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1924, Berkeley, Bernard R. Maybeck house (#3) "Sack House",
2745 Buena Vista Way, Berkeley
Bernard Maybeck.
Made of sacks dipped in Bubblecrete, a lightweight concrete, and hung on chicken wire (Woodbridge & Woodbridge 1992:212).
The disastrous fire in Berkeley in 1923 destroyed many of Maybeck's houses, and he turned again to concrete. However, he did not use monolithic construction as in the 1907 Lawson house. In search of a cheap fireproof surfacing material, he tried coating burlap sacks with a foamy concrete mixture called "Bubble Stone." This material, invented by a Berkeley man [John A. Rice], was produced by mixing chemicals with cement; it was so light in weight that a mass the size of a bale of hay could be lifted by one man.
Maybeck's production of Bubble Stone has been described by Jack Hillmer, San Francisco architect, who, in 1959, with Roy Flamm, photographer, prepared the first large exhibition of Maybeck's work. The water and chemicals were mixed in an old washing machine, then Maybeck folded cement and sand mortar (without aggregate) into the froth "like adding sugar to whipped cream." Wet burlap sacks dipped into the mixture came out with about an inch of foamy concrete adhering to them.
The coated sacks were then nailed to the studs and sheathing of a cottage, in which factory sash served as windows and as French doors to the garden. The total cost of the cottage was $600. It is still in use today, although the cement is chipping away from the sacks (McCoy 1960:50).
Since the war, the rise in construction costs had made the simple, well-designed house more difficult to obtain. In 1923 Sunset Magazine published an article entitled "The Maybeck One-Room House," in which he proposed the incorporation of house and garden into one entity, concentrating time and effort as well as cost on one handsomely proportioned and beautifully furnished space (cf. M.A. Maclay, "The Maybeck One-Room House," Sunset Magazine, 51, (July 1923), pp. 64-66). Service rooms were to be reduced to such a minimal size that they would become mere alcoves. Maybeck had no fixed ideas concerning materials or style to be used, preferring to put the personal tastes and preferences of the owner foremost in the hopes of achieving an individual expression. The kitchen of his one-room house was to be equipped with the best labor-saving devices to take the place of a hired girl. Both the McMurray and the Geisler designs were servantless houses; but it was the studio built on the site of his own burned house which initiated the pattern of his one-room designs.
The Maybeck studio (1924) on Buena Vista Way had no fine finishes. In fact it was an experimental structure, as much a laboratory as it was a house. Three large, glazed industrial doors opened its one room to the surrounding garden. There was neither kitchen nor dining room, and the open sleeping loft over the low entryway filled one side of the room's one-and-one-half-story height. The house has undergone many modifications which have obscured its original form, so that today it is better known for its use of lightweight concrete as a wall surface than it is for its planning.
In his own one-room studio Maybeck experimented with new material, producing a unique, low cost, fire resistive construction system. His friend, John A. Rice, had been trying for several years to clear patent rights to a light-weight, air-entrained concrete named "Bubblestone." Maybeck, prophesying its broad use in low-cost housing, had interested a newly formed cement company in marketing Rice's product, once his right to patent was settled (cf. B.R. Maybeck MSS, "J.A. Rice," C.E.D. Docs). Maybeck tested the material in the building in his studio. His method of utilizing the "Bubblestone" was a simple one. On a conventional wood stud frame, strung horizontally with wire, burlap bags that had been saturated in the light-weight concrete mixture were hung shingle-fashion over the wires and left to harden into a serviceable, fire-resistant exterior. Window openings, corners, and flarings were easily negotiated with shears or by modeling the material in its plastic state. It was a technique that required no skilled labor and one that produced an interesting textural finish (Cardwell 1977:214).
The lightweight "Bubblestone" concrete provided a uniquely rustic finish enlivened by the industrial sash of the doors and windows (Cardwell 1977:215).
Maybeck also experimented with "Bubblestone" as a roofing material on the 1927 residence of Dr. R. I. Woolsey (20 Sunset Drive, Kensington, Contra Costa County). The concrete was colored a deep plum; however, its rough surface encouraged the growth of creepers and vines which accelerated its cracking and made it permeable. How long the concrete roofing material was effective is difficult to determine; it is now surfaced with an aluminized waterproofing coat. The roof form recalls an image of the thatch on an English cottage, yet it is not contrived. Its shapes developed out of the method of construction and the nature of the material, and its recall of the hominess of a vernacular architecture illustrates why Maybeck believed in the associative values of older architectural forms.
The finish of Maybeck's own cement sack studio has survived the exposure of forty years, even though there has been some rotting of the jute fabric where moisture has been able to penetrate the surface [Annie also chided Ben for his habit of tearing off sample pieces which he gave to many of their visitors during their years in retirement]. Maybeck had searched as far as China and Japan for a suitable netted fabric to replace the low quality jute of the gunny sack material. He experimented with grass cloths and woven paper products, proposing to use his sack system for some structures in Glen Alpine. He even thought of experimenting with it in the construction of The Principia; but his experimentation ceased when Rice was unable to establish exclusive rights to his "Bubblestone" [cf. B.R. Maybeck MSS, "J.A. Rice," C.E.D. Docs] (Cardwell 1977:217).
1924, Berkeley, Bernard R. Maybeck house (#3) "Sack House",
2745 Buena Vista Way, Berkeley
Bernard Maybeck.
Made of sacks dipped in Bubblecrete, a lightweight concrete, and hung on chicken wire (Woodbridge & Woodbridge 1992:212).
The disastrous fire in Berkeley in 1923 destroyed many of Maybeck's houses, and he turned again to concrete. However, he did not use monolithic construction as in the 1907 Lawson house. In search of a cheap fireproof surfacing material, he tried coating burlap sacks with a foamy concrete mixture called "Bubble Stone." This material, invented by a Berkeley man [John A. Rice], was produced by mixing chemicals with cement; it was so light in weight that a mass the size of a bale of hay could be lifted by one man.
Maybeck's production of Bubble Stone has been described by Jack Hillmer, San Francisco architect, who, in 1959, with Roy Flamm, photographer, prepared the first large exhibition of Maybeck's work. The water and chemicals were mixed in an old washing machine, then Maybeck folded cement and sand mortar (without aggregate) into the froth "like adding sugar to whipped cream." Wet burlap sacks dipped into the mixture came out with about an inch of foamy concrete adhering to them.
The coated sacks were then nailed to the studs and sheathing of a cottage, in which factory sash served as windows and as French doors to the garden. The total cost of the cottage was $600. It is still in use today, although the cement is chipping away from the sacks (McCoy 1960:50).
Since the war, the rise in construction costs had made the simple, well-designed house more difficult to obtain. In 1923 Sunset Magazine published an article entitled "The Maybeck One-Room House," in which he proposed the incorporation of house and garden into one entity, concentrating time and effort as well as cost on one handsomely proportioned and beautifully furnished space (cf. M.A. Maclay, "The Maybeck One-Room House," Sunset Magazine, 51, (July 1923), pp. 64-66). Service rooms were to be reduced to such a minimal size that they would become mere alcoves. Maybeck had no fixed ideas concerning materials or style to be used, preferring to put the personal tastes and preferences of the owner foremost in the hopes of achieving an individual expression. The kitchen of his one-room house was to be equipped with the best labor-saving devices to take the place of a hired girl. Both the McMurray and the Geisler designs were servantless houses; but it was the studio built on the site of his own burned house which initiated the pattern of his one-room designs.
The Maybeck studio (1924) on Buena Vista Way had no fine finishes. In fact it was an experimental structure, as much a laboratory as it was a house. Three large, glazed industrial doors opened its one room to the surrounding garden. There was neither kitchen nor dining room, and the open sleeping loft over the low entryway filled one side of the room's one-and-one-half-story height. The house has undergone many modifications which have obscured its original form, so that today it is better known for its use of lightweight concrete as a wall surface than it is for its planning.
In his own one-room studio Maybeck experimented with new material, producing a unique, low cost, fire resistive construction system. His friend, John A. Rice, had been trying for several years to clear patent rights to a light-weight, air-entrained concrete named "Bubblestone." Maybeck, prophesying its broad use in low-cost housing, had interested a newly formed cement company in marketing Rice's product, once his right to patent was settled (cf. B.R. Maybeck MSS, "J.A. Rice," C.E.D. Docs). Maybeck tested the material in the building in his studio. His method of utilizing the "Bubblestone" was a simple one. On a conventional wood stud frame, strung horizontally with wire, burlap bags that had been saturated in the light-weight concrete mixture were hung shingle-fashion over the wires and left to harden into a serviceable, fire-resistant exterior. Window openings, corners, and flarings were easily negotiated with shears or by modeling the material in its plastic state. It was a technique that required no skilled labor and one that produced an interesting textural finish (Cardwell 1977:214).
The lightweight "Bubblestone" concrete provided a uniquely rustic finish enlivened by the industrial sash of the doors and windows (Cardwell 1977:215).
Maybeck also experimented with "Bubblestone" as a roofing material on the 1927 residence of Dr. R. I. Woolsey (20 Sunset Drive, Kensington, Contra Costa County). The concrete was colored a deep plum; however, its rough surface encouraged the growth of creepers and vines which accelerated its cracking and made it permeable. How long the concrete roofing material was effective is difficult to determine; it is now surfaced with an aluminized waterproofing coat. The roof form recalls an image of the thatch on an English cottage, yet it is not contrived. Its shapes developed out of the method of construction and the nature of the material, and its recall of the hominess of a vernacular architecture illustrates why Maybeck believed in the associative values of older architectural forms.
The finish of Maybeck's own cement sack studio has survived the exposure of forty years, even though there has been some rotting of the jute fabric where moisture has been able to penetrate the surface [Annie also chided Ben for his habit of tearing off sample pieces which he gave to many of their visitors during their years in retirement]. Maybeck had searched as far as China and Japan for a suitable netted fabric to replace the low quality jute of the gunny sack material. He experimented with grass cloths and woven paper products, proposing to use his sack system for some structures in Glen Alpine. He even thought of experimenting with it in the construction of The Principia; but his experimentation ceased when Rice was unable to establish exclusive rights to his "Bubblestone" [cf. B.R. Maybeck MSS, "J.A. Rice," C.E.D. Docs] (Cardwell 1977:217).
no subject
Date: 2004-07-22 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-17 06:04 am (UTC)bubblestone walls made with formwork
Date: 2007-08-08 01:15 am (UTC)Re: bubblestone walls made with formwork
Date: 2007-08-08 06:46 am (UTC)I also have a concern re freezing, ie does the concrete need to be water proofed in a reliable fashion, so that when frosts occur, the concrete does not disintergrate, as Heeble somtimes disintergrates if it is damp and the exterior air freezes. Cheers again Denise
Re: bubblestone walls made with formwork
Date: 2008-06-24 07:02 am (UTC)