The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t be able to attract an audience for a “Brooklyn Manufacturing Expo” outside of their own staff so every year they host the BKLYN DESIGNS exhibition. Walking around the exhibition though you are struck by how design, and by extension designers, drive manufacturing. With the collapse of manufacturing in the United States over the last few decades it’s hard to fathom just how many jobs we had in Brooklyn making things. All of the work was not only designed here in Brooklyn but as a matter pragmatism, most of it is made here.

Here are a few of my favorite things.

Tree table and stool by April Hanna

April Hannah gets the chutzpah award. She’s an artist who three months ago when she applied for a booth, saw a need, had an idea, and a couple of cardboard models. Twelve weeks later, her Tree Table Collection is debuting here. The collection, shown with a few of her artworks, as a sort of visual DNA, is smart, cohesive, well crafted (thanks in part to a brother who according to Hannah “can make anything”),and built with kids and the environment in mind.

Jeff Mayer’s bench and growing family

Jeff Mayer’s 718 Made in Brooklyn is “form follows environment”. His design and manufacturing is a direct outgrowth of his lifestyle and Brooklyn aesthetic. He’s a former professional bmx racer, a lifelong skateboarder, and denizen of the public transportation system. All of these things come through in the objects, clothing, and furniture he designs and manufactures.

Christina Fesmire’s Fugle Swing

Pratt Institute seeks to instill in all graduates aesthetic judgment, professional knowledge, collaborative skills, and technical expertise. Their booth there was evidence of a promise fulfilled. The quality of the designs and the execution did not suffer by comparison with their professional counterparts by any means. I was particularly taken by Tobin Spann’s spare, simple, beautifully executed Surface Series furniture. My other favorite work was Christina Fesmire’s Fugle Swing. Both of those students have bright futures ahead of them as long as we can get this economy moving again.

Here’s a good link to National Geographic’s Green Guide. They’ve got a good guide on how to shop for and compare wood finishes with low VOC’s.

About Finishes:
Ideally, treating wood flooring, furniture or trim with a finish will both protect it and enhance its natural beauty—without exposing you to harm. But finishes typically contain solvents, such as petroleum distillates, that keep the solution liquid until applied, and a binder, such as polyurethane, that holds the ingredients together and hardens into a film when dried. Here are a few criteria to use when shopping:

Types: Clear coatings and sealants help wood surfaces rebuff water, scratches and daily wear and tear. Stains penetrate and tint woods.

Plant oils and natural finishes: Linseed, shellac, beeswax and carnauba wax.

Water-based synthetics: Although these finishes still contain petrochemicals, they are formulated to reduce air-polluting emissions.

Volatile organic compound (VOC) content: Listed on labels in grams per liter (g/L); always seek the lowest amount available.

• Safety:

• Shopping Tips

• Avoid neurotoxins, such as petroleum distillates, or heavy metals like lead acetate.
• Check labels for “danger,” “caution” and other health warnings.
• Buy only as much as you need.
• Follow safe-use directions on labels.
• If possible, work in an outdoor space. If applying finishes indoors, open all doors and windows, and use ceiling and box fans to circulate fresh air into the room. Do not inhabit the room for two or more days afterward, until the finish has dried and fumes have dissipated.
• Do not use any solvent-containing product around children or if you are pregnant.
• Allow newly finished items to cure for several days and only bring them into the house only after the finish has lost its odor.
• To reduce risk of fires, soak used oily rags in water, seal them in a plastic bag and discard in an outdoor trash can.
• Dispose of leftover finish properly: Donate it to neighbors or local community groups. Otherwise, dispose of it according to your sanitation department’s household hazardous waste regulations.

Dan Phillips’s “tree house” made from recycled material. He built and rents it to low-income artists in Huntsville, Texas.

This interesting story appeared in the NY Times today about Dan Phillips, a Texan who makes homes out of salvaged homes for low income buyers.

Kate Murphy writes:
AMONG the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who has had an astonishingly varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the Army, a college dance instructor, an antiques dealer and a syndicated cryptogram puzzle maker. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash.

In 1997 Mr. Phillips mortgaged his house to start his construction company, Phoenix Commotion. “Look at kids playing with blocks,” he said. “I think it’s in everyone’s DNA to want to be a builder.” Moreover, he said, he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing.

To him, almost anything discarded and durable is potential building material. Standing in one of his houses and pointing to a colorful, zigzag-patterned ceiling he made out of thousands of picture frame corners, Mr. Phillips said, “A frame shop was getting rid of old samples, and I was there waiting.”

So far, he has built 14 homes in Huntsville, which is his hometown, on lots either purchased or received as a donation. A self-taught carpenter, electrician and plumber, Mr. Phillips said 80 percent of the materials are salvaged from other construction projects, hauled out of trash heaps or just picked up from the side of the road. “You can’t defy the laws of physics or building codes,” he said, “but beyond that, the possibilities are endless.”

While the homes are intended for low-income individuals, some of the original buyers could not hold on to them. To Mr. Phillips’s disappointment, half of the homes he has built have been lost to foreclosure — the payments ranged from $99 to $300 a month.

Some of those people simply disappeared, leaving the properties distressingly dirty and in disrepair. “You can put someone in a new home but you can’t give them a new mindset,” Mr. Phillips said.

Although the homes have resold quickly to more-affluent buyers, Mr. Phillips remains fervently committed to his vision of building for low-income people. “I think mobile homes are a blight on the planet,” he said. “Attractive, affordable housing is possible and I’m out to prove it.”

Freed by necessity from what he calls the “tyranny of the two-by-four and four-by-eight,” common sizes for studs and sheets of plywood, respectively, Mr. Phillips makes use of end cuts discarded by other builders — he nails them together into sturdy and visually interesting grids. He also makes use of mismatched bricks, shards of ceramic tiles, shattered mirrors, bottle butts, wine corks, old DVDs and even bones from nearby cattle yards.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a complete set of anything because repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern, repetition creates pattern,” said Mr. Phillips, who is slight and sinewy with a long gray ponytail and bushy mustache. He grips the armrests of his chair when he talks as if his latent energy might otherwise catapult him out of his seat.

Phoenix Commotion homes meet local building codes and Mr. Phillips frequently consults with professional engineers, electricians and plumbers to make sure his designs, layouts and workmanship are sound. Marsha Phillips, his wife of 40 years and a former high school art teacher, vets his plans for aesthetics.

“He doesn’t have to redo things often,” said Robert McCaffety, a local master electrician who occasionally inspects Mr. Phillips’s wiring. “He does everything in a very neat and well thought-out manner.” Describing Huntsville as a “fairly conservative town,” Mr. McCaffety said, “There are people who think his houses are pretty whacked out but, by and large, people support what he does and think it’s beneficial to the community.”

Click here for the rest of the article. and check out the multimedia presentation here.

Visit Dan Phillips’ Phoenix Commotion, where you can donate to his cause, and here’s a video on his business:

]]> http://www.brooklynmodern.com/ny-timescom-mans-trash/feed/ 2 http://www.brooklynmodern.com/weekly-green-find-brooklyns-greenspaces/ http://www.brooklynmodern.com/weekly-green-find-brooklyns-greenspaces/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:46:36 +0000 brooklynmodern http://www.brooklynmodern.com/?p=2432

Above, Green Spaces’ members talk about their projects at the location.

If you’ve green ambitions and are looking for a place to network with others involved in sustainability, check out Green Spaces at 33 Flatbush Ave. Bklyn NY. For $475/month you can set up a working office and have a lounge to entertain clients. There’s a also a kitchen, rooftop garden, and event space. Here are some photos from their site (for more in depth shots, click the Flickr button at the bottom):

Office: desk, filing cabinet, light, and chair included, 24/7,  T1 wired and wireless internet access with telephone option. Printer, Copier, and Fax machines.
Access to intern team, Conference room access, Mailbox , and Free Coffee courtesy of Crop to Cup.

Kitchen: Convection oven, storage space, beautiful large marble table, refrigeration, commercial size Hobart mixer and blender,
large chopping boards, utensils, plates, and glassware.

The roof: Green Spaces has implemented a number of growing, cultivating, and recycling systems that make up its urban farm.
Green Spaces intends to use all of the vegetables and herbs grown to feed the members of Green Spaces, thereby insuring zero food miles or packaging

Contact Green Spaces at:

www.greenspacesny.com

Home: 718.855.5356

Fax: 718.865.0823

33 Flatbush Ave. 5th Floor

Brooklyn, NY 11217

Reclaimed Home writes:
Last week I visited the Eco Brooklyn house in Carroll Gardens and spoke with Gennaro Brooks-Church about his project. Well, ok, if it doesn’t look like Gennaro is talking to the camera, that’s because I piggybacked on a contractor’s job interview. Anyhoo, please excuse my lack of editing skills….still haven’t learned a thing.

All of the material used in this restoration was recycled! Crazy used stuff I’ve never been able to get my hands on, like sheetrock and plywood. This guy’s got connections, baby!

Part II will be a tour of the house, a work in progress. I’ve really gotta figure out how to edit that bit though.

Gennaro Brooks-Church of Eco Brooklyn installing a solar tube in a Brooklyn brownstone.
Check out the amount of light coming through even on an overcast day.

If you’re interested in green building in Brooklyn, I would suggest subscribing to  Eco Brooklyn Inc’s posts. Gennaro Brooks-Church, is the author and he is a Brooklyn based contractor, Certified EcoBroker®, LEED AP, educator, lifetime builder and author of the Build It Forward green building concept. Hence, the information comes from a reliable source. Since I’ve been following the site, I’ve learned about the importance of insulation and how it’s easy to install, working with salvaged wood, good business models for green building, and raising chickens.

Gennaro also goes beyond his site to promote green building in Brooklyn.  In a radio interview on Burning Down the House (click to hear, section:  Popular Recycled Materials in NYC), he discusses the value of reclaimed lumber and talks about my favorite source for salvaged wood in Brooklyn,  M. Fine Lumber. (click here to read old post on M. Fine)

In addition, Eco Brooklyn is looking for a  a space to keep their salvaged materials. If anyone knows of a place to rent, sale or donation in the Carroll Gardens or Red Hook area, get in touch with Eco Brooklyn.

Instructables is a great site for D.I.Y. types. One of their recent posts teaches you how to make a bench from cardboard, which has actually become a material of choice for many designers lately. The builder of this bench mentioned that he was inspired by the work of Brooklyn’s very own Scrapile.  Aside from being an easy project, this tutorial also has a sustainable benefit if it’s done with reclaimed cardboard.  The author also testifies to the bench’s strength, saying that it can support three adults. But just keep it keep away from water. Visit the tutorial here and download a pdf with instructions.

SCRAPILE ’s benches made with repurposed scraps of wood from New York’s woodworking industry. Visit their site here.

Here’s the 1970’s wood paneling. Remember Calvin Klein shoots back in 2000.

Assembled and finished. Perhaps 4hrs of labor.

]]> http://www.brooklynmodern.com/upcycling-wood-paneling-for-tv/feed/ 0 http://www.brooklynmodern.com/inhabitat-reports-from-bklyn-designs-2009/ http://www.brooklynmodern.com/inhabitat-reports-from-bklyn-designs-2009/#comments Sun, 10 May 2009 15:31:50 +0000 Brooklyn Modern http://brooklynmodern.com/?p=1399 Jill Fehrenbacher and Olivia Chen
Yesterday morning, the Inhabitat team gathered in DUMBO for the opening of BKLYN Designs our favorite locally-grown furniture design show. In its seventh year, the annual showcase of locally-designed furniture provides visitors with sampling of the best in the borough. We saw lots of our old green BKLYN favorites such as Brave Space and Uhuru as well as plenty of exciting new faces and designs — and were especially excited to see what this year’s Pratt students had in store for us. This year’s show, while smaller than last year, proves once again that functionality, eco-sensitivity and beauty can come together under a smart designer. If you live in New York City, we hope you make it out to DUMBO before the weekend is over, to catch our BKLYN Designs Editors’ Choice Awards – which will be given out on our green design walking tour at 3pm on Sunday. To entice you, here are some of our favorite designs from the show…

UHURU Booth 2009

Hugh Hayden showcases his colorful FUNiture

Recycled Sweater Stools by Sara Ebert (at the Pratt booth)

Buoy Chair by Evan Dewhirst (at the Pratt booth)

Check out Inhabitat’s photo album and click here.

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