Wright Chat

Tom · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:43 am Post subject:

Two steel beams span the living room under the clerestory lines. I've got a set of Lambert's restoration drawings. I'll use my wife's cell and get some images. I'd prefer to post them here for convenience.
What's the best way to do that? SDR?
Gonna take some time tho, lot on my plate right now.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 18028 Location: San Francisco

Tom, use my e-mail address and send me what you have, when you have it.

Photo hints: Hold camera directly above image to avoid distortion; don't use flash but light the drawing well. In necessary use stick as monopod to stabilize camera.

With my 2 MP camera, when the focus is perfect and the Benday dots of the printed image are in focus, I see a little "sizzle" on the camera screen . . .

SDR

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 972 Location: Atlanta

How interesting to see Lambert's drawings -- how did you come by those?

Do they shed light on exactly how the two cantilevered carport roofs are structured? I've always wondered exactly how they are configured.

Tom · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:43 am Post subject:

About the same time of the Shavin visit, maybe the same road trip, a friend and myself took off to see Rosenbaum. This was before it's renovated opening. We did not know what to expect. We drove up and just happened to meet Mrs. Barbara Broach there who just happened to be the main force behind the fund raising for the restoration. She gave us a personal tour. I asked her how I could get a set of plans. She told me Lambert was the architect. I can't remember how I contacted Lambert but he sent me a full set never having met me. I can't even remember if I reimbursed him, though I think I did.
Anyway it's an immaculate set. Very clean computer drawings in two parts. First part, the house in it's existing condition. Second part, the restoration.
All framing and structure to be revealed!

Tom · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:48 am Post subject:

I remember now, it came back to me. I emailed him. He sent me a set of plans. Just like that.

The original Rosenbaum carport steel is tied back to the masonry. The storage closet that faces the car is the cantilevers fulcrum. Two steel beams in that carport, can't remember what kind of section but think it's 'I'.
(One of the beams of Pope Leheigy carport ties back into masonry but the other is indeed tied down with steel tension rod into the slab.)

...the subject of steel framing in Wright structures is one of my favorites in the realm of Wright. I always feel like I'm looking under the hood when I get into this.

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 972 Location: Atlanta

Tom,
That's a great story (and sounds like a great trip).
Don Lambert is a very nice man. He's a native Alabaman who graduated from Auburn and seems be very down to earth.
I think the rest of his practice involves very standard buildings, mostly new school and government buildings, I think.
I believe the Rosenbaum House restoration came to him because his is the architecture firm in that town.
I think he did a pretty good job, considering historic restoration is not their specialty.

I would think that your private tour, before the unveiling, must've been very thrilling.

Tom · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 12:00 pm Post subject:

Would rather talk about this all day than do what I've got to do.
Signing off for a bit.

JChoate · Joined: 04 Feb 2016 Posts: 972 Location: Atlanta

I met Lambert at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the day the Rosenbaums moved in. That's when he told the tale of the bunk beds and carport structure (I wish I could remember the exact details).

Shortly afterwards, I discovered Stanley's letter and sent a copy to him. I just looked back at his email reply where he wrote: "I read it and his frustration was worse than I've been led to believe from family and other accounts."

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 9432

I met Mildred Rosenbaum several times in the early days of the Conservancy. She never said a word about any difficulties associated with the construction of the house. I think Mr. and Mrs. must have been very different personalities, half empty, half full types. She was a delight.

If John Geiger had been around at the time the house was in the drafting room, mistakes like the ones seemingly made would not have happened. I haven't read the story about the M. M. Smith house, but I would be surprised if it had any difficulties like those Rosenbaum listed. The quality of the end result of a commission depended heavily on which apprentices were involved.

According to Geiger, FLW did not like drudgery, he liked the "fun" aspects of designing, and left the drudgery to his apprentices. He drew a free-hand image of the specially molded block that trims the David Wright House, handed it to Geiger and told him to make a working drawing. Try though he might with compass, French curve and whatever other device he could find, Geiger could not accurately convert the rough sketch into something that could be made into a real thing, until he just made a clean version of the free-hand sketch, using eccentric curves. The manufacturer seemed not to have any problem converting it into the blocks.

Tom · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 10:31 pm Post subject:

I have only one gripe with the Rosenbaum restoration. In the Natural House there is a great exterior picture of the "Juliet" balcony off the Master bedroom. It's a small picture but it's pure Wright at Rosenbaum. The restoration locates all of the exterior mechanical equipment exactly at this point. The restoration site plan calls for shrubberies to be planted around it. Bad move. I'd have gone to Montgomery If I had to in order to get the money to remote locate that equipment. Oh well.

(In the mean time I've sent SDR a test run on pics of the drawings. We should be able to get some of that rolling here soon.)

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 18028 Location: San Francisco

Bigger is better . . .

I guess this is the carport roof.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 18028 Location: San Francisco

So, the 3x3 angles rest directly on the 8x8 beams. Nice and simple, and it all fits within the 12" thick roof plane.

In plan, the cantilevered portion of the roof is roughly 2 times the dimension of the secured portion.

The entrance door steps way down from the driveway, doesn't it. Mr Wright seems to thumb his nose at water hazards as well as at gravity ! Wanna bet there's no surface drain outside that door ?

SDR

Tom · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:10 pm Post subject:

Hey, they look pretty good. I'm sort of surprised.
Yes, this is the carport framing plan and section.
The beams that cantilever are 26 feet long.

The cantilevered beams tie back to another I-beam that is in line with the clerestory I-beam and so 90 degrees to the cantilevered beams themselves.
The masonry is stopped, the tie back I-beam is laid on top, and then the rest of the masonry (a considerable amount) is laid on top of the tie back beam providing the cantilevers counterweight.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 18028 Location: San Francisco

Aha. Thanks for clearing up how this thing was put together. Could the extra height added to the masonry stacks have had more than one purpose ?

Note that I modified my estimate of the cantilevered vs supported portion of the beams. Instead of the traditional 50%, it's 200% !

SDR

Tom · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:31 am Post subject:

Very close - here are some numbers for you:
Overall length from tie-back to free end of carport is 28 Ft.
From masonry tie-back to fulcrum is 10 Ft.
The long steel itself is around 24.5 Ft.
Free total cantilever of 18 Ft.