African Home Decor: April 2012

ABC Award of Excellence Winner!

Elzinga & Volkers Construction Professionals and Visbeen Associates took home an Award of Excellence for StoneWater Country Club's Restaurant and Banquet Facility as part of the 2011 Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) of Western Michigan Chapter Awards. That makes two-for-two on this project, since we were awarded a 2010 Award of Excellence for StoneWater Country Club's Clubhouse & Pool Facility.

Here is a little tour of the completed project...

Congratulations to all players involved in this award-winning Restaurant & Banquet Facility!

Designed by Visbeen Associates, Inc.
Construction by Elzinga & Volkers Construction Professionals
Interior Design by Lorene Roskamp of Lauren James Studio

To view more photos of this project, visit the gallery of our website:
www.visbeen.biz > gallery > master planning > country clubs > StoneWater CC

Brooklyn Museum Shop Tour

As your learned from our blog post two weeks ago, the Brooklyn Museum Shop is open for business and people are talking! Now we have the pleasure of giving you a pictorial tour of this rehabilitated and renovated space. With local artisan pieces like the chandelier and wooden toys by David Weeks, and Keith Haring paintings displayed behind the cash wrap, the shop brings the beauty of the museum's exhibits inside.

For more photos of this retail space, please visit our website:
www.visbeen.biz > gallery > commercial projects > retail > brooklyn museum shop

Interior Merchandising by David Hopkins
Photography by Evan Sung

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright

Ryan in our office recently took a tour of one of the most famous homes designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright called Fallingwater, located in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. The home was designed by Wright in 1935 for the Edgar Kaufmann family, president of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh. This unique home is on the Smithsonian's Life List of "28 Places to visit before you die," it was designated as a National Landmark in 1966, and in 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named it the "best all-time work of American architecture."

The most recognizable vantage point of this famous residence

Cantilever Balcony and staircase going down to the water below the home.

One of the most unique aspects of this home is the fact that it was actually built into the rock surrounding it, on top of an active waterfall

A modern marvel at the time, a cantilever staircase

Unique interiors with furnishings designed by Wright as well. The floor is made up of the rock the home is built upon and to the left of the fireplace is a globe that can be filled with water and swiveled in front of the open fire to heat. There is a spigot at the bottom to distribute the hot water.

This glassed-in area is retractable to reveal the cantilever stairs to the stream below.

Interesting angles everywhere you look.

Notice the built-in desk has a special notch to allow the glass door to the left to swing open, hearing the natural sounds of the moving water below.

These windows were another engineering marvel of the time with both sides of the corner opening out and the screens opening in, leaving the corner with no structure obstructing the view.

Guest house with unique staircase.

Every view displays another dimension of the design of this masterpiece.

Covered staircase connecting the main home to the guest and servant quarters.

The home was constructed using upside down T-shaped beams integrated into concrete slab. Some sources say that the contractor was doubtful that there was enough reinforcement and quietly doubled the reinforcing steel specified by Wright.

Stay tuned next month for our "little inspiration" series focusing on Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest American architects of all time.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater

A little inspiration from Greene and Greene

Another architect that has paved the way for Visbeen Associates? It was actually a pair of brother architects - Charles & Henry Greene. Their custom residences and ultimate bungalows are prime examples of the Arts & Crafts, otherwise known as Craftsman, movement. After completing education at Washington University and MIT, and having apprenticeships at firms in Boston, Massachusettes, the brothers relocated with their family to Pasadena, California and established their firm, Greene and Greene Architects, in 1894. Their style was distinctly Arts & Crafts influenced by Japanese architecture. One of their most famous bungalows was the Gamble House, designed in 1908, for David & Mary Gamble, of Proctor & Gamble (check out our Architectural Tutorial on the Craftsman Style for more information). Much of Greene-and-Greene-designed architecture was incredibly custom, where even the light fixtures and furniture pieces were designed specifically for each space. Here are a few of their notable works...

The Gamble House

Image source: http://www.gamblehouse.org/photos/ext/Vertikoff-2071031-053.html

The Pratt House - considered "structural poetry" by Architectural Digest

Image source: http://www.ultimatebungalow.com/

The Robert R. Blacker House, an extravagant home that cost upwards of $2.49 million dollars in todays dollars.

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackerHouse_7-1-07.jpg

Here are a few notable Visbeen Associates' works that were inspired by this dynamic duo...

The Amblewood is probably our best example of Greene & Greene inspired work. Arts and Crafts style meets the modern world in this well-planned home designed for a small, narrow lot. The Amblewood's low pitched roofs, interesting overhangs and natural tones on the exterior blend with the environment and can be carried into the interior.