Tuesday, May 31, 2011

NYC June 2011 Bagels & Coffee

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, Tuesday, June 14, 9am to 11am.

41 East 11th Street (second floor), between Broadway and University Place (halfway between Union & Washington Squares)


Attendance limited to 25 on RSVP due to space restrictions.

Notice: We seek venues for future gatherings (July is in process of being lined up). If you have an interest to be a host then please contact: Ken Follett.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Shot Furnace, Fort Griswold, Groton, CT

Though I doubt highly that we will be called on any time soon to build or repair one of these unique structures there are a few neat things to say for a shot furnace:

•    They are built of masonry, with iron. Black stars, no less!
•    They involve fire, like with fireplaces or bake ovens they are masonry machines.
•    They are related to cannons, a sophisticated and loud means of 3D bowling.
•    They are used to burn things, like wooden ships.

But what I like best about this shot furnace is that people have carved their names into the brick. The earliest that I found, in a brief visit, being MR in 1930.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
frm Friends of Fort Griswold
History No. 7: Hot Shot Furnaces
Friends of Fort Griswold


Vid Shoot Tips

North Shore Book Notes: review of the book by Rae Francoeur



How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck: Advice to Make Any Amateur Look Like a Pro: Steve Stockman

Monday, May 23, 2011

Brick Concrete Arch, Fort Adams, RI

Here we have a bit of masonry candy for those who are into historic concrete and brick.

This arch to an embrasure at Fort Adams is an oddity being made of a concrete with random brick as the aggregate. It is understood that the military engineer Colonel Joseph Gilbert Totten undertook an experimentation in the construction of masonry fortifications at Fort Adams, but it is something of a mystery that this one embrasure arch is composed of a brick concrete whereas the others around about are more traditional brick arches.


  

The concrete is quite weathered. Consider that it has probably had very little attention since, as we can only assume, it was built in the first half of the 19th century.


Note what looks like a vertical pencil line. It appears that after the concrete was placed that a render coat was smooth over the concrete and that then radial lines were drawn on the surface, possibly to give an impression of the arch not being concrete but an illusion of stonework.