Dave Muylle, the Eastside developer, and Shane Hagadorn, the documentarian, have matched their skills to produce a film dedicated to the restoration of a former drug house on Lansing’s Eastside.
According to Muylle, “Craftsman Style: The Movie,” is as much about respect for our built environment as it is for the skills of local carpenters, tile layers, stained glass workers and others.
The 55-minute color film has been shown at the Muskegon Film Festival and awaits acceptance into others. But Capital region movie and house lovers can catch its local premier at Lansing Community College’s (LCC) Dart Auditorium Sept. 18 at a fundraiser for the Allen Neighborhood Center.
Muylle has won numerous historic preservation awards and Hagadorn won an award for a local feature-length film, “Fairview St.” that he co-produced. The two met when Hagardorn moved next door to 124 Regent St., the so-called drug house, and Muylle was working on a house across the street. Muylle bought the problem property and the two set out to create a tribute to craftsmanship and sustainability.
Muylle breaks the term sustainability into three componenets: craftsmanship, restoration and community.
Craftsmanship refers to using the best quality materials installed in the best way possible. The result is a level of quality that is easy to maintain and will outlast the cheap stuff, he says. It also involves careful design and thinking about how material selections impact the environment.
Restoration relates to saving the embedded energy in a house by refurbishing and reusing the original parts. He explains: When it comes to our homes, fashion and style often dictate that we throw out the old and install the new. Then the original energy it took to build the old part, a window for instance, is tossed in the dump. The energy it took to cut down the tree, transport it to the mill, run the saw, and then transport the window to the site is known as embedded energy, and it has value.
Muylle says that sustainability relies on the interest and energy of people who together value buildings and places enough to properly care for them, so that future generations can use them.
It is those messages he hopes will be transmitted through the film.
See more about the renovation project here.
Source: Dave Muylle
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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