We’re currently developing some ideas for a rooftop with stunning 360 degree views of San Francisco, shown here looking out at the Mission, Noe Valley, Twin Peaks and Sutro Tower. We’re navigating SF rooftop regulations, egress, and our infamous microclimates.
More to come…
March 07, 2010, 4:30pm Comments
Not too long ago we did a website for Oakland-based Chilean filmmaker Majo Calderon. Her films typically deal with social and environmental issues, such as the excessive coastal development threatening Puerto Rico’s beaches in The Edge of the Sea, a short documentary that has won numerous awards and is currently making the rounds at film festivals the world over.
We designed a simple and straightforward site on the Wordpress platform that achieves the desired effect, a no-frills showcase of work.
March 07, 2010, 12:56am Comments
It’s shamefully past due, but since we’ve decided to actually use this BLOG with some frequency, I suppose I should announce that we recently launched our website, much love to Alex Fernandez for all the brilliant code that made it possible.
There you’ll find the completed Leland Tea shop, MXD MSG, and a few older projects. We’ll be sharing several new and upcoming projects right here on the blog over the next few days, a bit of an update on what we’ve been up to, as well a look at our new space in the Mission district of SF.
March 06, 2010, 11:07pm Comments
Joshua Prince-Ramus of REX encourages architects to step up and take responsibility not only for concept, but also execution in design. He then reinforces his point by exhibiting the transformative qualities of the recently completed Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas. Having seen a few talks with Prince-Ramus, I have to say he’s a fantastic speaker and very articulate.
Warning: The video has a 19 minute runtime, so grab a tea/coffee/beer and enjoy.
via TEDxSMU
February 01, 2010, 3:50pm Comments
Caleb Duarte, an Oakland-based chicano artist, has been working with themes of “home”. His latest project is a mix of sculptor and performance called “Casas Voladoras” (Flying houses).
Casas Voladoras is an ongoing collaborative performance art project focusing on experiences of global migration, mobility, the moving monument and oral histories specifically dealing with communities and recent immigrants from the Americas. It is a one-week intensive workshop using art and performance, ritual and moving theater for the empowerment in telling our own stories.
Performance art workshops will be held at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, spring 2010.
His earlier works evoke a sense of emotion attached to the idea of “home”. He uses a mix of hand rendering and built pieces made from found wood, concrete, and gypsum board.
KQED SPARK did a segment on Caleb in 2007: click here.
December 15, 2009, 5:33pm Comments
Since 2005 fashion designer Scott Schuman has been taking photos of (mostly) regular people he encounters on the streets of New York, Paris and Milan for his blog, The Sartorialist.
I thought I could shoot people on the street the way designers looked at people, and get and give inspiration to lots of people in the process. My only strategy when I began The Sartorialist was to try and shoot style in a way that I knew most designers hunted for inspiration.
Schuman’s work has resulted in his blog being hugely influential in both fashion and photography realms. He now shoots for publications including French Vogue, Elle and GQ. Above is his recently released book, a collection of his favorite images from over the years, accompanied by some commentary. I was very pleased to find that not only is the book a sublime catalog of great personal style, it’s also an outstanding collection of portraits that captures perfectly the feeling of people-watching while walking down a city street.
December 05, 2009, 3:13pm Comments
The power of architecture to change the world is an idea that many a design student believes in. Recently, an inspirational speech given by Professor Irma Ramirez at U.C. Berkeley regarding her and her students’ work on a Low Cost Sustainable Tijuana Housing Prototype, is helping to reinforce that belief. The prototype was built using local accessible materials and passive heating/cooling systems at a minimal cost while being socially responsive to the communities’ needs; a poverty stricken immigrant population on the Mexico-US border.
Reminiscent of Samuel Mockbee’s Rural Studio, the Tijuana project has an even tighter construction budget of < $1000, and is limited to using materials and building systems that local residents can reproduce and utilize according to their own needs.
The design is an academic collaboration with architecture students at Cal Poly Pomona, the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, Corazon (a local non-profit), and families in Tijuana, Mexico. Their work won them the NCARB prize in 2008.
See the presentation boards here
December 04, 2009, 7:25am Comments
Jacques Herzog of HdM discusses plans for the Tate Modern gallery extension.
December 03, 2009, 2:02am Comments
Current TV’s Embedded series puts viewers up close and personal with various musical acts, having featured such artists as Mos Def and the Silversun Pickups. This episode centers on one of my favorite artists, Common. We see him on tour promoting his latest album at radio shows, record store signings, and live on stage. We also get a panel of Common’s colleagues talking about why he’s so dope. Also on offer: thrift store shopping in San Francisco with Lykke Li, and an acoustic performance in a Paris alley with Bloc Party.
So kick back and check out the video, you’ll be very glad you did.
via okayplayer.
November 25, 2009, 9:17pm Comments
Our buddies at WSDIA | WeShouldDoItAll recently updated their website with some new (sexy) work including a cover for the New York Times Magazine, identity work for Nike’s Flywire technology, and some Nike US Open t-shirts (above). Check it out!
November 13, 2009, 6:15pm Comments
