Kelly Allen‘s paintings exhibit the kind of mastery that forces the onlooker to double-take while gawking at her artwork. Her pieces, which are often mistaken for collages, in her own words, “honor” each animal, plant species, human body part and object through the assiduous strokes of her eye-lash thick paintbrushes. Read more.
Last week we scratched the surface of affordable-housing, highlighting a company who’s attained a strong level of social change in the small, yet integral sector of architecture and the society at large. This week, we’d like to go over the reality and history of low and middle class housing in the U.S., written by our design assistant, Margo Nathanson.
Over the last few years, there’s been plenty of talk about San Francisco’s housing crisis and the city’s ever changing facade — from local housing policies to gentrification, we’ve heard it all. Back in February, even Stephen Colbert joked that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake marked “the last time anyone could afford to live there without six roommates”. Read more.
Call it a trend, but “green” hasn’t really died down since it hit mass appeal several years back — it might even be fair to say that it’s here to stay. Everywhere I look, I see vacant parking lots, parking spaces and rooftops taken over by lush green vegetation. Living walls, rooftop gardens, parklets, and urban farming allow for integration of grasses, shrubs, succulents, and just about all plant-life to thrive through the cracks. These various venues for green life reclaim black top roofs, black tar parking spaces, intersections, and concrete walls, generating a natural ecosystem known to mitigate heating zones while adding natural oxygen production. Read more.
Our client, we will call her Sofia, is ready to spend more time exploring what life in San Francisco can offer her. To that end she is creating a pied-à-terre in Pacific Heights that may become a full-time home if things go that way. Read more.
I got the chance to catch Aimee Friberg on a sunny Sunday afternoon whilst on a trip to Los Angeles for her show at Museum & Crane. Aimee is an artist who works with photography, installation and video. She was the co-owner and director of the former Gallery Extrana in Berkeley and now currently directs K Imperial Fine Art and kindly let me ask her a few quirky interview questions about her art: Read more.
It’s officially spring! The Vernal Spring Equinox fell on March 20th, this past Tuesday, and people are celebrating globally. The observance of Purim, a festival that includes gift-giving, costumes and masks took place in the beginning of this month. Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and Holi, Hinduism’s festival of colors, were both held on March 21st. The eight day long Jewish observed Passover was followed by Ash Wednesday and Lent is in full swing with Easter also on its way. So I suppose it’s needless to say, no matter your faith, or lack thereof, the importance of color and spring just may be the common denominator. (wink) Read more.
…continuing from a previous blog entry — “Home: more than a place to lay your head, but a habitat for creation, creativity and ease.” How do we make that happen? We begin with Interior Mapping™.
It is an approach developed over a period of 20 years by Caroline Day interior designer (now lead designer on our LOCZIdesign team) which culturally and aesthetically integrates Feng Shui philosophy with solid design principles to create beautiful interior environments. It brings awareness of the impact that our surroundings have on our well-being. Read more.
Oh yes, as interior designers, you know that we talk about colors — a lot! Yet, color and its influence is a broader experience that is often a vessel for therapy, outreach and even triumph. “It’s a can of paint but so much bigger than that!” That’s Laura Guido-Clark, the Founder/President of Project Color Corps and Principal at Laura Guido – Clark Design. Consider her your guru of color activism. Read more.
Home: more than a place to lay your head, but a habitat for creativity, creation and ease. Interior design, then, is an extension of these elements — incorporated furnishings, color and artwork to encourage the curation of an ideal home.
This week, we want to kick off our Artists in Residence Series with an interview featuring local Bay Area artist, Mila Libman. Her show “New Waters” is currently at the K Imperial Fine Art gallery in San Francisco. Read more.
