Friday, November 27, 2009

How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 5

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]

In keeping with the Thanksgiving holiday spirit, today's post features our favorite illustrated friends gathering around their table. Also on exhibition (besides their enviable place settings) are at least three different light sources. Happy Thanksgiving! 




Supplement lighting

"Balanced lighting isn't necessarily brilliant lighting. Sometimes, supplementary lights can be placed inside a china cabinet or hidden in its top. Torcheres for indirect or reflected light come in both floor and table styles. But whatever sources you choose, try to have an equal balance of light throughout the room.

If you do use supplementary fluorescent lighting, remember that the tubes come in several shades. It's important to select the lamp color first, then choose your wall covering, drapery, and the rug under the same shade of lighting."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 4

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]

Wiring is the subject of the day; specifically, the benefits of a well-planned outlet system. Confession: our lovely model below at first looked to us a bit more bird-like than was probably intended. It's more likely she is simply thrilled at her splendid new floor outlet than she is growing a beak in manner of Kafka... right?



Locate outlets for use

"Acquiring adequate wiring is the first step to decorating with light. Figure out all the appliances you want serviced, and all the light fixtures and lamps you will need. Then call in professional help to do the actual wiring job.

Conveniently placed outlets are next in importance. Temporary remedies are devices approved by Underwriters' Laboratories for carrying a cord along a baseboard. Metal strips with outlets at 1-foot intervals can be placed along baseboards or tops of work counters. Install floor outlets for 'island' groupings."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Project 2097: Weaving the Past with the Present, part 2


Weaving the Past with the Present
(This is the second of a two-part blog highlighting Project 2097)


The First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin, commissioned Fire Farm to do the lighting for the new addition to their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meeting House, and to update the lighting in the original historic structure.

One important element of the job was that the original copper roofing off the Wright structure was to be recycled into the new light fixtures.


Years earlier Mrs. Wright, along with volunteers from the Society, had hand-woven 120 feet of curtain on the looms at Taliesin to be used in the original Meeting House. Symbolically “Weaving the Past with the Present,” bridging the old structure with the new, and with a nod to the historic work of Mrs. Wright and the congregational volunteers, Fire Farm utilized this recycled copper in a functional, yet uniquely sculptural way.


The material was sheared into linear strips of various widths and loosely woven into rectangular panels for wall sconces. The exterior surfaces with green patina were alternated with the raw copper surfaces of the under sides, symbolizing the weaving of the new with the old. Each piece was individually handwoven by Fire Farm's Howard Mayer into a different pattern so no two would be the same.

Light was allowed to filter through the cracks in the face and spill out behind and around the fixtures creating a halo effect. The bright copper picks up ambient light in the room and reflects it warmly back while the natural patina adds a character only possible from 50 years of exposure to nature.

Click here to visit the Product page.


Jim Walch of Fire Farm

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Monday, November 16, 2009

Project 2097: Weaving the Past with the Present, part 1


Weaving the Past with the Present
(This is the first of a two-part blog highlighting Project 2097)


The First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin, commissioned Fire Farm to do the lighting for the new addition to their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meeting House, and to update the lighting in the original historic structure. Earlier this year, the Fire Farm crew took a field trip to see the fruition of their labor.

Upon arrival we immediately knew that we had been part of something truly special. Over a half century earlier an icon of American Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, had designed what is now considered one of the prime examples of Twentieth Century Architecture.


After an extensive tour of the Historic Meeting House, in a physically seamless, but aesthetically distinct transition we were led into the new addition. With only a slight elevation on the landscape of Wright’s structure, one is awestruck as the corridor opens into a cavernous space. Where Wright’s structure soars upward, the new addition hosts an environmentally friendly flat membrane roof with vegetation reaching out and away. Wright’s structure was conceptualized using T-square and drawing board, the new addition with CAD and computer.

Video courtesy of FUS Madison

Kubala Washatko Architects of Cedarburg, WI., with lead architect Vince Micha very cleverly integrated the new structure into the landscape in a way that is both complementary and deferential to the historic structure. The new construction, executed by the craftsmen of J.H. Findorff and Sons, Inc., has received a LEED Gold Rating from the US Green Building Council, as well as the 2009 SE2 Merit Award from the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance, and the 2009 Sensitive Addition to a Historic Structure Award from the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation.


The attention given to every detail by The Society was inspiring. It was a wonderful opportunity to see our work in its final home. Very often we work from afar and are specified in a way that separates us from a comprehensive vision of the project. This project allowed us to work closely with the architects from the very early stages of development, leading to an evolution of design that was uniquely suited to its environment. Luckily the Madison church was within a few hours of our studio which allowed us to all visit our work in its permanent home, providing a satisfying closure to the project.

Custom fixtures designed for the First Unitarian Society of Madison:

                                                                                Click here to go to Product page


Click here to go to Product page                        Click here to go to Product page

Jim Walch of Fire Farm

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 3

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]

The latest installation in our (gripping) series dissects the psychological--and physiological--effects of good lighting. Because upon returning home from a night on the town (as our couple in the rocking illustration presumably are), one does not want to be greeted with poor lighting.

Light Rooms Evenly

"You're happier on a sunny day. And scientists say a cheerfully lighted room gives the same emotional lift. Best for your spirits and your eyes, too, is fairly even lighting throughout a room, with extra lamps at special work areas. It's the spotty, uneven contrast of dark, shadowy corners and glaring illumination that overexercises eyes.

Your eye has a built-in exposure meter and automatic lens control that widens and narrows the lens opening to compensate for less or more light. Cooperate with the control by lighting evenly to avoid eyestrain."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Project 2991: 3D Models

Using Google Sketchup and Podium programs, we've inserted our design proposal into the Bemidji Regional Events Center space, to get a real sense of how the piece would interact with its surroundings.

Take a look at our online presentation file.

Click here for the Project page.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Project 2991: Videos



Another look at the prototype that Fire Farm is presenting to the Bemidji Regional Events Center. These videos demonstrate the potential for this as a kinetic piece; ambient air currents rhythmically move the seven suspended rings.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Project 2991: Sneak Peek

Fire Farm is working on a design proposal for the Bemidji Regional Events Center in Bemidji, Minn., and we're so excited about the way this project is unfolding that we want to let you in on the action as it happens. We're working on videos, 3-D models and more, so look for updates here on our blog, as well as on our Facebook page, starting next week.



Can't wait for next week to find out more?

Take a look at our in-the-works online presentation file.

The Prezi presentation is in rough-draft stage at the moment, but so far highlights local Bemidji influences that are shaping Adam's design. We'll be working on it over the weekend, and since the Prezi presentation is live, you'll see the most updated version as soon as we click "Save". Click here to see it.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 2

[This is a recurring post dedicated to highlighting snippets of "Chapter 7: Lighting" from Fire Farm's copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. To see all posts from this series, click here.]


This week's advice extols the virtues of valance lighting, complete with an illustration that is simply the cat's pajamas. Neato canito!

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Round-the-clock lighting

"Adequate lighting is especially important in decorating--you've spent hours in matching colors, so give those colors enough light to enjoy them. At night, let some of the principal lights come from about the same direction as the light did during the day.

Cove or valance illumination retains the luminous daytime look of window fabric and blinds. If you're in an older home, you probably need more circuits for laborsaving machines, so plan for eyesaving lighting, too. Talk it over with an expert--for safety's sake, wiring should be done by a professional."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Thursday, October 1, 2009

LED Solutions


Recently we were involved in a project constructed of perforated stainless steel sheet metal folded into a rectangle-shaped form to wrap around a column. The perforated metal was selected to create a transparent sheer effect around a core white acrylic box. The acrylic core was to be lit using fluorescent tube T5 lamps, selected for their even illumination and energy efficiency.

In production we thought we had addressed the challenge that the fixed length of the T5 lamps represented by incorporating an adjustable sliding fixture that would allow us to overlap two bulbs to exactly the right length to fill each of the segments perfectly.

This worked out to be an effective solution and would have been successful if we hadn't been working with such tight tolerances on the core acrylic box. The narrow width of the core box meant that the off-set fluorescent tubes were located an unequal distance from the edge of the box. This generated a long linear "hotspot" half the length of the fixture (see photo below). 

Two more inches in width of the acrylic box would have resolved this inequity by providing enough distance for the light to even out before it came into contact with the acrylic diffuser. With a ship date mere days away we had to figure out rather quickly how to overcome this optical challenge.


Our solution came in the shape of LED light strips. LED light strips are relatively new to the market and still significantly more expensive per watt than equivalent fluorescent solutions, but in the right application they can be a real asset.

This was a perfect situation to deploy this newer technology and the result was uniform light within a very narrow space. We were able to correct for some of the 'coolness' of the LED light by adding a very thin mylar diffuser which added just enough warmth to bring the LEDs into a more pleasantly-perceived color range.

Sometimes last minute surprises can be extremely frustrating, but we seem to always find new solutions in the challenges they bring. The final product was quite mesmerizing as you walked around it. The perforated metal shimmered as the overlapping planes of holes created ever-changing moire patterns. Click here to go to the Custom Project page.

Jim Walch of Fire Farm

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

How to Decorate Like it's 1956, part 1

Tucked away in Fire Farm's library is Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, published in 1956. While the book covers all areas of home decorating, our favorite chapter is (can you guess?) Chapter 7: Lighting.

Because we found it so delightful (and sometimes insightful), we've decided to post excerpts from it periodically here on our blog. This week's nugget of mid-century widsom is found in the chapter introduction: "Balance your lighting so that every part of the room has the same cheerful glow--and arrange contrasts for drama."

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Chapter 7: Lighting

Wake up your home with lighting
"Good lighting is decorating's third dimension. It's easy to plan lighting to make the most of color and furniture arrangement. Here are 26 pages of illustrations, ideas, and suggestions."

See better . . . see beauty
Light for better vision
"The most important concept of good lighting is that it should help you see better. Place lamps, fixtures so that there is no glare to disturb, no dark areas to strain. At every chair should be a lamp that is high enough to cast a glow over reading material held in the lap. Survey your family's hobbies and habits. Plan specific lighting for children's study and play, for card playing, reading in bed, shaving and make-up, work, and sewing.

Enjoy your decorating
You've spent hours in matching colors, in planning arrangements, in making your home more beautiful. Plan your lighting so that you can enjoy this beauty day or night. Balance your lighting so that every part of the room has the same cheerful glow--and arrange contrasts for drama. If your walls are dark, compensate with more and bigger lamps, brighter bulbs. Spotlight important accessories and wall decorations to make the most of them. Select materials under the same lighting by which they will be seen in the home."

[Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Publishing Company, 1956. Print.]

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Parnassus by Seasons






The Parnassus outdoor sculpture incorporates solar cells, rechargeable batteries and LEDs with fine metal cloth mesh, capturing solar energy by day so that it can shine into the night. Over time, the untreated mesh takes on a natural patina that well suits the surrounding rural environment.

The above sequence of images was taken over the span of a year.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Rose Light Transition



This video shows the transition between the fluorescent perimeter cove lighting and halogen down-spot lighting on Fire Farm's Project 2204.

Click here to go to the project page.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

New Product: Reed Sconce



The newest addition to our collection of stock products started out as a custom-designed piece for a large metropolitan restaurant. The owners reported so much interest and so many inquiries from customers as to where they could purchase something similar that we designed a modified version to include in our stock product line.



The mellow feel of the natural thatch reeds is enhanced by the soft light filtered through an inside diffuser. The closer to the ceiling the fixture is hung the more distinct are the radiant beams of light reflected through the open top reeds. Additional effects can be observed by the use of incandescent (shown above, left) or fluorescent (above, right) bulbs.

Click here to go directly to the Reed Sconce product page.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Liquid Light


THE MEETING OF PHOTONS, REFRACTION, AND POLYMERIZATION

This week we experimented with a combination of materials that yielded extraordinary results! Shouts of joy resounded throughout the R & D shop, even the most jaded and time- tested of our crew members were shocked and amazed. We have discovered what one described as "Liquid Light!," while another exclaimed, "It's alive!"


The resulting multi-dimensional plane of spectral color, literally changes in saturation and intensity, undulates, and follows your every move. You want to grab the color in your hand, but you are not even certain as to where it is, or where it went. The visual impact surpasses that of the very best Opal gemstone or Northern Lights!




These images on your computer screen can only begin to translate visually this stunning discovery.






Jim Walch of Fire Farm

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Changes at the Farm

We are working on some posts to share with you some interesting projects that we completed in 2008. Watch for them in the coming weeks.

For the past 2 years we have been steadily investing in the back-end infrastructure of Fire Farm to enable us greater capacity and transparency into the future. This is why you haven't seen much of me personally at some of the shows and events during this time. I have been focused on building the infrastructure to enable much greater quality, capacity and client confidence and satisfaction.
Here are some of the improvements we have implemented:
  1. We have revamped our manufacturing software to more adequately address the unique needs of the rapidly growing segment of custom fabrication.

  2. Our project and client management systems have been fine tuned and expanded to facilitate project management and client communications and support from first-contact to post-placement follow-up contacts.

  3. We have acquired an additional 35,000 square feet of working facility and upgraded lighting and made significant physical plant improvements.

  4. Additional tooling and equipment have been acquired to expand our capacities, and new relationships with local subcontractors have been established to increase our offerings.

  5. A large photo studio able to handle large chandeliers has been integrated into the final production and finishing hall to allow fixtures to be photographed immediately upon completion, with final packaging occurring directly in the studio.

  6. We have made improvements in our website architecture to allow immediate and easy uploading of new products and projects. We hope to take those images of finished products and have them up on the site for immediate visibility. So much of what we produce has never made it to our catalog or our website. We look forward to being able to share it with you in a timely fashion.

  7. If you have ordered from us in the past year you will have experienced some of the client-relations improvements we have implemented. For example:
  • For larger-scale custom projects you will receive an email the day of shipment that includes a plethora of data, including tracking information as well as images taken during the packaging process showing the internal packaging structure and of the labeled containers ready to ship out. This allows you to compare the incoming package upon receipt to its portrait going out--a key way to spot potential damage or loss immediately.

  • Attached to these emails you will also find instruction sheets that we might have created for this project and even unpacking instructions to maximize the success of installation, starting with the receiver. By sending these electronically before hand we hope that this information can be put into the hands of those preparing to receive these valuable shipments. All of these documents will be attached to the packaging as well.
Perhaps the biggest change will come in the coming year as we begin to implement the new technology tools we have developed for the website. Expect to see many new projects posted regularly on the new site. This is the most exciting development as it is the point to which all other developments have been pushing towards. With the facilitation of the entire production process through posting on the web, we hope to open up time and opportunity to explore and prototype the many new and unusual materials and engineering structures we have been holding back on over the past couple of years. We really hope that the foundation we have laid will provide a springboard of creativity that we can immediately share with you.

-Adam Pollock

Why Blog?

For years we considered creating a regular newsletter of interesting things that go on around Fire Farm but always ended up intimidated by the scale of such a project with regard to regular management in light of daily production requirements.

Well, it seems that the technology has come around that may allow us to finally create that connection in a more bi-directional and casual way than a formal newsletter. Hopefully with more dynamic and varied content possibilities as well.

Because of the collaborative nature that is Fire Farm you may see posts from a variety of staff members here. We want to create diversity in our blog content reflective of the diversity of ideas the staff brings to our product development.

This blog is intended to be a casual and regular window into the daily happenings at Fire Farm. We are really lucky to have evolved a company culture that is rewarded for its exploration and creative problem-solving work. We hope that we can share some insight to the discoveries we make along our path of creation with those of you outside the walls of the factory. And also the challenges we face in our explorations.

And so, with that being said, Let's blog... (who came up with that term, anyway?)

-Adam Pollock