designjot

designjot

Sign in Subscribe

N3 in design

Previously, I posted a blog about three design principals that can provide a way to enter in into the design experience, Nature - Nurture - Nourish [I will be using with the acronym N3 to abbreviate the principals]. For a typical project, the design process begins with a discussion about

Local Resources

I added this text to my website [http://www.arc-design.com/] homepage to underscore the impact that supporting local resources has on the resilience and vitality of the community. I plan to post more about regenerative work in the near future. A sustainable community is best served by acting and

A tale of two stone fireplaces

This is a tale of two fireplaces that were crafted by artisans in a lineage that astonishes the imagination. The most recent of these fireplaces was built using tools of the post industrial revolution. The earliest of these fireplaces was built using tools that predate the ancient Greeks. These fireplaces

A Story about stone

This house I designed in the wine country started with a story about stone. 1857 Hungarian, Agoston Haraszthy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoston_Haraszthy] founded Buena Vista Winery [http://www.buenavistawinery.com/about-us/buena-vista-today] in 1857. Haraszthy’s cellars at Buena Vista were one of the first stone wineries

Design Pricipals

Nature - Nurture - Nourish

Design principals to live by A story about ourselves, and the choices we make, is expressed in our dwelling. Here are three fundamental design principals that get to the core of the design experience and that I would like to share with you. These principals have nothing to do with

Michael Cullen and the Medici

Who were the Medici? The Medici were an important family in Tuscany dating back to the late 12th century. The lasting legacy of the Medici was their patronage of the arts. The list of artists supported by the Medici reads as a “Who’s Who” of the Italian Renaissance. In

Hiroshi Sakaguchi

Hiroshi Sakaguchi: Barn raising the Japanese way

A Japanese remodel In 1985, I introduced Hiroshi Sakaguchi, Japanese master carpenter, to Jacques and Denise Tenzel. Jacques and Denise, good friends of mine, wanted a traditional Japanese remodel of their house nestled in the redwoods east of Albion, Mendocino county. The house was taken down to the foundation and

Japanese joinery

The invasion of Japanese Joinery

Paul Discoe In 1970 Paul Discoe, at the time, an American born Zen priest was sent to Japan, by his teacher Shunryu Suzuki, to study Temple building. Upon his return to California, after a 5 year apprenticeship, Paul started to build “Japanese” buildings at the SanFrancisco Zen Center’s monastic

How wolves change rivers

This is not a typical post for me, but it is clearly about sustainability on a grand scale and very inspiring. The video was put out by Sustainable Man [http://sustainableman.org/], and is narrated by George Monboit [http://www.monbiot.com/]. For more about George Monbiot see his book,

The Sinker Cypress Story

Arc Wood and Timbers My good friends at Arc Wood & Timbers [http://www.arcwoodandtimbers.com/] are suppliers of a wide variety of reclaimed and premium woods. These woods come from reclaimed vintage structures, salvaged logs, and sustainably harvested trees. To learn more about Arc Wood, I find this what-we-do

Custom ceramic tile: Tile Visions

Call it serendipity I had walked past a tile showroom on Rhode Island Street, in the San Francisco Design Center district, on a number of occasions. This time I stopped in my tracks and walked in the front door. The project I was working on required custom tiles and in

Wabi- Sabi: A must buy book

A treatise on the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. I highly recommend Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers [http://www.amazon.com/Leonard-Koren/e/B001H9U1KC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1], by Leonard Koren. His book resonated with me so much that it opened some doors of

Meghalaya's Living Bridges

The people of Meghalaya have recognized a way of working with nature to create a long range, sustainable, multi generational solution to a complex perennial problem. They have implemented a design which becomes more effective with the passage of time, and is illustrative of people living in accord with nature.

Gerda Cohen: always an artist

Dreaming It was a friend of my grandmother who spotted my mother's artistic talent when she was a teenager. After encouragement, she attended Cardiff School of Art, and a world opened up to her. For six decades Gerda painted and sculpted, a sketchbook always at hand, and her

There is more to selecting paint color than meets the eye

Color consulting is a fundamental component of my design practice, intertwining and embracing other design and architectural elements. Connecting with color All sorts of artistry comes into play when making color selections. The given conditions: architecture, spaces, surfaces, objects and light, all have their influence over the final outcome. Rough

Searching for stone

The search for natural stone slabs for countertops has it’s own set of problems. Because each quarried block of stone is distinct and one-of-a-kind, looking for stone it is not like looking for a reproducible man made product. Showroom/slab-yards are have different inventories, quality control and costumer service,

rain water catchment

Nest: at the infancy of a design revolution

Some would suggest that Google’s acquisition of Nest, the maker of smart thermostats, is the beginning of the end, and the world is going to hell and a handbag. Jessica Guynn in her article [http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-google-nest-privacy-20140114,0,4312762.story#axzz2qWTbVhO1] in the LA times

lighting controls

Why get help with lighting design?

The truth is that most house plans do not include a well thought out lighting design. Good lighting design is a function of needs and requirements, and because most homes are designed with a generic customer in mind, the lighting design is boiler plate and often flawed. Unfortunately, as a

Waiheke Island sculpture walk

Every two years a spectacular event happens on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. Headland sculpture on the Gulf [http://sculptureonthegulf.co.nz/] is a world class sculpture walk and was voted number thirty five on the New York Times list of things to do in the world. It is a

The gist of designjot

Designjot is a journal of ideas, resources, tips and some of the cool things I am currently working on, oh, and a fair sprinkling of technology and philosophy thrown in. So let me explain why and what I plan to share. Instinctively, I dwell in the world of design, always