News

Making the J.LIU Mural

On one of my visits to Jason and Tina's home, their sons George and Gordan offered me a viewing of their artwork. They were, at the time, 8 and 5 respectively.

The artwork they shared with me was wonderfully joyous, spontaneous, surreal, abstract and yet still representational. I shared with Jason and Tina then that I thought the work was wonderful and inspired beyond the children’s' years. At that time I shared with Jason that their work was similar to the Joan Miro pieces that we placed in the Dublin location.

A year or two later, as we were designing the Worthington location, we had a design idea that employed a very long angled wall as an organizing element that ran the length of the entire first floor Dining and Bar areas. We knew this element would need a strong visual presence to knit together the very different spaces through which it runs.

We needed to develop a visual element that was unique, yet related to the theme of the art pieces from the Dublin location, the Joan Miro work (as an extension of the prototype identity). George and Gordans' art came to mind. Being children, their work was everything I mentioned above plus, un-self-conscious as well. In fact it was what Miro strove for in his "recreation of the childlike". We approached Jason about creating a mural featuring George and Gordan's artwork - he welcomed the idea.

Making of the mural became a fun exercise for my entire staff :

We gathered many of George and Gordans' pieces and brought them into our office.

We viewed them all and identified elements of the work we thought would be useful in a larger scale visual piece.

The pieces were all individually scanned and edited to isolate the parts we enjoyed most.

The scale of the wall made it necessary to have a larger compositional theme so that the piece was not just a texture of small pieces. Though it is not evident in the final work, the larger compositional ideas are informed by the ancient Chinese "River and Mountain" paintings. In fact several served as a background until well into the process.

At a critical point tin the process, we decided to drop the literal "River and Stream" backgrounds and create a larger scale framework in a character consistent with the world of Joan Miro, George and Gordan Liu. The idea of the two scales being to create interest from a distance and from up close (sitting next to the mural).

Just for fun, we composed the large-scale framework entirely of geometric shapes pulled from Bass Studio Architects' Jason’s (J. Liu) and other BSA projects.

After the whole was composed and approved, we had the entire work printed on vinyl panels and installed on the wall.

posted on 04.24.2009 | permalink

Jason’s Worthington Opens

Jason's Worthington Restaurant and Bar opened for business August 8, 2008.

The project was the culmination of over two years of planning and construction and encompasses more than 18,000 square feet of restaurant, meeting and kitchen space.

The project is the second Jason's Restaurant and Bar Designed by Bass Studio Architects. BSA designed the first Jason's in Dublin in 2004. The new facility features a grand Ballroom/Meeting Space capable of seating 250; serviced by an auxiliary Kitchen and two Bars.

Congratulation Jason Liu; our friend and client.

EAT AT JASON'S

posted on 09.24.2008 | permalink

Columbus Restaurants

[Columbus Restaurant Design], [Food Service Design], [Interior Design]

Bass Studio Architects is cooking up a pile of Columbus dining venues.

Restaurants on the boards include: Edamame Grill and Sushi in Easton, Loops - a new urban sandwich shop concept prototype, Jason's Worthington Restaurant Bar and Banquet Center, and the soon to be open Sakura Japanese Steak House in the Easton Area (with Marian Arend/Arccon Integrated).

Completed local and Regional Restaurants include: Jason's Dublin, The Asian Gourmet and Sushi Bar in Gahanna, and Jerry's House of Hunan in Marysville, Oxley's Restaurant in the Fawcett Center for Tomorrow, China way in Worthington and the Panda Express on High Street (at Woodruff) in the Ohio State University Campus Area.

posted on 05.14.2008 | permalink

BSA experiences big construction period

[New Construction], [Built architecture columbus]

Bass Studio Architects is enjoying a surge in construction.

In June, the Lane and High Building opened with 10,000 square feet of dining space for BW3 on the Ohio State University Campus. Bass Studio Architects designed the shell building. The building is a new landmark on campus.

Our 15,000 square foot addition for the Anchor Baptist Church is approaching completion this fall.

The 18,000 square foot facility for Jason's Worthington restaurant is nearly under roof and is projected to open in May of 2008.

The unique building at Woodruff and High Street is sheathed and ready to receive the signature brick veneer pattern. The building should be complete soon.

posted on 01.30.2008 | permalink

Growing Beyond Green:

Green Building, High Performance Design, Regenerative Design, Green Products, Eco Friendly Products, Embodied Energy and San Antonio Hospitality:

This entry follows four days of classes, symposiums, and keynote lectures, viewing acres of new product on the convention floor, and conversations with peers from across the country.

The AIA had an incredible line up of speakers and educators, including: Al Gore, David Suzuki and architects William G. Reed AIA and Chrisna du Plessis. Many concerned practitioners shared strategies, in lectures and symposia, by which architects, engineers, developers and building owners can help reduce human impact on the finite resources of our planet.

I return excited, inspired and reinvigorated about the profession and the leading role that architects, building owners, developers, and even single family homeowners can play in reducing and even repairing the damage that humans are inflicting on the planet. Global warming is only the most known of the very real environmental and resource issues we have created for ourselves – and must solve.

Over the course of the four days, my attitude changed from one of feeling overwhelmed and powerless to make a difference to that of knowing that we can make a difference one small decision at a time. Through a commitment to the solution rather than fear of the problem we can move our practices and clients to a new paradigm for making buildings and shaping our communities.

Beyond Green Buildings:

In addition to the idea of greening our design process and building results, I was excited to learn from William G. Reed AIA and Chrisna du Plessis about a “regenerative design process”. This is a bit more involved process, but offers-in simple concepts -a way to design for projects that repair rather than simply reduce our environmental impact.

I will be happy to share more about these issues and challenges. Feel free to contact me at my office if you would like to learn more and discuss our efforts.