Design Competition - What a Great Experience!

Recently I entered into a design competition for a sustainable hotel suite. What a great experience! I found the competition details just one week before the entries were due and decided, "Yes, this is do-able". Well, that's the way I am - a little crazy. At any rate, I roped in two architects, another designer and a design student to help pull it all together. And, WOW, I am so proud of the team! Is it perfect? No, but it looks amazing! And more importantly, perhaps, we all learned alot. About sustainable design. About working on a really tight schedule. About working together with people you've never worked with (or even knew) before. Perhaps we will win the competition, perhaps not. Either way, I can't wait to do it again!

Florence - You've Gotta Love It!

Well, I'm at it again. Looking at all the European vacation photos and wishing I was in Florence this summer. If you have never been, let me tell you that it is just one of the nicest cities you can imagine. That is, if you love architecture and history and Spaghetti Bolognese.

In these photos you can discern all the amazing details - details that you find on practically every single structure in this ancient city. What you can't capture in any image- photographic or painted (even by the Masters) - is the feeling you have when you are there. There is a sense of place, a sense of history, something special that is impossible to put into words.

Go, Go to Florence. At least once in your short life on this planet, go to Florence and feel the MAGIC.

Design is in the Details

Well, here it is the start of summer vacation - for the kids, that is. And I am reminded of last year's summer vacation when I took my children to Spain. Pamplona for the running of the bulls, Barcelona - (WOW! What an awesome city), Seville, and Madrid. Of course, my very favorite part of European vacations is (as you might well imagine) soaking up all of the architecture. Everywhere you look, there is something incredible to feast your eyes upon.

In this photo (as with the ones in the sidebar), we are looking at Casa Batllo, a most amazing architectural feat in Barcelona by Architect Antoni Gaudi. Talk about DESIGN! Gaudi's imagination certainly ran wild coming up with this one.

They (whoever the heck "they" are) say that "Design is in the details". Well then, Casa Bastllo must be the absolute epitome of design because it's nothing but details.

Bad Design - You Can Hear it a Mile Away!

I had the pleasure of going to a lovely networking event this evening. Okay, maybe it wasn't lovely, but it was a nice event - as those things go. Free wine, good food, friendly faces, new contacts. No complaints. Well, except for one.

As I approached the building, I could hear a low roar coming from inside. I thought to myself, "Wow, it's either really crowded in there, or it was very poorly designed." (Yes, I actually do have thoughts like that. I'm not exactly sure what that says about me. Uh, let's not go there right now.)

Anyway, I was right - on both accounts. It was a well attended event with quite a few people. But as I entered the octagonal space - maybe 25 feet in diameter with a 25 foot ceiling, I immediately saw the problem. It had a huge volume of space with hard surfaces everywhere - no carpet, no cushy furniture, no sound absorbing material anywhere.

Aesthetically, it looked perfectly well designed. The travertine flooring, the wood beamed ceiling, the granite bar top, the giant windows - all very attractive. I'm sure that if there hadn't been any people in there, you wouldn't even have noticed the architect's and designer's mistakes.

But there were people in there - just the way the space was intended to be used. Unfortunately, the design professionals forgot to take all these talking, walking, noisy people into consideration when they chose the design of this space. Hmmmm... pity. It could have been such a lovely place for our networking event.

Design is Everywhere.

Design... it's everywhere we look. Every building, every sign, every gadget we use. Furniture, walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, picture frames, shoes, spoons, toothbrushes. Okay, yes, I'm really starting to name random objects. But you see what I'm getting at, don't you? Our world is truly designed. Each of these items did not come into existence on its own; someone DESIGNED them. Some designs are better than others. Some more functional. Some more appealing. Let's start our journey today looking at the design around us. Analyze it, scrutinize it, love it, hate it - just don't ignore it.