Dining by Design
November 20, 2009 at 7:21 pm | Posted in Community Service, Cool Stuff | Leave a commentTags: DIFFA, Dining by Design San Francisco, Gensler, Haworth
DIFFA (the Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids) held it’s annual Dining by Design event the past two nights at the San Francisco Design Center.
The event is always a fantastic showcase of creativity, but this year we wanted to bring the focus back on the true reason we participate in this event- to raise much-needed funds for the prevention & treatment of HIV/AIDS. In this light, we chose not to showcase a tabletop the first night. Instead, we invited participants to walk through the space, amidst hundreds of hanging ribbons with messages of hope on them. The ribbons were cut away, symbolic of removing the obstacles before us, then given to those individuals who act as ambassadors, taking the positive message out into the community.
Special thanks to our cosponsor Haworth and all the other contributors -Mission Bell, Architecture +Light, Principal Builders, Color Kinetics, Yamagiwa, 3form, Birch, Lorikatz Group, Luna, and all the volunteers! The event was a great success! We couldn’t have done it without all your help.
Habitat for Humanity
November 12, 2009 at 1:16 am | Posted in Community Service | Leave a commentTags: Community Service, Habitat for Humanity
A small group of us were introduced to Habitat for Humanity East Bay through their yearly Build-A-Thon back in April. It seems like an ideal means of giving back to the community while using (and improving) the skill sets that we’ve been trained in. They’re currently working on the Edes Avenue neighborhood in Oakland. During the Build-A-Thon we helped frame one of the 24 homes they were adding. Since then, we’ve been going back once a month to help continue the work we started. It’s always a fun time. I’m consistently amazed at the smiles on everyone’s faces even though it’s hard work and the patience despite some of our incompetencies in the construction field. It’s one thing to draw it, and another to actually build it!
They’re always looking for more volunteers (all over the country), so if you’re interested check out your local chapter and see how you can get involved.
The Hand of the Architect
October 29, 2009 at 4:28 pm | Posted in Architecture, Cool Stuff | Leave a commentTags: Moleskin, Piero Lissoni, Piero Portaluppi, renzo piano, Tadao Ando, The Hand of the Architect, Zaha Hadid
Designers have had a long love affair with moleskin sketchbooks. So, it should come as no surprise that moleskin is now releasing a collection of sketches from 110 famous architects like Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Piero Lissoni, Renzo Piano, and more. The book is a tribute to Piero Portaluppi who designed the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan. The sketches were initially auctioned off to help pay for maintenance on the building. Now, they’ve compiled them into a limited edition moleskin.
Could be a perfect Christmas present for the architect in your life!
Opportunity Green
October 27, 2009 at 4:01 pm | Posted in Design Trends, Gensler Projects | Leave a commentTags: Gensler, Gervais Tompkin, Opportunity Green
Gervais Tompkin, Design Strategy Studio Director at Gensler , uses ping-pong balls and reused cups to preview his Opportunity Green 2009 presentation on the next generation of work- happening Nov 7+8 at UCLA.
Sustainable Suites Winner
October 22, 2009 at 4:58 pm | Posted in Architecture, Competitions, Green Architecture, Hospitality, Sustainable Practices | 1 CommentTags: Haptik, IDEO, Sustainable Suites Competition, USGBC, WATG
The USGBC announced the winner of the Sustainable Suites competition yesterday. WATG & IDEO teamed up to create “Haptik”. You can see why the won, they did a great job of integrating good design with sustainability, and educating the guest in a way that doesn’t seem intrusive, but instead feels like it’s enhancing their stay. The plan dedicates over 1/3 of the room to an outdoor balcony & garden that doesn’t require conditioning and helps give a bit of green space back to the community. Many of the other more typical green features are also included: low-flow fixtures, PV panels on the hotel’s roof, a master switch to turn off all the power in the room when the guest is away, recycled materials, etc.
Hopefully, the USGBC will release other entries as well. It’s inspiring to see all the different solutions that teams came up with.
G-Journal Update
October 16, 2009 at 11:30 pm | Posted in Creative Pursuits, Green Architecture, Sustainable Practices | Leave a commentTags: 1000 journals project, G-journals
At least one of them has made their way down to Los Angeles… it’s an idea for a huge terrarium powered by methane biodigesters and solar power.
Sustainable Suites
October 6, 2009 at 8:25 pm | Posted in Competitions, Hospitality, Sustainable Practices | Leave a commentTags: ASID, Gensler, green hotel, NEWH, Sustainable Suite Design competition, USGBC
The USGBC recently sponsored a competition to create the most sustainable hotel room possible. They partnered with ASID, NEWH, and Hospitality Design Magazine and invited designers and students to put their creative minds to work. There were very few parameters- you get a 20′x20′ space, you’re graded on the major LEED categories like water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, etc., along with how it will educate guests, and finally the look of the room itself. The winning entry will be built and displayed at the Hospitality Design Expo in Las Vegas next May. All of the design solutions have to be realistic and available immediately as well since the room will be constructed.
Gensler had 2 teams enter- one from the DC office (The Eco Cocoon) and one from the LA office (Luxury Felt) and I worked with a third “rogue” team called Neru, made up of several Gensler & Glumac employees (The Perfect Night’s Sleep). Check out some images from each entry. Check back for more details on each one in later posts.
Luxury Felt Room View
Perfect Night's Sleep Room View
Eco-cocoon Room View
ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE
October 1, 2009 at 8:42 pm | Posted in Competitions, Creative Pursuits, Sustainable Practices | Leave a commentTags: Alt use, alternative uses for packaging competition, pringles
I’m a firm believer that the companies should be responsible for introducing a product into the world should also be in charge of figuring out how it leaves. But, the sad truth is that a lot of companies still don’t care and we’re left trying to figure out what to do with the trash.
Case in point: The Pringles can. It’s made up of at least 3 materials. You can recycle the lid, but due to the way the metal base is attached to the cardboard tube, it’s practically impossible to recycle. So, for the AltUse competition for packaging, a group of us got together and did a little brainstorming on ways to reuse the can. We came up with most of the ideas over drinks on a Friday night, so you can tell we had some fun with it, but the core message remains- unless we start rethinking the way we make the packaging in the first place, we’re going to have to get really creative if we want to find ways to keep it all out of the landfill.
F STOP
September 23, 2009 at 10:08 pm | Posted in Art | Leave a commentTags: Audrey Jones, female photographers, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Lisa Wiseman, Liz Cockrum, Mary Celojko, Mia Nakano
The San Francisco office has a fantastic new exhibit up called F-STOP. It’s running through December 4th and features all female photographers. My personal favorites are part of the In Between project by Julia Fullerton-Batten. It’s a study of adolescent females’ transition to adulthood and I find them so visually intriguing. We’re lucky to have her work here since she also has shows currently at the Future Exhibition in Cologne & London, among others. It’s definitely worth checking out if you can. Public viewing is from Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:30. Other fantastic photographers that are also featured in the show include: Audrey Jones, Liz Cockrum , Lisa Wiseman, Mia Nakano, and Mary Celojko.
Unleash your creativity
September 17, 2009 at 12:45 am | Posted in Creative Pursuits | 4 CommentsTags: 1000 journals, G-journals, Gensler
You’d think since we work in a design profession that we would get our fill of creative energy during the typical work day, but like most jobs, a lot of our time ends up being spent in meetings, on the phone, writing email, and any number of other very decidedly, unimaginative tasks. So, in an effort to create an outlet for all this excess creative energy, a small group within the office has started G-journals. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the 1000 journals project where a set of blank journals gets passed between random individuals. (The 1000 journals project was started out of San Francisco back in 2000 when 100 books were left in random cafes, bars, parks, etc.) Each person takes a 2 page spread to create whatever their heart desires and then they pass it on. You never know what you’ll end up with, but it will be exciting to find out. We’ll post pictures periodically as they resurface and keep you updated on our little social experiment.
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Authors
rebecca
Penny Lewis
andrewfons
Linda P.
TomOwens
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