ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S... MOST UNUSUAL SCRAP HOUSE.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer It was a crazy idea from the start. With 2005's World Environment Day in mind, Laurence Kornfield proposed erecting a model home on the lawn of San Francisco's City Hall made entirely of found materials, except for screws and nails. As the city's chief building inspector The following articles relate to the topic of building inspector:
The result has been captured for the National Geographic Channel
Small ... but large The structure, completed in four weeks, was a 1,000-square-foot modern house with 21-foot ceilings above a loft bedroom, bath, kitchen and living area. It was framed in steel beams and walled with discarded masonite. The final touch: Amber traffic-light reflectors were crafted into a chandelier. Architect John Peterson said one of his greatest challenges was the chicken/egg dilemma of whether to let found materials steer the design or allow the design to dictate the search for materials. ``We didn't have time to do anything but both,'' he said. ``There were some things we assumed we could get, like the outdated phone books and the shower doors. ``Sheet material is the most difficult thing to get in salvage because it's so valuable,'' he added, explaining the lack of plywood. ``Up to the last minute, we were making use of materials that we didn't know we had until the day before.'' Garbage time Garbage time, also known as "junk time", is a term used in American sports (most commonly, basketball and football) parlance to refer to the period of time at the end of a timed sporting event when the outcome of the game has already been decided, and the coaches of one or both For vintage construction elements, Peterson knew he would need expert scavengers, so he turned to local sculptors and others familiar with Bay Area dump sites and salvage yards. Among those caught on camera was a guy nicknamed Flash, with a gift for homing in on useful bits of wood, metal and glass, who relished finding a crate of china cups and an evening gown evening gown n. A woman's formal dress. Also called evening dress. Noun 1. evening gown - a gown for evening wear dinner dress, dinner gown, formal still on its hanger. And he literally kicked up his heels to celebrate scoring a pair of matching folding chairs. ``They're interested in the quirky quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. and unique,'' Peterson said of his scavenging scavenging of anesthetic. See anesthetic scavenging. crew. ``We didn't need collectors of cans. We wanted the one who knew about the monster satellite dish satellite dish n. A dish antenna used to receive and transmit signals relayed by satellite. satellite dish A parabolic antenna used to receive signals relayed by satellite. in the backyard.'' The show illustrates one frustration after another as the team of some 150 designers, contractors and volunteers works against deadlines including the June 1 grand finale, when the city would host mayors from around the world for a five-day conference on environmental issues. ``We missed every one of them by a mile -- except for the last one,'' Peterson said. Some 10,000 visitors, from schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school on field trips to international dignitaries, walked through the Scrap House in four days. Peterson said he enjoyed watching their ``big-grin delight'' at the innovation and whimsy whim·sy also whim·sey n. pl. whim·sies also whim·seys 1. An odd or fanciful idea; a whim. 2. A quaint or fanciful quality: stories full of whimsy. of the house. Still a tear-down At the end of the conference, the house had to be razed raze also rase tr.v. razed also rased, raz·ing also ras·ing, raz·es also ras·es 1. To level to the ground; demolish. See Synonyms at ruin. 2. To scrape or shave off. 3. . But even in its short life, the Scrap House had a positive impact. Flash complains with a smile that he now has more competition for the good stuff at the junkyards he frequents. And Peterson says it has made him rethink choices of materials in the homes and commercial buildings he has worked on in the last year. That isn't to say that San Franciscans should expect to run into him amid local scrap heaps scrap·heap also scrap heap n. 1. A pile or heap of waste material. 2. A place for discarding useless or worthless material. . ``I don't want to be the Fred Sanford of architecture,'' he said. Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com THE SCRAP HOUSE When: 10 p.m. Monday Where: National Geographic Channel. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) A chandelier made of traffic lights is one of many unusual pieces in the 1,000-square-foot Scrap House, which is constructed entirely of found materials. (2 -- color) Above: Visitors check out the unusual structure at San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza in National Geographic Channel's ``The Scrap House.'' (3 -- color) Left: Workers cladding walls with street signs. |
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