Paring back to the essential

The architect John Pawson’s latest book is a wonderful discovery and an inspiration. Pawson is a master practitioner of identifying the essential, setting everything else aside and making the essential beautiful. Pawson elevates the everyday to something simple and rich with meaning. Mies van der Rohe pioneered this approach and called it beinahe nichts.

Cooking and and spending time with family are super important to us and its expression in our home is a priority.

What’s essential in your life?

Is there something–an activity or a pursuit–that you want to make a priority in your space?

How do you want to live?

John Pawson’s book Home Farm Cooking

#johnpawson #focus #kitchen #family #phaidon #lincolnparkchicago #winnetka #westtown #hydeparkchicago


Art, Architecture and the Human Figure

The English caricature artist Jonathan Cusick draws with a wit and superb technical ability that make his work fun, beautiful and contagious with delight. 

Here Cusick draws the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe appearing like a genie from his Barcelona Chair.

Mies believed that furniture should fit the body and it was a discipline with its own set of rules and was distinct from architecture. By comparison, FL Wright believed that Furniture and Architecture were the same discipline. For instance, Wright’s dining room table and the chairs with their vertical slats were not so much a place to comfortably eat but the chair backs were a vertical screen that created a volume over the flat horizontal plane that is the table top. More to come...


Jonathan Cusick’s website

#jonathancusick #caricature #barcelonachair #madelonvreisendorp #moma #peterpalumbo #dirklohan #miesvanderrohe #lincolnparkchicago #winnetka #westtown #hydeparkchicago #farnsworthhouse


Wood structural systems that behave like steel

When we think of innovative structural systems, we think of Mies's iconic 50 x 50 house which was supposed to be built in Winnetka but we are unsure exactly where. The 50 x 50 house was built in steel but what if it could be completed in wood? (Periana Architecture in LA is actually building Mies's 50 x 50 house which is pretty cool.) Wood embodies carbon rather than creating it as in the case of making steel. Here's an idea in wood where laminated eight 2x4 beams are laminated together and then arrayed in alternating rows 5 feet apart and then stacked a 3/4" threaded rod at each intersection bolts the assembly together. 60 foot clear spans are possible. Check out the model and a completed interior. #architecture #mies #Chicagoarchitecture #chicagoarchitecturecenter #cac #miesvanderrohe #winnetka

How do you want to live?


Chicago’s Geothermal Permit Program

We just successfully applied for and acquired our first geothermal bore hole well pilot program permit. Let's say it was eye opening. The aftermath of the tunnel disaster where a contractor unknowingly drilled a hole into a freight tunnel flooding basements in Chicago's loop resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and the creation of the Office of the Underground (O.U.C.). The OUC is where all of the different stakeholders look at your site plan and confirm that the 75 foot deep, 4" diameter boreholes will do no harm. We worked with Paul Johnson of installgeothermal.com and are were quite pleased with his service.

We are one of the first to complete a permit with the program and are happy to help you with your sustainable design and energy needs.
If you combine geothermal with a passivehouse level of building envelope control and the proper solar orientation, your energy costs moving forward can be very minimal. We don’t recommend the passive house certification because it’s very expensive but we recommend is level of performance and using a blower door test to measure leakage and the figure out where things stand. Ask us!

#geothermal #chicagopermits #ouc #geothermalpilotpermitprogram #officeoftheunderground #sustainabledesign #heatpumps #lincolnpark #hydepark #logansquare #oldtown #goldcoast #westtown #highlandpark #olsonkundig #811 #811Chicago #oakpark #burrridge #oakbrook #hinsdale #passivehouse #passivehaus




Our drawings are featured by an English provider of architectural educational services as examples for professionals to emulate

We are honored to have our working drawings featured by an English provider of architectural educational services as examples for other professionals to emulate and learn from.

Sloped, the only Sketchup and Layout Certifier

We work very hard to make legible drawings that read well, provide clear instructions and look great! Architects, just like the artist Sol Lewitt, create instructions for others to follow and it’s crucial that they are comprehensible. Please have a look. We put great effort and pride into our work. Clear, accurate drawings are a key ingredient in project success and a happy client.

#sketchup #layout #trimble #sloped.io #sloped #architecturaleducation #sollewitt #architectureprojectsuccess #happyclient