Month: June 2019

After I first saw a photograph of the Peter Bristol–designed Corner Light just a couple of months before, I had been struck with its logic, simplicity and elegance. Of course there should be a light which only nestles at a corner and illuminates a space, I believed. It is one of those things that causes you to wonder why it did not exist before. It works so cohesively in a space it seems it can fit with almost any architecture or decor.

Bristol is a Seattle designer that creates lighting, furniture and other home goods and is also a lead industrial designer at Carbon Design Group. His work has received accolades from the form of design awards, patents, rave media and recently a judging position for I.D. magazine.

I talked to him recently about his Corner Light and other cool products, the impetus for some of his designs and also the intersection of practicality and creativity.

Peter Bristol

Q. Since its launch at the Milan Furniture Fair at 2011 your Corner Light has generated a Great Deal of interest. Do you think it has had allure?
A. The Corner Light takes part of the room that’s overlooked. It is very simple yet at the exact same time very unique. It only became something which I believed needed to exist. It is fascinating that Sebastian Wrong and Established & Sons felt exactly the exact same way and were able to help it become accessible.

Peter Bristol

Q. What are some tools you use in your own work?
A. Obviously your head is the most significant tool. The rest of the tools have a tendency to aid recognize, iterate, refine, define and communicate the job done upstairs. Thumbnails capture ideas and explorations; bodily mock-ups help understand ergonomics and scale quickly. Computers are invaluable for invention, refinement and communication along the way.

Peter Bristol

Q. How did your American Standards Light come about?
A. I had been doing a workout looking at regular icons. The wall and switch plug have been the icons. But then I realized that the manner in which many 2-by-4 walls are made is also recognizable. Referencing the entire drywall construction strategy became interesting. Putting elements collectively, the extra socket and also called switch strategy combined to make a pretty neat light.

Peter Bristol

Q. How much do older designs and new trends become involved?
A. You cannot help but be affected by what you know. The context of what has happened and is happening is always there. However, it seems good solutions have a tendency to be less about what others do or have done, and more about what should be done now.

Peter Bristol

Peter Bristol

Q. In case your Training Dresser had been around when my kids where growing up, they would have adored it. But then I realized: Hi, I could use that now. I am always loosing track of socks. What inspired you to style it?
A. Not certain where it came from. The usage of these clothes images outside is a too literal usage of iconography and a playful way of highlighting what is inside the dresser.

Q. I understand that it’s made in Washington state.
A. Right, its own handmade and packed in southern Washington by the team at Mountain View Cabinetry.

Peter Bristol

Q. The Cut Chair is indeed sculptural. It appears like it’s drifting. Can you sit on it without tipping over?
A. Yes, it’s pretty stable. The carpeting a part of the piece, and there’s a steel plate underneath that allows the seat pan to cantilever off the one leg.

Q. It seems like a departure from the more practical designs.
A. Yes, I agree. Not sensible. … I guess it’s a little more art than merchandise. That line is always a little fuzzy.

Q. Do you differentiate between layout that serves a particular purpose and design that’s great to check out?
A. That’s sort of the traditional form-function conversation, right? I am not certain that those two could be separated. Context guides good layout, but there are many interpretations of context. Something such as a medical merchandise has to be usable first, although other regions of design can let the item character take the lead. Function is beautifully distilled at the work of Dieter Rams, but there’s a whole different kind of attractiveness in the opinionated function of Marcel Wanders. Though the processes vary, there’s awesome work at both ends of the spectrum.

Peter Bristol

Q. Will there be a particular equilibrium you like to strike with experimentation, study, cooperation and other procedures?
A. I think each project takes on a life of its own. Those procedures all exist to help generate and find the ideal ideas. The manner in which they are mixed along the way is always different. It is tough to attempt to induce a rigid structure around such a fluid kind of work.

Q. How much does production affect your designs?
A. How things are created and how they go together always affect a layout, just like use always affects a design. Occasionally manufacturing methods define a item, and at times they enable it. It is typically difficult to separate the design in the engineering on nice products. Ultimately is the layout.

Q. Is it sometimes difficult to discuss your own work?
A. Occasionally it’s tricky to talk about attributes without seeming sales-y. I guess I think design must speak for itself, so any communication concerning the job should only confirm your natural intuition.

Q. Thus, just to torment you, here’s the dreaded query. How would you explain your outlook on layout?
A. Honest? Succinct? Appropriate? All these are things I try for.

Q. Can there be a Seattle or Northwest style?
A. There are probably several perceived Northwest fashions. I’m hesitant to explain any, since the web world tends to let things to happen anywhere and everywhere simultaneously.

Q. How do you approach designing and decorating your own house?
A. (Laughs) No real time to Be Worried about it. We obviously curate with things we like. Set up your house to suit the way you live, and the result will be good. It’ll be pleasurable for living and a true representation of you.

Learn more about Peter Bristol and his job

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When you live in an older house like I do, you tend to think of the big picture when it comes to renovations: marble, landscaping, master bath. But it’s the small details that can take a bite out of your time and budget.

Take, for instance, the many flush-mount lights that scatter my ceilings, all of outdated and in need of replacement. It is going to be expensive to upgrade all of them, but having stylish fixtures rather than those stodgy old ones are going to be well worth every penny. Check out these 11 lights that take the flush mount into fresh territory.

Joel Kelly Design

Sleek and chiseled, this fixture falls right in step with all the area’s angular, manly design.

Wm. F. Holland/Architect

Rows of semiflush-mount pendants blend the best of both worlds: the visual allure of pendant lighting and the low profile of a flush mount. As a result of their orderly placement, these additionally enhance the design of the coffered ceilings.

Karr Bick Kitchen and Bath

A pretty, yummy fixture takes the place of a classic over-the-sink mild and adds a note of gentle elegance.

Michael Knowles, Architect

I am not sure I’ve ever seen flush mounts in cobalt blue. These seem like drinking goblets turned upside down, a fun spark in a neutral setting.

Erica Islas / EMI Interior Design, Inc..

This space-age fixture feels completely of the moment — there’s nothing old-fashioned relating to it.

AIA, dSPACE Studio Ltd

A sinuous semiflush mount underscores the slick, sexy aura of the little bath.

Charlie & Co.. Design, Ltd

All these drum-style fixtures punctuate the ceiling like buttons on a tee top. Their big scale feels suitable for the quantity of the corridor and helps to make it cozier.

Bruce Kading Interior Design

This sculptural standout is far more interesting than a typical crystal chandelier.

Inform us : What do you think of flush mounts? Share your ideas in the Comments section.

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What it’s : Craftsman houses were largely motivated by the function of 2 builder brothers — Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene — who worked together in Pasadena, California, in the turn of the 20th century. The Greene brothers were influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement (a response against the Industrial Revolution in an attempt to promote the work of craftsmen and the handmade within the system made), as well as by Oriental wooden architecture.

Where to locate it: The earliest examples are in Southern California, but due to popularization of the style through national periodicals like House Beautiful and Ladies’ Home Journal and the following access to design books and kit houses, Craftsman bungalows became the most popular style of small house throughout the country from about 1905 through the 1920s.

Why you will love it: Just like most of things that come from California, there is something distinctively American about this fashion. Outside you will find details galore but inside, there is a simple, wide-open layout that makes the most of typically limited square footage.

Lawrence and Gomez Architects

What Makes It Craftsman

A low-pitched, gabled roof. The low-slung rooflines signify the effect of Oriental architecture on the style. These roofs typically possess a broad, unenclosed eave overhang with ornamental supports.

Roofs with a very low pitch are typically better suited to warmer climates, in which snow and ice aren’t likely to accumulate. They do require regular maintenance to make sure debris like leaves does not build up with time.

COOK ARCHITECTURAL Design Studio

A front porch. It is rare to find a Craftsman bungalow that doesn’t have a porch, even when porch only covers the entryway. Porches are either full (like this one) or semi width, and therefore are either sheltered under the main roof or under a separate, extended roof.

Porches are a terrific investment — they expand the livable space of small houses and make it feasible to spend time outside.

Melaragno Design Company, LLC

Tapered columns. This is one of the most distinctive characteristics of Craftsman houses, despite the version in detailing. Tapered columns, which support the porch roof, are typically brief and break upon massive stone or brick piers that extend into floor level, both of which convey a certain solidity. Not all columns are pliable; yet another popular variant is the double column.

Borrowing the exact comfy porch supports from the Craftsman style is a great way to find a touch of the look without rebuilding your home from scratch.

RW Anderson Homes

A partly entrance door. One great authenticity test of Craftsman bungalows is the way their doors are all styled. Almost all original models have glass panes in the top third of the doorway, separated by the underside paneled portion by a thick piece of trim.

Swapping out your door to get a Craftsman one is another way to incorporate a bit of the style into your home. There are lots of excellent sources for brand new Craftsman-style doors.

JCA ARCHITECTS

Multipane instead of single-pane windows. Just like a few other Craftsman details, this window style originated with the Prairie architectural style. The most common configurations are either four-over-one or six-over-one double-hung windows. The windows are usually grouped together and cased in broad trim.

This window style is a terrific traditional or historical style for houses with an opinion, since the single-pane lower sash has no mullion obstructions.

WINN Design+Build

Earthy Colours. Craftsman houses are usually painted in a nature-inspired palette of greens and reds to assist the low-profile bungalows blend seamlessly with their surroundings. Despite the mostly muted palettes, one or two contrasting colours are generally used to highlight architectural features like trim or decorative supports.

Put your best foot forward. Irrespective of the manner of your home, painting architecture comes with a contrasting colour is a great way to highlight your house’s best features.

Gardner Architects LLC

Single dormers. When Craftsman houses have dormers, they are usually wider and stick out on their own, unlike the pairs of dormers that typically appear in Cape Cod–fashion cottages. Single dormers are usually broad enough for two to three windows.

Dormers, especially broad ones, can change unused attics into livable space by adding square footage (sometimes an entire room’s value ) and ushering in organic light.

Joe Carrick Design – Custom Home Design

Stone details. Craftsman bungalows almost always feature a mixture of materials. The siding is typically wooden clapboard (though shingled siding can also be common), but porch piers and bases are usually made of stone. Brick, concrete block and stucco are also occasionally used.

Take a page in the Craftsman stylebook and combine stuff publicly. Think about cladding a small addition in stone or brick, even if your home has clapboard siding.

Dorothy Howard AIA, Architect

Exposed rafter tails and beams beneath heavy roof eaves. This another one of the distinctive qualities of the style; it reflects the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, which sought to make visible the handiwork that went into design, on the style.

Adding exposed rafter tails and beams does not need to involve reconstructing your house, let alone replacing your roof. These details are usually decorative and may be added under any heavy roof eave.

Christopher Templeton

Knee braces. These triangular supports are a structural solution to exposed rafter tails and roof beams. Like beams and rafter tails, they are usually decorative and may be added under any heavy roof eave.

Tell us: Do you love the visible craftsmanship of these houses? Or does it feel like overkill, particularly if you know that so much of the identifying characteristics are decorative and only made to look like engineering demonstrated?

Browse photos of Craftsman-style houses

More:
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