All {Via}
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Feast for the Eyes
Perhaps these photos of food may be a bit much after a bit of over indulging yesterday on Thanksgiving. I guess not for me; we are in Poland . . . and had sushi last night. But, David Prince's photos are lovely still lifes and make me hungry for our own garden.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Small Structures
While researching small structures online, I was amazed at all of the massive structures that showed up! I'm still looking for many more but here a few that I liked.
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| M. Elle Design |
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| John Maniscalco Architecture |
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| Lake Flato Architects |
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| architecturalpolka.com |
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| Simpson Design Group |
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| Noel Cross Architect |
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| Ward-Young Architecture & Planning |
Oriented Strand Board
About twenty years ago while walking along the streets of Detroit, I came across a construction site partioned off for safety with oriented strand board. OSB was meant to be an inexpensive replacement for plywood as a sheathing material . . . which meant it was intended to be a sub-surface structural material to be covered up with another "final" finish. But, I fell in love with its visual texture and thought it should be freed of its cover-up.
At the time I was working on portions of the interiors of the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital for my employer, The Smith Group. It was a surprisingly contemporary building for a government project and the clients allowed the lead design architect, Jerry Rheinbold, creative license enough to design a sculptural glass chapel located inside the atrium among many other fabulous features. Jon, the model maker and "materials tester", and I played around with the OSB; rubbing dry pigments into to the face to colorize it, trying out different clear finishes to smooth the finish to the touch, etc. It did seem like it would be suitable to use as an interior wall finish. So, my schematic design for the lunchroom included colorized OSB paneling and was happily accepted by the client.
Shortly, I left for a European year long leave of absence in the middle of the project so I never saw it to fruition (not only was the client good to work with, The Smith Group was great to work for and encouraged such experiences). I did come back to my position briefly at The Smith Group and happily saw that the designer that took over my role in the project had kept the OSB design element. But, I moved to Colorado a few short months after that have never seen all of the interior photos of this project (it was over a million square feet ~ a lot of cool spaces to photograph!) and don't know if the OSB survived the evolution of the design.
I am still in love with the look of OSB. It has since been appreciated by many others for its appearance and has been used over and over for a final finish. Here is just one of the many thousands that I've come across. This is Bricks headquarters in Amsterdam:
At the time I was working on portions of the interiors of the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital for my employer, The Smith Group. It was a surprisingly contemporary building for a government project and the clients allowed the lead design architect, Jerry Rheinbold, creative license enough to design a sculptural glass chapel located inside the atrium among many other fabulous features. Jon, the model maker and "materials tester", and I played around with the OSB; rubbing dry pigments into to the face to colorize it, trying out different clear finishes to smooth the finish to the touch, etc. It did seem like it would be suitable to use as an interior wall finish. So, my schematic design for the lunchroom included colorized OSB paneling and was happily accepted by the client.
Shortly, I left for a European year long leave of absence in the middle of the project so I never saw it to fruition (not only was the client good to work with, The Smith Group was great to work for and encouraged such experiences). I did come back to my position briefly at The Smith Group and happily saw that the designer that took over my role in the project had kept the OSB design element. But, I moved to Colorado a few short months after that have never seen all of the interior photos of this project (it was over a million square feet ~ a lot of cool spaces to photograph!) and don't know if the OSB survived the evolution of the design.
I am still in love with the look of OSB. It has since been appreciated by many others for its appearance and has been used over and over for a final finish. Here is just one of the many thousands that I've come across. This is Bricks headquarters in Amsterdam:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Rugged Urbanism
Spending time in Poland at my sister-in-law's gives me time to catch up on the latest issues of British Homes & Gardens magazine. Plain English's Osea kitchen is spartan; disciplined and rigorously simple. The presentation of raw wood and metal in such a straighforward and organized way seems to elevate their stature. Polished marble in comparison, often prized for its elegance, would appear ostentatious and forced alongside.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Animal Instincts
Fur, faux and real, is all the rage again. I've been cursing myself for the last 18 months for not purchasing the vintage seventies Mongolian curly lamb vest that fit me P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y because I was short on cash. I've been taunted ever since as fur vests gained popularity. Now, even purses are getting all warm and fuzzy. The classic trapper hat and its off-spin popularized by Elmer Fudd, too adorn shop windows everywhere in the northern half of the US. At least I do have a gorgeous fur hat that was custom made for me as a gift from my recently deceased father-in-law. Thank you, Widek.
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| Calvin Klein's faux fur vest via Macy's $149.50 |
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| Rachel Roy via Macy's. On sale now for $129.99 |
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| Halston Heritage Collection faux jacket via Macy's, $375. |
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| Aldo faux fur handbag, $55 |
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| Marni Shearling and Lambswool tote, $1015 |
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| Mongolian curly lambswool scarf via FurHotWorld.com, $49.49 |
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| Pologeorgis fur hats via pologeorgis.com |
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