The skies over New York City got a little wilder late last year when Flaco, a Eurasian eagle owl escaped the Central Park Zoo. City bird watchers may also start noticing Flaco’s mechanical counterparts: UAVs—drones—approved last year for building inspections across the five boroughs.

A recent Habitat post characterized sidewalk vaults as a “Pandora’s box” of potential problems for building owners.  But that’s not the right analogy. In Greek mythology, Pandora was given a box as a gift from the gods but instructed not to open it. She couldn’t resist opening the box and out flew every evil that would henceforth plague humanity. But unlike Pandora’s box, you should enter or open vaults periodically to monitor their condition before problems escalate.

SUPERSTRUCTURES congratulates Principal Paul Millman, PE, RA for becoming a Recognized Professional of the Association for Preservation Technology (APT). The APT’s Professional Recognition program acknowledges the expertise of individuals in the various fields of preservation technology with a formal designation of achievement.

SUPERSTRUCTURES’ restoration of 145 West Broadway was previously nominated for a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award. It turned out to be a “Lucy loser,” but for its owner and the Tribeca South Historic District, it’s still worthy of recognition.

“This is what we get for leaving a work of art out in the rain.” One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s clients* made this observation about the leaking roof of her house—a recent Wright design. SUPERSTRUCTURES’ response would have been something like, “we’ll track the leak and restore the roof so it doesn’t recur.” That would have been much more useful to the client.

The application of technology to exterior restoration is years—if not decades—behind the potential of the leading edge. But stay tuned. Arthur C. Clarke’s "law" of technology inspires our campaign to push the envelope.

SUPERSTRUCTURES specializes in restoring both “skin” and “skeleton”—envelope and underlying structure. Buildings may be clad in a variety of materials, but parking structures are quintessential skeleton. Our restorations of two White Plains parking garages for Cushman & Wakefield offer good case studies.

This observation from business thought leader, Peter Drucker resonates with SUPERSTRUCTURES’ philosophy of the restoration process. Various practitioners offer building envelope restoration strategies (e.g., rebuild the parapet wall, replace flashing above lintels, reinforce corner steel columns).  But execution is a different story.

As architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, “God is in the details”—his variation of the older adage, “the Devil’s in the details.” So, whether benevolent or diabolical, we can conclude that details must be important—especially for exterior restoration.

Here’s a haunting challenge: If you had to prove you were a human user online by checking all images of gargoyles (as opposed to grotesques), which ones in this grid would you choose? First, you’d need to know the difference. What makes a gargoyle a gargoyle?