Working for Scale
You've Never Seen Marble Like This
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Scagliola, the venerable art of engraving intricate designs on slate or marble, is alive and well. Scagliola comes from the mineral selenite, a variety of gypsum that in its natural state appears in the form of thin plates or scales (thus the name scagliola, from the Italian word scaglia or scale).
After the mineral is cooked and ground to a fine powder, it is mixed with pigments of colored earth and glues to form a thick paste. The colored paste is applied into designs carved in slabs of marble or slate.
For elaborate decorative motifs, subtle gradations of color are added in diluted scagliola applied by hand with a fine paintbrush. Lastly, the slab is polished with polishing stones, wax, and lacquer.
Scagliola’s complex twists and veins go deep into the stone, providing a durable surface which is far more permanent than faux surfaces that are painted to resemble marble.
In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, scagliola was also very popular in the United States. Artificial marble furnishings at that time were created chiefly by itinerant plasterers, men who kept the details of their fabrication process a secret. After the 1920s, however, techniques of fabrication were forgotten. Scagliola virtually disappeared from American architecture.
Today, the use of artificial marble has again revived. This resurgent interest is the result of four factors: a new appreciation of marble-like finishes, a dissatisfaction with the limitations that real marble places on design, the unavailability of traditional colors and types of marble, and the rising costs of quarrying.
Scagliola is inherently beautiful and can duplicate the appearance of any type of marble, and it can be molded into any shape. Decorative, three-dimensional motifs impossible to produce in marble can be fabricated in scagliola. Because the artificial stone is less expensive than its marble original, it is a particularly attractive option for interior design and decoration.
The premier practitioners of the art are the Bianchi family of Florence. Among their clients are the likes of the Agnellis, Prince Michael of Kent and ZaZa Gabor. But you too can have your own little piece of Bianchi scagliola—prices start below $500. Make an appointment to drop by the workshop or showroom if you’re planning to be in Florence, or view their catalogue online.
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Aw Nuts!
Hardwood Floors Take a Tropical Twist
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The search for sustainable alternatives to traditional hardwood flooring has brought us bamboo and mesquite, a tree formerly regarded as a “pest” species by ranchers but now allowed to thrive for commercial harvest.
Now comes the coconut palm. Grown in plantations, these trees produce nuts for up to 80 years, after which they are cut down and replaced. The roots are left to fertilize the soil while the wood is milled to produce vibrant, durable and exotically beautiful flooring.
Palmwood is dense with a stunning grain pattern and deep, rich color. At 1600 on the hardness scale, palm is much harder than red oak (1290). Planks are made by slicing the timber, then drying and laminating it into a sandwich of multiple layers, a process similar to that used for bamboo flooring. Manufacturers like Smith & Fong use non-toxic adhesives to maintain ecological soundness. Palmwood can be sanded like an oak floor using the same techniques and sanding patterns.
Because there are more than 250 species and sub-species of palm, the wood is available in a wide range of natural colors. It can also be dyed or stained for even greater variety and can be ordered unfinished or prefinished.
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Foiled Again!
An Alternative to Insulation
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Conventional insulating materials such as fiberglass, cellulose and polyfoam use their ability to absorb or slow down heat transfer to insulate.
But there’s another option. Instead of installing insulation that absorbs heat, you could line your attic with material that reflects heat.
Radiant barrier insulation systems are basically a layer of aluminum foil facing an airspace. They can reflect up to 97% of all radiant heat. So instead of packing your attic with loose insulation or lining the roof with packed material, you install a thin layer of radiant barrier, only 3/16 of an inch thick. If you’re replacing blow-in insulation with radiant barrier, you gain extra space.
Another plus is that it’s unaffected by humidity. A 1-1/2% change in the moisture content of fiberglass insulation will result in a 36% decrease in performance. A pure aluminum radiant barrier is unaffected by humidity and will continue to perform at a consistent level no matter how humid it may be.
Radiant barrier insulation can also be used on water heaters, pipes and in house walls. And because it’s double-sided, it also prevents heat loss through the ceiling or attic. You save on both cooling and heating bills. Ask your contractor or check it out at Innovative Insulation.
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