Bouler Pfluger Bayshore and Brooklyn

Bouler Pfluger Architects' downtown Bayshore office is humming with several recently hired employees and a flurry of incoming projects-- ranging from a large commercial hardware store (no, not a big box!) to a new waterfront home.  Being in a downtown area is great, but being next to the gourmet deli is even better.  Come by, say hello, and get yourself a hero sandwich at Frank and Maria's.  Tell them James sent you.

Things in NYC expanded as well, so BPA needed a second office, which just opened this week in Industry City, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.  Right now, the Brooklyn office is primarily working on the Build it Back projects in the Rockaways and Staten Island, but certainly open to new and interesting projects in the boroughs.

Springtime Blooms

After quite a long hiatus, I am happy to return to the Bouler-Pfluger Architects blog.  Since the last post about Hurricane Sandy, much has happened to both the architectural practice and life with the Boulers.  Fortunately, all is well and many new ideas and challenges are on the horizon.

As you can see from the  conference room above, James and Nick have opened a new office in Bay Shore, NY, as well as a satellite office in Brooklyn, NY.  They are joined by a growing staff of enthusiastic professionals who are helping the practice grow on two fronts.  On Long Island, the practice continues to take on a mix of projects in both Suffolk and Nassau counties-- from commercial buildings to new waterfront homes.  Meanwhile in Brooklyn, BPA is working with NYC's Build it Back program, where homeowners whose homes were devastated by Sandy are now able to work with the city in rebuilding their structures at a proper elevation for the flood zone.  It's a great undertaking, but also a wonderful opportunity to help people get back into their homes.

Artistically, I have also undergone quite a bit of change.  After 20 paintings depicting flooded structures last year (yes, I had flood on the brain!), I've decided it was time for a change.  What better way to signal a rebirth than to visit gardens for subject matter. Looking at Monet and Sargent, I couldn't help but be drawn to their bursts of color and the lushness of texture.  I've even been reading about local farming and botany, recharging my creative energy and inspiring me to move the artwork in a different direction.  It's a development that encouraged me to check in with the blog again, to offer an update, and to celebrate new growth.

Bay Shore: From the Air

Aerial shots of this solar powered residence on the Great South Bay, Long Island.

ABAD Idea Makes the NYT

The latest installment of the A Book About Death is in Bay Shore, NY and features the work of 150 artists, including Louise Millmann, James Bouler and me. Recently reviewed in the New York Times, the exhibition centers around the broad concept of 'ties that bind' which provides plenty of room for interpretation. Hats off to the ABADer LuAnn Palazzo who curated the show.

Bay Shore Site Visit

Net Zero residence doesn't need to be synonymous with discomfort. This project is both efficient and comfortable. In fact, take a close look at the meter. Despite a cool interior temperature inside of 74 degrees in 95 degree weather, this meter reads 2 KW thanks to the 11KW solar array on site. The craftsmanship of construction done by Telemark is top quality, quite a feat considering the complexity of the design and decor. By using a variety of textures and design elements, this new house has a warm flow to it, feeling almost as if it's always been there.

Small Actions, Big Impact

Olivia (center) with NY Islanders and fellow Hometown Heroes

A year ago, I attened The Ethnic Pen, Bay Shore High School's annual writing conference and heard about Wangari Maathai's Green Belt project. I was amazed at how one woman's tree planting campaign changed the Kenyan landscape and the course of history. Four days later, the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, and little did I know, my daughter's subsequent action of donating bird illustrations to raise funds for recovery efforts would have a ripple effect in our own community and beyond.
At this year's Ethnic Pen, filmmaker Jennifer Arnold described the power of one woman's seemingly small actions and their ripple effect in her recent documentary, A Small Act. Hilde Back, a Swedish survivor of the Holocaust, chose to sponsor the education of a young, rural Kenyan student, Chris Mburu, sending off small amounts of money to cover his primary schooling. Mburu went on to graduate from Harvard, evenually becoming a Human Rights Lawyer for the United Nations. After Mburu decided to find the stranger who changed his life, he started a scholarship program of his own, naming it after his former benefactor. This exceptional story's ripple effect continues thanks to Arnold's film, which in itself, fought the odds to be made.
After the conference, I took Olivia and Jackson to the Hometown Heroes reception with the NY Islanders. Olivia, who had been made a Hometown Hero in January for her Gulf fundraiser, was surrounded by other Long Islanders who also took action when they were called upon.
It was a rewarding day, a reminder that each one of us has the opportunity to make a difference in small and big ways.
If you are in the Huntington area tomorrow, please drop by The Book Revue at 3 pm for Olivia's book signing.

Bayshore: In the Details

Building trim is a lot like a necktie. By covering joined edges, it gives a building a polished finish. Here, James is looking at the mockup of a bracket design for the exterior trim on this waterfront Bayshore residence. Interior trim is equally important in the aesthetics of a space. Crown moulding and base trim, once intended to protect the fragile edges of paster walls, now give a complete look to a space, a framing detail to a blank wall. As to the efficiency of this building, it took a giant leap forward recently when its ground-mounted array of photovoltaic panels, which will provide solar energy for the geothermal heating system, was approved by the town board.

Bay Shore Residence: Progress Continues

The waterfront Bay Shore home is nearing completion. The cedar shingles, dipped in weathering oil, will turn into a silvering grey over time. Stainless steel cable rails are also ready to be installed, with IPE decking on the master bedroom balcony, cabana, and the first floor's wraparound deck. The mechanical systems are up and running, with geothermal, radiant heating on the first floor, and a solar array ready to be in place for spring.

Bay Shore Site Visit

The Bay Shore waterfront home is framed up and looking more like the computer-generated images Bouler Architecture's Nicholas Pfluger animated for the client. The home will use a geothermal system with an array of solar panels to offset its carbon footprint.

Tim Hartley: Master Class

before

during

after

Louise Brooks

Some artists work in clay, others in paint; Tim Hartley works in hair. After working as the international creative director of Vidal Sassoon for 35 years, Hartley has joined forces with Davines, an Italian hair care company whose products are organic and sustainable. In their collaboration, Hartley’s concept was to take the archetypal bob and transform it through the use of color and texture. Held at James Bentley Salon on 57th Street, Hartley taught a master class for a select group of metropolitan-area hairdressers where he demonstrated his unique cutting techniques and style philosophy. While turning color and style on its ear with each hair model, Hartley riffed about his influences, design choices, and margaritas on the beach. Referencing icons like Louise Brooks, Brigitte Bardot, Mrs. Robinson, and Auntie Mame, hair was transformed from accessory to stand out.
Vidal Sassoon-trained salon owner Kane of Salon Eden in Bay Shore, NY, brought me along as his hair model. I gave him free reign over what happened next. Working with Hartley, he took my pageboy and, two hours later, turned it into a masterful, red- hot bob, a la Louise Brooks.
After the hair session, attendees and their salons met up at Davines’ conceptual dinner—where the organic ingredients of their products were incorporated into a five-course tasting menu. From the pickled ginger wrapped shrimp to the polenta with gorgonzola and spinach, the food, served by members of the Davines team, was a complex series of textures and flavors, not unlike the creations that took place earlier at the salon.
Overall the day’s events were a celebration of hair, design, and style.

Framing Geometry

James went to check on the framing of two different projects at two different stages.

The World We Want

Today I attended The Ethnic Pen, an annual writing conference at Bay Shore High School, now in its 19th year. Lead by the inspirational educator Nina Wolff and teacher coordinators Shannon Handley and Joanne Dineen, the conference committee proves just how much individuals can change the world around us. Appropriately, this year's theme of "The World We Want" was discussed by prominent poets, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and students.

Keynote speaker Da Chen, author of the highly acclaimed memoir, Colors of the Mountain, spoke about his childhood in Communist China, where the only thing to combat the boredom and indignities of his life in a repressive small village was the gift of a bamboo flute. He described the contrast between his American-born son's childhood with his own, telling the young people in the audience that with the privileged life they have in America comes the responsibility of making the world a better place. Afterwards, he signed copies of his book, giving each person a different message in Chinese calligraphy. Mine, above, reads longevity. The young man in the image with Da Chen is my student Justin, whose family emigrated from the same region of China as the author. His message: good fortune.

Poet Patricia Smith gave a powerful spoken word performance, reading a range of poems, including several from her new collection entitled Blood Dazzler. Her moving, multi-faceted portrait of the victims of Hurricane Katrina haunted me all day, though it was her poem about her son growing up which brought me to tears.

In honor of the conference's theme, the committee recognized several young people who have already become active in changing the world. One of my students, Sofia Rajabali, seen here with her mother and her sister, was inspired by her reading of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Reflecting on her own Pakistani background, she organized a fundraiser and cultural awareness night, raising $1100 to send to Mortenson's organization for a girls' school in Pakistan.

This year's conference and those in attendance prove that words are a powerful way to create the world we want.

Bayshore, NY: The Big Pour

Imagine yourself a busy architect jetting from one appointment to the next and on the way to the next site visit, you are practically run off the road by a caravan of cement trucks leaving your project. Enter the world of James Bouler. Check out that crane for Pete's sake. The complexity of the floor plan sets the groundwork for the parallel complexity of the roofline, so in order to get to all parts of the foundation on a waterfront job, the concrete had to be suspended overhead. With the rebar in place inside the wall forms, the snowstorm held out long enough for the concrete to be poured and set in time. The house will use a geo-thermal heating system, and the client says with the federal government incentives, it was an economical option.

Bayshore, NY

Placing a house on a site plan can be quite different than placing it on the actual property. This particular waterfront site plan in Bayshore shifted a bit once the demolition of the existing house took place. Armed with a ladder, the client walked the property and found the exact placement for his master suite balcony view-- a true hands-on approach.