Sabbatical

Had two great conversations this week about working hard, having pride in what you do, and the power of taking time off. While having dinner with Lisa and Jeff [two incredibly talented individuals], I was reminded of how important that last item [taking time off] can be. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this "down time" might be one of the most essential parts of the design process.

Then this past weekend An and I took a little time to cheer on the nyc marathon runners and to grab a quick brunch at the rabbit hole with James and Jen. Later, they came by for a studio visit and the next day James sent me a link to this TED talk by Stefan Sagmeister, titled "The Power of Time Off." I particularly liked the part [at 1:30 mark] where he shows a time line of a life that includes learning, working, and retirement and talks about the decision to cut off 5 of the retirement years and embed them into the working years at 7 year intervals. I think for me, the learning part also needs to be represented in those later years, but it is nice to see the success they are having in spite of and as a result of taking a year off for every seven.

I travel all the time for work and to teach, but I think the last time An and I really got away was for our honeymoon five years ago. Here we are at a secret spot in Costa Rica where the rain forest runs right down to the beach and which just happened to be one of the best [at least most consistent] hidden surf spots in the world. There is no phone, no internet and minimal electricity. Your internal clock is reset to the rising and setting of the sun and you wake up to this view every morning at 5 am.

As I've found my calling in teaching and practicing architecture, I know that I couldn't live there permanently [at least for now], but it is reassuring to know that when the time comes, such a place exists...maybe in 3 more years at Tacklebox's 7 year mark.

Fall Review

Sorry for the lag between posts, but it has been a busy busy time. Between getting the Box & Flea lookbook ready for mailings and getting my fall studio students ready for their Midterm review, there hasn't been a moment to rest.

The midterm was yesterday, and I'm happy to say I couldn't be more pleased with the results of the students hard work. Also, a big thanks goes out to guest critics Soo-in Yang and Alessandro Ayuso for joining us for the day.

Truth be told, after a long last week of desk crits, I decided the best thing for me to do was to give the students their work space while I slipped off to the country for a couple of days of rehabilitation.

An and I headed off to NW Connecticut for a weekend of fresh farm veggies, paddling on the lake, and bourbon by the fire. The leaves were changing and the night temps were in the 30's, making both the fire and the bourbon even more cozy.

I thought it would be hard to leave all that behind and head back to the city on Monday morning, but the minute I stepped into the school and saw the work pinned on the wall, all was right.

Tacklebox Update

If you get a chance, head on over to the recently updated TACKLEBOX website designed by our talented friends at Softlab.

Recently added: photos from our latest projects including SAIPUA, Pleatscape, L.A. residence, and also some fresh photos of the 3.1 Phillip Lim boutique we did a while back.

Virginia Woods

Photos from a camping trip in the mountains of Virginia. It's nice to wake up in the trees, in a thick fog, and to make your coffee over a fire. I'm happy that fall is nearly here.

Ryland's Farm

Just returned from Southwest Virginia, where we enjoyed a much needed break from city life. We spent a lot of time walking around in the woods, visiting with family, and enjoying some fine country cooking...banana puddin' - I miss you already.

We spent part of our time on my great aunt and uncle, Jan and Ryland's [pictured here as a boy] 100 acre tobacco farm. Tobacco is no longer grown here and it's amazing to climb through the old log houses where the leaves were hung to cure. This is where my dad brought us to hunt with Ryland when we were kids.

I no longer hunt, but I still get very nostalgic and long to be out in the country around this time of year. After seeing these old buildings again, I realized how much growing up in this environment has influenced my work.

SAIPUA

Located in the industrial neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, this is a project we recently designed and built for Saipua - a small, family-run business dedicated to small batch production of handmade soaps and unique floral arrangements.

As their business evolved, and having outgrown their original storefront space, owners Sarah and Eric sought to relocate their shop in a new facility that could house both production and retail under one roof, without compromising the unique identity that is Saipua.

This identity is more of a spirit than an aesthetic which emerges from the ever-changing juxtaposition between the handmade and the found object. Here, vintage everyday objects meet hand-wrapped soap and delicate, rugged floral arrangements in a way which evokes a sense of familiarity and fosters an intimate connection with the visitor.

With this in mind, one could not merely reproduce the old shop in a new location; rather we sought to create a new timeless space that simultaneously serves as a quiet backdrop and as an active participant in the ongoing act of making that defines Saipua.

See more below.

SAIPUA

There is a life and beauty that exists in an old dressmakers sewing box. That life lies not in the wood and brass hinges from which the box is made, rather it is found within the multi-colored jumble of spools of thread and the assortment of pins placed at random in the pincushion. This is an arrangement that could only emerge from use - the result of an ongoing act between the dressmaker, the dressmaker’s tools, and the thing being made.

For Saipua's new location, situated in an existing warehouse, we sought to create a freestanding, inhabitable box that, like the sewing box, provides a timeless place for making - timeless in the sense that this place is only "complete" when occupied and filled with the life and beauty that results from the ongoing act of making.

Here a silver skin of weathered barn siding wraps to enclose two box-like rooms - one nested within the other. In the smaller interior volume, rows of siding seem to slide back, revealing an assortment of wood box vessels - nooks, primed to receive Saipua's wares. With a stage-like street facade the box mediates the space between the life of the street and the workshop at the back of the warehouse.

This space functions much like the front porch of a house, serving as a place of gathering and performance: a stage where visitors take on the interchanging roles of performer and audience set against an ever-changing backdrop provided by both the interior life of the shop and the life of the street.

Curtain rises at noon on Saturday August 22nd. Please visit Saipua's blog for more photos