NE 99th Progress

Progress continues to be made at NE 99th Street. It's going to look great when the lawn comes in! The clients are painting their house as well, so they'll have a complete transformation by summer. I can't wait for the big day.

It can be done...

As I sit and stress and become overwhelmed, it is heartening to know that Rome, despite what everyone says, can in fact be built in a day. The project, "24 Hour Roman Reconstruction Project, or, Building Rome in a Day," was designed by Liz Glynn and is on view at The New Museum's Generational: Younger Than Jesus show. Rome was built and smashed all in a mere 24 hour period. Whatever it is, it can be done!

Palm Springs Calling

I'm a huge fan of the Ace Hotel in Portland, Stumptown coffee practically in the lobby, amazing restaurant, Clyde Common, practically in the lobby, Powell's Books, one block away. Oh man, happy days. All of that said, and those are pretty amazing perks, the best part about that hotel is the design.

Now that the Palm Springs Ace is open, I think its time for a trip to the desert. The interiors and courtyards there look like they quote the midcentury without being slavish, and have some fond memories of the 70's and 80's floating around too. I can definitely picture the lovely ladies from Heart sitting on one of those couches. The thing that seems so promising about this design style is that it has all of that nostalgia but manages to stay fresh and contemporary at the same time. Maybe I just missed out on growing up in the desert in a yurt in the 70's, and this is all just another dreamy recreation. Whatever it is, the minimalism, salvage roughness, and vintage leather are workin' for me.

I'm in love with a very small house

I think it probably violates a cardinal rule of blogdom, to blog about something seen on another blog, but I wont resist. I saw this house on Arch Daily and I did not want to ever forget its sweet little size and shape. Its amazing how it quietly disappears from the side, and from the front, looks happy during the day, and at night looks like a sleeping muppet. It was designed by architects Alan Chu and Christiano Kato out of Sao Paulo, and the house is for a caretaker of a larger property, built on top of the existing stone house he occupied. Its located on Ihabela Island, near Sao Paulo, Brasil.

Lighting Ideas

In hunting for a midcentury-appropriate outdoor light, its hard to beat a globe. This light is by Artimede, and I'm thinking it looks even cooler in contrast to this rough, plant covered wall.

Point Bonita

I love the Bay Area! I took this photo on my lunch break while I was at a weekend class for the LARE Exam at the YMCA Point Bonita. It was a busy, intense weekend, but the setting made it all better.

Jell-o Architecture

Sam Bompas and Harry Parr are doing something seriously sublime with their architecture degrees. From the New York Times today, “All the desserts in the market were very stodgy, and we know from history that jellies were once considered to be the pinnacle of sophistication...”

And those pots ain't so shabby 'neither.

Designing a landscape for a mid-century ranch has been a lot of fun. As you can imagine, there is no shortage of retro-styled odds and ends on the market. The Architectural Pottery planters reissued by Vessel USA stand out of the crowd, fo sho.

Nice looking' bench you got there

Most benches made from recycled lumber look like something you'd find at a Denny's or a creepy rest stop. I'm pretty impressed with what I've seen from  Loll so far - but do they pass the comfort test...

Progress at NE 99th

The landscape contractor, Teufel is doing excellent work at NE 99th, and we are on schedule to have a beautiful, established landscape by wedding day. The clients are a joy to work with, and we are all thrilled to see our collaborative design slowly emerge from the mud.

A trip to Portland

I recently traveled to Portland and Seattle, to see how construction was progressing on the NE 99th Street residence, and to visit a new project site. The trip was wonderful, the projects look great, and I was able to visit family and old friends, and spend one fantastic day walking through Portland's Hoyt arboretum with my parents. Breathtaking and oh so green and mossy!

Required Viewing for Landscape Architects

OK, The Last Year at Marienbad can be infuriating (remember those SNL Calvin Klein ad spoofs in the 90's?) but also beautiful, haunting and unforgettable. I don't know if I've ever seen a designed landscape featured so centrally in a film. The movie is a rambling, surreal, dream/nightmare, and the Chanel wardrobe and 1960's hair and makeup don't hurt either.

Another design crush...

David Chipperfield kept some amazing war damaged walls in his restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin. The gesture is an awesome sight (from what I can tell from the New York Times article) especially with the clean white stairs in intense contrast. Unfortunately a trip to Berlin may have to wait.

Construction begins at NE 99th in Portland!

We are breaking ground next week at the NE 99th Street project in Portland! The house has great, mid-century bones, and the landscape is intended to be a contemporary complement to them. Best of all, the design will be the setting for the clients' summer wedding, and I feel so honored to be a part of creating such an important, meaningful space for them.

La Salle Street Residence

This small project was a wonderful exercise in editing for me while I was working at Meyer + Silberberg. We discovered beautiful existing tree ferns hiding in a bramble of overgrown camellias and rhododendrons, and relocated others from elsewhere on the property. By simplifying the palette and removing the visual clutter, we were able to bring some strength and clarity to the front yard of this beautiful Piedmont home.

PCCD Offices

Third Nature provided design services for the PCCD Offices in Los Altos, California. Selected pavements were all high albedo (to reduce heat island effect) and plants selected were low water, low maintenance species.

More architectural art...

Diasuke Ueno is another artist that is giving me design goosebumps... Greg and I saw this work in Japan a few years ago and it makes me think of  Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities.

Prints by Salomon Huerta

I just came across these prints by Salomon Herta, and was charmed. They are so sweet, plain and grandiose at the same time.

Fibrogen Headquarters During Construction

Here is Fiborgen Headquarters during construction last summer. If you have not yet seen the photos by Drew Kelly of the finished product, do check them out in the post below.

Fibrogen Headquarters

While I was an associate at Meyer + Silberberg Land Architects I worked on Fibrogen's San Francisco Mission Bay Headquarters with David Meyer and Ramsey Silberberg. My focus was primarily on the plant selection, along with the walls, amphitheater and stair  design. Construction was completed this year, and Drew Kelly of Drew Kelly Photography took some great shots. Enjoy!