5.10.Japan-2-detail-c Canvas Print

Japan 2: Detail (c) Highlights Relevant to Sustainable Design:

Modular flooring streamlines design and maintenance.

We sometimes take for granted systems in commercial flooring like carpet tiles or the modular ceiling grids overhead in facilities, from offices and schools to hospitals and retail stores. The ubiquitous commercial ceiling grid that holds fluorescent tube fixtures is typically 24" x 48" with a length that is exactly twice its width. The modular tatami mats that have been used in traditional Japanese structures for hundreds of years are a distant ancestor with the same geometric proportion that is also twice as long as its width.

Tatami mats are 35 1/2" x 71" or about three feet wide by six feet long. The surface is typically made from rush grass with cotton borders, a rice straw core, and protective backing. The long rush grass is dyed with natural clay to produce a golden yellow color, and it is tightly woven and stitched in precise tension to...

I am pleased to share these graphics as well as the drawings from my travels around the world over the past three decades. The ink sketches are all from field observations drawn on fold-out sketch books, most of which are about seven feet long. Given that there are thousands of images in the numerous drawing books, I hope that you enjoy the work that I have included here from Asia, Eastern Europe, North America, Central America, and many other places. In many cases, the drawings document design and innovation that are not landmarks. Overall, I enjoy seeing and celebrating the extraordinary in the ordinary. About the illustrator and author: Charlie Szoradi is an architect, inventor, and sustainability professional. He is passionate...