Archive for the ‘architecture’ Category

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Nichole Reber: “What would it look like if we lived in a community-oriented neighborhood?” Claudia Hartman asks. For her and Donna Niemann, real communities are places filled with different generations, socio-economic diversity, and sustainable daily living practices. They’re hoping to manifest this in an eco-hybrid model known as Vesta Communities. The duo took their search for best practices in design, affordability, sustainability and governance on a 2,500-mile journey across Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico—and of course the cohousing communities in Tucson and Prescott. They studied 20 private developments such as cohousing, pocket…

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Tweet When I asked a few of my friends here in Portland if they knew who Paolo Soleri is, they said no. When I tried to jog their memory by mentioning Arcosanti, I was met with a blank stare and still had no luck. Some of these friends were even architects or in the building industry and they didn’t know Paolo Soleri. I found this to be tragic. I think everyone should know who Paolo Soleri is, not just in Arizona, but all over the world. He was such a visionary and an uncompromising original. Yes, he worked under Frank…

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Tweet The legendary thought leader, architect, urban planner, author, lecturer, teacher and craftsman, Paolo Soleri died yesterday, April 9, 2013, at his home in Paradise Valley. In honor of his memory and achievements, below is a timeline of his inspiring life and work that spanned the globe and influenced many people, movements, aesthetics and ways of making. 1919 – Paolo Soleri is born in Turin, Italy 1946 – Soleri moves to the U.S. after receiving a doctorate with the highest honors from the Polytechnic University of Turin 1947 – Soleri enters into apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West 1948…

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Tweet Today marks two months since I moved to Portland. And I think I have come upon a favorite coffee shop in the southeast after some searching. Up until now, since I hadn’t found the one, I had set up a rotation of coffee shops to work from, one for each day of the week. I went to Crema on Monday, Heart Coffee Roasters on Tuesday, Townshend’s Tea House on Division on Wednesday, Heart again on Thursday, Stumptown on Belmont on Friday, Fresh Pot on Hawthorne on Saturday and Oblique on Sunday. All of these are either within walking or biking…

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Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Jennifer Gunther: Thursday morning on the northwest corner of Camelback Road and 3rd Avenue in uptown Phoenix, the community was welcomed back to a place it hadn’t been able to open a door to or sit down in for seven years. An array of developers and local leaders ─ among them Lorenzo Perez and John Kitchell of Venture Projects, Shannon Scutari of Sustainable Communities Collaborative, Kimber Lanning of Local First Arizona and Phoenix city councilman Tom Simplot ─ announced the adaptive reuse of the locally beloved Beef Eaters restaurant building. Being rebranded as…

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Tweet Today’s post is by guest writer Joe Zazzera. Joe is a Biomimicry Specialist, LEED AP ID+C, a Green Roof Professional and Living Wall designer, and he is the founder of Arizona Based Plant Solutions, Inc.  When you think of nature as it applies to building design, operation and maintenance, you probably think about the garden atrium in the building, the staged greenery throughout the lobbies or perhaps the views to common areas planted in greenery. However, there is a new “nature” within a building. It is a concept termed biomimicry, which literally means to mimic life. In 1997 biologist and…

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Tweet Today’s post is the fifth installment in my new series Discovering PDX, where I am documenting my experiences as a newcomer to the City of Roses. My mission to find the perfect coffee shop in Portland continues, and though I haven’t found it yet, I am definitely enjoying the search. My friend Luis Till continues to give me good recommendations and he mentioned that there was a Townshend’s in the southeast. When I was in Portland about a month ago apartment hunting, I frequented the Townshend’s on Alberta in the northeast. With excellent teas, friendly service and great wifi, it was…

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Tweet Today’s post is the fourth installment in my new series Discovering PDX, where I am documenting my experiences as a newcomer to the City of Roses. My mission to find the perfect coffee shop in Portland continues. Yesterday, I biked through this awesome street, Ankeny Avenue, and noticed Crema Coffee and Bakery out of the corner of my eye. My friend Luis Till had mentioned Crema as a place I should check out, so I promised myself that would be the next spot I try. What it has going for it: Location: Crema is about a 10 minute bike ride away…

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Tweet Today’s post is the third installment in my new series Discovering PDX, where I am documenting my experiences as a newcomer to the City of Roses. My mission to find the perfect coffee shop in Portland continues. Today I find myself at the Stumptown Coffee Roasters on Belmont. Stumptown is legendary and has several locations in Portland as well as locations in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. The coffee is amazing and is served at many fine establishments here in Portland. But as you know, I’m not a coffee drinker, but a tea drinker, and the perfect coffee…

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Tweet Today’s post is the second installment in my new series Discovering PDX, where I am documenting my experiences as a newcomer to the City of Roses. As you saw from yesterday’s post, I have not yet found the perfect coffee shop in Portland. But my spirits are buoyed after my experience at Oblique Coffee Roasters this morning. Below is my review. (Thanks to Carl Metz for the recommendation.) What it has going for it: A Great Story: In 2006, the owners, Heather and John Chandler saved this 1891 Victorian building from demolition and turned it into their home on the…

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