by Jeff Serbin | Sep 30, 2014 | Architectural Planning, Architecture, Blog, Collaboration, Commercial Architecture, Uncategorized
A few months ago, Serbin Studio was approached by the Buckeye Valley Historical Society with an architectural challenge. A conceptual design for the exterior of the existing ‘Buckeye Valley Museum’ so that the architecture reflects their mission, ‘To bring a better understanding and appreciation of the history and cultural significance of Buckeye Valley’.
Presentation Board
Click on it for larger image
Conceptual Design of Buckeye Valley Museum
The building today lightly reflects back to the historic architecture of Buckeye Valley and through time has blended into the historic fabric in a way that the building is not apparent to the average visitor in Buckeye.
Original Museum renovation to look like Kell store
Current museum 2014 . Beige is not the new black. Consult a color specialist when you paint your building. Did I mention Lara Serbin is a color expert.
Buckeye has a long history dating back to 1885. Prior to the mid 1970’s, the main highway from Phoenix to California passed through downtown Buckeye. But just as we have seen in the ‘CARS‘ movie, the highway system was created and now by-passes historic downtown.
If you want to get a good glimpse of the history of Buckeye, two books written by Verlyne Meck capture Buckeye through images and words. “Buckeye, then and now” & “Buckeye (AZ) images of America”.
Since being part of a 3rd generation Arizona family and member of the Buckeye Main Street Coalition, I had a good strong foundation for understanding the Museum’s architectural significance. However with every project, further research exposed us to hidden treasures that are only talked about amongst Buckeye residents.
Some inspirations were:
Kell Store built in 1890’s
Hillbilly Hilton. If you get a chance, take a tour of this snapshot in time
Our intent was to minimally alter the interior exhibits and through the use of architectural features, contextual materials and textures enhance the exterior of the building so it clearly indicates what it is, ‘Buckeye Valley Museum’. We created a sense of arrival and a clear pathway into Buckeye’s history. The exterior is now a snapshot of the history and hidden gems within.
Presentation Board
The museum had a re-opening on September 27, 2014 and is open Friday’s and Saturday’s from 11 am – 4 pm. The interior renovation is complete. The museum is now on a fund raising campaign to raise money and materials to complete the exterior facade upgrades. For further information, contact the Buckeye Valley Museum at 602-230-1299.
by Lara Serbin | Jan 6, 2014 | Architectural Planning, Blog, Graphics, Planning
Last month I had the irresistible inspiration to design a custom flier for the local businesses in Historic Buckeye, Arizona. The project was first started at a Main Street Coalition mixer when the local business owners voiced a concern for a flier of some kind to attract more Main Street activity. Back in October I really had no idea what our team would come up with. I always keep a file of graphic examples I collect from my travels sometimes a well thought out menu, a smart city guide map, or a vintage travel postcard. The idea has to hit me and then I know I am ready to work.
The graphic on left is the final artwork that I completed for the Historic Buckeye Flier. The postcard on the right was a treasure I picked up while driving with my family along the Olympic Coast last summer *had to buy a plush flying squirrel for Lily too*. See, one never knows when the stuff you save will become useful. The Olympic postcard sits on my bulletin board at my desk. I especially like how the mountains and everything are not outlined with a profile line to contain the color. It reminds me of Gustave Baumann color woodcuts. Now that is an art form I would like to try some day. First I have to master wood carving or at least carving into vinyl.
The image on the left is the first pass at rendering the Historic Main Street in Buckeye earlier in 2013. It is very basic, I was not even up to detailing the rims of the Model A at that time. The image on the right shows my expanded experience in just 2 months. I really like the subtractive nature of the white. I also liked how crooked the window panes are. For the flier, I tightened the shapes up considerably. But what a difference of spending some time to learn something new. It is all about repetition of the commands and being patient.
The black and white photo on the left is The Ware Building constructed in 1910 on the southeast corner of 4th Street and Monroe Avenue in Historic Buckeye. The graphic on the right is for anyone who wanted to see a zoom up on the window reflections. See the Model A?
There will be more on the flier itself in an upcoming post, this graphic is just a piece of the flier. The first 2 thousand are being printed right now. This is an important collaboration among Buckeye Main Street Coalition members, City of Buckeye stake holders and local business owners. I thank them for taking this step towards encouraging more activity for this new year!
You’re really going to like this: a weekly haiku.
Our World…
Pluck sleep as it sees
Eyes must alternate on grass
Violet dreaming.
-Lara Serbin
by Lara Serbin | Sep 6, 2013 | Architectural Planning, Architecture, Blog, Collaboration, Graphics, Planning
I took one of those personality tests this week. Only because it was required by my Executive Forum group that I belong too. I really hate those things. I didn’t like my results when I read through them probably because they were so right on the MONEY. My review makes me sound like some superficial name dropper who wants to please everybody. I am such a people pleaser at my core. I am an outfielder. I take time to catch the ball. But I do like to be part of a team. I actually prefer to be managed. This is so true. Just tell me what to do. If I am in a management role I will inspire others to action. I do have to be careful not to overpraise people. My reason for being is Aesthetics. Period. Are you so surprised? A girl in the outfield who wants everything to look pretty. I really saw my strengths in yesterday’s design review meeting. *why is this in italics?*
I am the Design Chairperson for Buckeye Main Street Coalition. Yesterday we all met to review some remodel plans for one of the historic buildings along Monroe. There are the more domineering members of the group who immediately analyzed the square footage of the new remodel. I could see myself sitting and taking this in. I didn’t have any comments right away. We all feel comfortable with one another. We all agreed that the smartest response was to retain the historic nature of the front façade.
I had my role of buff tracing paper and my pencils ready. Tracing paper is invaluable because you can lay it over a photo or façade and sketch any changes over it. You can see through it. You can lay many layers over the photo to keep evolving the idea. My pens were not allowing me to sketch fast enough and I didn’t have a black Prisma pencil so I used Kelp Green. I started to zone out while everyone was talking. I loved that moment sitting there with my team helping them put down on paper what it was they were thinking. We had gone over this project through emails months ago but meeting face to face was so much more effective. This sketching and listening is my reason for being. I want to do this more. I could sketch like that everyday. It is not the same sketching by myself at my light table. I like listening to my team because they have been in their position for decades and know what to do. Some of them have gone to church services in the building. The thing I like the most about my team is the speed they make decisions.
It was good to know that even though I will never be the pitcher I do add to the team standing in the outfield with my nerdy LLBean canvas bag.
