Here it is folks... my first post-architecture-school project:

...creating a home for myself out of Jack Larimore's 1971 Airstream trailer. Follow along as it comes to life.

(click on images to see em larger)

(and don't forget to check the PAGES)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

PSYCHEDELIC CHIC-ERY

Another big change - laying down the new floor.

Its gonna be burnt plywood and its gonna be sweet.  

Why burnt plywood? 
Well, just take a look at the formula:

Ultra cheap material + Propane torch + Polyurethane
= Charred psychedelic chic-ery

Yes sir. Thats how we do in Bridgeton

First step - fit strips of plywood to the airstream



Next step: Remove & Torch



How did it go? 
I'll leave you with a cliffhanger....



FLOATING FIBERGLASS & SCRUBBIN' the 'STREAM

  With the shower pan and barrel wall in place it was time to address a variety of unresolved issues in the bathroom. The first step was to fill the voids left by all the demolition. This meant securing and connecting the floating fiberglass edges to the walls and floor. Here is an example:






  With no flat walls to work from and the not-so-friendly nature of fiberglass, I was getting bogged down. Jack had the idea to put the bathroom on hold and make some big changes in the rest of the Airstream. I was on board.


One major step towards livability: 
Remove the mold that now coated the walls. 


  Having sat through a handful of insane rain storms, mold was gettin' down and dirty in the Airstream. So we had to bust out the big guns: buckets full of TSP, hot water and bleach and three days of scrubbing. 



Ok, it wasn't quite that bad.
It was more like this:


Now the place is sparklin' clean. 

I also removed wasp and bird nests from the vents.
Sorry fellers... try the chicken coop next time.


SETTING DEBRIS FREE




What's this image? A gestural, abstract expression 
commenting on the nature of form?

...Its a piece of fiberglass I ripped out of the bathroom...






... a piece of fiberglass that said "Check me out. 
Im a cool lookin' form."

I threw the rest of the debris in the air. 



A STEW for YOU & BARREL of MONKEYS

Ok. 


Its been 3 months since I posted anything. You know how it goes. Sometimes life puts the ol' Airstream blog on the back burner. The Airstream itself, however, has definitely NOT been on the back burner. Its on the front burner, baby. Well maybe not the front burner. Its been slow cookin' and now things are getting niiiiiiice and juicy. So let me share with you this tasty Airstream stew.


First off, the rusty barrel shower wall has been finally finished. Check it out.






Don't worry - it didn't take the entirety of the past 3 months. But making the wooden trim pieces to cap off the barrel pieces was quite a job. It was fairly straight forward in theory:




But the nuances of its construction ended up being more complex than a barrel of monkeys.









The final stage was nearly a disaster. I was in the middle of glueing the two finished halves together when I realized the barrel shape prevented me from using any clamps in the shop. Oh shit. Glue's setting. I tried some jerry-rigged solution that failed miserably. Oh shit. Glue's setting.


Then I remembered I had seen a stack of old wooden clamps in a barn on the property - they could work. Like a crazed, sweaty wild animal, I ran out of the studio, through the garden and to the barn. Jack saw me and must have wondered where I was running on such a hot morning. The clamps worked. Nice.




With that relief, I transformed back from a wild sweaty animal into subdued sweaty human.

Here's the final product.



(click to see larger)




It is with absolute accuracy and seriousness that I say my bathroom barrel's got a bunghole.


I'll leave it at that.