If we had decided to build Manifold Recording inside the shell of a commercial building, then we would have started the project at the point we have just now reached: the initial framing of the interior walls. But since we are following the principles of Organic Architecture, we had to wait for the building to grow, from the inside out, until the the outer structure was sufficiently well developed to allow the inner structure to be expressed. It has been a mind-expanding journey, and something that fills me with we and excitement.
The first wall to be framed is a solid wall between Booths C and B. CDM perimeter strip isolates the wall from the floor, and is placed under a pair of 2×6s that will function as bottom plates. Here is the initial construction (alone with other activity related to trimming the Booth windows and preparing the ceiling for insulation to be blown in next week):
The following detail from the construction plans shows what we can expect to see as this wall grows up and becomes finished:
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The artcile Is There an Ecological Unconscious? in the January 31 2010 Sunday New York Times Magazine probes a deep psychological question, examining solastalgia and soliphilia along the way. Both are rooted in the Latin solacium (comfort), but one riffs on nostalgia (which connects to the Greek root –algia (pain or suffering)) and the other is more cogently connected to love and friendship (based on the Greek root philia). The article makes the case that global climate change is not measured merely by tenths of a °C or meters of sea-level rise or even parts-per-million concentrations of atmospheric CO2, but can also by the psychic disturbance of mountain-top removal and the disorders that arise from an increasingly inaccessible natural environment.
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It was over a year ago when Ben Loftis told me “I think you’re going to need a box from Colin Broad”. I vaguely remember looking up the name, seeing the boxes, and thinking “OK…when I’m a little closer to building out the studio I’ll have to see what’s current and what I need.” Well, we’re starting to gear up our equipment lists, rack elevations, and wiring lists, and so it seemed like a good time to reach out to Colin and see whether his latest products suited my project.
In a word: perfectly!
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This week there was a lot of visible progress, both inside and out. On Monday morning the roofing crew arrived, and on this truck you can see some of the very special equipment and materials that will be used to finish up the lower roof (and later the upper roof, too), a spool of copper flashing and a sheet metal brake:
The copper flashing is unspooled:
And is then formed into the appropriate shape for the roof:
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The installation and illumination of lights in the upper exterior soffit has created a dramatic change to the look of the studio, even in daylight.
The lights, and the mirror-like finish of the final coat of varnish, merely stoke my anticipation all the more:
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This week the framing crew put some skin on the Control Room roof rafters, and we’re now technically dried in!
But that’s not nearly all that’s happened, and of course the journey of how we got here is interesting in its own right.
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Two weeks ago I posted a construction update titled Dropping the Hips, which marked the most significant progress point yet reached in terms of framing the Control Room roof. This week we reached another significant progress point: the placement of all roof rafters. We are now all set to sheath the roof next week:
Now for those who want to know the blow-by-blow of how we got here, read on…
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The last few construction updates have focused on the framing of the Control Room roof with the Annex masonry work visible in the background. This week the Annex masonry takes center stage, with the completion of the top bond beam. If you’ve been following the blog, you know why this is such a major event. If not, refresh your knowledge with the postings from Week 81, Week 82, and Week 83. (And if you want a really complete refresher, Week 86 and Week 89.) The bond beam in question this week is the longest one of the project, and with some deep pilasters also to fill, there’s 25 tons (!) of materials to lift into place. Let’s start!
Here is the last gap in the blocks to be filled before the bond beam can be established:
And here are the 100 bags of concrete which will combine with 8 tons of gravel, 12 tons of sand, and a ton or so of water to make our 25 tons of grout:
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I came across Jerry Tubb’s website TerraNovaMastering.com, which not only lists an impressive number of 5.1 surround credits, but also an encouraging statement against the Loudness Wars, quoting the full text of Joe Gross’s Everything Louder than Everything Else.
Here’s the excerpt that explains the phenomenon (for those not yet familiar with the term):
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Wendell Berry has become one of my heroes. His writings and ideas are among the most penetrating I have encountered in any living author, and he has a wonderful and luminous presence. He was featured on the Diane Rehm show earlier this year, and that conversation was selected for re-broadcast on New Year’s Eve, a fitting editorial choice about what we Americans should be thinking about as we compost the years 2000-2009 and decide what seeds we will plant in the coming decade (with what little fertile soil is left).
As I was driving around town and thinking about the extraordinary costs going into both the construction of Manifold Recording (not to mention the equipment budget), I was struck by these comments (at 17:16 into the one hour program):
Useful criticism always begins with an appropriate standard. And consumerism—the flourishing of consumerism—is not an adequate standard, just as economic feasibility is not an adequate standard for human behavior.
!
What might this mean?
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