Fourth Street Lofts Web Log: Design is a Process

At last night's productive HOA meeting, the discussion led to ways to improve the building's esthetic appeal. We all agreed that the exterior needs paint - and a new color scheme. This idea is nothing new. We've been talking about painting the builiding for years. I even did some work on a 3D version of our building specifically to experiment with color schemes in the context of the rest of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, I ran out of motivation to complete this complex project partly due to the realization that we will never agree on a color scheme. Another reason we still live in a dirty pink building is because the cost of painting the exterior is so high. Never mind that new paint could drastically improve the resale value of our homes, this major undertaking probably will not happen soon enough.

I suggested that there is something we could do to improve the building without spending all of our reserves. I believe we could make a huge improvement to our building's interior for just a few dollars - by replacing the faded photographs on the top three floors, and by addding a little color.

The board asked me to put together a proposal. So, I have begun to explore possibilities. I visited Oakland's main library today, and found that we might be able to locate original negatives or prints of some of the images already on display. We could have prints made at a fairly reasonable fee.

Another, possibly simpler option, would be to photograph the existing photos and reprint them using today's best technologies. We could reprint the old black and white shots with vuirtually no loss of detail. In fact - we could probably improve them somewhat.

A third option would be to replace some or all of the images with entirely new ones. We happen to have some very talented neighbors who have expressed interest in contributing to such a project.

So, I need your opinions and your help.

I'd like to hear what you think of the sample designs for the second floor. (Please click on the thumbnails above and view the full-size versions.) Are the colors too dark? Is this too much of a change? Should we stick with with black and white images? Historical or contemporary? Do you have images to contibute? Should we upgrade the lighting too? (YES!) Would you like to help paint? Are you interested in proposing something foor your floor? Also, I wonder if you know how letters are applied directly to walls - a technique you may have seen in many in art museums. (Yes, I'd like to get rid of the horrible multi-colored plastic signage.)

Please leave a comment of e-mail me directly. I'll put together a more "formal" proposal for our next meeting.

Comments

2-1-3-4. I much prefer pictures of the neighborhood to pictures of flowers. Maybe we should just have a neighborhood photo contest?

If it's of any use, I have a printer that can do archival-quality 13x19 photo prints.

Posted by: Patti | June 21, 2005 11:00 PM

If it is deemed that underwater/nature photos are desirable, I'd like to contribute some. they can be printed huuuuuge. ;)

Posted by: Eric Cheng | June 22, 2005 12:35 AM

Patti: In general, I agree that photos of or from our building or neighborhood are probably preferrable. I put the colorful flower shots in the mock-ups partly for the drama, but also because the orange matches our elevator door. :)

Posted by: piredude | June 22, 2005 9:14 AM

Hello Neighbors. This is Robin, in 209. I like the idea of painting the interior walls as a building improvement. My suggestions are to select one color, then use graduated hues (intensities) of it for each successive floor. For example, if we chose purple, we could start with a pale lilac for the first floor (which is very lovely and warm on walls), then move to stronger (darker) tones of it as each floor goes up, so the 4th floor would be quite deep and vibrant. We could paint the stairs leading from the mailroom (now "every-color-we-had-leftover") in an alternating pattern of the four chosen colors (light to dark, then start over). This would give an aesthetic coherence to the whole building. I'm strongly in favor of b&w photos (one of my own art forms). I'd rather not have a competition (artists have enough competition as it is... best to not to have to face that in one's own home!). Instead, we could have a rotating plan, with different artists hanging their work every month or every few months. We could lay some groundwork, such as size range, black frames only, etc. This could bring the concept of a living art gallery into our building and be fun and interesting for everyone.

Posted by: Robin | June 22, 2005 6:17 PM

Hello, this is Kory from 204. This is my first post... weeeeeeee :) I very much like the museum feel specifically the vibrant colors pictures over a dark neutral grey background. (the yellow flowers concept)
I was at first concerned that it was too dark and would make the hallway feel smaller. But after a few minutes thought, the contrast is HOT! The pictures really pop out at you, and the rest of the hallway is still very bright. Makes me want to look at it, instead of just walk by.
I like the neutral gray (18% even?) so you can swap as many differnet pictures up there as you want. Whether its vibrant yellow flowers, underwater aquas, or oranges from the local market.

Posted by: kory - 204 | June 27, 2005 4:50 PM

Well, having spent many memorable times in that building, I think it could use some punching up with color. As much as I like the black and white photos, I always found those hallways a bit dreary. I, of course, love all the amazing photos the dude took of the flowers......:-)

Posted by: Wen | June 29, 2005 6:37 PM

We're in 311. We like the idea of color in the common areas, like painting the wall and hanging color photos. It gives the building an upbeat cheer. greg & annabelle

Posted by: Greg Tsutaoka | July 4, 2005 11:38 AM

Fourth Street Lofts Web Log

An Unofficial Web Site by and for the Residents of Oakland's Fourth Street Lofts

Design is a Process

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