Freeze frame

A closer take on the hottest solutions from this issue.

Staff -- Interior Design, 9/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

The Fishnet Look

According to Specht Harpman principal Scott Specht, the pendants (left, story on page 218) were inspired by the continual traffic in the Garment District. "We browsed through truck-supply stores and catalogues, and hit on a large source of replacement air filters for industrial machinery," says Specht. "The filter cores are beautifully fashioned from pleated paper surrounded by open aluminum mesh." Contractor Monumental Construction mounted a tubular stem and affixed a standard lamp socket. When illuminated, the filter paper glows.

Let There Be Neon

Comma's clients (below, story on page 212) asked for colored lighting in their new kitchen. "They wanted something that would glow and be festive," says Comma principal David Khouri. Working with lighting consultant Johnson Schwinghammer, Comma developed a lighting system composed of three, L-shaped neon tubes mounted beneath the kitchen cabinets. Each glows in a specific color—red, orange, and blue—and can be independently turned on and dimmed. The result is a highly variable array of colored light—"they can get every color but green," says Khouri.

Alumination

"Inspiration for the aluminum louvers (right, story on page 218) came from windows of garment factories in nearby buildings," says Specht. The firm flipped through a catalogue for Ruskin Co., a manufacturer of louvers and dampers, selected stock products, and designed custom steel frames to support them. "The blades are linked together to work in series." The louvers can produce a decorative effect or they can become adjustable privacy screens.

Ice, Ice Baby

"Having seen Rubbermaid ice trays, we constructed a fluorescent light box and mounted eight trays to the front," says Specht of the illuminated blue trays (above, story on page 218). Since installing several hundred would have been expensive, Specht Harpman had Seal Reinforced Fiberglass build wood formwork panels—overlaid with fiberglass mesh and coated with liquid fiberglass resin—that resembled enlarged trays. When dry, the sheets were removed and attached to light boxes at the site."