tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64324375977717930202011-12-07T14:24:44.282-08:00ARDnoreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-75439390276198216192011-12-07T07:45:00.001-08:002011-12-07T14:24:44.289-08:00

I've been making crystal-influenced wooden pendants lately.  Bringing some mineral forms to the arboreal world. WOODEN GEM NECKLACES on colored leather cords Made with reclaimed Paduk and Mahogany hardwoods Finished with Beeswax Contact: adrianrubidentzel@gmail.com

Danielle and Adrian Rubi-Dentzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088603404485506715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-87749947886319841102011-10-17T11:14:00.000-07:002011-10-17T11:14:44.061-07:00

Here's a nice interview with one of the best American woodworkers, Sam Maloof.  I aspire to approach my work with the clarity, confidence, and kindness that Sam put into everything he made.  I also aspire to someday wear a turtleneck under a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-72005555793420938722011-10-03T16:22:00.000-07:002011-10-04T04:00:04.981-07:00

I just finished a large fabrication project for the very recent Kenzo Spring/Summer 2012 women's show, the first designed by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony, whose blog Danielle and I sometimes contribute to.  I managed a team based at the Ufacto atelier in creating large scale, abstracted letters from the name Kenzo for the courtyard of Kenzo HQ here in Paris.  Inside, where the

ARDnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-72499283212924391602011-05-28T03:35:00.000-07:002011-05-28T03:41:07.317-07:00

I somewhat recently built the bar for Candelaria, a new taqueria and cacktail bar here in Paris.  I used very old planks of tropical hardwood from cement-form panels from the 1930s or 40s.  Along with the bar, I used the wood to make a few tables, pub rails, and a frame for a large photo of Danielle's. Here's a couple. More photos to come... (Photo by David Rager) (Photo by Danielle Rubi

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-71968089029962860752011-04-29T10:06:00.000-07:002011-04-29T10:06:50.111-07:00

I recently threw together this window box for outside of our attic's skylights.  It is made entirely of old palette wood, and holds about 30 gallons of soil.  The greenery is basil and various kale variety seedlings. photo: Danielle Rubi

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-31501934414537258382011-04-08T04:35:00.000-07:002011-04-08T04:37:18.025-07:00

portrait by: Haarala Hamilton

Danielle and Adrian Rubi-Dentzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088603404485506715noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-23162652655184744982011-04-07T08:55:00.000-07:002011-04-07T09:55:19.936-07:00

 Some press on the restaurant I recently designed and built furniture for: AND

Danielle and Adrian Rubi-Dentzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088603404485506715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-61471847064418667222010-11-23T03:45:00.000-08:002010-11-23T03:53:05.499-08:00

Here are some belated images from the opening in London where the Glass Slipper first met the public, and is still residing.  Brent, the fantastic curator of the Philips De Pury design program, told me that there were over 700 people at the opening for Projectory, which is excellent news.   Brent Dzekciorius, curator, making sure all's in order before the doors open The diagram means: "look

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-6196979100731706702010-10-04T09:45:00.000-07:002010-10-04T10:22:39.976-07:00

I did an interview on a nice blog called You Have Been Here Sometime.  The questions are good, and I'm happy to be there among the nice interiors and objects. Check it out...   Be sure to look at some older posts on this blog.  There is a whole slough of inspiring material there. http://youhavebeenheresometime.blogspot.com/

ARDnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-31117489761898247782010-09-15T14:09:00.000-07:002010-09-15T15:18:16.935-07:00

Two things, both related: one, I made a website for my design projects; two, I have a piece in a great group show opening next Monday, September 20th at the Phillips de Pury design space at Saatchi Gallery in London.  I honestly feel very lucky to show among such great designers.  You can see which ones below in the official invite, which, I should add, is not exclusive.  If you are in London,

ARDnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-82406782504852047362010-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:002010-09-04T08:54:05.322-07:00

Back in the 50's and 60's, Fender basses had a whole slough of accoutrements that somehow fell by the wayside and do not appear on basses made in the last 20 years or so.  One of those things is a thumb rest. These days, most people just use the side of the pickup or don't use anything.  The problem with that is, if you want to hit the string in the sweet spot just below of the end of the neck,

ARDnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-21936354331205441042010-05-03T18:29:00.000-07:002010-09-05T02:53:19.880-07:00

When I go to Marfa, Texas, I make weird things.  I show up at my little adobe house, unload my tools, and dive into my lumber collection.  I have brought to Marfa old redwood panels from my wife's childhood home, doors, windows, plywood, 2x4s, etc. from California.  Now I have a nice little clutch of materials to choose from when I need to make a weird thing.  What is a weird thing?  A weird

ARDnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-69470824600276353722010-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:002010-09-04T08:50:35.860-07:00

This is the first custom piece I did in Paris.  It is a wall mounted box closet for Imelda and Francesca, two wonderful people.  When I made this, I tested and proved to myself that in small apartments, big furniture feels significantly less imposing if you lift it off the ground.  I have since mounted a few more things to the walls of Parisian apartments (coming soon to this blog).  This room

ARDnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-30707322315694916672010-04-29T07:31:00.001-07:002010-09-04T11:33:39.736-07:00

Life triumphs over long distance travel!I brought a couple of sprouted acorns back to France (smuggled in my toiletries bag) from my mother's backyard in Santa Barbara, Ca.  I think they're Valley Oaks, but I'll have to double check (I know the tree from which they fell, and as the saying goes, it was not far). The original leaves withered as the trauma set in. Then, after some time in the sun

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-14197079046752870342010-04-28T23:49:00.000-07:002010-09-04T08:50:55.107-07:00

There is a new show up at Galerie Kreo in Paris showing new works by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.  I did a lot of work at UFACTO on prototyping and fabricating the wall mounted lamps and the shelves.  They are both made of molded fiberglass with immense attention paid to the finishes: the lamps are a glossy piano black; the shelves are a grainy, felty, matt charcoal grey.  If you are in Paris go

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-51402302651465979602010-01-31T10:57:00.000-08:002010-09-04T08:51:27.190-07:00

I made a couple of these lamps last week at UFACTO.  Named "Parabola" and designed by Pierre Charpin, these pieces are made at UFACTO for Galerie Kreo.  Kreo represents a smattering of high-level designers, mostly from France, and produces pieces that would usually be impossible to fabricate in a large-volume, industrial manner.  This means that the pieces designed for Kreo are usually both quite

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-6111829797469704142010-01-27T12:33:00.000-08:002010-01-27T12:37:33.927-08:00

I was over at a friend's house the other night for dinner and ended up installing some curtains.  To do the job, I was presented with this charming little chickadee.  I want one.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-37566855117731775892009-11-23T14:04:00.000-08:002009-11-23T14:06:01.645-08:00

Can someone tell Ringo to move his "ride"?  It's blocking the delivery truck.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-11523905158556755842009-11-23T13:25:00.000-08:002010-09-04T08:52:37.916-07:00

These props are used in water treatment plants in the Ile-de-France region. They are, quite literally, big shit mixers. So, next time you sit down and consider how much you enjoy both the luxuries of modern toilettes and of clean oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams, remember that somewhere, in an anonymous warehouse outside of town, there is a team of highly skilled craftsmen and craftswomen

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-65964648204821168662009-11-23T11:59:00.000-08:002009-11-28T09:10:57.641-08:00

For the last few weeks I've been working for UFACTO on an exceptionally large project. So large that it is being built in a workshop about two hours outside of Paris at Poly 2000, a studio that specializes in large, functional fiberglass structures like propellers for the Paris region water treatment facilities, 30+ foot boat hulls, and apparently the odd submarine. The piece is by Francois

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-13853079608444545362009-10-13T10:13:00.000-07:002009-10-14T11:51:48.281-07:00

The top-floor, corner window is what I look out of when I'm in my bathroom, mostly when I'm hanging laundry or spying. If there was a second floor balcony, this would be a thoroughly typical Haussmann style building. Maybe because it sits along Rue D'Avron, a significant eastern entry and exit of the city, they held off on the low-floor balcony. As ridiculous as it feels to write the following

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-36537148664807819292009-10-08T10:50:00.000-07:002009-11-23T14:15:43.716-08:00

Sneak peak of the Glass Slipper.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-74077977646598470312009-10-08T09:27:00.000-07:002009-10-08T12:57:01.492-07:00

This is a desk I made for Odile, my neighbor in Paris. She wanted something "efficace, fonctionnel, et jolie": efficient, functional, and pretty. It also had to accommodate the fact that she is left handed. Because she is the director of restoration at the Louvre, I put a lot of time and attention into sanding and varnishing the single piece of wood. It is 44mm plywood with Okoumé veneer on

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-86631063188216360152009-08-25T11:44:00.000-07:002009-08-25T13:00:53.387-07:00

My bud Ronan helped me out for a while today on some drawers that will go in an armoire I'm making for Imelda and Francesca. He busted out a clamp-free method of laying up the drawers that is so ingeniously simple it made me feel like I overcomplicate everything I do to the point of chaotic pandaemonium. These are the breaks:First, you need to precisely cut all your drawer sides and bottoms with

ARDnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-53958122415475112852009-08-18T13:29:00.001-07:002010-09-04T11:36:52.283-07:00

UFACTO is the name of the furniture studio where I work in Paris. Architectural models, prototypes, sculptural things I'm still trying to figure out, and furniture, of course, are all part of the daily work flow. Many designers, mostly French ones, have their things made here. The pieces are one-of-a-kind or small-edition only, usually no more than 12. Big, famous, celeb designers who have

ARDnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-63122878815881934942009-07-24T15:20:00.000-07:002010-09-04T11:35:42.355-07:00

I gave the Glass Cube recording studio's website a little refresher; text and links for now, more very soon. I particularly recommend checking it out for the graphics by John Minardi. Otherwise, for now, it's basically the "website" version of this site's sidebar.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-86815377581501824062009-07-20T07:08:00.000-07:002009-07-22T11:28:26.353-07:00

Summertime in Europe means lots of music festivals, album releases, pre-release listening parties, and friends from CA touring over here. Because I just moved here in June, I haven't yet wrangled a core crew of musicians to play with. That, coupled with being in the middle of the European musical frenzy of summer, means I've been feeling sentimental for those past California summers spent

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-66423660279013993332009-07-09T06:02:00.000-07:002009-07-09T07:47:50.348-07:00

Where one chills during mid-session breaks. Well, one of the places...The desk in the control room, with the first gear drop. (Doesn't everyone need an eight channel Mackie now and again?)The magic of glass bricks. These shells were soon dwarfed by a mountain of picks, adaptors, shakers, and Pacificos.Simply hanging.Backpacker in repose.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-4292460152488259272009-07-07T17:02:00.001-07:002010-09-04T11:35:09.866-07:00

I found a couple ghost posts from almost two years ago that I did on my wife's blog; also some great portraits she did of WBA. Below are some photos of the protean Cube. It was, indeed, an incredible Fall: days of carpentry and masonry, taco truck in the driveway at 11am everyday, listening to the WBA workshop the new songs in the living room, waves at dawn and then at dusk.ghost post 1 ghost

ARDnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6432437597771793020.post-85738658462977513372009-07-04T13:33:00.000-07:002010-09-04T11:34:22.555-07:00

Before any more time goes by, and before I talk about anything else, I need to mention the album, Rules, by the quartet, Whitest Boy Alive. It is out now, and it is the first album recorded at Glass Cube, my recording studio in Nayarit, Mexico. They helped tremendously in the construction of the studio, and I am very proud to have been involved in the creation of such a great record.

ARDnoreply@blogger.com4