Why SHIFT modern?

The SHIFT in the name is a reference to a broad paradigm shift to live in mindful harmony with the environment.

The modern housing movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s had many similarities to the current desire for unique living spaces. The current “green” movement is more broad-based and intentional about the full environmental consequences of design in addition to being unique. SHIFT modern focuses on materials that are reused, recycled and sustainable.

Modular design is employed whenever possible to reduce waste during planning rather than during building. SHIFT modern often repurposes materials to get the look of custom finishes without the cost and waste.

I find it very intrigueing that many of the "prefab" homes that are available look very similar to my house which was built in 1961. I am hopeful that the prefab movement realizes the promise of well reasoned and efficiently constructed homes. I think one of the driving forces will be the shift of the baby boomers wanting to live in smaller well conceived and built homes. I also hope this translates into higher density construction with shared utilities and better community structures.

More Recycled Acrylic...

I want to share some of the other projects I have worked on in the past year or so.
I was talking about applications for recycled acrylic, and situations where it works and does not work.
The first picture is a detail shot of a window sill that I made out of acrylic, it is very interesting how the frosted acrylic pulls light onto the wall below it. Not like a prism, but in a softer way.

The second picture is a privacy screen that obscures a winter view of a fairly busy street. The frosted texture does a great job of providing visual interest from both sides of the screen. During the day the shadow play creates motion visible from the street, and at night the passing cars create motion visible from the house. The other interesting thing is that the screen seems brighter on gloomy cloudy days, like it is glowing!!!!
There are other experiments that I have done with the acrylic that I will share later, but as I said before I would not have been able to play with the material had it not been rescued from the dumpster.

Recycling Acrylic Sheet

Nice day here in the mid-west.... plenty of sunshine.... a good day to work outside!
I worked on finishing the cart table, reworked the bottom shelf, recycled plywood and old tight grained fir. The acrylic sheet was not looking right. The acrylic sheet looks great in some applications but not so good in others.
Rust and Acrylic are a good combination, like these house numbers I did a few years ago. Too cold on the cart.
I rescued several 4 x 8 sheets of 1/2 inch Acrylic from a dumpster a few years ago, I have found many uses for it. I have also found a post industrial source so I can get miscuts and random sized pieces of different thicknesses. I would have never been able to justify the expense of working with a material like this had I not found it. The way light moves through it is amazing and surprising.
I have recently made some picture frames for art photos out of acrylic, very heavy and industrial will have photos up soon.
I am hoping to find some 3form material or scrap to work with in the near future, very cool stuff.