Sledge described the operation generously: the rooms teeming to the scrolled plaster ceilings with bud-heavy green stalks, the floor cabled with sprinklers, the walls lined with foil reflectors to maximize the ripening effects of the solar-spectrum lamps, the stereo chattering NPR talk radio to cover the drone of the daytime light banks, and classical music to give the plants a cultural heritage through the cool damp night.

NEWYORKER: Lostronaut

Next door, Ms. Helfand, though known for her contemporary designs, restored and preserved ornamental plaster details in the ceilings, and saved old molding and etched glass pocket doors in the living room.

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He uses hundreds of pounds of pure melted beeswax much like plaster, smoothly coating walls and ceilings until they almost resemble yellow marble except with a warm glow.

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In the Nasrid Palaces, a palace complex within the palace complex, the combination of building materials (wood, stone, ceramics and plaster) with traditional Islamic forms (intricate calligraphy, stuccoed ceilings and interwoven geometric patterns) reaches a point close to perfection.

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