Here are some recent images of a project we finished up last year in the Tarrytown neighborhood. Keri and Ryan were wonderful clients and Alex Pettit of Spring Builders did a great job contracting the project.
Published baby!
E5A is happy to announce that our design for Robert Mace is published in the Fall edition of Austin Home!
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A Visit to Taliesin
Last week I had the pleasure to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Spring Green, WI. He named it Taliesin which is Welsh for "shining brow", a reference to the glistening limestone outcroppings topping the hills in the area. I must admit, my admiration for Frank Lloyd Wright has come and gone over the years but visiting Taliesin was an unexpectedly inspiring journey.
VIew of the private courtyard. Studio is on the left, residence is on the right.
Taliesin is actually comprised of several buildings sitting on 600 acres in western Wisconsin. The first building FLW designed was a commission for a co-ed school by his aunts who were educators. Co-ed schools were very rare in those days and reflect the shared progressive nature of Lloyd Wright's family. The school has the only dining and kitchen facilities on the property (there is no kitchen in the home) and it still opperates as an accredited school of architecture.
Entrance facade for the school. Two-story great room is on the left and drafting studio is on the right.
Frank Lloyd Wright completed the current version of his home and office later in 1937. Previous versions were destroyed by fire and are tragic stories of themselves. By that time Wright was in the middle of his long career and spent summers in Taliesin East (Spring Green, WI) and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ.
The visitor center at Taliesin, originally designed by FLW as a client "receiving" area overlooking the Wisconsin River (out the windows to the left).
Did I go all the way to Wisconsin just to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's house? Actually, it may not be well known but 95% of the window manufacturing in the US is based in the region of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. I was sent to visit the Anderson Window manufacturing facility in nearby Dubuque, Iowa, which was fascinating in it's own right.
(Un)Affordable Housing
The lack of affordable housing in Austin has become a serious issue. Ten years ago the city of Austin conducted a study of how many affordable housing units are needed and they came up with a need for 40,000 units. Just recently the city revised their study and now 49,000 units are needed. The situation is getting worse.
The term "Affordable housing" is based on the financial rule of thumb that a family should limit their monthly budget for housing to 30% of their overall income. It doesn't take a math major to figure out that many in Austin are spending too much on housing. Couple that with the fact that the second largest monthly expenditure is transportation and Austin represents a perfect storm of financial burdons. The average Austinite spends $8,500/year/vehicle on transportation. To make housing affordable it must be considered with a reduction in transportation costs and in most cases that means locating affordable housing projects near population density, i.e. the urban core, downtown.
Fortunately there are developers - both public and private - who are creating affordable housing near downtown and outlying areas of density. Foundation Communities is a non-profit organization that initiates about one or two affordable housing developments per year. Each project supplies approximately 120 - 300 housing units. They receive their land through allocations from the city and state and their development money comes from grants and donation.
Foundation Communities' affordable housing development near the M Station light rail stop
Michael Casias runs My Brilliant City, a private development company that creates affordable housing based on the market's needs and rates. As their website states, My Brilliant City is "dedicated to building, empowering, and improving community." They work with some of the best architects in the city to come up with unique, progressive designs that are at once affordable, stimulating and something worthy of calling home.
Latest development by My Brilliant City located downtown at 11th Street and San Jacinto, walking distance to the Capitol Complex and States Offices.
My Brilliant City created this development on E. 11th Street several years ago.
Here's something to consider (and possibly dispell myths) about affordable housing:
It takes a wage of $16/hr. working at least 40 hours/week to afford to live in Austin
The median household income in Austin is $52,452 (2012 data)
You think affordable housing is for welfare recipients? Consider that the following professions make less than the median income in Austin: Office manager, executive assistant, operations manager and, yes, intern architects.
The average Austin resident should limit their spending to $1311/month on hosuing. Seriously?
Design Inspiration
"We don't know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops." - John Cleese
People often ask us where our design inspiration come from. Does it come from within? Are architects just naturally inclined to be creative? I'm here to tell you that 99% of design inspiration comes from our knowledge of the past, our education and observations of our surroundings.
"The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steel from" - David Bowie
Is it okay to admit that architects are influenced by the work of other architects? Of course it is, and those who say otherwise are lying. In Austin Kleon's wonderful, concise book, "Steel Like an Artist", he explains the methodical process artists and architect have towards conceiving new work. We copy our heroes and although we rarely admit it, our heroes are often our peers. He goes on to explain that steeling from one person is called "plagerism" but steeling from many is called "original".
Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant would say, "There isn't a move that's a new move." He admits that his moves are stolen from watching tapes of guys who are his heroes. When Bryant stole a lot of these moves he found that his particular body type did not allow him to completely pull of the moves he stole so he had to modify them to suit his own abilities. He adapted the moves to make them his own. Similarly architects draw inspiration from their heroes and the cumulative result is shown in the work we produce.
We try to produce work that we feel is missing or there is a need for. I can't speak for other architects but those of us at Element 5 Architecture search out certain projects and influence our clients to allow us to produce work that we find compelling. As Austin continues to grow and densify (and become less affordable) one typology we are investigating is micro-housing. Another is adaptive re-use for under-used or abandoned structures. Another is adapting the duplex to various sizes and configurations to increase urban density in a comfortable way. Sometimes we find clients and developers willing to listen to these ideas, sometimes developers come to us because they've heard of our interests. You could say our approach to unique design comes from investigating new building types.
"My interest in making music has been to create something that does not exist that I would like to listen to. I wanted to hear music that had not yet happened..." - Brian Eno
South Lamar "Weird"?
As a principal at Element 5 Architecture, and one who lives outside of the city, I commute to work in and out of downtown Austin everyday. Like most people in our city, I experience the increasing traffic first hand.
According to Gary Schatz, Assistant Director of the Austin Transportation Department, “I will say to anyone: traffic increases every year anywhere from one, two, three percent a year no matter where in Austin you are." Take a stretch like South Lamar, an important CBD artery that is being actively developed, Schatz says, and traffic will grow even faster.
One of my projects requires me to travel the South Lamar corridor for meetings and no matter what time of day it is, this experience is increasingly frustrating to say the least. I lived adjacent to the South Lamar corridor 20+ years ago in the Barton Hills area ("the 78704"), the birthplace of "keep Austin weird", and at that time, I was proud of our zipcode and proud of where I lived. I even owned a "78704" t-shirt. Being a music lover, the Broken Spoke, Horse Shoe Lounge and Saxxon Pub held a special place in my heart. But today these Austin icons seem to be buried in the chaos. I am not convinced I would want to live along this corridor today.
While there are mixed-use developments taking place, which hopefully offer opportunities for residents to live and work in closer proximity, the big problem I see is that there is no option of widening the boulevard. There are private properties that line the zoning along the street. The chance of the city purchasing chunks of private property to widen this corridor are minimal. Even if the city made this move, there is still the bottleneck at the bridge crossing the river into downtown.
The other problem is that there are few options of routing traffic to other arteries. According to Schatz "One of the challenges of South Lamar is it's kind of like a watershed, you have in effect a traffic shed that the traffic generates, there really aren't options to get over to South 1st or to get over to MOPAC, so the traffic really focuses on that corridor.”
I am not sure the city can do more than tweak the problem with computer controlled traffic lights, improved bike lanes, mass transit and wider sidewalks. While in the city's eyes improving the pedestrian experience along Lamar is a positive, it most-likely will slow traffic even more.
This 3 mile stretch between Ben White and the river is no longer "weird", but one of Austin's more serious problems to solve.
Downtown Block
The Federal Courthouse, with it’s textured surfaces and ‘ascalar’ forms caught my eye one Saturday morning. I had to take my sack of Farmer’s Market peaches with me and take closer look. In the photo I tried to capture a sort of otherworldliness that the project conveys. While most Austinite’s will never have a reason to go inside it is an impressive pile.
Are Architects Artists?
Architects produce drawings that become part of the built environment and as such we are sometimes compared to artists, especially when the end result is a provocative piece of architecture. Is this a fair comparison and if so does this apply to all architects? How do architects see themselves?
One way to determine if an architect is an artist is to examine the portion of our work that can truly be considered "artistic" - the Schematic Design phase of our work. If one considers that Schematic Design accounts for about 1/3 of our total billable work, and billable work accounts for approximately half of what we do in the office, then one can say that 1/6 of our work is "artistic" in nature. That's not a very favorable fraction of time spent being artistic. The other 80% of our time is spent doing code research, taking field measurements, detailing, drafting, marketing, accounting, interviewing - all very unartistic pursuits.
Let's try a different approach. After all, one could argue what makes an artist is not the type of the work that's being produced but how one sees one's surroundings. What is an artist? An author, a painter, a sculptor, a musician? Anyone who's curious about they're surroundings and takes action to investigate should be called an artist. This is where we stand as architects in our practice and it's this approach to re-thinking our environment that we're trained to do in school. Maybe some architects loose it along the way or become jaded and disgruntled but I feel within the office of Element 5 Architecture we strive to be critical of every project that is in the office - as well as those outside the office. Life is not limited to one's immediate surroundings and interests.
What do you think of this idea? Can you have an artistic approach to life a non-artistic profession?
Consider this part one in a continuing discussion on art and the artist's life. Next post we'll look at lessons learned from Austin Kleon's book "Steal Like an Artist".
Urbanful!
Urbanful is a new project website from 'Smart Growth America' that we've become fans of at Element 5 Architecture. Part magazine, part marketplace, the web site is all about the people, organizations, and businesses helping to make communities great.
http://urbanful.org/
As stated in Urbanful's mission:
"Our stories highlight urban living and innovation in design, technology, culture, transportation and all the great things happening in our cities. We’ll also be shining a spotlight on the innovators we think are really changing our cities and making them awesome places to live, work and play."
Please take some time to check it out.
Below are some great articles that could all easily be referring to what's happening in Austin.
http://urbanful.org/2014/08/01/urbanites-want/
http://urbanful.org/2014/07/30/affordable-alternatives-housing-city-dwellers/#lightbox/0/
http://urbanful.org/2014/07/24/cottages-next-urban-infill-trend/
Old and New meet in the Middle East
As a new member of the E5A Team, I am posting my first blog article inspired by a recent visit to Israel. As a student of architecture, there is nothing more exciting to me than discovering the urban fabric of a new place. My trip stopped in Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv - three important cities whose architectural composition of old and new depict the country's deep history as well as its current progress.
Haifa Court House Building by Chyutin Architects
Basketball courts surrounded by Jerusalem's ancient walls
Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, Safdie Architects: view out to Jerusalem's Old City
While both Haifa and Jerusalem have plenty of impressive old and new buildings, Tel Aviv is perhaps the most architecturally interesting of the three. This vibrant, liberal city bustling with hi-tech startups, art, and design (not unlike Austin!) also surprisingly boasts the world's largest collection of modernist Bauhaus architecture. German Jewish architects fleeing from Nazi Europe in the 1930s needed to quickly house all of the immigrants coming to Tel Aviv, so the functional and inexpensive nature of the International Style was perfectly suited to their needs. The white colored, solid walls helped to reflect the heat of the Mediterranean and desert climate, while the typical large expanses of glass were substituted for small recessed windows.
Bauhaus style in Tel Aviv, Israel
Hotel Cinema, Tel Aviv
The Eclectic Style in Tel Aviv became the new architectural language for the city, characterized by ornamentation, symmetry, domes, arches, and hanged balconies - merging notions of East and West.
Pagoda House, Alexander Levy
The Great Synagogue, Yehuda Magidovitch
CodeNext and the "missing middle"
CodeNext, a long-term overhaul of the Austin’s Land Development Code is underway. In general, the undertaking is a follow up to Imagine Austin, the updated plan that supports a ‘compact and connected’ city. In reviewing a draft report of the rewrite what I found particularly interesting was the description of the “missing middle". In terms of housing types the city has a number of single family homes and, on the other hand, has a number of moderate to large apartment buildings. What are missing are the housing types in-between, these include duplexes, fourplexes, townhouses and small apartment buildings.
As the city grows, it will need to densify in and around the edges of single-family neighborhoods. Developing small multi-family projects, with four or greater units is currently a challenge as it triggers the site plan review process, a lengthy and expensive process. Hopefully, the CodeNext study looks both at land-use and regulatory obstacles to such projects as they are the kinds of projects that allow density to be gently integrated into existing neighborhoods.
Renovate or Start Over?
In our business we visit many, many properties throughout Austin that we are asked to consider the pros and cons of renovation versus demolition and new construction. Here are some factors to consider:
1. Is the existing house in a Registered Historic District? If so, you may not be allowed to remove or demolish the existing house.
2. Will you attempt to live in the home through a renovation? You might want to seriously consider moving temporarily. The expense can far outweigh the stress of living in a construction site. Just to remind you, here's what a renovation can look like:
Renovation in progress
3. Is the existing house layout useful or is it inefficient and unsuitable to your lifestyle? With a new house plan an architect can tailor the design to your exact needs without wasteful spaces.
4. Are there concerns about the foundation, plumbing or electrical? If any one of those items need replacing your renovation could get expensive.
In central Austin where we do most of our work, the typical old house is as follows: 1,200 sf, pier and beam construction (with the piers often being 80 year old cedar tree stumps), wood siding, un-insulated walls and single pane wood windows. We don't want to be proponents of tearing down relics of the past, however if we're talking about pure construction costs we have come up with the following formula that proves well over the years. If you are adding more than 50% to the existing size of the house it will be cheaper to remove the home and start over.
So, for that typical 1,200 sf house you may want to add a 500 sf bedroom suite. If the rest of the house can be kept relatively in tact a 500 sf addition could prove economically viable. On the other hand, most people want to not only add 1,000 sf (and bring the house up to a more useful 2,200 sf) but they will plan a complete kitchen remodel, window replacement, adding insulation, new electrical, shoring up the faulty foundation and fixing leaks and termite damage. Once all of this is consider it becomes much more cost effective to build new. And even with today's prices, $200/sf can still buy you a very nice house. Plus, it's much easier to predict construction costs on new construction than renovation/addition work.
As Austin architects, it's our responsibility to know the city's restrictions - the zoning code, the McMansion Ordinance, the Historical code - but we also need to be aware of relative construction costs to properly advise our clients before the design process begins.
Historic growth in Austin
In 2007, the Austin city council began to draft a downtown development plan that incentivizes downtown density; but to many, fail to provide protection for most historic sites, including the Capitol View Corridors and mid-century buildings. Preservationists have urged the city to articulate a vision for Austin that includes the preservation of its historic buildings, which are currently outlined in the "Austin Downtown Plan" and the "Land Development Code".
The current development trends on and around existing historic structures has increasingly become a controversial topic in todays fast paced developments. Some find it interesting to see contemporary architecture sprouting out of the historic structures, while others would rather see the historic buildings untouched. Either way the historic structure's appearance, relevance and integrity should be respected.
Here are some examples of such developments:
Brazos Hall
Spaghetti Warehouse
Lamberts
Element 5 Architecture has been asked to perform a feasibility study for such a mixed-use development on a building in the east 6th Street corridor, which is a Federally Registered Historic District. The proposed mixed-use design consists of excavating and renovating the basement level, a ground level restaurant and leasable office space, a level 2 roofdeck and leasable office space and a third level private residence with viewing terrace and pool. Below are pictures of the existing structure along with some conceptual images of the proposed development, which have been approved by Austin's Historic Landmark Commission.
NE view of existing structure located at 223 E. 6th Street
East façade of existing structure located @ 223 E. 6th Street
Conceptual images of proposed development
In Honor of the FIFA World Cup
No one can accuse the folks at Element 5 Architecture of lacking a sense of humor. In honor of the upcoming soccer World Cup we are taking a critical look at homes of the celebrity athletes participating in the games. As we all should know by now, money does not buy good taste...but sometimes it does.
Most soccer players (the rest of the world calls them "footballers") have rather conservative homes, contrary to their taste in lavish automobiles. Wayne Rooney (forward, Manchester United, English National Team), falls into this category. He may own several exotic Italian sports cars but his primary residence outside Manchester is all about regal elegance:
Robin van Persie (forward, Manchester United, Netherlands) similarly exhibits a lack of imagination in his conservative digs, although it's an interesting interpretation of Neo-Georgian architecture:
One of the strangest houses from none other than one of the greatest footballers of all time, Leo Messi's "soccer ball" inspired home could stand some refinement. Loosing one's orientation in the house must be a problem.
Outside of Milan, Italian star Mario Balotelli's modest mansion at least has some roots in Italian Rennaissance design, if in contrast to his bad-boy reputation. We're sure Andrea Palladio would be impressed.
Saving the best for last, Portugese striker Christiano Ronaldo's house might be the coolest house of the group. I wish I could give the architect credit but unfortunately that information is not publicly available.
We would have loved to feature some American soccer players. Perhaps when Austin is awarded a MLS franchise Element 5 Architecture will have an opportunity to join the list - hopefully in tasteful way.
The Challenge of Determining a Client's Architectural Taste
As designers of architecture our job is to create functional, beautiful, affordable buildings that precisely suit our clients' needs and aesthetic taste. How do we determine someone's needs and taste? This can be a surprisingly difficult task especially when the client is not sure of their taste or, in the case of a couple, when one spouse has different taste than the other.
At Element 5 Architecture we have a multi-step process of helping our clients provide information regarding their needs and taste. First, we ask for a basic Program list - a list of rooms and room functions that will give us an idea about the size and complexity of the building. As we get more specific about the Program we ask our clients to fill out a Questionnaire that we've developed over the years. The Questionnaire looks like this:
As you can see the rooms are not only listed but furniture quantities and sizes are listed. This gives us a record of what needs to fit in the room and allows us to tailor each space to the furniture arrangement.
While the Program offers a pragmatic list of needs it doesn't begin to describe one's taste in architecture. This can be a more involved investigation. The simple fact that a client has come to us to design their house means that they at least appreciate some of the architecture that we have produced. However, we also ask our clients to gather images of architecture that they like from Pinterest or Houzz or any source that they may find.
Interior designer Rebekah Gainsley of Blink.is has come up with an online "style guide" that can be very helpful in vetting one's design taste. In fact, for a small price anyone can use the Style Guide to determine architectural taste and we encourage our clients to do so. The guide takes about 10-15 minutes to complete and it's actually pretty fun to complete:
Blink.is Style Guide
Between the gathered images, the Style Guide and conversations about architecture - both the likes and dislikes - we can move toward designing a house that accurately reflect the personalities of our clients. We feel this leads to a deeper comfort and respect for the houses we inhabit.
From Soviet Era Kitchens to Today's Standards
At Element 5 Architecture, our work with custom home design brings us exposure to the latest in modern kitchen designs and keep us aware of the latest trends. Sometimes it gets to be too much to follow and has us going back to basic concepts: the kitchen as a gathering place for friends and family, where creativity occurs and the sight and smell of cooking inspires a casual atmosphere.
A recent news report by National Public Radio about soviet-era Russian kitchen design brings to light the important role kitchens have in society. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Russian government attempted to remove the kitchen from the home by designing all apartment blocks without kitchens. From 1917 to the mid 1950's urban Russian citizens were essentially forced to eat in communal cafeterias or combined laundry and kitchen facilities like the one shown below. The thought being that kitchens were where "people could gather to talk politics".
Communal kitchen in Soviet Era Russia
Imagine how society must have changed during that time, when all food is prepared the same for the populous. The current concepts of "foodie", "vegan" and "locavore" were far from the minds of society . Today we design kitchens with amazing features - built-in cappuccino makers, televisions, computers, hidden speakers, induction cooktops, steamer ovens. We carefully consider the work triangle, prep areas, ergonomics and social interaction. Today's kitchens can exceed $50,000 and are a major component of the overall cost of the house.
A contemporary kitchen by Element 5 Architecture features flush cabinetry, built-in appliances and views of the landscape.
Everything to Know About the Plan to Cut Cap And Bury I-35
Would like to see this plan gain traction. See article for more info.
'Complete Streets' Promotes Better Architectural Development
Last night the City of Austin's Design Commission was briefed on the 'Complete Streets Policy'. For those of you not familiar, 'Complete Streets' is organized by the group 'Smart Growth America' and it's goal is to ensure that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind – including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.
There is no singular design prescription for Complete Streets; each one is unique and responds to its community context. A complete street may include: sidewalks, bike lanes (or wide paved shoulders), special bus lanes, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts, and more.
A Complete Street in a rural area will look quite different from a Complete Street in a highly urban area, but both are designed to balance safety and convenience for everyone using the road. Check out our ‘Many Types of Complete Streets’ slideshow to see examples from across the country. 'Smart Growth America'
As Austin architects we're excited about the positive effects this improved infrastructure will have on the adjacent communities and their buildings. Better designed transportation options as well as safer and friendly streets will promote stimulating and healthy architectural development. Because of this, we at Element 5 Architecture look forward the success of the Complete Streets program here in Austin.
Guerrilla Placemaking
Guerrilla placemaking is a concept involving the take-over of a neglected space in town and turning it into a usable space that contributes to the community around it. In April of 2013 an alley initiative dubbed "20' Wide" took over an alley in downtown Austin for two days and made it into a gathering place complete with seating, art exhibits and performances. The success of this example of guerrilla placemaking has led to thoughts about those neglected and perhaps overlooked areas of urban infill throughout town.
20' Wide alley initiative
Imagine all of the overlooked residual spaces throughout town that could be made into a beneficial part of the community - the underused alleys, triangular medians in city right of way, abandoned or condemned buildings. Not many people know this but the City of Austin has a program to develop these spaces, all it takes is some neighborhood activism and an architect who can graphically present the idea and sell it to the city. The city calls it the Neighborhood Partnering Program and if approved the city will contribute 60% towards funding the project through public money.
The Guadalupe Neighborhood Association in Central East Austin has put together a viable proposal for developing a portion of alley between 8th and 9th Streets. According to neighborhood leaders it's set to become a reality quite soon. Since our East Austin Architecture office is close to the project we will monitor the progress and update this blog as developments occur.
Guadalupe Neighborhood Association proposaed alley initiative
New Residential Projects Under Construction
Element 5 Architecture have several new residences under construction. The first project is a remodel and addition located in Rollingwood, Texas. You can see some before and after photos:
Before
After (front)
After (rear)
In Travis Heights we have a house under construction that sits on a steep hill and has city views to the rear. The house is 2,800 sf with a roof top deck and basement room for guests and movie watching. Here it is:
