Santa Barbara, CA

Abstract garden gate designs #200A and #200 are clearly related. While the original #200 settled in the arid desert east of Los Angeles, the #200A found a home overlooking the bluest Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara. Modified to simulate the setting.

Santa Barbara, CA

Contemporary wood gate #200-A is a collaborative effort with the site architect Carl Schneider.

A good example of how nearly all of the 140 +_ original designs on our gate galleries were originally the result of either speculative designs or modifying a given gate style to the existing precedent of the site’s aesthetics.
The lines to #200-A were influenced by not only it’s portal gateway to the Pacific, but to the iconic architecture of the house itself (see below)

Translucent acrylic rod, diffusing as the setting sun angles across the gate.
Upper opaque Plexiglas for a modicum of eye-level privacy.

Carl Schneider, AIA, NCARB
CSA Architects
805-962-4575
cschneider@csa-arch.com

Santa Barbara, CA

The upper section fitted with white opaque polycarbonate, as per the homeowner’s request.

Santa Barbara, CA

Abstract Garden Gate Designs #200-A, exposed and unencumbered.

Santa Barbara, CA

The uppermost grid of the abstract garden gate designs #200-A is backed by an opaque polycarbonate panel. .

Santa Barbara, CA

The meandering dark red acrylic rod, as a signature of the abstract garden gate designs #200 and #200-A. 

In-Progress

Focusing on just the upper grid portion of the top wave.
–An inner frame is steamed and bent to fit the inside radius of the arc.
–The wenge grid is fabricated and set to mark its position.
–The upper grid fitted in place.

Ben fitting the upper grid to the wave radius of the contemporary wooden gate #200-A.

The dry-fitting of the essential components. On the more complex gates, at some point the primary lines must be permanently joined to insure the fitting of all subsequent parts. Working with the three identical bent lamination, we play with their eventual fit, which of course establishes the basic lines of the gate.

In creating the various radius arcs for the secondary wenge components within the abstract garden gate designs of #200-A, Ben turns to an ancient method of a pliable 1/4″ thick stock, tensioned with a string coupled with a turnbuckle that allows for slight adjustments to the radius. With this he can then trace the eventual arch of each components onto the wenge stock.

Two days on just the bottom-right grid alone. Designs such as the #200-A are best approached in segments. Focusing incrementally one section at a time.

Because so many of the intersecting lines are unique, they are created one piece at a time. No multiples. 

A confusion of awkward clamp settings. Fabricating each single component individually is only the first step. What follows is creating the joinery, and then clamping into place such that the clamps themselves do not tweak the original dry-fit.

The acrylic rod is purposefully bent and twisted with the careful use of a heat gun. Once it’s in place, wax paper and blue tape is applied to protect it from being scratched or blemished, as well as the overspray from the finishing process. It’s important that the rod be unblemished, as it eventually becomes a refracting rod once exposed to the sunlight.

Ben Prowell with the completed abstract garden gate designs #200-A. The end of an absorbing commission and ready for the craters.