Daniel Hale

We are so happy to have discovered Serendipity Rising, architect Daniel Hale’s blog that is mostly about the evolution of his home in Napa Valley, which seems to be a sort of laboratory for his ideas. The guy loves soft metals like zinc and lead which he cuts and hammers in unusual ways; he transforms salvaged woods and ‘finds’ by applying modern lines and layers of techniques into an eclectic take, like this incredible flight of stairs: “I layered black over brown and ran a strip of lead sheeting up the middle”. What he does to his own house is freer than the “client” work we’ve seen, as he follows his ideas for his own pleasure. “Tickle” is a recent post – a sort of poem-story (edited here) – about his violent and fearless transformation of an old piano, which had been left in the winery he turned into his studio:

“She seemed invisible. He even stripped some of the ivory from her fingers. He did not see her insides. Until one day it was time…..Too much debris, all those pieces and scraps that he would someday use had instead become an obstacle to progress…. He actually took a sledge hammer to her… Then she showed him her insides and he was thrilled, he had rediscovered her. Each finger a work in and of itself. Some ivory left, her small lead counterweights could still swing. Her fierce red felt lining still seared. He made a light of her. Her soundboard still intact, he chopped that free with his hatchet and he hung it on the wall…

Hale made a bathroom ceiling made of reclaimed oak …

Daniel Hale

…and transformed an iPad into something of another time, “bound in a (set into) a wooden binding (think sketchbook). The cover is combed black over brown over wood (has a parchment panel) and was then waxed. The binding has a zinc plate with my initials and then a parchment tab with my lucky 13 homage to dewey. The inside surrounds flush to the IPAD and has a small thumb access to slip it out to recharge. The gilt lining flashes; winks at you. The inside cover is sheathed in an ancient music sheet, complete with musicians pencil scribble/notes”…

Daniel Hale

Hale loves making geometrically perforated doors so that hints of light or dark come through…like this one in a bathroom that slides to illuminate the tub boxed in zinc…

Daniel Hale

…towels rest on an old three-legged milking stool, a little sculpture unto itself…

Daniel Hale

Daniel Hale

We want to hammer lead!!!!!

You can see more of Daniel Hale’s work on Flickr.

Thanks, Lydia!

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