Name: Roberto Gil
Location: Vinegar Hill — Brooklyn, New York
These are images of my back yard in Vinegar Hill after I covered it for a big party. I used marine fir plywood and plastic and built it in two days. Then I took out all the furniture from my living room and dinning room. It worked great because it rained a bit that night.
The challenge was to cover a span of 14 feet with plywood that is only 8 feet long. So I cut strips of plywood 4" wide x 8' long and joined them with a small piece of plywood and screws. Then I bent them in an arch shape using a very thin steel cable. The bow shaped arches are very light and yet very strong because they are holding the internal tension produced by the chord.
The corner posts were also made of plywood strips screwed together forming a hollow column. Inside them I run the electrical. We built this structure in my shop in one day and installed it in my back yard in another day.
The party was fabulous! I had 150 guests, a salsa band, two DJ's, a bartender and a cook grilling steak all night.
Thanks Roberto!
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i don't understand why you went through the bother of having the party outside because you just ended up mimicking the interior of the house. It ended up not being the "outdoors" at all, but just the inside brought outside.
Reminds me of the film "Slaughterhouse Five"...
...the scenes in the transparent dome on the planet Tralfamadore furnished w/ furniture from the Sears & Roebucks catalog.
To respond to msjessica, the reason I covered the back yard is because I had to move the furniture out of the house so I could fit my guests and have space to dance. I had about 70 people inside the house and the backyard was packed with another 50 people or so. For a while I thought of doing the reverse, having the band outside and the food and drinks inside but the noise would have been a problem with my neighbors.
So bringing the inside to the outside started as a necessity but turned out to be in my view an amusing scene of deliberate artifice.
I think it's great! Did you make the stools also?
Impressive job Roberto! What an awesome solution and in 2 DAYS...*applause*
(as a side note, why are the snarky haters always the first to comment?)
I think that you did a great job!And for 120 people and a band, you probably really needed the extra space.
I'm impressed with the bent-wood roof that you made. Did you keep the structure up permanently?
Yes, I made the stools, some shelves for the bottles and a bar for inside that I still have to photograph.
Brilliant!
I so want to be your friend.
Love the structure but hate the plastic. I'm torn.
Awesome!
This is very impressive but wouldn't it get kinda hot and smelly in there after a while?
This was a temporary enclosure that ended up staying for a bit longer than expected but without the plastic.
Wow! I'm impressed that you were able to put together a space like that so fast and have it come out looking pretty lovely. Nice work.
wow looks great, i love the simple furniture. Would you say the furniture is simple enough for a novice working with wood to do?
ive been wanting some very simple benches and a table for my balcony, these look pretty good and i think the construction looks simple enough where I wouldn't even need detailed plans to follow.
Brilliant job! Great solution for your party situation.
I wonder if it could be retrofitted with some corrugated plastic panels to become a greenhouse or other such more permanent structure. That's what I would do. Wanna help? I'm sure that it would take *me* more than two days to construct.
This is awesome! (Not to mention surprisingly quick to build!)
Something like this could be nice in sunny weather if you trained vines up the posts so they could form a little "natural" shade.
Really inspiring - like the world's biggest softbox. Thanks!
It reminds me of some of the structures that get set up in my old neighborhood during Sukkoth!
great job! sure beats renting a tent, and looks a whole lot better.
could you make me one cost?
It looks a little depressing to me. I'd prefer a tent. I'd feel safer in a professionally set-up tent.
Would like more detail on how you did the arches. I like curved look and have been trying to find something similar without huge cost. Any drawings? The pictures don't do your ingenuity justice.
Wow! I don't understand the negative comments. This is amazing and impressive. I can barely build a sandwich in 2 days. Great job!
Love it... so many possibilities here, a metal roof perhaps and canvas curtains for a rustic look, or sheers everywhere and more lanterns, the framework is amazing and beautiful in its simplicity.... I wish I had been at your party!