Desert house

So some recent pics from my parent's trip to Nevada inspired me to make a "desert" livingroom. I used mostly earthtones which is atypical of my usual rendering and architecture taste. The lighting came out pretty hot if I may say so myself! Enjoy

Big Ups to Wes of Lookherekid.com

Wes' Dat Velvet Blue was recently featured in the 29th edition of Stash video magazine. Big ups kid! Download the video here Wes' site is here

Track or Die

The guys at Gentei have a gallery of their shop bikes. Who ever said bikes have to be stock from the factory? These bikes are lava. The Panasonic's my favorite...

R.I.P. DIsco D

Sad day... This dude put on a great dj set and his music was unprecedented. From a friend of mine: Those who knew Dave know he was a once in a lifetime person with an electric and captivating personality. He was a friend without equal, who was selfless with himself and his counsel, consistently living up to his mantra, "the only thing you cant make more of is time." He was a relentlessly creative, passionate and ambitious artist whose passion for music illuminated everything he touched. Under the alias Disco D, Dave was responsible for production on 2 grammy nominated albums and releases totaling 17 million in sales worldwide. As a prodigious 15-year old in Ann Arbor, Dave began his DJ career, representing the burgeoning Ghetto-Tech scene from Detroit. By 16, he was a resident at the local Solar night and by 17, had produced and released his first 12" single. All of this, Dave accomplished before graduating from the University of Michigan's prestigious business school. Dave toured the world many times over as a DJ and was famous for his turntable dexterity and multi-genre sets. Dave was also integral in starting the Ghostly International label and co-produced the debut single, Hands Up For Detroit. Dave moved to New York City, with the goal of producing beats for major Hip-Hop artists, resulting in a string of high-profile productions and remixes, including the song "Ski Mask Way" for 50 Cent, which was considered a critic and fan favorite and arguably the album's best. He was profiled in magazines such as XXL and Scratch as an up-and-coming producer. His passion led him to Brazil where he began producing new Hip-Hop artists, looking to shed light on the local scene. On Tuesday, January 23rd, Dave took his life at the age of 27, ending a long and difficult bout with depression and bipolar disorder. Dave believed that sharing one's own problems and being open about his mental health was a way to help others. His courage, unrivaled passion, and his consistent dedication to his craft will never be forgotten. Personally, Dave was an inspiration and a mentor to me. No one worked harder or wanted to seize life more than him. His guidance, friendship and patience are immeasurable. His family, friends, fans and I are completely devastated by our loss of this amazing man. It is estimated nearly thirty percent of those diagnosed with bipolar disorder will attempt suicide at least once in their lives. The suicide rate is twenty times that of the general population. Depression and Bipolar disorder are diseases, not states of mind or inabilities to correct one's mood. I've never known anyone as positive or as hopeful as Dave, his passing is a reminder that mental health is as real and deadly as anything that we more commonly consider to be physical ailments. You can also post your respects to http://www.myspace.com/gringolouco

New Old Work Update!

I've been catching up on my rendering skills the past few weeks by re-modeling some older projects. This project in particular suffered major budget cuts and a client who didn't want to spend $1,000/sqft. Needless to say, this penthouse in the E. Village deserves some recognition. I've re-designed the kitchen and added some choice pieces of furniture. Other than that, the design was conceived when I worked at SPG Architects. Enjoy this multi-phased exercise as I intend on updating the images as they're finished. Final

Southbank Competition winner announced

A few weeks ago, I first mentioned a competition I was working on with Thread Collective. The competition was for a large development in South Africa put on by the Southbank Architectural Foundation. Thread and I slaved away for hours on the design and as the submission came closer to being finalized, I knew we had a pretty strong chance of winning. The Southbank Architectural Competition's website has a really awesome write-up on Thread's submission with some pretty sexy renderings and collages by yours truly. As you can tell by the article, Thread Collective placed first out of hundreds of submissions. Some of their designs will be constructed as early as December 2007! Here are some images and congrats to Thread Collective... From the Southbank's website: The winning scheme, Collage, is characterized by an original and innovative conceptual response to the requirements and aspirations of the Southbank Architecture Competition. The scheme is authored by threadcollective and normal design, a collaborative team of architects, landscape architects and public art practitioners based in New York City. They will develop the project in association with South African architects. The singular idea that differentiated this scheme was the integration of the Africa Centre and the residential community, achieved by the positioning of its key elements throughout the housing component of the scheme. It responded to the aspirations and spirit of the brief: that the Africa Centre gives a character and energy to the community, and that the community in turn contributes to the activities of the Centre. The authors propose to make a compact settlement that has some of the benefits of the urban rather than the suburban condition, while reconciling with its rural context. This is crucial for ecological sustainability as it preserves natural landscapes and minimizes the land area and the material used in development. It also helps to intensify energy demands and provision of services. The nature of the scheme acknowledges transformation as a generative principle. It Possesses a vitality that came through the overlay of the two major elements, the residential and Africa Centre areas. This will allow for both parts to be evolved in their design and use, and avoids the constraints that would arise from a rigid Master Plan. The scheme responded to the challenges of ensuring that the architecture continues to evolve. They propose to respond both to the rural context and to create innovative, contemporary architecture.

Mike Brodi: Bound by Tones of Dirt and Bone

Mike Brodi's got an opening at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery Thursday night. Brodi's media of choice is the Polaroid camera. Like most Polaroid artists, the quality of film adds a particular character to his subjects. In particular, his Polaroid Diptych of the house in Pensacola resembles a lot of photocollagraphy that architects use to document site conditions. Some of his portraiture resembles a mix between Catherine Opie and Peter Sutherland's work. The opening's at 8pm...