RBA Welcomes Back Paul
Paul Harman has returned to Rowell Brokaw after a roughly two-year “sabbatical.” He took some time off from architecture to explore his interests in fine wood furniture, digital fabrication, and digital illustration.
It’s wonderful to have Paul back at the firm. With 17 years of experience in Architecture and 5 years at RBA, he has deep expertise in the field. And we have missed our conversations with him on art, architecture, fabrication, travel, (his partner’s) beekeeping, and many other topics. His calm, always curious presence in the office is a welcome restoration.
Below are some of the projects that he worked on during his time away—with some commentary from Paul on their inspiration and process:
Wall panel installation, GFRC concrete, kiln-cast glass, laser cut brass sheet metal. Each panel measures 28"x28".
After a few years of sitting in not-quite-done limbo, I finally added the finishing touch of inlaid brass to my tessellating sculptural relief concrete wall panels. Though the ultimate goal is to someday use them for exterior wall panels, until the opportunity arises they will remain adorning an interior wall next to my dining table. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of natural light in their current location, which made them very difficult to photograph. The tiles really shine in the sun.
Above is the entire process from inspiration to final realization.
European Beech. I actually made the relief-carved door panel many years ago when I was teaching a course in digital modeling and fabrication at the University of Oregon. The door then sat leaning against a wall in my bedroom for over a decade until one morning this spring I woke up and decided it needed to be incorporated into a piece of furniture. So, I basically designed the wardrobe around the door. Handcut dovetails for the drawer because I'm sure I would screw them up with a router. Many thanks to my neighbors Laurel and Jim for lending two extra pairs of hands to assist with the difficult glue-up of the carcass. They helped keep the swearing to a minimum.
The inspiration for this drawing came from my springtime walks at Hendricks Park. Hendricks is a small hillside community park in south Eugene that is especially lovely in the spring as it is bursting with blossoming magnolias, azalea, rhododendron, and hellebore. For you non-westerners, the bird is a scrub jay. I would describe them as incredibly noisy to the point of distraction. They would probably describe us the same way.
“Watcher,” pencil and white charcoal on Strathmore toned tan paper, with just a hint of blue Prismacolor pencil in the sky.
Lenticular Flow Wall Sconce. Translucent Corian solid surface, walnut.
This piece isn't exactly new. I actually created the carved Corian panel a few years back. After it was milled on the CNC, the panel developed a bit of a bow. It wasn't really a problem, but I could not let well enough alone. I decided to see if I could counter bend it to straighten it out a bit. If you ever wondered how much Corian can flex without breaking, the answer is not much. Basically, it snapped in half. Fast forward a few years, and with the kind help of Joe Valasek @carveture, I remade the panel. The frame is the first object I've made in walnut for a very long time. I forgot how wonderful the wood smells and how easy it is to work with compared to oak and beech (my usual wood species choices), but also how easily it dents and scratches.
For more of Paul’s work, see https://www.instagram.com/paulharmandesigns/