Not that I really know anything, but why couldn't they have been salvaged? When I did my own home rehab, I had to remove some significant areas of veneer. It took very little time with a mason's hammer to knock off the mortar from the brick faces; I can see where you would be doing a great service to the New York City social environment by providing opportunities for unskilled labor for unskilled laborers. 

Of course, I know there aren't any unskilled laborers in a union environment. But isn't there a workaround? Maybe donate the bricks to a non-profit jobs-creation program and then buy them back for a pittance? Or some other workaround. Seems a shame in this dawning era of sustainability to be wasting the embodied energy represented in the bricks, plus their beauty, plus the desirability of aesthetic outcome for the worthy of weeping over palazzo.

D.

-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking on behalf of Leland Torrence
Sent: Tue 4/1/2008 4:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BP] tragedy ... or crime
 
Christopher, 

There are many boutique brick manufacturers that make custom bricks for
orders under 200 units.  In the end, it adds little to the cost of work, but
it takes planning.  When a bucket of restoration mortars sometimes goes for
$200, a few matching bricks doesn't seem out of the question.  Not only that
but we have hand colored/faux stained bricks on site and large batches with
inert pigments, with very good matches.

Best,

Leland

 

From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
[log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 4:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] tragedy ... or crime

 

 

Coop at 79th and Park, 1924, wonderful mottled orange and buff iron spot
brick, early Italian renaissance, spectacular enough to make you weep.  A
standout - for masonry aficionados - on Park. 

 

Recent repair work involves not only cutting out the brick encasing the
corner columns, but also cutting out the brick covering the lateral beams -
like extracting wisdom teeth, tonsils, appendix and bris all at once.  

 

Replacement underway now involves new mottled orange brick, but it's about
like putting a home depot "golden oak" door into an 1890s shingle style
library.   My guess:  they asked for "closest available."    Which is sort
of like asking for sex, or "closest available." 

 

My question:  would it have required really superhuman effort to get a good
match?  Superficial area of building (including windows) is 21,000 SF.
Brick being replaced is, my eyeball, 1500 SF.  

 

This would certainly require custom-fired brick, close supervision,
excellent mason, architectural conservator, and even then the disturbances
are so large and regular, I bet the match would be disappointing - but
certainly not horrifying.     I have no idea of the existing cost - but what
would the heroic measures above add to a $500,000 project? 

 

Christopher 

 





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