Gig Harbor Asian Contemporary Home

We have recently completed this Gig Harbor Asian Contemporary Home.  Beautiful views and elegant casual design.

The Mediterranean Sea of America

So, I tend to have a yearning for cartography. It may stem from my background as an architect, an artistic, technical and graphically based profession. But, I also have always had a need to understand the world we live in, explore new things, see the things that we in America are so far removed from. It does seem that we have blinders on sometimes. Honestly, the United States has so much and dominates so much culture it isn’t very hard to think that this is all there is. Exploring both historical and modern maps can bring the rest of the world into focus. Exploring map based infographics can be very enlightening as you try to understand relationships between all parts of the globe.

I had the pleasure of taking a cruise around the Mediterranean a few years ago. My wife and I had such a great time exploring the historical places and artifacts and the life of strange cities. I thought, wouldn’t it be great if the Mediterranean wasn’t so far away?
Well, I was examining maps and globes and realized that the Mediterranean Sea is at the same Latitude as the United States. If only it were possible to rotate the Mediterranean Sea around to our side of the planet? Would it fit? What effect would this have? What about the states… new coastlines in the middle of the country… new relationships… states torn in pieces?

A couple of screen captures, lots of graphic manipulation and now we know. The Mediterranean Sea fits within the confines of the United States of America. In a way, it is pretty amazing how big the Mediterranean Sea is.  We always think if the United States as a vast country, more than 3000 miles from east coast to west coast. It used to be quite a task to traverse that distance. Amazingly, ancient mariners of the Mediterranean traversed similar vast areas of water for their commerce, and conquests.
So, what have we done? This is a new vision of the United States of America. A few states have been unaffected by this mash-up.  Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Main and Florida. Yes, I am ignoring Alaska and Hawaii since they are remote, sorry.

It’s interesting to note that by adding the Black Sea, it nicely takes the place of our own Great Lakes. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec get new coastlines, but Lower Ontario becomes an isolated piece on the US side. A Canadian interloper if you will. Although the Great Lakes are very large, I believe the area of the Black Sea is larger than the combined Great Lakes. In this alternate US the remaining areas of the Great Lakes become great grassy plains… perhaps, International Park Reserves, or snatched up by neighboring states. Michigan loses a large portion of its “mitten” and the upper peninsula becomes the state it always wanted to be, Superior.

The “rust belt” area of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania would approximate the area of Turkey. Illinois becomes a state of great island outcroppings and the "Aegean Sea" becomes the "Illinois Sea". Kentucky hugs the southern coastline of the new “rust belt”. The Greek Islands of Karpathos and Rhodes would be part of Kentucky. What a history to explore.

The South has been largely supplanted by the "Confederate Sea", the eastern arm of the Mediterranean. The southern states have been effectively cut in half. Oddly, mirroring the Turkish grab of part of the Island of Cyprus, West Virginia has grabbed a part of this alternate Cyprus that is mostly in Virginia. The State of Tennessee has been reduced to a portion of the former Island of Crete.

Missouri would take most of the Greek peninsula, the Peloponnese, most of Crete, and many islands. Iowa gains great rocky coastlines on both the east and west. The new "Plains Sea", that takes the place of the former "Adriatic Sea", reaches into North Dakota and cuts South Dakota into the new states of East Dakota and West Dakota. West Dakota is the new Tuscany and East Dakota approximates Croatia. Nebraska is now the main “boot” of Italy with coast on the east and west. Kansas takes over the “toe” of Italy and Sicily (except Colorado has made a foothold on the western tip).

The "Tyrrhenian Sea" along the west coast of the Italian peninsula becomes the "Nebraska Sea" and reaches all the way up to Montana and the Custer’s Battlefield Monument.  Wyoming has split into the new state of Yellowstone (with the amazing Yellowstone Park) and the Wyoming Islands (Corsica and the Northern part of Sardinia). Idaho gains new coastline.

Texas, New Mexico and Colorado have a great new coastline. Although Colorado has been mostly swallowed up and maintains the southern part of Sardinia and an outpost on Sicily.
Utah has split into the coastal area along the northern edge of Arizona and the Great Salt Islands. Nevada has lost the southern portion to a new state called Las Vegas. In return they get a Mediterranean coastline. I think that would be a good trade.

The new “Sea of California”, the western outlet, splits the state into Northern California and Southern California… most Californians want that anyway. This leads us to the “Strait of Pismo” and out to the Pacific Ocean. There just may be a “Rock of Pismo” in place of the “Rock of Gibraltar”. Not quite the cache’… I would say.

So, a brave new alternate United States of America with its great inland sea. What a different world it might have been, or might be in another alternate world. If I were a writer, I would love to explore the alternate history of the United States in this new version. Does anyone want to tackle it?  I’ll take concept credits;-)

Chosen Best of Houzz 2013!

Thanks for choosing us as a Best of Houzz Award recipient!

Take a look and leave us a review if you can.

Drager Architecture featured on Houzz now!

Best Architect 2012

Thanks to all of you we were successful!  We have been voted the South Sound Magazine Best Architect again.  This is some important marketing and I sincerely thank all who helped make it so.

We have some exciting projects underway.  I hope to have some information posted to show you what we are up to!

Voting for the Best Architect is over...

Although the South Sound Magazine posted the voting went until March 22nd, Apparently that meant voting ends on the 21st. Thanks to all who got a chance to vote. I really appreciate your support!

Vote for Best Architect Best of the South Sound 2012

It's time again for the South Sound Magazine Best of!  Because of your votes, 2010 was a great year being named Best Architect.  We feel that we should be considered again and we need your help!

We would appreciate your votes again.  In 2011 we fell a bit short of votes, but got mentioned (The large 100 person firm got it again).


http://southsoundmag.com/best_of_south_sound

    


Here's how it works:

• Click here to go to the best of South Sound page.

• You must vote in at least 10 different categories for your entry to be valid.

• Voting ends March 22, 2012. Winners will be announced in the June/July issue of South Sound Magazine.


Here are our favorites - if you are from out of the area:

Best Architect:  That's us ;-) DRAGER ARCHITECTURE

Best Restaurant:  Harbor Lights
Best Happy Hour:  C I Shenanigans
Best Lunch:  The Rosewood
Best Burger:  Frisco Freeze
Best Pizza:  Katy Downs
Best Sushi:  Fujiya
Best Interior Designer:  Cheryl Marshall Design
Best Remodeler:  (Pick one) Gary Howe Construction, Daniel Martin Construction, Al Fujita Construction.
Best Builder:  (Pick one) Gary Howe Construction, Daniel Martin Construction, Al Fujita Construction.

Thanks so much for your support - this is an important marketing effort for us!

MBA - 14th Annual Tour of Remodeled Homes

The Master Builders Assoc Tour of Remodeled Homes is this weekend. We have a project in the tour that was built by York Enterprises. Duke and his crew did a great job!


Please come out and say hello and view our design work. We are very proud of the results! The location is 1116 N 26th Street in Old Town.


Here is the website for further information about the tour. There is an entry fee that benefits Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. http://mba-tour.com/



before...



Come see how it looks now!

Boyd-Swain Addition

Proposed Second Story Addition

Existing 1930's Brick Home

Here is a second story addition we have proposed for one of our Tacoma clients.  The small 1930's brick house was in need of a master suite and additional bedrooms.  With a small yard it became necessary to consider adding up.  Our proposal leaves the existing brick intact and adds a second story with shingled walls.  Our design adds much needed character to an otherwise solid home.

Time to vote in the 2011 South Sound Magazine "Best of"

Thanks to all of you who voted last year and made us the "Best Architect" for 2010!  It's now time to vote for 2011.  I promise to not pester you too much;-)

Just click this link and meander down the page to HOME & GARDEN - Best Architect.

Thanks so much!

http://southsoundmag.com/best_of_south_sound

New Insulated Wood Studs - rSTUD

I found this new product at, ecohomemagazine.com, called rSTUD. It may be an interesting energy saving development. These are engineered wood studs that have an inner core of high density foam.

EC Mfg.

Thermal bridging through wood framing accounts for significant heat loss in every home. The rSTUD is an engineered stud with a foam th...ermal break sandwiched between two pieces of LVL to create typical nominal-dimensioned studs. The high-density foam delivers stud R-values of 7 for a 2x4 and R-21 for a 2x6. According to the company, using the studs can boost a homes efficiency by up to 20% versus traditional lumber. 800.768.7054. www.ecproducts.us.See More

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)...

Our Blank-Menzel project uses a product called Structural Insulated Panels (or SIPs) for the exterior walls and roofs.  Essentially, the conventional exterior framing of the structure is replaced by these panels.  The value that these panels gave us was a super insulation, less labor and less waste.  At this time it can be a bit more expensive than conventional framing and few builders are familiar with the process of construction with them.  I found this company called Winter Panel that manufactures three SIPs panels that you may want to consider for your next project.

The company offers SIPs in three panel types: StructureWall, CurtainWall, and PineClad. StructureWall panels, which replace studs and rafters, are twice as strong as a 2x4 wall, according to the firm. CurtainWall panels, ideal for timber-frame or metal-frame buildings, include an interior skin of gypsum for finishing. PineClad panels offer the benefits of StructureWall but with an interior finish of tongue-and-groove pine. Foam cores are available in expanded polystyrene or polyisocyanurate. 802.254.3435. http://www.winterpanel.com/.

New Search Site that specializes in finding "Green" products...

http://www.greenerproduct.com/

This website has just been created to help search for "green" products.  I haven't played around with it too much.  But, I think that there may be some good information available here that will help us all make better choices for our greener or environmentally friendly and healthful products for our homes.

Greener Product, LLC provides architects, builders and the public a quick and easy online platform for searching and evaluating "green" products according to the Internationally recognized United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

The Greener Product, LLC online tools make it easy. Easy to demonstrate how products contribute to a green building project, easy to provide valuable environmental answers for your clients and easy for our sales force to more clearly define your commitment to customer service. Finally, the Greener Product, LLC system is easy on your budget and is free to your customers.

This may be my favorite toilet design… ya gotta have ‘em…

The Boulevard toilet by American Standard is one of five profiles the manufacturer has redesigned to incorporate concealed trapways and furniture-like styling, such as flat-top tanks and decorative edging, providing for more compact, contemporary profiles.

The Boulevard is available as a FloWise high-efficiency model, which boasts 1.28-gpf operation and WaterSense certification. It features a PowerWash rim to wash the bowl clean with each flush, a fully glazed 2-inch trapway, and a 3-inch flush valve.   www.americanstandard-us.com.

Books that include Our Work...

We are humbled to be included in this book - "Celebrating the American Home: 50 Great Houses from 50 American Architects".

The book features a new/revised follow-up of the Michaelson residence in Gig Harbor, WA.

This book - "House on a Budget", AKA "The House You Build", was written by architect and writer Duo Dickinson. The book features a project we designed for Paula and Steve Leitz in Gig Harbor, WA.



This project has been a delight in that the design allows for multi-generational living. The design revolves around a spiral courtyard that provides an area for coming together, while the separate wings provide a level of privacy for the residents.

This book - "Ranches: Design Ideas for Renovating, Remodeling, and Building" -showcases one of our favorite projects and is located in Gig Harbor, WA. 


The project for Jayne and Gene Michaelson, explores the changing role of our modern lifestyle.  Taking the basic ranch and expanding it with a new master suite, gourmet kitchen and opening up the interior with new vigor.  Craftsman touches in trimwork and detailing provide a familier and fresh feel to this 1959 home.