Le Corbusier / Villa Savoye from 0300TV on Vimeo.
Wow, technology.
Posted in Daily musings, architecture Tagged australia, house, residential, syney, video Comments closed
Bad ass bookshelf
Posted in Random Find, architecture Comments closed
High Speed Rail in the UK
Yet another country has committed to high speed rail. I’d love to see this become more widespread in the states, or even into the ten zones the govt has said that are the most feasible for high speed.
The UK's new high speed Javelin train
more info here
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
Marco Grassi Painting
Posted in Daily musings, Random Find Tagged gallery art, painting, spray paint art, urban art Comments closed
Street art for the benefit of all
I like when cities work to advance ideas such as urban transportation options including mass transit, regional transit connections, bus systems, elevated rail, and lastly bike lanes. And I love when cites accomplish advancements in those areas. New York has become a new hot bed for bike transportation, in a safer way anyway, and now has tons of bike lanes all over the place.
Its funny when a bike lane becomes political. Its funny when a bike lane is removed a few weeks before an election in order to appease one sect of resident. Its tragic that people want it back and the govt does nothing to help and barks bullshit reasons for its removal, and lack of answers for putting it back.
Its amazing when people take matters into their own hands and put back what they use and need on a daily basis. Street art for the benefit of all.
more from planetizen
Posted in Daily musings, Random Find Tagged bike lanes, bikes, NYC, street art, urban art, urban biking, urban transport Comments closed
State of WA updates energy code
With an original goal to include provisions that would cut energy use by 30% in buildings, this plan passed with support that would only allow for an 15 – 18% decline. I suppose people arent ready for too much change.
What I’m happy to see is that there are some very good common sense updates coming when the new version is implemented. Not only will this help in cost, this helps with air quality, life cycle of the building get extended, quality of life increases. These types of updates are great and I’m glad to see at least some level of progression happening. Hopefully in time our usage of energy will become mush smaller than this.
Among the residential code improvements passed by the Council are:
- Programmable thermostats on all primary heating systems
- Air leakage testing with a “blower door” for all new homes
- Duct testing for all new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems
- Posting of a certificate of residential energy efficiency features on new homes
Commercial improvements include:
- Upgrades to lighting controls, including occupancy sensors and technology to take better advantage of daylight
- Upgraded insulation for ceilings
- More energy efficient windows
- Sub-metering for tenants to help them manage energy use
more info here : nw energy news
Posted in News, Sustainability, architecture Tagged code, energy code, energy use, Washington Comments closed
Take the LEED AP ND test for free
While researching the LEED AP exam recently I came across info on the GBCI website that was offering people free testing spots for the new LEED AP ND beta test. As someone who cant afford to take the test otherwise I signed up and applied for a beta tester spot. The application is relatively pain free. The only tricky spot was that you have to get a current or past supervisors description of you working on a LEED certified project. Turns out I worked on a bank project and qualify to test.
To inquire about taking the test, or to find more info please look here.
The deadline is Dec. 15, 2009. And the test happens in early Feb.
Posted in Sustainability, architecture Tagged beta test, certification, LEED AP ND, neighborhood development, USGBC Comments closed
Infrastructure on the edge of the world
depending on how the mood is striking you, you may need to turn down the volume.
The big endeavor
Well, Its been on my mind for years now. I’ve talked to past professors and I feel like its the right time for me to pursue my interest in PhD programs. I just signed up for the GRE and had my transcripts sent. Guess thats a couple small tasks in a long list of things to accomplish before my deadlines.
I’m interested in three programs right now, each with several faculty I would like to work with. Trouble is that I haven’t fully ironed out the details of what I want to study or pursue as an overarching guideline to my studies. So thats on the continual agenda so to speak.
Posted in Academics, Daily musings Tagged architecture, geography, phd, portland, Seattle, Urban Design, Urban studies, Vancouver Comments closed
Urban Biking
So you think your city is friendly to bikes? Think they have ample bike lanes and provisions for safe commuting? Well no city in America is pushing harder and advocating going by bike than Portland, OR. Check out a map of the bike lanes.
portland bike lane map
(1.7meg pdf file)
Posted in Daily musings, outdoors Tagged bike lanes, commuting, map, OR, portland, urban biking Leave a comment
Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca’s Bay, a 24 hour Timelapse from Franklin Tello on Vimeo.