2005 Western Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops

These workshops are an opportunity to hone your skills in an all-day intensive session with a small group of participants and expert instructors. Separate registration fee required.

Workshops begin at 8:30 AM. Note that the Main Conference fee is not included with Pre-Conference tuitions.

TFBC Speakers Bureau Training

Thursday, April 14

The Timber Frame Business Council will be holding a one-day (Thursday) workshop to train and qualify speakers to represent timber framing before architects and related markets. Training will consist of public speaking and content familiarization. Open to TFBC members only, and tuition will be charged. For details, contact the TFBC at 888-560-9251 or visit their website at www.timberframe.org

International Compound Joinery Practicum

Wednesday & Thursday, April 13 & 14

In this two-day workshop, you will work alongside master carpenters from Germany and France and learn the traditional drawing, math and layout techniques used to create complex joinery and roofs. Using splayed-leg trestles as an exercise, those attending will learn how to determine the proper slope and dimensions for birdsmouths, housings and mortise-and-tenons on pieces that come together at compound angles.

The workshops will be led by Wil Dancey and Oliver Amandi from Germany, and Boris Noël and Fabien Pavageau from France. On Wednesday they will be demonstrating the similarities and differences between the techniques they were taught and the common threads that weave through traditional carpentry education. These techniques allowed even math-challenged carpenters to figure out complex shapes. On Thursday everyone will get a chance to reinforce these techniques by drawing, laying out and cutting joinery on the trestles.

Wil and Oliver trained as zimmerer in Germany and have worked extensively in North America and at previous Guild Conferences. Boris and Fabien have trained through the Compagnons du Devoir system in France and this workshop marks our first exposure to their techniques at a TFG Western Conference.

Fee: $200 Guild members, $225 non-members, includes lunch.

Treen Joinery Scribing
It's all done with mirrors!

Thursday only, April 14

Stacking and fitting logs together appears to be pretty straight-forward when you know all of the tricks. There have got to be tricks, right? Building with logs has been left for us guys who resist working with straight edges, or simply have deference to milling off perfectly sound wood on a log to make a timber.

Treen Joinery makes fitted logs appear to grow out of each other in a seamless joint. It is a combination of old world lofting techniques, coupled with some “straight”-forward scribing and slicing of natural log forms, respecting and preserving those cheeky round bits that tend to get shaved off while working with timbers. Mitered log joinery, along with demonstrations of other nifty jigs and logbuilding tricks, will be presented by Robert Savignac and Mark Fritch, two log building veterans who themselves are always seeking sneaky ways of making logwork look so darn easy. The mirror, in fact, is used to confirm the surprise on your face when timber-framers see just how simple working with logs can be! As the saying goes: “Be there or ...”

Robert Savignac has been building with logs since 1977, and ended up wearing his heart on his sleeve since taking on the role as co-CEO of the ILBA in 2000. Passionate about his family and disappearing on long canoe trips, this thing about building with logs has taken over his life, as he dreams of actually building his own log home some day! A teacher and proponent of Building with Big Wood, Robert is also vice-chair of the ICC consensus committee on Log Structures.

Mark Fritch is also long in the tooth as a logbuilder, building his own first log home in 1969. Mark not only fits logs together, but can actually GC and finish them as well! Along the way, both as manufacturer, teacher of the trade, and strong advocate of the “ILBA way” (currently on the ILBA Board of Directors) Mark has developed some nifty ways of jigging up logs so they perform, look, and act like they belong together, and loves to share his ideas.

Fee: $125 Guild members, $150 non-members, includes lunch.

Timber Framing and Ecological Design:
Case Study Charettes with Sim Van der Ryn

(Thursday only)

Take advantage of this rare opportunity to get first-hand advice from one of the pioneers.

Participants are invited to bring a current project design they are working on as case studies which the group will collaboratively critique and suggest areas for redesign based on ecological design examples and principles presented by Sim. Bring drawing tools and/or model making tools. Sim will also show a current project – a 12,000 sq.ft. timber frame near Seattle – as a case study.

Sim Van der Ryn, the president of Van der Ryn Architects, is a renowned leader in sustainable architecture. For more than thirty-five years, his design, planning, teaching and public leadership has advanced the viability, acceptance and knowledge base of ecological principles and practices in architecture and planning. His vision, passion and keen insight into the opportunities and challenges of every project, in concert with his collaborative skills, have made ecological design a real solution for our times.

The origins informing his work emerged in the early years of his life. His family fled from war torn Holland to the outskirts of New York City. There, he sought refuge from those unhappy times in nearby deserted marshes, beaches and vacant lots where he found an inner calm in the midst of an unfamiliar order and fascinating forms of life. The unspoken tragedy that he and his family left behind along with his experiences in nature imprinted him with a lifelong concern for social justice, equity and ecology.

Trained as an architect with a degree from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; licenses from California and New Mexico; and certification from the National Council of Architectural Registration, the theme of Sim's career in design, teaching and research has been applying principles of physical and social ecology to architecture and environmental design.

Throughout his professional life, Sim has pioneered sustainable design at the community scale and the building specific scale. He has designed single family and multi-family housing; community facilities; retreat, resort and health centers; schools and learning facilities; office buildings; commercial buildings; and planned communities. In each project, he has pioneered new technologies, systems, materials and design solutions to create environments that are sensitive to place and climate, responsive to human needs and that place the highest regard on both the integrity of ecological systems and the quality of life.

Appointed California State Architect by Governor Jerry Brown, he developed the nation's first government-initiated energy efficient office building program; and led adoption of energy standards and disability access standards for all construction in California. In this capacity, he was responsible for planning and design of all state facilities including the design and management of the State Park System.

As an educator and researcher, Sim has played a major role in bringing ecological design awareness and practice to children and adults of all ages. While a Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley, a position he held for over thirty years, Sim was a key force in establishing Berkeley’s international reputation as a leading school focusing on issues of socially and environmentally responsible design.

Sim also founded the Farallones Institute which helped to create national awareness of “ecologically integrated living design.” The Farallones Institute designed, built and managed an urban and a rural research/teaching center for studying appropriate technologies, energy-efficiency, organic agriculture, land restoration, community design and ecologically sustainable energy and waste systems, design and construction. The work started by the Farallones Institute continues today at the Ecological Design Institute (EDI), Van der Ryn Architects' non-profit partner. EDI offers training, education, and research services in ecological design to businesses, government agencies, professional organizations and educational institutions.

Sim has also written several cutting edge books about sustainable planning and design including Sustainable Communities (1986) with Peter Calthorpe and Ecological Design (1996) with Stuart Cowan.

For his leadership and innovation, Sim has won numerous honors and awards including:

• Marin County Economic Commission Environmental Values and Resources Award, 2003
• Goff Chair of Innovative Architecture, University of Oklahoma, 2001
• Sustainability Trailblazer Award, Marin Community Development Agency (2000)
• John M. McPhail, Jr. Business Award, Marin Conservation League (2000)
• Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts Fellowship (1997)
• Rockefeller Scholar in Residence, Bellagio, Italy (1997)
• President’s Award for Planning, American Society of Landscape Architects (Colorado Chapter), Arbolera de Vida Master Plan, Albuquerque, New Mexico (1997)
• Nathaniel Owings Award, California Council American Institute of Architects (1996)
• Commendation for Excellence in Technology, California Council American Institute of Architects (1981)
• Progressive Architecture Merit Award, Marin Solar Village (1981)
• Special Award, California Council American Institute of Architects (1978)
• Lindisfarne Fellow (1978)
• Guggenheim Fellow (1971)
• Governor's Award for Excellence in Design, Migrant Farm Labor Community Design (1968)

In awarding the Nathaniel Owings Award to Sim in 1996, the American Institute of Architects said, “In recognition of your countless contributions to the built and natural environments through the integration of design, education and research. Throughout your career as a visionary architect, teacher, and writer, you have paved the way for positive change... A leader and pioneer of energy efficient and sustainable design, your bold initiation... has established a proven and imperative direction for the architectural profession.” See his full résumé at www.vanderryn.com/va/index-about.html.

Fee: $125 Guild members, $150 non-members, includes lunch.