FINAL PROJECT

What I learned

Materials 3311 is a class compiled of so many topics, and I've got to say I feel very confident that I learned so many different things. Our swatch kits have proven to be very helpful and the quizzes were very supportive of the material contained in the kit. I learned about various constructions, knits, and yarns, and was able to find examples of so many fabrics that I had previously had no familiarity with. I learned about neutral colors and how they react with different color groups. Throughout the end of the semester I learned that there are so many materials out there to use that I have never seen. From high end to unusual, the projects sure did open up my horizon of material selection. I was able to experience visiting businesses which gave us pretty detailed information of materials such as fabrics, flooring, counter tops  and even visited Jeff Seal homes. I learned so much this semester in materials, which will stick with me for years to come.

Jeff Seal Homes of Distinction

                      

Jeff Seal Homes of Distinction

Jeff Seal Homes of Distinction is an architectural firm located here in Lubbock, Texas.  He is a local architect who is known for his extravagant, over the top homes customized to a client’s exact specifications. Although he participates in large scale projects, he does do basic homes or as he calls them, “starter homes.” Although he is situated here in Lubbock, he does partake in jobs in the surrounding areas.  Jeff Seal is Director of Design and Construction at Jeff Seal Homes of Distinction. He established his company in 2002, after being employed by a high-end custom home builder in Dallas, Texas. Seal has broad “experience in building custom luxury homes from design phase to completion,” which made starting his company quite effortless. He has a team of “creative individuals whose passion and determination thrive on pushing the design process to a higher level.” He and his team are equipped with two interior designers, who are Texas Tech Alumni such as himself. His designers design from the ground up with the “desire to achieve the perfect design.”

Jeff Seal Home of Distinctions specializes in home design, interior design, material selection, construction, landscape design, and installation. His home design is most impressive. By creating extravagant, luxurious homes, he is also producing homes uncommon to people here in Lubbock, along with most people in the world. While visiting two sites of Seal, we were able to observe his more recent projects here in Lubbock. The first we visited was a Gothic Tudor Style home, in the middle of a contemporary neighborhood located here in Lubbock. With a style and such unusual materials compared to present day homes, Seal and his team have created an extraordinary home to accommodate remarkable clients. The home is filled with tons of chimneys, and plenty arches that form groin vaults. The second home we visited was a 12,000 sq ft. home, less than a mile away. It was an Italian style home with enough room to house the client’s family and her parents. With tremendously high ceilings, a massive kitchen, showers with speaker systems, and a home movie theater, Seals custom Italian home is something out of a movie.

These “homes” plus his numerous amounts of other projects have been created because of plenty of research done by him as well as his employees. They study a future project through books, internet, or even by going to a location that may be of use to understand a customer’s wants and needs. This process can take quite awhile, but because of this, Seal along with his clients may come out with a much better product.

Jeff Seal is clever and original from project to project. He takes risk, and isn’t afraid to design such beautiful and diverse homes for people in and around Lubbock. Because of that, he is admired and sought after for the planning, designing, and construction of many people’s homes here in Lubbock. 

Parkhill Smith & Cooper

     We recently visited Parkhill Smith and Cooper, and it was a great experience. I liked the timing of the visit because it introduced us to LEED. We were able to learn about it, while actually visualizing real life examples. We were able to climb up the ladder to the roof and observe the green roof.  We learned about their irrigation system along with different systems inside the building that have actually proven to help the health in the building.  We also sat in on a presentation where we learned about LEED more in detail. The visit was very educational and informative on the subject of LEED and I really enjoyed visiting a great example of a LEED building.  

Collin's Tile and Stone

While visiting, we got to learn some information on materials used not only for filing floors, but also for counter tops. We learned how buying works when dealing with huge sheets of material and how it is assembled. We were shown several types of stones and rocks from traditional to more exotic pieces used in many places throughout a home. Mr.Collins also showed us his warehouse where both man and machinery are hard at work cutting sheets into certain pieces for certain clients. Its very different and interesting going from a place where products are housed for display and then going to a place where materials becomes products throughout a process. It was very informative and I enjoyed looking at the various types of stones and rocks made into sheets.

Leftwich Chapman (Flooring)

While we were at Leftwich Chapman, we met Larry Leftwich who gave us a great lesson on flooring. We were able to look at different types of flooring such as wood, carpeting, various materials for tiles. He also showed us less expensive types of material to take the place of flooring such as laminates and vinyls. We distinguished certain differences between real hardwood vs. wooden laminates and were able to to see and feel tiles made from various types of stone and rocks. Mr. Leftwich also introduced us to certain materials we are unfamiliar with, such as cork and leather. The use of such materials is changing rapidly and becoming more extravagant in design. Over all I had a great experience, and feel like I learned a lot from the visit.

Inspiration, Mood Board, and evaluation of Principle of Elements

Balance: The picture has a very distinctive opposing forces. A deep grey opposed to the light blue color of the ocean 

Proportion: The rock and ocean have similar proportions

Rhythm: Although no object is used repeatedly, both contain vertical lines. grooves in the rock and waves in the ocean.

Emphasis: Although the majority of the picture is covered by a rock, the emphasis is on the ocean. Its beautiful colors catch anyone's eye. 

Unity: Both the Rock and water are both important to the picture, neither overpowers the other.

Unusual Materials

Unusual Materials: Train Cars

For years now, architects and designers have been making use of many unusual materials to build homes. A lot of the materials probably seeming unrealistic as well it should be. But, these architects and designers are setting new bars as to what can be used when thinking of new designs for residential and commercial buildings. From objects being used to go green to over the top ideas, just to add new dimensions to a normally cookie cut idea of design.

There are many interesting unusual materials being used such as plastic containers, wine/beer bottles, 18 wheeler pods, and other such materials. If you haven’t already noticed most of these genius and unconventional ideas are considered green construction. These are recycled items used specifically to build a house in a original manner, not harming the environment.

One unusual material I find very creative and quite interesting is the use of a train car. Pieces are not used to create a certain design but to use as a whole. They are “big, heavy, and cumber stone.”  Because of this fact they can be very durable. They are known to be hard to move from their location on the track, and have a shape inconsistent to a normal inhabitant space. However, the popularity of green construction and recycling has sprung a temptation for using train cars for many other purposes other than its native home on the tracks. These train cars are being recycled into homes, offices, hotels, churches, and anything else you could possibly think of.

Although it is costly to purchase and find transportation to transfer train cars, it is much less than building or buying a used house on the market. If anything else, the mortgage industry seems to be in trouble making any type of green construction most sensible to plan and develop. Because of the money being saved you are able to continue going green throughout the car, and even build up and around the cart to make it look more traditional, still having unconventional materials.

The train car is not something only being taken advantage of here in the United States, but is existent throughout the world. It’s use seems to vary across the globe, but no matter the use, it is still going green.  It’s green, yet still very unconventional and a very different outlook of what people normally perceive a home, office, church, restaurant, etc. to look like. I find it very interesting and somehow a form of art in some of its uses which make it a very diverse material and seems to be quite sustainable considering its original construction for its intended purposes.

Design Expo

The Design Expo was quite the experience. I had such an enjoyable time meeting all the companies that were in attendance, but I have to admit "Architex" was by far my favorite company to visit. The representative was very active and energetic and the products were some that I've never seen before. He showed us more specifically, how their products (fabrics) would look on certain furniture with their interactive website and he was very enthusiastic and helpful. Overall I had a great time at yet another expo and I look forward to next years expo!

Campus Materials Analysis

Floor covering: the floor covered with carpet is great at the same time can leave tons of stains if not maintained properly.

Fabric wall covering are very pleasing and are usually used to soften the sound in it's environment.

Wall panels are used mostly to divide a place up into different areas. You'll find them usually in offices more than other places.

Not the best example of fiber art, but I couldn't find much. Fibers are used to create art whether is be yarns, or linens. either way it is a very unique way of depicting art.

 Window coverings are usually meant to keep sunlight out of areas they are placed in. In some cases they are put up mainly for looks.

Seat coverings are fun to play around with, but we have to be very careful how certain furniture can be covered depending on its placement in an area. In a place like the sub, having leather seating can be useful where spills are more prone to happen.