Bringing Architecture and the Landscape Together
Opinion
Urbanized

Urbanized

In a world of constant uncertainty, there are positives to take note of forming in the great urban cores of the world, our cities. The urban landscape has forever changed from the days we once knew before the automobile. “Urbanized“, a documentary by Gary Hustwit, looks beyond that and provides examples of the changing urban...
Designed by ________ in California?

Designed by ________ in California?

For anyone who is an Apple product user, these words literally encapsulate the identity of Apple. Much like the magazine BOOM is suggesting, “what does it mean to be designed in California?” This can be said about any aspect of design in California. All to often we find ourselves in society buying products that are ubiquitously tagged...
What SB 375 Means for California and the Greater Population

What SB 375 Means for California and the Greater Population

The California Environmental Protection Agency, more commonly known as the EPA, struck up Senate Bill 375 in 2008. Its purpose is to “enhance California’s ability to reach its AB 32 goals by promoting good planning with the goal of more sustainable communities”. You are probably thinking to yourself, well its California and that doesn’t apply to me....
Defining Urban Landscapes

Defining Urban Landscapes

What determines an urban landscape? What are the physical, cultural, and perceptual qualities that characterize an urban landscape? Urban landscapes are dictated by the congregation of people in a living environment, interacting with one and other.  These landscapes have characteristics, patterns, and form, which allow people within the urban landscape to portray physical, cultural, and...
Things On My Mind

Things On My Mind

This is an amalgam of many things that I have been thinking about but really haven’t had the chance to put it out there. There is no linear stream of consciousness here, just statements, concepts, and the hope for a better tomorrow. If people are not afraid of densification, it will thusly protect landscapes in...

Project Architect Job Opportunity

I have information regarding a job opportunity for a Project Architect in Berkeley, CA for someone with 6-10 years of experience. For further information please contact me. Thanks and Happy Holidays!
As Your New Oprah, Read This...

As Your New Oprah, Read This…

Devil in the White City What an absolutely thrilling novel. I am only about half way through it, but it has me engaged. Without providing any spoilers, the novel, written by Erik Larson, is about the events of the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893; intertwines the lives of those who helped to bring the...
Let's Occupy Our National and State Parks Instead of Our Banks

Let’s Occupy Our National and State Parks Instead of Our Banks

Instead of occupying Wall Street or a bank, why not try occupying a national park? Before you know it our country’s beautiful, pristine landscapes will be closed off to us. Don’t get me wrong, I am unhappy with the banks in this country and what they have done, but this occupying stuff has carried on...
Sacramento's History and Development

Sacramento’s History and Development

This document was composed back in 2005.  Enjoy! It’s been said that the region where Sacramento is today was completely under water.  Historians believe that with the Cascades and the Klamath ranges to the north, the coastal ranges to the west, and the Sierra Nevada to the east, that the flat land of today’s Sacramento...
Words to Live By

Words to Live By

“You can create desolate wastelands of the spirit as well as of the environment. You can scar people as well as land.” -Ada Louise Huxtable
Art in the Landscape Impacted by Abstraction

Art in the Landscape Impacted by Abstraction

How does the process of abstraction create a relationship between the landscape and art within it? Well we should probably look no further than the man who developed the process of abstraction, Robert Irwin.  He thought that art was a useful tool in creating a personal perception of the world and being able to find...
True Public Space is Disappearing

True Public Space is Disappearing

Public space isn’t so public anymore, its been privatized. Think of your most favorite urban space, public space, and you’ll notice the lack of not only personal space, but true public shared space without it being impacted by the government or private industries. In such times as the ones we live in, you can’t blame...