Garden Design magazine – May 2009 issue
The May issue of Garden Design magazine beat me to the punch with the publication of a new Tanglewood project. On page 34, in their section “Style”, there is a photo of a conservatory project we completed which was designed as an office for a publisher and his wife.
An office space is not a usual use for a custom conservatory and this one is quite special. Garden Design magazine calls it a “Dream Office”. There a custom built desk-for-two and a seating arrangement of Mies chairs on a Tibetan carpet all under the ethereal delicacy of an original Calder mobile!
Garden Design notes: “If prefabricated-building kits lie on one end of the spectrum, Tanglewood Conservatories, a Maryland based atelier specializing in the design and construction of custom conservatories and greenhouses, is at the other.”
They go on to say: “Whether a conservatory or a nineteenth-century copper dome you’re after, Tanglewood’s work is the stuff dream offices are made of.”
I had intended to add several new pages to the portfolio section of our website soon- one of which to showcase this particular project. In the meantime, you can see the preview in print.
While thumbing through the magazine, I noticed in the same “Style” section another interesting “office”. It’s an original piece of furniture from the Belgian design firm Colect (011-32-51-40-83-37) called B-uro. The concept behind the piece “was to create a piece of office furniture that doesn’t feel like office furniture.”
With its modern structural simplicity, it reminds me of some of my experimental furniture designs from architecture school. I was very interested in creating beautiful furniture by modifying cardboard boxes into sculptural as well as functional forms. I actually built myself a desk which served me well for quite a few years. I loved the simplicity and the “Small is Beautiful” nature if it- in addition to the fact that it was cheap and I was a student on limited means!
“The B-ero design has an abstract, decorative quality. That one would slip into it to polish off some office paperwork- seems entirely secondary!”
I agree.
Alan
Tiny Tanglewood Conservatory
I just noticed that Sarah Kinbar, editor of Garden Design Magazine included Tanglewood Conservatories in her blog post last Friday. Sarah says of one of our projects, “I love This: Tiny Tanglewood Conservatory”. You can read Sarah’s blog at: http://gardendesignmag.blogspot.com/
Sarah writes about interesting subjects ranging from gardening tips to background information on varieties of new flowers to interviews with landscape designers.
One such entry caught my eye regarding the “Chiluly: The Nature of Glass” exhibit that has been making the botanical garden tour. It is now at the Phoenix Dessert Botanical Garden having been moved from prior installations in New York and Missouri. I believe this is similar to the exhibit I viewed in Chicago at the Garfield Park Conservatory years ago which I mentioned in my blog last month. I was surprised to learn it is still going. I was very happy to see that Mr. Chiluly shares the same affinity for the gardens, botanical landscapes and glass houses that we do. You can see a few pics of his recent work at:http://www.dbg.org/index.php/chihuly
Alan