design

Last Tuesday’s snow fall finally fully succumbed to this week’s warming trend. A brief walk around my property the other day revealed the presence of many, many daffodil buds sending their green arms of praise and golden heads of happiness up and out of the ground, rousing themselves from this winter’s protracted cold, ready for the spring throw-down to officially commence.
Their arrival reminded me that it’s time to get started growing seeds. Accordingly, today’s small measure covers the fundamentals of indoor seed starting. Whereas some seeds are directly sown, meaning they do best by simply being planted outdoors, straight into the soil, others benefit from indoor sowing, leisurely taking their time to germinate, sprout, and transition (oh so gradually) to the wilds of the great outdoors. The backs of individual seed packets will detail which route, direct sow or sown indoors, would best suit your seed’s needs. When planning your approach, there are a few tips to keep in mind for seed sowing success (or, at least, we hope success is the outcome!). To begin, base your sowing times on the calender. We all live in far-flung locales, with wide variation in climates. A plant’s “growing season” is the period between your region’s last spring frost and its first fall frost (those designations apply to residents of the Northern Hemisphere; Southern Hemisphere folks need simply reverse that order, with growing seasons running from fall to spring). Base your planting times on your region’s growing season. If a seed packet indicates to sow indoors 6 weeks before the last spring frost, and you live in a region where that occurs sometime towards the end of April, then you’ll need to get busy sowing around the first or second week in March.

CLICK HERE for the rest of ashley’s post and step-by-step photos for growing seeds indoors!
(more…)

America’s vehicles are about to get a little greener. This week, the White House is finalizing rules that will set the first national standard for controlling the country’s car and truck emissions. The new regulations aim to raise vehicles’ fuel economies to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, a 42 percent increase from the current average of 25 miles per gallon. Read the rest of White House Finalizes First Ever National Law to Limit Car Emissions Permalink |
Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: average fuel economy, department of transportation, epa, EPA regulates greenhouse gas emissions, fuel economy standards, national standard for car emissions, new fuel economy standards, Office of Management and Budget, regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars

Bjarko | Serra Architects have designed a home on Hat Island, which is near Seattle, Washington. (Want more? See NOTCOT.org and NOTCOT.com)

...

artist's impression of the shanghai chandeliers by day
image by sparch
sparch architects are responsible for the master plan for shanghai's new international cruise terminal.
the 800-metre long riverfront site is located north of the historical 'bund' centre of shanghai
and will become a new gateway into the metropolis, accommodating three 80,000-tonne cruise ships
at any one time, with an expected passenger flow of over 1.5 million people per year.
this project is a response to the numerous cruise companies competing to include shanghai on their
south east asian routes.

the shanghai authorities have had to address the urgent requirement to open up 'breathing spaces'
and bravely set down a target to free up 30 percent of the municipality as open space for citizens to enjoy.
all ahead of the shanghai world expo 2010, whose theme is 'better city, better life', the cruise terminal
site forms part of this vision to create a green corridor along the huangpu river, extending as far south
as the expo site itself, between the lu pu and nan pu bridges.

artist's impression of the shanghai chandeliers at night
image by sparch

the architectural design of the terminal considers the herculean scale of the cruise ships that
will dock there. its total construction area is 260,000 sqm, but the brief required that 50 percent
of this be placed underground, including the cruise terminal passenger facilities
(planned by frank repas architects). part of this was to free up most of the site so it could serve
as green park terracing along the water's edge. sparch's challenge was dealing with this 'underworld'
and the architecture coming out of it. their solution was to create ambiguity as to where the
ground plane is, by opening up a honeycomb of sunken courtyards. the concept also explores the
idea of ripples in the landscape being amplified into standing crystal waves that wrap over the buildings.
this augmented over time into a second skin that protects the commercial office spaces from their
due south orientation, and is populated by semi-outdoor balcony spaces overlooking the huangpu river.
the riverfront faces the city, and illuminates it at night into a herring bone array of delicate curved masts
that tie the pavilion buildings together. a gap appears in the middle - a glazed table top supports
amorphous pods on cables. one, two and four-storey pods contain cafes, bars and restaurants,
hovering over a public performance space below.

artist's impression of the shanghai chandeliers by day
image by sparch

the site includes a 400 metre long pedestrian street, with a sequence of event spaces,
a media garden for festival events and a food court. the path flows from the west,
leading to a crystal art gallery at the east end. the public winter garden forms the centrepiece
of the plan with its 40-metre tall glass clad portal which creates a dramatic stage where thousands
of people can gather.

artist's impression of the shanghai chandeliers at night
image by sparch

the 'shanghai chandelier' is one of the highlights of the new pavilion. it is 40-m high
glass-clad portal, which overlooks the public park and waterfront.

night view of wave facades
image by christian richters

all six office pavilions which make up the terminal contain ventilated atria, topped with
louvered skylights. during mid-season, air circulates through the facades across the office spaces
towards the central atrium where it exhausts at the top. pixelated window openings across the
office facades provide cooling. the double skin facade traps UV heat from entering the buildings
in the summer and acts as an insulating blanket during the winter.

arup engineers has designed a 'river water cooling system,' a first in shanghai for a
commercial application, which will draw water from the huang pu river and combine it,
via heat exchangers, with the HVAC system. this system will greatly reduce the energy consumption
of the buildings during the summer months. canopies above the office pavilion roofs will be carpeted
in a 'photovoltaic membrane', sized to offset the energy requirement of lighting the landscape
and public spaces in the evenings. by maximizing natural daylight and ventilation, and introducing
the 'river water cooling system', along with using photovoltaic membranes, the development is trying
to follow the philosophy of an 'environmentally sustainable development', to reduce energy consumption
and operation costs.

inside the wave facades
image by christian richters

illuminated glass balconies
image by johnson xu

crystal wave facades and cloaking pavilions
image by christian richters

image by johnson xu

office and retail pavilions
image by christian richters

view of pudong towers from between the pavilions
image by christian richters

shanghai chandelir under construction
image by christian richters

shanghai chandelir under construction
image by christian richters
project info:
GFA (area above ground): 130,073 sqm
total area (including basements): 263,448 sqm
project completion -
phase 1: riverfront buildings, october 2009
phase 2: high rise tower and winter garden, april 2010
credits
architecture, landscape, and interior design: sparch
design director: john curran
team: jeb beresford, gabriel briamonte, conyee chan, jan clostermann, sofia david, carl harding,
zhang hua, ala pratt, joe ren, sven steiner
client: shanghai port international cruise terminal ltd.
engineer: arup hong kong
façade engineer: RFR paris
lighting consultant: lighting design partnership

These anatomical Oscars from D*Face appeared all over LA for one night only. (Want more? See NOTCOT.org and NOTCOT.com)

it’s never too early to start the day with something sweet, so i wanted to share this delicious recipe- and cute decoration idea from allyson baker. allyson announced she was going to have a baby by baking her co-workers these delicious cupcakes with fun little wrappers and tags. i think the idea is so sweet- and so is the recipe- so i couldn’t resist sharing a quick recipe for orange chocolate mini cupcakes from allyson this morning before we jump into our main recipe later this morning. click here for allyson’s full post and the recipe. thanks (and congratulations!) allyson!
*over at the d*s guest blog simone is finishing up her small space living week with a post on hanging and hidden storage. click here to check it out!

It’s Tiny-Ass Apartment’s last day here on the Design*Sponge guest blog! *Sniff* I’mma miss you all! I want to thank Grace again for giving me this opportunity, and to thank you readers for welcoming me onto your computer screens.

There are SO MANY more TAA tips and tricks to talk about (*cough*Visitmysite!*cough, cough*), but today I’ll leave you with some storage n’ sourcin’. First up, here are some ways to cram even more storage into your teensy home.

If you’re short on floorspace, you’re usually left with no choice but to climb the walls. This can be tricky for a renter of a TAA — you can’t put a bunch of holes in the wall without putting a hole in your security deposit. Still, a screw here or there never hurt anyone. (That’s what she said.) Just fill the holes with toothpaste later, no one will know.

If you’re a bad little boy or girl, you have to go stand in the corner. If you’re a good TAA-dweller, you use your corner for even more storage. These glass shelves are from The Container Store.

A few months ago I posted about using hanging wire fruit baskets in your bathroom to make up for a lack of sink countertop space; this basket is from Target.

IKEA Hacker reader Angela came up with a clever solution to not having any room for a nightstand: mount a basket and a cup holder on the wall.

Back at floor level, there are a ton of options for furniture that can pull double duty.

Ottomans are one of the most popular pieces to provide storage space. I’ve chosen the ones above because they look damn good while they’re at it. From left: The P’Kolino Ottoman from Clever Tomato, the Round Water Hyacinth Stool from Supermarket, the Dwell Storage Bench from Target, and the Canary Nail Button Storage Ottoman from Target.

Even your dining table can hold a few odds n’ ends for you. This one from Velocity not only has a square drawer that’ll hold your fast food ketchup packet cache, but the leaves drop down and out of the way.

Don’t be afraid to completely disregard the original purpose of a piece of furniture. Try a piano bench instead of a traditional bench or stool anywhere in your home, even if your musical talents are limited only to Rock Band on Easy Mode. The bench is the perfect size. It’s not too long like a bench, and it has a bit more room than a barstool. They traditionally have storage under the seat, and I’ve found that they’re usually pretty affordable. The one above is from Wal-Mart (I know!).

Now on to a few specific storage scenarios, whether you’re a budding cat lady or Cat Stevens…

If your home is owned by a cat kind enough to let you live there, check out the Out of Sight litter box. It’s not the smallest litter box I’ve ever seen, but consider this: it completely hides the box and supplies, and it keeps kitty from tracking little rocks (or worse) all over your floor. If you have to share all 300 square feet of your home with a litter box, it’s worth the extra space to keep everything tidy and out of sight.

If your garage band is more of a tiny-apartment band (sure hope the neighbors don’t complain!), try the Guitar Hanger to store your axes in the closet.

Before I go, I’d like to leave you with a few resources for small-space inspiration, tips, and products.

I’d have to be cuckoo-bananas not to mention Apartment Therapy’s annual “Smallest, Coolest” contest. Every year they take submissions from people with fabulous and teeny-weeny apartments and pit them against each other in a battle royale for the best in each division and for the overall grand prize. Hm, maybe 2010 can be my year?

Also be sure to check out targeted sites like Small Furnish, the Microliving community on LiveJournal, The Compact House, and Unclutterer. Flickr is also a great place for inspiration, with groups like Small Apartment Living and Small Spaces – Innovative Solutions.

But honestly, most of my inspiration comes from reading sites like Design*Sponge. There are too many others to list, but my Google Reader is packed full of interior design sites that are for a general audience. But even if you’re living in an apartment smaller than a dorm room, still check them out. You never know when they’ll have a feature on small spaces, or when you’ll see something you love so much you’ll find a way to make it fit your needs.

I hope you’ll come and visit me at Tiny-Ass Apartment as I continue to explore every nook and cranny of the space-challenged.

Thanks!
Simone

Tiny-Ass Apartment
Twitter: TinyAssApt

Original pencil drawings on ceramics by artist Laura Zindel. Tarantulas to blue birds. (Want more? See NOTCOT.org and NOTCOT.com)

JDS architects has just unveiled plans of new projects:

mixed use development, mexico

daymoon desarolladores S.A. de C.V. have contracted JDS to design and develop new
projects: one in guadalajara and another in puerto vallarta, mexico. in puerto vallarta,
they will be designing a 52,000 m2 housing and retail complex with pools, a club house
and other amenities for residents, located just a stone's throw away from the touristic beach front.
‘the project is aimed not only tourists to the area, but to also attract the local people
of puerto vallarta. in order to keep the city alive
and vibrant even in low touristic seasons,
it is necessary to introduce
these types of projects around the resort areas,'
says francisco villeda, associate, JDS architects.

in guadalajara, they will be designing a 280,000 m2 mixed-use master plan complex,
which is meant to consolidate the new urban center of the city and will hopefully become
an important symbol of growth and power in the second largest city in mexico.

olympia kwartier, almere city, netherlands

as part of the city of almere's redevelopment in the netherlands, JDS will be completing two new projects within the project in the new neighbourhood olympia kwartier. the dutch architecture firm MVRDV is responsible for the master plan which has invited 24 international architecture offices to design approximately half of the 82 buildings which are set to go-up.

antwerp police deparment

for an invited competition which asked architects to design a police deparment in the
heart of old-berchem, antwerp, belgium, JDS' proposal won first prize. the building is
being developed for AG vespa. it includes offices, public reception area and parking.
construction is set to begin by the end of this year.

tilburg project for sustainable cities, 2040

commissioned by the ministry of housing, spatial planning and environment of the netherlands
and the netherlands assessment agency, in colllaboration with the atelier of the chief architect,
JDS architects was asked to study opportunities of environmental development for the city of tilburg.
their visions were presented during the congress for sustainable cities and will be part of a
travelling show throughout this year.

'vehicle' in collaboration with krzysztof wodiczko
photo stephen spyropoulos

london-based design studio minimaforms (brothers stephen and theodore spyropoulos)
questions how architecture can facilitate new forms of communication.
'can we construct models of interaction as forms of conversations?'
'can design enable?'
through their experimental architecture, they explore these questions in hopes to open up
a dialogue about social and material interaction.

'vehicle' in collaboration with krzysztof wodiczko
photo stephen spyropoulos

the 'vehicle' is an enabling instrument which stimulates public dialogue through a mobile
environment for collective conversation. the project engages the design of a cultural prosthetic
that facilitates an emotive engagement with war veterans as an act of healing and communication.
the design of the protoype takes the form of transformable machine that metamorphoses from a war
machine to messenger conceptualized as a seraph.

archigram revisited
stephen spyropoulos
minimaforms was invited by archigram's david green to rethink and evolve his seminal project the
'living pod' and 'high-rise tower'. 'archigram revisited' investigates computational and analog models,
highlighting animalistic and collective orders of organization.
archigram revisited
stephen spyropoulos

archigram revisited
stephen spyropoulos

'becoming animal'
photo by stephen spyropoulos

an in interactive performance piece which explores the story of the mythical three headed
beast kerberos, guardian of the underworld. the objective of the piece was to create an environment
of performance through collective participation.

'becoming animal'
photo by stephen spyropoulos

brunel gateway
stephen spyropoulos

with an invitation from performance artist stelarc, minimaforms developed a gateway structure
for brunel university. the pavilion is an open-cell network of operable convex and concave lenses,
which amplify and collapse the experiential relationships between users and their context.

brunel gateway
stephen spyropoulos

'a machine that watches' - collaborating with composer and warp recording artist mira calix

image by mei-ling lin

'memory cloud'

'memory cloud' is based on one of the oldest forms of visual communication - smoke signals.
it invites the public to participate by sending text messages that were grafted onto plumes of smoke.

an exhibition of their work, 'enabling: the work of minimaforms' is currently on show
at the architectural association, london and will run until march 19th.