June, 2000

The Making of Indoorvillage: Part One

Dzija and I got fed up with living in regular apartments and decided that together we'd find a raw loft-space and turn it into an indoor Tiki-themed "village." Instead of rooms, we were going to build huts that were going to be covered in bamboo and have thatched roofs.

After weeks of fruitless searching, we finally found a space we liked in a still-functioning cardboard box factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Dzija and I brought our friend Amy Albano into the mix and the three of us signed a five year lease on a 1,250 sq. foot room with 16' ceilings.

Here's when were getting ready to build. At this point, Amy and I were still living at our old apartment down in Gowanus, Brooklyn and Dzija was sleeping in the tent that you see.

The place came with a fridge, stove and an 8' x 4' bathroom that had a toilet and a shower and that was it!

dzija — We decided that in order to maximize the space, we would need to move the door into the place from the right corner, over to right where Dzija is standing in this photo.

Our skylight (over what will eventually become the kitchen).

Here's the workshop that we setup in the "front area." See that giant stack of 2' x 6's...they were all handed up through the windows one at a time. Ughh.

barlow — Barlow stands in what will eventually become his room.

amy a, barlow, dzija, me — The gang hanging from the first joist-header we put in (in my room).

First person on the second floor! First person on the second floor!

dzija, me — Dzija and I building the ceiling of Barlow's room (which will also eventually become the floor in Dzija's bedroom).

Amy's arm and the rest of the framing support for the second floor.

With the framing of my room complete, I cut out the floor plate so that I can hang my door.