CHRISTIAN BARNARD LAND STUDIO
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On Saturday May 4th 1907 William Harbeck produced a cinematograph of downtown Victoria using a street car loaned by the British Columbia Electric Railway Company.
Follow his journey starting at City Hall, down Douglas Street turning right onto Yates finishing at the site of the old post office.
He captures an excellent view of the Empress Hotel site still in construction, the inner harbour and the Legislative buildings.
The second half of the movie starts at the Point Ellice Bridge where he captures a fleet of sealing ships, he then makes his way up up the gorge waterway by boat then returns passing by the industrial site at Laurel Point and finishes up at customs house.
ad concept and final piece by Barry Jones circa 1990
publication date: 1939 August
market: USA
publication date: 1940 August
market: USA
ad type: newspaper advertisement from The Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Student Newspaper
publication date: 1957 September 24
market: USA
publication date: circa 1950s
market: Germany
market: USA
Tommy Guerrero spent most of the 1980s turning San Francisco into his own personal skatepark. Rolling with the legendary Bones Brigade, he bombed the city’s steep hills, introducing a surfing-style of skateboarding to the existing urban dance of the day. His style flowed like no other skater around and by 1985 Guerrero had signed a contract with one of America’s first skateboarding companies, Powell Peralta, cementing him in history as the world’s first professional street skateboarder.
Flash forward 25 years and you’ll find Tommy Guerrero is a 44-year-young office dude who spends the majority of his time as the art “misdirector” and a “computer monkey” (his words) at Krooked Skateboards in San Francisco. But don’t think for a moment that the dream is dead. What most people didn’t realize during Guerrero’s busy young life traveling the globe signing autographs and teaching actors like Christian Slater how to make it look real for the movies, is that music was as much a passion for him as was four-wheeled fanaticism.
With album titles like Soul Food Taqueria and From The Soil To The Soul, and tunes like “Terra Unfirma” and “Architec,” Guerrero's cerebral, atmospheric music perfectly captures the soul of San Francisco's urban communities. During rare breaks from work and happy domesticity he crafts sounds reminiscent of the playground of his youth: rap beats pumping out of passing cars, street performers jamming, the clamor of passing multilingual conversations; all of it merging into a cinematic soundtrack of the city itself.
But, Guerrero prefers to let people interpret his music in their own manner. Nonetheless, after a certain amount of me being a pain is his ass, he finally agreed to an interview…
CB: How big of a role has the cultural landscape of San Francisco played in your life and career?
TG: In every way I would imagine. With skating it’s the hills...learning to adapt in such a unique environ nurtured a specific style/way of skating: fast. There's so much rich artistic soil in San Fran that some sort of osmosis trip happened and here I am. I don't consider what I do a "career.” I never wanted to burden myself with that load.
CB: If you were to describe the city of SF in sensory terms what does it smell, feel and taste like to you?
TG: Like a pot of stew with all the leftovers thrown in. Soup for the soul...with a bit of a bite.
CB: Being that you were involved in the music scene alongside your skating career, how has the culture of skateboarding informed your music? How have they informed each other?
TG: For me they are one in the same...an escape from the daily grind and bullshit the world hurls at you. They have taught me to count on myself and DIY everything.
CB: What turns you on creatively?
TG: Can be anything. Sounds and life of the city are a good catalyst, so much energy.
People are a great source of inspiration, from any/every walk of life... [I’m] always humbled by those helping others.
CB: Give us an idea on how your sound is evolving and where you see it heading?
TG: More percussive, sonically more interesting...and more about the journey than the destination.
CB: What are you working on now? Any new projects we should know about?
TG: I have an album coming out in October titled "Lifeboats and Follies." It came out in Japan last year. This is a different version though. I finished a "live" album for my Japanese label; it'll be out in September I think. I will be doing a small tour in September there. I have a small line with Levi’s Japan and a shoe coming out on Vans/Syndicate the 1st of next year...all pretty cool stuff.
CB: What can Victoria expect to see and hear from Tommy Guerrero?
TG: Good question!! If nothing else, honesty.
TG: Many thnx!!!
The sonic qualities of our environment, that is, the soundscape that is ever-present in our daily lives, helps to reinforce our sense of place. This post considers the potential of composed music's influence on creating the sound of place.
Umayyad Cistern, Jordan.
Checkdams made from packed earth and river rock are used in each curb extension to slow and retain stormwater runoff.
Tokyo, Japan
Beetle’s House
Much of Terunobu Fujimori’s architecture aims to reconfigure our view of the natural landscape around us. Reaching this ‘floating’ teahouse via a ladder, visitors are rewarded with an elevated view of the surrounding galleries. The charred, blackened timber exterior, with its textured and tactile surface, represents an extreme of materiality. The process of burning the wood also acts to preserve the building material, thus increasing the structure’s lifespan.
Newbern, Alabama, USA
Woodshed
Stavanger, Norway
Ratatosk
This climbing structure excavates our half-forgotten memories of childhood play and exploration. Ten ash trees will be cut along the length of their trunks and planted face to face. The resulting two rows will allow visitors to enter the ‘interior space’ of the trees. The branches will be handwoven and then grafted onto the tree stumps to form a delicate canopy that hangs over a soft play-surface.
Ark
Situated by the V&A’s National Art Library, this freestanding wooden tower re-evaluates the concept of the ‘archive’. Its walls are made up of hundreds of shelves, holding thousands of second-hand books. Accessed via a spiral staircase, each floor includes a secluded reading chamber. Positioned to face inwards, the book spines form an exterior façade of monotonous white, whereas the interior view consists of a rich collage of colours and typographic textures.
Inside / Outside Tree
This structure creates a space where notions of ‘inside and outside’ and ‘nature and artificiality’ are inverted and convergent; it explores the crucial duality and ‘in-between-ness’ that defines traditional Japanese architecture. The interior surface of the hollow, transparent tree is continuous with the exterior of the cube form that surrounds it. Thus, one can stand outside the cube and inhabit the same space as the tree’s interior, and vice versa.
Tokyo, Japan
Silent Gardens
Eleven acrylic boxes contain a series of meticulously reproduced plant and flower forms. Despite their formal geometry, the boxes are liberated from any sense of order and stacked with a spirit of spontaneous logic. The imperceptible thresholds between the boxes would allow the structure to resemble an organically grown elevated garden, resulting in a delicate balance between reality and fiction.
I guess I wasn't the only one thinking about planning for biodiversity.
"The shortlisted projects are: the Inset Hotel by Arup Associates; Brookfield Bug Buddies by Brookfield Europe and the Pinnacle team; Bumblebee City Nesters by Fisher Tomlin; Inn Vertebrate by Metalanguage Design; and Beevarian Anstel and Gretel Chalet by German Women in Property. Two “golden beetle” awards will be presented – one to the winner of the public vote and one to the judges’ favourite – during the London Festival of Architecture. Sue Ireland, the corporation’s director of open spaces, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the high standard of design and presentation that went into all the entries. “Ultimately this will enhance the City’s biodiversity, through the provision of well-crafted, sustainable and beautiful insect hotels.” via www.britishland.com
Our house is nestled on the edge of a protected 7.1 hectare park here in Victoria BC. Being on the edge of this urban green space affords us a unique opportunity to view a diverse mix of local flora and fauna. The garden is alive with bird and insect activity all year round and I felt fortunate to be immersed in nature so close to downtown. While sitting amongst the buzz of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies I was thinking about how I could achieve this level of biodiversity in the densely populated urban context. I grabbed my sketch book and quickly produced my ecological strategy to enhance and support future insect populations of the world........enter in the Insect hotel? The example below was designed for our local mason bee.
On June 11th the world will converge on South Africa for the Fifa 2010 World Cup.
With that said South Africa has stepped it up in the venue department check it out and........Come on England!
Soccer City stadium in Soweto just outside Johannesburg. Designed as a giant "Melting Pot".
Interior of Soccer City stadium
The Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. Visitors are able to ride a funicular over stadium grounds, apparently not during matches though.
interior view of 105 high arch.
Green Point Stadium Cape Town SA
The building skin adapts to light conditions, offering shade during the day then becoming translucent at night.
Green Point Stadium was designed by GMP Architekten joined by numerous Cape Town practices.
Slick Green Point Interior
Thought I would post some of my research findings for a new project I am currently working on in Victoria BC.
The highly inventive Trend House, Saanich, 1954, a demonstration house for the lumber industry, was tremendously influential. Modest in size (825 square feet), it was the smallest of the eleven Trend Houses, but easily the most dramatic, with an angular floor plan and soaring roof anchored by a massive central chimney. Throughout his career, Di Castri retained a singular vision of modernism, one that did not shy away from historical references or decorative elaboration.
article courtesy of Modernism In Victoria 1945-1975 by Donald Luxton and Associates.
About the Architect
Committed to the fulfillment of man's need for a significant environment, Di Castri injected modernism, low profile, and organic design into Victoria's architectural landscape.
ROA started painting abandoned buildings and warehouses in the isolated industrial outskirts of his hometown, Ghent, in Belgium. Fixating on the animals he found there, the wildlife became the central subject matter of his work, inspired by their clever ability to adapt as scavengers in order to survive. via www.arbuturian.com
The Emerging Green Builders program of Cascadia Green Building Council in conjunction with the USGBC have invited me to be a Juror for Cascadia's chapter level competition of the Natural Talent Design Competition (NTDC). I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity to provide input on the promoting and shaping of affordable, future friendly architectural and landscape development in post Katrina New Orleans.
Judging Rubric
1. Broadmoor Neighborhood Context – 30 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, emphasis will be placed on the Living Building Challenge v 2.0 Site Petal imperatives: 01 Limits to Growth, 02 Urban Agriculture, 03 Habitat Exchange, and 04 Car Free Living
2. Interior Design and Smart Flow – 20 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, emphasis on the interior design will be placed on the following Living Building Challenge v 2.0 imperatives: 10 Biophilia, 11 Red List, 13 Responsible Industry, 14 Appropriate Sourcing, and 16 Human Scale + Humane Places
3. Cost Estimation – 20 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, credible, replicable tax incentives are encouraged as part of the $100,000 budget. – where LBC systems require greater initial capital cost than the $100,000 budget allows
4. Achieving LEED for Homes Platinum – 20 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, Living Building version 2.0 will be the ideal certification standard – highlight how at least one petal (all seven are encouraged) of the Living Building Challenge has been incorporated into the project
5. Inclusive Design for Elderly Occupants – 10 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, inclusive design for the elderly will be considered as part of Living Building version 2.0 imperative 17 Democracy + Social Justice.
6. Educating Occupants – 10 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, emphasis will be placed on Living Building version 2.0 imperative 20 Inspiration and Education.
7. Hurricane Resistance – 10 pts.
For the Cascadia Judging, projects are expected to be resilient in many ways, to survive natural disasters as well as economic.
Broadmoor is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Uptown/Carrolton Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Eve Street to the north, Washington Avenue and Toledano Street to the east, South Claiborne Avenue to the south, and Jefferson Avenue, South Rocheblave Street, Nashville Avenue, and Octavia Street to the west. It includes the Broadmoor Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 and increased in its boundaries in 2007.
Broadmoor is low lying ground in New Orleans, and was only substantially developed beginning in the early 20th century after improved drainage was initiated.
Jennifer McDougall Watt - GGLO
Margaret Sprug – The Miller Hull Partnership
Stephen Aiguier – Green Hammer
This exclusively Canadian series captured by 291 Film Company documents Canadian environmental artists engaged in the philosophy, process and use of materials in their art.
Our services explore and cross the traditional boundaries of landscape, culture, urbanism and planning to achieve innovative solutions that create value for our clients projects.