Posts Tagged ‘taz loomans’

March 25, 2014

Lessons in Organic Urbanism from India

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Here in the West, we have countless meetings, a rigorous permitting process, permission-seeking requirements, and all sorts of hoops to jump through before we actually make a move in the public realm. Recently, I visited three extremely vibrant cities in India where people practiced organic urbanism. They set up their vendor stalls in available nooks and crannies, they appropriated public space in ways that suited them and in general made the public realm a reflection of the everyday needs of the people. In other words, the city was a teeming, living organism, constantly changing and morphing with things that…

April 01, 2013

In Search for the Perfect Coffee Shop in Portland: Stumptown on Division

by: Taz Loomans

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…

February 05, 2013

In Search for the Perfect Coffee Shop in Portland: Oblique

by: Taz Loomans

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…

September 07, 2012

My Speech: From Architect to Community Developer

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Yesterday, I gave a talk to the School of Geographic Sciences and Urban Planning Brown Bag Lunch Series. The talk is about how I went from being an architect to becoming a community developer. I thought I’d share it with you: When I was 8 years old I named my 2 goldfish Gorbechev and Reagan. I remember being an avid watcher of the news back then, shortly after my family emigrated here from Mozambique. I was mesmerized by the Iran Contra Affair, learning about places like Nicaragua and people like Oliver North and John Pointdexter. This was my first…

November 23, 2011

The Guts of the Castaway House

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I love it when the guts of a building are hanging out for all to see because it gives you an appreciation of all the systems that are in place to meet our HVAC, electrical and plumbing needs and not to mention all the work it takes to build a structure that is sound, water-proof, and air-tight where you want it to be. The Castaway House is at a stage where you can see all its guts hanging out, which presents an awesome opportunity to share what a house’s electrical and plumbing systems look like, as well as what…

September 14, 2011

Interview with Will Bruder – Third Segment

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Today’s post is the third segment of my interview with architect Will Bruder. If you missed them, make sure to take a look at the first and second segments as well! In today’s segment, Will talks about his vision for transit oriented development in the Valley, what excites him most about our city, the one building type he thinks is in sore need of transformation and finally, who he thinks should be the next mayor of Phoenix. Part VI Will’s vision for transit oriented development: Part VII What excites Will most about Phoenix and the one building type we…

September 12, 2011

Interview with Will Bruder – First Segment

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet One of the reasons I love being a blogger is that I have an excuse to talk with the people I admire most about things I’ve always wanted to ask them. I had such an opportunity two weeks ago with Will Bruder, a world renown architect who is responsible for such architectural masterpieces as the Burton Barr Library, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Henkel Headquarters, and the Vale among a myriad of other projects and project types. In Parts I, II and III of the interview, shown below, we talked about the role of the architect in society,…

June 01, 2011

5 Awesome Things about the Castaway House Kick-Off

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet A rendering of the courtyard at Castaway House by Cavin Costello I read this earlier today: The word “integrity” shares its root with the word “integer,” which means one indivisible thing. – Martha Beck This idea of ‘one indivisible thing’ ties in very nicely with what I wanted to write about today which is the integrated design kick-off meeting we had last week for the Castaway House. I know it’s been a while since I’ve written about the Castaway House, but that’s because we were in the middle of selecting a contractor to work with and also trying to…

May 11, 2011

APS Shade Tree Program!

by: Doreen Pollack

Tweet My friend Doreen Pollack, who is the Garden Goddess, an expert in community and residential gardens and someone who serves on the board of the Valley Permaculture Guild, now is coordinating the APS Shade Tree Program. When she told me that you could get up to 3 shade trees FOR FREE from APS, I wanted to hear more and I thought you would too! So she crafted this small announcement about the program. Planting shade trees in your yard can save you up to $50 per year on your energy bill by blocking the sun’s rays and reducing your…

April 20, 2011

At Stake: The Magic of Lux Coffee Bar

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet As you might know, Lux Coffee Bar is my “office” and hang out. I go there almost every morning to work and some times to relax. There are lots of great coffee shops in Central Phoenix, but I choose Lux as my home away from home because it has a certain unique energy to it. It’s not clean or pristine, it’s usually crowded and there isn’t much space to sit, if you’re lucky enough to find a seat. But this particular set of circumstances gives Lux a je ne sais quois appeal, not unlike a messy, busy, crowded city….