logjam house

In conjunction with the current coldness & the charming & yet desolate month of December, it felt appropriate to share an architectural design of a house located at the northeastern end of the Rio Blanco River Basin in Colorado.

This is the Logjam House, designed by Antoine Predock, in association with Jon Anderson Architect. In an anomalous area riddled with ranches & farms, the house was created as a retreat, rooted to the forest surrounding it.

The internal structure bares high ceilings, a glazed catwalk & wooden crisscross beams connecting through walls & resting on concrete columns.

Images courtesy of Antoine Predock Architects

fifth town artisan cheese factory

Artisan cheese & aesthetic design are not a predictable pairing, but somehow it feels appropriate for a company in practice of classic craftsmanship to blend its standards with that of sustainable architecture.

Located on twenty acres of agricultural land in Ontario, Canada, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Factory has won numerous awards for not only their creation of sheep & goat’s milk cheeses, but also in recognition of its Platinum LEED accreditation under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program. They are Canada’s first & only certified LEED dairy factory.

Their cheese collection consists of fresh, washed-rind, soft-ripened, hard & limited edition cheeses. My palate is particularly drawn to their lavender chèvre, maple chèvre, their Isabella & Lemon Fetish, which harnesses a creamy & natural citric zest with a red fife flour on the rind.

A panoptic awareness for not only its product but the environment of which it is made, is a synthesis of principles that will, in my opinion, carry on through time & the changes within it.

Courtesy of Lapointe Architects

Courtesy of Wood Works Ontario

love & architecture

I recently fell in love with two men. My love for these men developed both on the same day & perhaps even moments away from each other.

The first man shares in my vision of seeing a multitude of colors in white, & the second coined the aphorism of less being more. There is much detail to examine of them both, but surely they would prefer that I retain their simplistic style by discussing only their determination of design through destiny. Okay – so perhaps that’s still a little deep, but the paradox of simplicity is that it’s difficult to make.

I’m not sure when or how it was exactly that I came across the Farnsworth House, but its discovery had caught me in Mies de ver Rohe’s architecture for days thereafter. Somehow through the accidental encounter of his work, I then stumbled upon Richard Meier, who was greatly influenced by Meis & his “skin & bones” structure in design.

It is indeed a complicated love, sliced equally between the work of men that I deeply adore, but they say that good things happen over time, & great things all at once.

The J. Paul Getty Museum by Richard Meier + Architects

The Millennium Church by Richard Meier + Architects

New National Gallery by Mies de ver Rohe

The Barcelona Pavilion by Mies de ver Rohe

driftwood & silk squares

One of my most recent & adored design firms of discovery is Amsterdam-based, UN Studio, which focuses primarily on architectural design but extends it’s eye & ability out to a variety of products as well.

One of these is a flooring design, united between both natural & artificial elements of wood, silk & laminate flooring. It is expressed as furniture & links the dualism of both genuine & simulated material from the outside to the in, appearing somewhat like the exterior pages of a book.

The pragmatic result is a design that  harbors a link to lifestyle whilst serving as an integral ingredient for the overall interior of a space.

Photos Courtesy of UN Studio.

wine labels & the allure of aesthetic design

Judging a wine solely by its label is not exactly the most accurate method of delicious discovery, but I personally find it difficult to steer away from being swayed by a classically radiant, clean or witty label that harbors all the elements necessary to lure such a credulous consumer such as myself.

I’m occasionally guilty in extending the benefit of doubt to the design of a product, & invest belief in that the marriage between the wine & the bottle will balance together in a sensory success. I also generally enjoy a product that appeals to a variety of my senses & feel that it adds benefit to the entirety of the experience.

That being said, I don’t always allow myself to fall prey to the aesthetics of a wine label, but at times surrender to what my eyes first tell me. Perhaps I’m shallow that way, but in the end, I’m still drinking wine.

Frank B | Designed by Talia Cohen 

In-house design | Magnificent Wine Co.

Michael Austin | Designed by Hatch 

espresso machine / makkina by soren henssler

Quality coffee beans are on as much on my consumptive radar as the likes of wine & food, so naturally I am swayed by products that execute them deliciously while still appealing to the design aspect of my attraction. I typically go back to basics in making coffee by utilizing my lovely Bodum french press in the mornings. I have to admit, however, that I am deeply attracted to the mechanical components of an espresso machine, as well as in the various options they offer in serving a multitude of complicated espresso concoctions.

One particular product that aligns with my criteria of both style & quality production is the Makkina by Soren Henssler. This machine deviates from the typical design of an espresso machine by separating the individual product components, thus creating an open platform for the user. Architecturally, I suppose this could be like the loft of espresso machines.

Features of practicality were well implemented by creating a machine that is not only stylistically pleasing, but designed specifically for offices in terms of it being both easy to use & to clean. As well, the focus on design stays loyal to the two most important parts of an espresso machine: the coffee beans & the water. 

blue moon / jochen schmidden

“Design is the realization of emotions in products.” – Jochen Schmiddem

Duravit, the design market leader for baths, recently created a line called D-Code, which targets its brand towards all price points in the market. At the top of its chain sits an indoor/outdoor pool bath called Blue Moon, designed by Jochen Schmidden. 

Blue Moon is nothing short of a inimitable bath experience, where you bathe in a compact 140 x 140cm pool with a generous depth of 530mm. Aside from a touch of back support, your body is completely surrounded by water; creating a feeling of physical lightness while gleaming in an array of mood-setting lights. With the capacity of nearly 520 litres, Blue Moon beautifully blesses the body to liberally float & adopt a variety of relaxing positions. To me, this product is an element necessary to the composition of the dream bathroom, where the body retreats to cleanse both itself & its soul. 

The pool bath was designed with the philosophy that a product should not only embody a strong sense of personality, but that is must also shape the emotions that cater to the functional need of the consumer. 

buccella wines

& while on the topic of wax seals, Buccella, a boutique vineyard located in Yountville, CA, complimented its hedonistically satisfying wines to a packaging style that is both romantically timeless & sincere.

The concept of “less is more” is truly evident with these labels, speaking closely in effect of a poem; clean on the surface & complex within.

pyrrha design

Being as that the only alluring aspect of attraction that I hold with diamonds is in the mining, I much prefer raw jewelry, such as those never touched by a machine; preferably made of metal, copper, silver, stones & crystals.

Recently I discovered something of my liking, from Vancouver-based Pyrrha Design. Pyrrha designs jewelry from wax seals & permeates an unrefined cast into creations that are achieved by preserving the flaws in the waxes. This makes for pieces that break far away from mass-produced mainstream jewelry that is often times left for dead anyway. 

Every design has a symbolic meaning taken from family heraldry. A little “Braveheart” & a whole lotta beautiful. 

lumberman’s building

I work at an architectural firm that has recently moved into the very old & majestic Lumberman’s Building on Richards Street. The building was built in 1909 by lumber baron Charles Fenn Pretty, who used the building to lead a fascist group called Fascisti of Canada. Good vibes. Anyway, I was initially disappointed with the firm’s move as we had recently resided in the head of the Suntower Building, which is so very stunning & extremely old also. Alas, I have fallen in love with the new building & so my disappointment has thankfully dissolved.

The interior space of the Lumberman’s Building is still being completely re-designed from the ground up, but the original elements remain & thus sustain the coolness of the building itself.

I was asked to shoot the building over the weekend & came away with some decent work. Enjoy.