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Interview: Paul Kephart of Rana Creek Part IIThe final installment with Rana Creek's Exective Director. "I like to incorporate natural systems within architectural standards."
Tall, skinny ... stable. Using novel technology, S.F. tower should resist quakes, galesA new residential tower in San Francisco will feature a unique structural system with two 54,000-gallon water tanks designed to help regulate the swaying of the building in strong winds. (Slideshow, video)
Hoping Zaha's architectural fantasy will remain a form of personal therapyPhilip Kennicott shows a little love for Zaha Hadid in his review of the current retrospective of her work currently on exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
999 ideas that changed our lives"The toothbrush we use, the car we drive, the phone we answer, the chair we sit in at work — every manufactured object we buy has been pondered, argued over, sketched and prototyped. These triumphs of the designer's art, from sewing machines to iPods, are the subject of "Phaidon Design Classics," a recently issued three-volume set from London-based Phaidon Press."
LA Arch Events Calendar relaunchThe LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design has revived their weekly LA Area Architecture Events calendar.
A wider shade of pale"No longer locked into his white period (the Getty et al), Richard Meier has adopted new clients and a broader palette, one that opens up to the geography." (photos)
Sustainable IKEA?IKEA has a history of sustainable practices such as phasing out PVC (polyvinyl chloride), radically simplifying packaging, and putting together a strict environmental and social code of conduct for suppliers, and has done so without communicating their goals to the public.
Baby Products Meet Smart Design"From cribs to strollers to baby monitors, more and more products in that growing market seem to have been designed with a hip look, ergonomic features, and smarter functions."
Concrete jumble"Empty streets, wilting cabbages and floating bow-ties ... Is this really how artists perceive urban architecture?"
Interview: Paul Kephart of Rana Creek - Part 1Paul Kephart is a leading restoration ecologist and resource planner, and Exective Director of Rana Creek - a leading environmental planning and sustainable design company.
Are cities the new countries?Many of the world's great cities are already divorced from their nation-states. These mega-cities are bigger than many industrialised nations.relationship with the countries they are in.
Pitt on rebuilding New OrleansThe 'Today' show's Ann Curry talks with Brad Pitt about eco-friendly housing in the region.
The Wright sign placementDesign Observer lives up to its name with an interesting design observation at the Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum currently undergoing extensive renovations.
Capilla Lago RupancoArchidose features a "small and unassuming" modern chapel in Chile by F3 Arquitectos.
International Flora Montreal garden showMoco visited Flora and shows some of the contemporary landscapes on display.
Kew BrewWhen beer and landscape collide... you find me... face down..... in the landscape... ahem. Young's brewery in Britain has been producing a special brew with Kew grown hops, and contribution from the sale of each bottle goes work in conservation, research and education.
So succulentCactus and succulents are growing in popularity in southern California... it's about time people figure out that agaves are a bit more practical than azaleas in a desert.
Folding universe"Building structures that change their form is one of those smart ideas that wow design engineers, but can it really work in architecture? Designer Chuck Hoberman certainly thinks so and is busily developing functional applications to prove it." [free registration req'd]
Vote for Your Favorite Governors IslandChoose your favorite illustrated guideline for the parks and public spaces on the 172 acre Island in New York Harbor. Seacrest, out.
Re-thinking the post-industrial city - Detroit"Detroit is a classic 'doughnut' post-urban city, seemingly pleasant around the outside, but empty in the middle. But now it is trying hard to plug the hole in its industrial heart."
What Kind of Genius Are You?A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types – quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet. Conceptualists is certainty (Picasso, T. S. Eliot, Maya Lin). Experimentalists never know when their work is finished (Cézanne, Robert Frost, Frank Lloyd Wright).
Couple restore a classic Eichler home"At first glance, Jon and Debby Webb's Eichler home is unassuming. The lawn is manicured. The exterior is boxy. Nothing that would stop traffic along the busy route. But step inside and it is like tearing plain, brown wrapping paper away from that shiny, red bicycle under the Christmas tree."