LArchitecture Month!

AIA and the city of Los Angeles has just named October Architecture month!  Very exciting.  For details:

http://aialosangeles.org/event/aia-los-angeles-and-the-city-of-los-angeles-declare-october-architecture-month

trade tech college

We have discovered numerous new vendors for fabric, antiques, decoration, and so much more in downtown LA recently (our boyfriend moved there in January, how convenient)!  Each time we dodge traffic by getting of on Adams and taking surface streets north into downtown, we always marvel at the LA Trade Tech College buildings, they are absolutely spectacular.  The southern one is still under construction and already looks great.  It has modern, relaxed organic curves reminiscent of Gehry's, but they show much more restraint.  It is composed of what seems to me (as an faux amateur architect) to be making use of well priced materials for the exterior and using creative design choices to make the exterior much more interesting than the "usual" exterior of buildings.  It's not too square, not too round, and maybe it is even aiming for LEED certification...  I will have to do more research to find out!  But the point is, humble materials mixed with creative designers makes for a very impressive project.  It's not always about the price point!

Have a wonderful weekend, and if you are in downtown go south on Grand to see LA TTC!

empire state goes green!

I should start by saying that greenwashing has gotten to be really bad lately!  It seems like anyone and anything can be "green" by doing basically nothing.  This is not true, however, for the Empire State Building!  They announced yesterday that they had achieved a LEED Gold rating!  This is no small feat, and should serve as a reminder that no matter how old a building is there is still hope for it to function better.  Here is the link to the article so you can read for yourself (I will restrain from preaching about sustainability and regenerative practices any more!):

http://www.contractdesign.com/contract/news/USGBC-Awards-LEED-Go-5951.shtml

antiquing

We love shopping for antiques, but it's less enjoyable in the heat!  Luckily today was a little cooler than it has been for the past few days, but it still left us wondering why no antique stores have A.C.!  Does it degrade the quality of the old woods or finishes?  Is there too much dust?  Whatever it is, we would like to figure it out  :)

One of our favorite finds today were these little cocktail tables with antique tin ceiling tiles for tops.  They are interchangeable so you can use any 12" x 12" tile you like.  We think they would be perfect clustered 2x2 to use as a coffee table.  For a party, you can break them up to make them work for more people.  So simple but so great.

Another favorite was this  gorgeous brass chandelier.  we love the hard edges and angular corners mixed with the curves.  Very fab french 40's!  It's just too bad two of the arms have detached... surely an easy fix by the antique lighting specialists!

clever cubicles

This photo was taken at the AIA Spring Tour given by the interiors committee.  The tour highlighted some LEED rated offices around the Santa Monica area, and this one was our favorite.  Given the tight budget they were on, they did very well making a stylish and effective work space for the production company that inhabits it.  These workspaces are all custom designed with corian countertops (it's not just for kitchens!) and floating shelves.  This helps brighten and divide the space visually, but it does not close it off too much, as a traditional cubicle might.  The floors are another high point- polished concrete gives it more of an industrial feeling than tired old office space.
The CEO's office, which sadly I did not get a photo of, features a hidden gym and bathroom behind one of the bookshelves.  Sneaky!

pink chic

the one (and only) fear we have about pink is of it being too cutesy, and not serious enough.  this image taken from elle decor a few months ago displays just how warm, inviting, sophisticated, and chic pink can be.  we are in love.