A good friend of mine just sent me the link to the UpCycle site. UpCycle takes shipping containers and transforms them into amazing housing. I found one plan for a structure in Flagstaff, AZ (A place I might want to live one day).
In a rural town in northeast Alabama, four families live in four very interesting homes. Twice yearly these families kindly open their doors to visitors from across the nation, in hopes of inspiring personal responsibility and teaching people about sustainable living. The 3-hour walking tour includes a dodeca-yurt, an underground home, a strawbale house, and a homemade house that combines dozens of passive strategies for self-sustaining, eco-friendly living.
A living wall is a wonderful solution for improving the quality of the air inside our home or office. The plants will filter the air, enrich it with oxygen, and stabilize the humidity level. I love designing green walls since they free other surfaces of plants, minimizing the risk of damage to furniture and flooring. One way of installing living walls inside your home or outside, is a Wally Pocket - a flexible container made out of breathable felt derived from recycled plastic bottles (PET). Thanks to the moisture barrier, it is safe to use indoors.
Last week I did some leg work to see what’s happening in the design world on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles. Spring is definitely visible, and not only on the outside (my friend Shelly and I had a wonderful time walking the streets of L.A. on a beautiful, sunny day). The modern furniture store displays were shouting “Don’t you know that summer is right around the corner?!”
I was reading this piece here: http://wp.me/p1RlA2-eM I wrote some time ago and it got me thinking about how much I adore Spanish history and architecture. I have dedicated whole boards via http://pinterest.com/maddiesplace_NC/ to Spanish Architecture & Miami. I realize this could become a series but I promise to keep it short...
Once again, we traverse the streets of New York to be dazzled and entertained. This trip was no exception. We hopped the subway to Greenwich Village and did our annual trek through SoHo, Canal Street and Tribeca.
The energy on the street was wonderful, the sun was shining, the vendors were selling their wares, and good food was waiting for us at the Dutch. I got my raw bar fix, and my comprades got their home style American fare.
Not as much good street art, but an amazing quintet, singing one of my ultimate faves, 'My Girl'.
The second phase of the High Line just opened in Manhattan. It is an amazing elevated park walk way. Community activism, support from the City of New York, and some amazing landscape and architectural design make this a must walk/see for New Yorkers and their multitudes of visitors.
The Lot, a public plaza, provides food and beverages and great music, with a communal atmosphere to prime you for your ascent to the elevated rails transformed into a public park.
Join me on my journey and walk the rails. It's the new hobo style.
Modern Emprie is a company set up to promote young aritst such as Alec Finlay, selling not only thier original works, but also prints that allow the artists to get exposure, but also a little bit of money it what will be an edspecially testing time for emurging artists, given the current economic climate.
A few and upcoming posts on ghost towns in Colorado. Founded in the 1800s, most of these towns were very successful gold and silver mining towns. The history of the places are amazing. Lots of legends of hauntings, deaths, and other historical facts. Also, these places are a very cheap and fun way to spend your vacation. All posts are complete with pictures.
Should public entities be able to regulate the art private companies display in their buildings? The catch? In order to have large construction approved, many cities require that the buildings provide public spaces with art, but do they have the right to determine what this art should be?
Should public entities be able to regulate the art private companies display in their buildings? The catch? In order to have large construction approved, many cities require that the buildings provide public spaces with art, but do they have the right to determine what this art should be?
Maynard Hale Lyndon and Lu Wendel Lyndon are pioneers in bringing modern interior design to the United States. They have a history worth repeating and it starts with Design Research Store in the early 1950's and continues today with Placewares in Gualala, California.
LyndonDesign is an extension of Placewares, and is currently showing Lyndon's 'Looking Box' series. Beautiful, small, three dimensional boxes, with views and composition that allow your eyes and mind to wander into surreal vignettes.
By far, Victoria Smith, author of sfgirlbybay, is my favorite author, blogger, designista and fashionista all rolled up into one fantastic site.
Today she is posting a great give-away for fashion designer lesley evers. Check out both sites, they are great.
sfgirlbybay features serial postings on subjects. My favorites, 'separated at birth' and 'tuesday's girl'. Watch out, she always has a surprise up her sleeve, and she can start your morning with just that extra design nudge to get you out of bed.
By far, Victoria Smith, author of sfgirlbybay, is my favorite author, blogger, designista and fashionista all rolled up into one fantastic site.
Today she is posting a great give-away for fashion designer lesley evers. Check out both sites, they are great.
sfgirlbybay features serial postings on subjects. My favorites, 'separated at birth' and 'tuesday's girl'. Watch out, she always has a surprise up her sleeve, and she can start your morning with just that extra design nudge to get you out of bed.
By far, Victoria Smith, author of sfgirlbybay, is my favorite author, blogger, designista and fashionista all rolled up into one fantastic site.
Today she is posting a great give-away for fashion designer lesley evers. Check out both sites, they are great.
sfgirlbybay features serial postings on subjects. My favorites, 'separated at birth' and 'tuesday's girl'. Watch out, she always has a surprise up her sleeve, and she can start your morning with just that extra design nudge to get you out of bed.
On January 23, over 150 people came to the U.C. Berkeley campus to hear Matthew Bogdanos, a colonel in the Marine reserves and a NY homicide prosecutor with an academic background in the classics, detail his efforts to save antiquities looted from the Iraq Museum in 2003.
Building homes with non-renewable materials will ultimately harm the environment; however, using reclaimed building materials from existing homes and other buildings will not only save landfills but also lower building costs. Builders of Hope in Raleigh, North Carolina is a non-profit organization that is doing just that - making homes affordable using reclaimed building materials, and people are buying.
Building a home is a daunting task, from choosing the land, to contractors, and all the finishing touches. This post is the third in a series as we document our process to build a certified green home for our family in Idaho.
Building a home is a daunting task, from choosing the land, to contractors, and all the finishing touches. This post is the third in a series as we document our process to build a certified green home for our family in Idaho.
My personal dream came true, and a new blog discovery devoted to postings of street art! Lord have mercy I would love to be in New York City, but not until it gets a little warmer.
One of my favorite street artists, asvp, is twittering, so I can circle the globe and find his work gracing the landscape.
Loving asvp and Banksy, a new interest, urban art.
Our family has taken on the daunting task of building our own Certified Green Home. Here is the first of many posts which will describe our progress, methods, and emotions over the next 5 months! This post focuses on the community we chose to live in outside of Boise, ID.
As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up a naive PC gamer. I was partial to the LucasArts games, Day o f the Tentacle, X-wing, and the like. There’s nothing like a machine with more input buttons than letters in the alphabet. Not to mention the PC was high-definition with full anti-aliasing before it was cool. So what’s one of the best games on the PC today? I have to say it's a very simple block building game in beta testing called Minecraft. The game entered beta testing on Dec. 20 and before that it was available to customers in a constantly buggy form.
Each year, nonprofit organization Canstruction, Inc. – the world’s most unique food charity– holds a design and build competition among those in the architecture and design field where the challenge is to construct fantastic, giant sized, structures made entirely out of canned food. After the structures are built, with the winners in each city chosen, the “canstructions” go on view to the general public as a unique and cohesive art exhibit.
