Title: The Professor’s Office
Project / Design: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design and create a
culmination of a lifetime office for a truly unique individual. The request, “create
an office environment in which I can resonate”. Design derived from the
work of Maybeck and Greene and Greene, crafted from hand selected solid old
growth clear heart, vertical grain Redwood. Because of our mutual respect for
the value of this resource only wind fallen and sinker log material was used
/ no living trees were felled. Ricardo was flown to Northern California to
locate the wood. Due to the requirements of the university where the office
was installed and the future plans of the client the entire office was built
in modular form so that it could be easily removed and reinstalled at a different
location. Functional elements included: oversize file drawers, book shelf space, whiteboard
for brain-storming sessions, task lighting.
Esthetic elements included: Hand-made ceramic tiles crafted by the client’s
artist wife that depicted various aspects of their lives inlaid in the drawer
faces, Hand made Ebony pyramid shaped plugs and butterfly tenons, hand shaped
pulls, locking pins on the shelf thru-tenons, routed details on the wall
planks with thru tenons. Arched skylight with antique leaded glass was illuminated
from above with fire-proof blue fabric leading to the illusion that it was
a true skylight. Fiber-optic light fixtures were concealed and used to highlight
the client’s precious objects d’art. Ambiant lighting lent a
warm glow to the ceiling planks and beams and museum quality lighting shown
on the rare sculpture pieces. All lighting was controlled by a master computerized
system so a touch of a button on the remote control would produce lighting
appropriate for a work environment, a meditative space, etc. Great care and love went into creating this office for an individual who greatly
loved this life.
Materials: Old Growth Redwood (from sinker logs and wind-fallen trees only),
Ebony, Leaded Glass, Bronze, Iron
Lighting: Fiber Optic, Halogen, Incandescent