September 2016 – Page 184

Cabot Links / Omar Gandhi Architect

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Architects: Omar Gandhi Architect
Location: Inverness, NS, Canada
Client: Cabot Links
Design: Omar Gandhi, Peter Braithwaite, David Greenwell, Hayley Johnson
Interior Design: Jill Greaves Design
Area: 2297.0 ft2
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: doublespace photography

Contractor: David Maclean
Structural: Joe Janega Engineering

Nestled along the dramatic shoreline of Cape Breton, The Golf Villas at Cabot Links are an invitation to a course, a land and a journey like no other. With its unique brand of pure links play and panoramic vistas, Cabot represents a dramatic departure from the typical golf excursion.

Like the course itself, the Golf Villas at Cabot offer the absolute best of both worlds: An upscale living environment with modern influences and high-end amenities, set against a picturesque backdrop that hearkens back to the game’s very origins. Whether passion for the game or the appreciation of life’s less traveled roads first brought guests to Cabot, the team at the Links hope guests will consider extending their tee time indefinitely.

An escape from the ordinary, elegance has never been more inviting. Overlooking the lush greens and majestic ocean views of Cabot Links, the 2- and 4-bedroom Golf Villas of Cabot Links provide a level of accommodation that is rare to find, yet decidedly easy to appreciate. Because entertaining is an art unto itself, each villa features a fully custom kitchen with oversized stone countertops, premium appliances and a modern, open design. Throughout each living space, accents like detailed wide plank wood floors and unique wood feature walls reveal that even the smallest details have been given the utmost attention. Lounge in the serenity of a private deck with an outdoor fireplace. Take a soak in a freestanding bath. Or relax indoors while enjoying the quiet, refined ambiance of a sanctuary like no other.

From the outset, the team at Omar Gandhi Architect and Jill Greaves Design challenged themselves to create a distinctive aesthetic that’s as captivating as it is welcoming. The result is a serpentine arrangement of wood-clad villas that creates a threshold between the town of Inverness and the now famed Cabot Links golf course. Designed to reflect a simple elegance, each villa’s exterior is clad in finely crafted wooden slats, with a fully glazed façade that looks out toward the sea. To establish a natural sense of balance with its surroundings, each building follows the direction of the gently sloping landscape. The effect is subtle yet profound, creating an attractive and idyllic retreat from the everyday world.

The 2-bedroom, semi-detached villa occupies 1332 square feet, offering a comfortable escape designed entirely by Jill Greaves Design and adorned by endless panoramas. Inside, a master bedroom with en suite (large tub and walk-in shower), an additional bedroom with detached bathroom, an open-concept living space and kitchen with uninterrupted sunset views and expansive private deck.

Each spacious 4-bedroom villa occupies 2297 square feet, offering the ultimate in comfort and design. A master suite and accompanying three additional bedrooms and bathrooms. The free-flowing kitchen and living space features unsurpassed ocean and golf views, opening onto a large private deck. Each villa features a gas fireplace, contemporary décor and multiple seating areas.

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Architect Magazine Names the Top 50 Architecture Firms in the US for 2016

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Images © Raul J. Garcia, Timothy Hursley & Matthew Anderson

Architect Magazine has unveiled the latest edition of the “Architect 50,” their list of the 50 best architecture firms in the United States. The 2016 rankings are based on scores from three categories: business, design and sustainability; the last of which was calculated using a new methodology this year. Topping the list this year was ZGF Architects, who also were given the distinction of top sustainable firm, while William Rawn Associates and Marlon Blackwell Architects finished number 1 in business and design, respectively.

See the top 10 from each category after the break.

Pearl Izumi North American Headquarters / ZGF Architects. Image © Raul J. Garcia

Overall

Design

Stanford University Central Energy Facility / ZGF Architects. Image © Matthew Anderson

Sustainability

Berklee College of Music / William Rawn Associates. Image © Bruce T. Martin Photography

Business

See the full Architect 50 overall list here, and subcategory results here.

News via Architect Magazine.

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Wicklow, Irelandphoto via nora

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Wicklow, Ireland

photo via nora

Is the New iPhone 7 The Best Cell Phone for Architects?

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

via Apple Special Event Streaming. September 7, 2016.

The iPhone 7 is here. Announced at Apple’s September Launch event today, the new device and its sibling, the iPhone 7 plus, have arrived after months of rumors, leaks and anticipation. The phones are loaded with a bevy of new components, including a new pressure-sensitive home button and bluetooth headphones, marking another step in the journey toward our wireless future.

Of course, in spite of the hype that the new iPhone will inevitably get—as it always does—it’s not the only smartphone on the market. Many will point to the fact that its expected RAM capabilities (2GB for the iPhone 7 and 3GB for the 7 Plus) still lag behind some competitors (for comparison the Samsung Galaxy S7 has 3GB and the S7 Edge 4GB), while the upgraded 32GB storage and newly-found water-resistance are no more than catching up with Apple’s competition. Nonetheless, Apple’s iPhone 7 also features a number of features that could make it a phone perfectly suited to architects. Read on to find out exactly why.

1. Improved Camera

In many ways, smartphone cameras have already replaced traditional cameras for casual, everyday usage. But with the latest iPhone camera upgrade, the quality may now challenge that of your DSLR as well.

The 12 MP camera uses technology Apple acquired from LinX Imaging this past spring to produce crisper, brighter photos. Optical image stabilization and a finely tuned aperture window let in more light with shorter exposure times, resulting in pictures with reduced noise and higher clarity, even when taken in indoor or low-light environments.

For architects, this means you no longer need additional light sources when looking to snap a few shots of architectural details on a dim construction site, and the improved clarity means increased understanding of how parts come together as well.

2. Dual-Lens Camera System on the 7 Plus

For even more control over the photos you’re taking, the iPhone 7 Plus contains two camera lenses: one wide-angle lens and one telephoto lens, finally allowing users to zoom up to 2x without any loss of quality. And thanks to the improved picture clarity, digital zoom is now available up to 10x. Coupled with new real-time deep depth preview, which allows you to adjust the focal depth on screen, it is now possible to take quality photos, even from a distance.

Stuck behind a fence and can’t reach the building detail you want to photograph? Increased zoom will take you where you couldn’t quite get before. What could be even more exciting for architects is that this depth perception could potentially be implemented into a variety of apps where measuring space is important, from room-scanning apps to a variety of augmented-reality implementations.

3. HomeKit Home Automation

Included on iOS 10, a new Siri-enabled built-in app will allow your phone to seamlessly serve as the control center for your smart home products. By pairing the iPhone with other Internet of Things products, you will be able to control your work environment remotely; or even start a fresh pot of coffee to be waiting for you when you arrive each morning.

4. Real-Time Collaboration

Also part of iOS 10, iWork applications (keynote, etc.) will now allow multiple users to edit one file simultaneously (similarly to how google docs works). Presentations and documents can now be shared and edited, in real time, on all apple devices, so everyone can work together to prepare for that last-minute deadline.

5. Improved Capabilities of Applications

An improved processor will allow applications to approach 90% of the capabilities of the full software – so applications like Adobe Lightroom can be used onsite for editing photos at nearly their full potential.

6. Double the Memory Capacity

Phones are now available in sizes up to 256 GB, so downloading drawings sets or portfolios will no longer take your phone out of commission, and you can take and store a huge number of photos without worrying about having to delete any of your favorites.

BONUS: High-Gloss Jet Black Finish

We all are aware of architects’ love of black. Thanks to a new jet black glossy finish, the iPhone will serve as a perfect complement to any architect’s outfit.

Prices for the iPhone 7 will start at $649.

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Padre Renato Poblete River Park / Boza Arquitectos

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Architects: Boza Arquitectos
Location: Av Costanera Sur 3201, Quinta Normal, Región Metropolitana, Chile
Author Architects: Cristián Boza D, Cristián Boza W, Diego Labbé, Eduardo Ruiz-Risueño, Michel Carles Tapia
Collaborators: Pedro Pedraza,Víctor Reyman, Karina Lecaros,Felipe Selman, Víctor Alegría
Promoter And Client: Gobierno de Chile – Ministerio de Obras Publicas MOP
Project Year: 2015
Photographs: Felipe Díaz Contardo , Cortesía de Cristian Boza Wilson , Guy Wenborne

Constructor: Brotec
Engineering: CICSA Consult
Text: Pedraza-BozaW
Constructed Surface: 9.1 hectares hectaresˈhekˌte(ə)r

The idea of river park was created in 2001 with the main objective to recover the banks of Rio Mapocho through the implementation of collapsible locks along 34k from east to west. The original intention is to generate various development poles along the route by referring to a navigable river.

Located in the western sector of Santiago, Padre Renato Poblete River Park, is seen as a sustainable urban public space intervention. The main objective is to value the banks of the Mapocho river and rehabilitate degraded industrial area that are now integrated across the water of the channel.

For a more situational approach of the project it is possible to explain the park through three essential points: from the contemporary, from overcoming prejudices, and finally, creating a new imaginary landscape.

In the words of Joan Roig, architect and Spanish landscaper, “Contemporanizar”; to contemporary, or in other words to update the profession. Renato Poblete Park is essentially designed by a group of young architects who overcame inertia to continue the design of its next national landscape references, marking a distance. In this sense, it proposes a new design for the national context from what the theory of landscape has drawn back to the ground as thick or groundscape, which is basically understood that the manipulated surface is understood in its three physical dimensions.

The park is a certain improvement to urban bias. The first is the supposed impossibility of esclusar a torrent. Issue discussed for years for various “pseudo experts” who thought the only way esclusar was in reference to some European urban river. Second, a park area west of Santiago may not be of high standard, because it is low-income communities. Then the design and execution of the park was not from scarcity but from efficiency, rehabilitating a degraded industrial zone.

Finally If there is anything that the proposed park to the city, is the ability to regain the look over the river from a bank. Strictly speaking the park behaves like a meandering river. Diverts your water and water vegetation. From the bicycle, or in its various walks edge you can see the basin of the Mapocho , its relationship with the Cerro Renca and the axis formed until the Cordillera . His ataludado containment wall that proximity allows coming society claiming to time in its many sporadic appropriations down the channeled river bed . Inward vertigo of being on and in contact with water from the river it is proposed.

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Apple’s AirPod headphones connect wirelessly to iPhones and other devices

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Apple has revealed wireless versions of its ubiquitous white headphones during a presentation today, when its latest iPhones were also unveiled. (more…)

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Spiritual Pointers for Quitting a Bad Habit

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Bad habits aren’t totally hard to break. Although they require extra work, shifting your bad habits to positive ones is still highly doable. And there’s a lot of ways to get the job done.

Aside from approaching it scientifically and medically, here’s how you can start quitting your bad habits in a spiritual point of view.

Make time to meditate

meditation at work

Meditation is about clearing your mind and zoning out completely. It can help you think deeply about your life and where you’re headed to.

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Taking the time to engage yourself in deep self-reflection regularly can allow you to pinpoint actions and behaviors that you need to change before they get out of control.

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Hone in on your motivation

You’re likely to have a hard time breaking a habit if you don’t really want to do it in the first place. So, before you can be successful in your goal, you must first be committed to that decision.

Take, for example, your after-work happy hour habit. If you know that it’s starting to interfere with family time, you can use it as your motivation. Focus on the reward of getting home in time for dinner and tucking your kids into bed.

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This way, you’ll have a starting point for saying “no” the next time you’re invited to post-work cocktails.

Replace the bad with the good

Rather than focusing all your energy on eliminating your bad habits, you can take a different approach and focus on replacing them with good ones instead. This goes back to the concepts of meditation and motivation. Just think about the habits you have that make you feel good, healthy and proud of your actions.

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Perhaps they’re not habits yet, but rather things you would like to become habits. When you make the effort to go for a run around the neighborhood, for instance, you’ll feel a rush of ‘endorphins’ that can leave you smiling for hours afterward. This positive effect can make you feel 100 percent comfortable in committing to it.

Visualize your success

After you’ve made the decision about what you need to do, why you want to do it, and how you’re going to accomplish it, you need to start visualizing your success. This can help you be more focused on your end goals.

Imagine a life where you’re no longer regularly binge-drinking. Instead, you find yourself surrounded by a group of friends who have no problem finding healthy and positive ways to have fun. Imagine waking up early for yoga or cooking healthy meals for your significant other.

Constantly visualizing what you want in life can help you get through times of temptation.

Surround yourself with positive influences

positive influences

We all have weak moments, which is why having a support system is so crucial. Having people who can keep you focused can make breaking away from your negative habits a lot easier.

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Friends who have no intentions of changing their ways or family members who have a tendency to enable bad behaviors will only make the road more difficult for you. While you don’t need to cut ties with these people, it helps to spend more time with those who can encourage you to stay committed to your goal.

And remember, it’s a two-way street. If someone encourages you to work past your bad habits, think about how you can help them kick their own to the curb. Creating a circle of positive reinforcement can only result in greater good.

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How to Handle Unethical Client Requests

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

What should you do when your client or boss asks you to do something that’s illegal or unethical? Here’s what to do and why.

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15 Ways to Find Customers

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

Finding customers is hard for many new and established business owners. Here are 15 ways to find customers for your new or existing small business.

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7 Reasons to Turn Down Freelance Work

September 7, 2016signordalLeave a comment

As a freelancer, you want work. But not all freelance gigs are good. Here’s when and why to turn down freelance work.

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The World Around Us

Month: September 2016

Cabot Links / Omar Gandhi Architect

Architect Magazine Names the Top 50 Architecture Firms in the US for 2016

Wicklow, Irelandphoto via nora