graphics

We've just returned from a long holiday in Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro!  Needless to say, we are overflowing with ideas and photos and ancient inspiration.  But before we dive into that we want to share this new artist discovery with you.  Recently we've expanded the business and begun doing some graphic design work (totally unexpected and unplanned but when a dear friend asks for help, we answer!) and it has reawakened our graphic art senses.  That is why Dave Murray really stood out when we scrolled through the most recent installment of Decurate (a really good online weekly magazine- decurate.com ).  Seeing his path of work demonstrates the depth and detail of the pieces.  The pieces would be a perfect addition to a bachelor pad with a neutral palette to add some funky color.  Polyguy 2 is our favorite... the anonymity makes it mysterious and that much more interesting

fancy

We just had these new (but vintage inspired) pewter pulls installed on a french oak cabinet in the guest house of a client's home.  How fantastic!  They really dress up the piece.  We should have professional photographs in the next few weeks, can't wait to share the entire project with you!'

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