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Perry, Datz, Wolf Studio Build-Out: Days 12, 13, 16

Posted by mikeperry to Design and Places and Work on 4 September 2009, with 3 comments so far.

Mike Perry, Anna Wolf, and Jim Datz are reporting live on the process of building out their new workspace in Brooklyn. See their dispatches from Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Days Four and Five, and Days Six Thru Eight. Phew!

Sorry for the delay, everyone. We have been busy properly moving in and setting things up. We are still working on the front room where we are building a wall of storage for all the things we need but don’t want to see. Here is where we stand.

The challenge was to use the existing shelves we had as the form and structure for the wall system.

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For a little extra help we brought on our friend Jerry to help.

The goal was to create and hang the doors that fit the shape of the shelves.

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The shelves have a major flaw of not laying flush. So as a solution we had to glue these shims down.

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Once we figured out that this was going to work we began painting everything white.

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Posted in Design, Places, Work | 3 Comments »

Perry, Datz, Wolf Studio Build-Out: Days 6, 7 and 8

Posted by mikeperry to Design and NYC and Places and Work on 27 August 2009, with 4 comments so far.

Mike Perry, Anna Wolf, and Jim Datz report this week on the progress they are making building out their new workspace in Brooklyn. See their dispatches from Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and DaysFour and Five.

We’re writing today sitting at our new desks, in the new studio, surrounded by piles of boxes, and we’re absolutely thrilled! We’ve been working nonstop the last few days and have made tons of progress. Since we had to be out of our old space by the end of the month, we really wanted to get the space move in ready so we could get everything up here. Check out the headway that we’ve made!

Day 6:

On Day 6 we really focused on putting more work into the island, starting the prep work on the back storage and work table, and getting all the shelving done. We found out the hard way, but the key to these shelves is that the brackets should not be placed near the screws. A few of of the shelves we put together couldn’t hold the weight, and we realized it was because the brackets weren’t able to push down all thew way because of the screw. Poor design from Rubbermaid but a small obstacle in the bigger picture—they’re looking great!

J inside the island
J inside the island

For the back work/storage area, we are taking apart our old desks and using them as walls. We love recycling!!
For the back work/storage area, we are taking apart our old desks and using them as walls and scraps. We love recycling!!

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Do
Do.

Don't
Don’t.

Day 7: Back storage and work table

This back storage/work table is turning out to really make the studio feel complete. With this long table, we wanted to build something that would house our flat files, printers and tons of office stuff in a way that was really efficient and good looking.

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Day 8: Moving!!

J works diligently on the new space while the crew packs up and moves the studio from #102 to #308.

Sara and Alex setting up computers
Sara and Alex setting up computers

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The studio starts to fill up
The studio starts to fill up

The old studio empties out
The old studio empties out

Willow carries a pile of letters
Willow carries a pile of letters

Posted in Design, NYC, Places, Work | 4 Comments »

Perry, Datz, Wolf Studio Buildout: Days 4 and 5

Posted by mikeperry to Design on 24 August 2009, with 4 comments so far.

Mike Perry, Anna Wolf, and Jim Datz report this week on the progress they are making building out their new workspace in Brooklyn. See the first installment here, the second here, and the third here.

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Days 4 and 5 have been super productive (hence the lapse in blogging). At this point, the desks are basically done. They’re completely assembled but are just in need of minor height adjustments. We’re sooo happy with how they’ve turned out!

Day 4: Island

The next order of business after building desks was finishing the island work table. One end of the island will house the photo gear, which slides in from the end. The other side of the island will serve as a closed off storage area with a door. These end pieces are painted white and are mostly closed off, while the middle portion is totally open and is the same design as our desks. The idea here is that we have a long work surface at standing height, that also acts as storage.

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Posted in Design | 4 Comments »

Perry, Wolf, Datz Studio Build-Out: Day Three

Posted by mikeperry to Architecture and NYC and Places and Work on 20 August 2009, with 5 comments so far.

Mike Perry, Anna Wolf, and Jim Datz report this week on the progress they are making building out their new workspace in Brooklyn. See the first installment here and the second here.

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Above: Everything  you need to build the frame for one desk.

Day Three was really about finishing the desks and starting construction on the island work table. Once the staining of the desk tops was done we gave them a light sand and began applying the shellac to seal and protect the tops form all of the abuse that is bound to happen once we start working.

Still curious about the desks? Watch our video: Building A Desk,on Vimeo. It shows a whole one going together in ten seconds. (We’ll embed it here soon.—Eds.)

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More pictures below the fold…

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Posted in Architecture, NYC, Places, Work | 5 Comments »

Perry, Wolf, Datz Studio Build-Out: Day Two

Posted by mikeperry to Design and Materials and NYC and Places and Reader Projects and Work on 19 August 2009, with 10 comments so far.

Mike Perry, Anna Wolf, and Jim Datz report this week on the progress they are making building out their new workspace in Brooklyn. See the first installment here.

So, as day two progresses, we have almost everything we need for our desk setups and we are ready to start working. We spent most of the day with Jay (the creative mastermind for the desks and space) telling us what to do. First we sand all the edges of the 32×80″ solid core doors that are soon to be our desk tops. We first tried a dark walnut for the stain, but after a little deliberation we decide that the color will be too dark. We felt that the natural wood was too light, so we decide on a middle ground between the two. We landed on a stain color called American Heritage. Here are a few iterations of the tables.

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Natural, unfinished

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Dark Walnut

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Yes last night I cut all my hair off. Couldn’t take the heat.

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Our final stain, American Heritage.

Total trips to the hardware store so far: 7

Posted in Design, Materials, NYC, Places, Reader Projects, Work | 10 Comments »

Perry, Wolf, Datz Studio Build-Out: Day One

Posted by mikeperry to Architecture and Art and Design and Environment and NYC and Work on 18 August 2009, with 16 comments so far.

ReadyMade’s friend and sometime contributor, illustrator Mike Perry, has recently outgrown his current studio. When we ran into him at a party a few weeks back, he said he was getting ready to move with his office-mates into a new space in the same building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn—and that they were going to do it right this time, design-wise. Cheap and easy, but well-planned and good-looking. Intrigued, we asked Mike to document the build-out process on his new dream workspace…and he agreed! Look out this week and next for posts tracking their progress. And if all goes well, we may even plan a little New York ReadyMade soiree in Mike’s new office.—Ed.

Monday, August 18.

Monti BuildingAnna Wolf, Jim Datz, & I (Mike Perry) have been working feverishly in our current studio for the last two years. When we decided recently to move into a new space, we knew we wanted to do it right. We wanted to take advantage of all the knowledge we had acquired in the past and do our best to perfect our future home. We decided to stay in our wonderful solar-powered green building in Crown Heights Brooklyn called Big Sue but to move from #102 to #308.

Big Sue, or the Monti Building, has been around for over 200 years. It has been a Budweiser Brewery, Monti Moving and Storage, and today it is filled with all kinds of artists and craftsmen.

The Team

Jay Bell

J Bell
From: Albuquerque, NM
Occupation: Architect
Years in business: 3
Main objective for new studio space: “To design & build—utilizing everyday materials—something that is:  suitable for the moment; flexible for tomorrow; adaptable for the future.”

Anna Wolf

Anna Wolf
From: Santa Monica, CA
Occupation: Photographer
Years in business: 6
Main objective for new studio space: “My main goal is to have an overall more organized and visually cleaner space. For myself I would really love to give all of my photo gear a proper home. Right now it’s thrown together on a huge baker’s rack but never stays organized.”

Mike Perry

Mike Perry
From: Kansas City
Occupation: Maker
Years in business: 7
Main objective for new studio space: To feel happy, comfortable, and productive.

Jim Datz

Jim Datz
From: Brooklyn via Philadelphia via South Jersey
Years in business: (career-wise = 12 years) (neither fish nor fowl = 3 years)
Occupation: This month it’s 60% Illustration / 25% Graphic Design / 15% Art Direction
Main objective for new studio space:
“1. Survive moving 60 book boxes and assorted career detritus.
2. Build a bright, open, super functional, inspiring place in which to make (and display) beautiful things with collaborators friends & visitors.
3. This might sound ridiculously optimistic, but I honestly believe that a space within which interesting things can be dreamed up, talked about, debated, challenged, manufactured, shared, taught and sold becomes a cultural condensation point in the city. And the by-product of that collective creative activity is a momentum that carries everyone forward together.”

Read about our first day of work after the jump.
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Posted in Architecture, Art, Design, Environment, NYC, Work | 16 Comments »