The Journey to Noble Home
Owner Noah Grunberg let his personal evolution of ideas shape the Noble Home.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Disillusioned as an Industrial Design undergraduate, Noah experienced the control of the corporation over the development and implementation of consumer products, and the lack of control that designers had to solve design problems. No matter how true, this became a deep seated perception as an idealistic student.
He then turned to architecture after reading the Autobiography of Frank Lloyd Wright, which stated a
powerful argument for the morality of design, and the how the beautiful was created by following simple
axioms of nature. This flipped the whole notion of design over - that it is not a pursuit of aesthetics, but the pursuit of functionality and integrity and faith. Beauty will be the necessary result of a pure and honest design approach.
TALIESIN
In 1990, Grunberg made his journey to the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and an apprenticeship to the Taliesin Architects there, working on construction projects, design jobs, and immersing himself in the intentional community that was started back in 1932. The stay at Taliesin allowed Grunberg to hone and practice his notion of what appropriate
dwelling design is and the construction techniques that support such ideas.
JASONOAH Design-Build
Soon after, along with fellow Taliesin Apprentice Jason Silverman, Noah formed JASONOAH design-build. Over the next 12 years, they designed and built homes, renovations, and urban loft build-outs for people interested in good modern design and green building.
Construction costs were rising, less people were building quality houses, more people turned to "builder" homes, modulars, even manufactured homes (aka mobile homes): affordable, yes, but environmentally savvy, no. The JASONOAH team knew there must a better way to bring good design to those with modest means - highly custom design and construction was certainly inspiring, but not necessary for an appropriate, site specific, "organic" design.
Why not a new architectural vernacular? A simple, regional architecture that can be modified to meet site characteristics, orientation to the sun, etc. JASONOAH researched the modular housing industry in hopes of finding an existing infrastructure that could help execute such a goal. Coming up against an industry slow to change, Grunberg formed the idea of the Noble Home, knowing that affordability does not preclude good design, nor does it preclude high quality, time tested materials. With the realistic ability for owners to invest their own sweat equity, an easy to assemble kit of parts may be the solution for high quality affordability. Noble Home continues to improve its building system and accompanying documentation to meet these important goals.