Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Windows And Shoji Screens



     This post is the first under the new label of windows and I want to start with a window I wrote about on February 13th, Woodworking At 831. It brings up a couple of points.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Ethical Architecture by Professor Paul Lusk

     I was looking through a book on green remodeling when I noticed a link to Ethical Architecture, a site that features the work of Paul Lusk, an associate professor of architecture and planning at the University of New Mexico.

     This is a rather old site but he has some very interesting ideas he experimented with on grey water purification systems, composting toilets, building with adobe, cement ponds, solar greenhouses and cooling towers in an addition he added to his house in the southwest valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

     I did a google search on Paul Lusk and came up with the book Building to Endure: Design Lessons of Arid Lands available at Amazon. It looks interesting and no this is not an endorsement and no I receive no money for anything I put on this site. If anybody knows more about Paul Lusk I hope you will post it in comments.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Shel Neymark's Tile Murals



Back in May we went to the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens
 which I have shown bits of in previous posts. 
One of the things I was most interested in seeing was some of the work
 of Shel Neymark whose work we had become acquainted with 
while living in Santa Fe.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Door Handles And Latches



Door handles are a great place to play, be whimsical, 
and use up some scrap material.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

A Stairway



Years ago I built this stairway to the 2nd floor in an addition
 we built onto our 1st house in Santa Fe.

I am in the Thomas Jefferson school on stairways- 
make them as compact as possible.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Snake Motifs in Design



We walked by this rattlesnake wall in San Carlos, Sonora
 many times this past winter.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

An Active Solar System



I volunteered to help a friend whose house
 was on the Green Built Tour this past weekend, which was sponsored
 The house in Embudo, New Mexico is owned by, designed by,
 and built by Rob Stout of Southwest Solar Design.

Monday, June 14, 2010

A Stone Sidewalk



When we were in Patzcuaro, Michoacan a couple of years ago
 they were replacing some sidewalks in the downtown area
 with what I believe was a basalt stone.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Andrew's Doors



On May 31st I profiled Andrew and Katie's Solar House,
 and now I want to show you the doors that Andrew has built.

The rest of the posts on Andrew and Katie are:
An Adobe Tower,


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Rain Water Harvesting



It is hot and dry in the American South West
 so it must be a good time to talk about rain water harvesting.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

A Path To A Hot Spring Pool



We were work camping at El Dorado Hot Springs back in March
 and I was given the fun project of building a new path
to a brand new hot tub they had just opened up.

Doorway Thresholds



Having worked on two old owner built adobe homes
 in the last two decades we are often times confronted 
with adding doors or upgrading existing ones.