Residence in 1963. Situated in the hills of Los Angeles, the house is a stunning example of Modern Organic Architecture that seamlessly blends with its natural surroundings. But it was not until the 1970s, when owner Jim Goldstein purchased the house and hired Lautner back on to perfect it, that the Sheats Goldstein Residence truly became a masterpiece. Lautner's ingenuity, coupled with Goldstein's financial success, allowed the house to be transformed into one of the most unique and awe-inspiring homes in the world. The house features a stunning infinity pool that appears to merge with the city below, a retractable roof that allows for stargazing and an indoor-outdoor living experience, and a concrete floor that has been polished to perfection to reflect the surrounding landscape. But it is not just the house's amenities that make it exceptional. The Sheats Golds

Building Concrete Furniture

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Step One: build formwork and embed rebar to floor It is necessary to first conceive of the idea as a whole and then begin the process of making a representation drawing and working out the specifics for construction. Concrete has many unique characteristics than other material such as being stronger and lasting longer, but it is also fluid and can form to almost any shapes. This term for its fluid characteristic is often times referred to as the material being plastic. Step Two: add network of rebar that will provide tensile support The finish surface of concrete can be varied and are dependent on the surface of the form and the process used before hardening. The surface of concrete can also be treated after the concrete is hardened it can be sandblasted, wet sanded, cut, etched, and bush hammered . Step Three: finalize formwork and rebar for pour Concrete also has many negative characteristics such as cracking and it has a very porous surface that absorbs liquids

Let There Be LIGHT

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J ames Turrell is an artist and a philosopher when it comes to his speciality light. BBC did a video on his work that premiers the Goldstein Skyspace and Roden Crater . James Turrell was awarded in 1984 with a genius award from the MacArthur Foundation for his work that shows "exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work." Goldstein Skyspace - "Above Horizon" Goldstein Skyspace like many of Turrell's works is about observing the evening and morning sky through an opening inside a space created to perceive the natural light in the reality that it is presented. He saturates the sky room with bright displays of color and the sky changes; or our visual perception changes of the sky color based on the space in light displayed. Roden Crater is an extinct volcano that Turrell has bought in his endeavor to transform the inner cone into a celestial sky oculus. His work and life have been devoted in part to building Roden Crate

Post Tensioned Cables

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The benefits for using post tensioned cables in concrete our infinite, but the most dramatic is thinner clear spans that would not otherwise be achieved. For a detailed description about what post tensioning is you can follow this link . I will be describing in this article the installation of a post tensioned slab. When building a concrete slab with post tension system a deck is required as a form for the cables and concrete. Concrete Deck w/ Electrical Boxes Installed This large deck shown has a board form finish inlayed on top of the plywood decking so that when the concrete is poured it will mirror the surface. In the picture you can also see that there is hundreds of electrical boxes laid in advance in preparation for laying the post tensioned cables in there planned locations as designated by the structural engineer. Post Tension Cable Rolls The cables are brought onto the site in a rolled forms. First the workers layout the locations of