Google and Monotype collaborate on font that spans all written language



International font company Monotype has worked with Google to create one typeface that can be used by everyone in the world, writing in any language (+ movie). (more…)

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Blackbirds / Bestor Architecture


© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan


© Laure Joliet


© Iwan Baan


© Iwan Baan


© Iwan Baan

  • Landscape Architect: Mia Lehrer + Associates
  • Branding/Logo: Bestor Architecture
  • General Contractor: Pacific Empire Builders
  • Structural Engineer: Nishkian Chamberlain
  • Civil Engineer: CRC Enterprises
  • M/E/P Engineer : Shamim Engineering
  • Client : LocalConstruct

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

Blackbirds is a cluster of 18 homes nestled in the bohemian hills of Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood designed by Bestor Architecture. The multi-house development is a progressive design solution for high quality dense housing in a city with little available land. The houses are 1,930 square feet or less, are a mix of two and three bedrooms, and are built around a living street: a central courtyard that comprises both landscape and parking areas, as well as serving as the stage for larger community functions and play. 


Axonometric

Axonometric

The placement of the houses in the hills mimics the early 20th century craftsman cabins of the area, and deploys a strategy of “stealth density”, combining several houses into a single house shaped volume. For instance two free-standing houses are connected by flashing and the roofline creates the illusion of one house mass. Three houses, whose separation is masked has the illusion of being two houses. This conceals the actual density of units by maintaining the neighborhood shape and landscape context across the .82 acre site. The 18 houses are situated in a drought tolerant landscape with mature trees that is woven into the surrounding neighborhood fabric. The community is a thoughtful blend of private, semi-private and public space, and promotes connections with neighbors and the community by encouraging interaction and exchange. The emphasis of the design is on a higher quality of life within an urban context by promoting interactions between neighbors, links between units with native landscaping, and medium density with sensitive scale and massing.


© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

Section

Section

© Laure Joliet

© Laure Joliet

Section

Section

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

The homes feature expansive windows with city and mountain views that bring in abundant natural light and ventilation in a city with a temperate climate. The shared “street” is slightly sloped so rain water can be collected and filtered for watering the site.


© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

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Competition: win a trip to Biennale Interieur 2016



Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with Biennale Interieur to give away five travel packs to this year’s event, including transport, accommodation and dinner. (more…)

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Brexit’s impact on education is a disaster for design says Ben Evans



EU students are deferring or cancelling their offers from UK design schools over Brexit with major implications for the future of the sector, according to London Design Festival co-founder and UAL governor Ben Evans. (more…)

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Learn About the History of the RIBA Stirling Prize and See Inside the 2016 Finalists

As the winner of the 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize is set to be announced later today, Architects’ Journal has released a documentary looking at the award’s 21-year history and its impact on the buildings and architects that have been named to the prestigious list.

The video, commissioned by AJ’s Laura Mark and filmed by Jim Stephenson, features exclusive interviews with Richard Rogers, and Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, and profiles past winners and each of the 6 buildings shortlisted for this year’s prize. The film also reveals AJ’s pick for this year’s winner.

Watch the full video above or check out AJ’s videos on each of the finalists, below.

Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford / Herzog & de Meuron

Newport Street Gallery, Vauxhall, London / Caruso St John Architects

City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus / Michael Laird Architects + Reiach and Hall Architects

Outhouse Gloucestershire / Loyn & Co Architects

Weston Library, University of Oxford / WilkinsonEyre

Trafalgar Place, Elephant and Castle, London / dRMM Architects

RIBA Announces 2016 Stirling Prize Shortlist
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News via Architects’ Journal.

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How To Make The Most of Every Morning

Imagine this:

(1) You wake up to the sound of your alarm, see that you snoozed one too many times and you now have to run into the shower, pick up some random bar laying on your kitchen counter for breakfast and drive as quickly as you can to work, infuriated with all the “horrible drivers” around you.

or

(2) You wake up an hour before you actually need to leave your house for work. You spend the first 30 minutes getting ready, making sure the shower water is the perfect temperature. You have ample time to make some amazing eggs with toast, and you look like a 10 because you had more than enough time to get ready. You spend the last 30 minutes before you have to go to work either meditating, planning your day, spending some time with your kids, writing in your journal, reading the book you’ve been dying to get to, or knocking out a work-task you know you’ll have to finish later that day. You leave to work feeling incredible. You look great, your stomach is satisfied, your brain is ready for action and for some reason the drivers around you aren’t driving you crazy. You of course, get to work on time, feeling relaxed.

earlyThe fact of the matter is, that it doesn’t matter who you are, what your job is or where in the world you are. It also doesn’t matter what exactly you want to do in the morning. Becoming a morning person creates time for you to engage in all the activities you want to do, and complete all the work you need to do without feeling stressed or under pressure.

Becoming a morning person is the single best change you can make to your life.

Why?

Because time increases exponentially the earlier you wake up.

How?

The extra time gained by not having to deal with transportation time and external distractions are all compounded by either knocking out necessary tasks of the day or making sure your heart, body and mind are properly fueled and primed for a fantastic day ahead.

With less external distractions, less time wasted getting from one place to another, and getting out of bed on “the right” foot, you can get a lot more done a lot, more quickly, plain and simple.

It all sounds nice, right?

The real “problem” is actually beginning to take steps towards becoming an early riser who makes use of the morning hours.

Here are some the steps you need to take if you’re serious about becoming a morning person:

If you REALLY desire to be an early riser and you’re willing to commit to the challenge, then the one thing you really need to understand is that you need to break your negative connection with the early morning by:

  • (a) making it as easy as possible to get the day started after you wake up
  • (b) waking up with energy
  • (c) having a reason to wake up.

That being said, the transition is difficult, so here are some of the tips to get you through the struggle!

Step (1) The importance of the night before:

Waking up early isn’t easy and to become a morning person you need to make the transition as simple and smooth as possible. One of the ways to do that is eliminate all the decision making you usually do in the morning. Decision fatigue is a real problem, and in the morning you need all the energy you can get, you can’t waste it making petty decisions about what is going to look cute to wear today or thinking about what you really feel like eating for breakfast today.

You need to have the following items done before you go to bed:

  • (a) All your bags packed and ready to go for the next day so that you don’t have to do anything besides pick it/them up on the way out of the house.
  • (b) The clothes you want to wear the next day should be decided and laid out where you can just grab them and put them on after you brush your teeth.
  • (c) What you want to eat for breakfast (if you want to eat breakfast—I definitely recommend it to get your energy up in the morning—specifically some carbs for long-lasting energy).
  • (d) The first few tasks you want to knock out in the morning or rather what the first few hours of your morning is going to consist of.

Step (2) Waking up with energy:

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times and it still doesn’t get any easier, but I PROMISE if you do this, you’ll automatically start feeling more energetic when you get up.

As soon as you open your eyes and turn on your alarm, you forget about what your mind and body are saying, they’re lazy. They’re exactly what prevent you from being an early riser. They need training.

So this is what you do, you open your eyes and the second you realize you’re awake you JUMP out of bed and do 10 jumping jacks.

How simple is that, just 10 jumping jacks. Your blood starts flowing, your energy increases instantly and you’re awake, it is actually that easy if you just commit to doing it one day you’ll see, I PROMISE!

Step (3) Have a reason to wake up—have a PURPOSEFUL morning:

No, I don’t mean wake up and think about how beautiful life is and how lucky you are to be alive (if that’s what you want to do with the morning time, then I’m all for it). I mean you need to have something that you want to do in the morning, a task you want to accomplish early on before the madness of the day starts to slow you down. An appointment or meeting you need to go to, maybe you want to exercise early in the day.

You need a reason to get up because if you wakeup without any intention for specific action you want to take, you’ll get up, think about why the hell you’re awake so early, and you’ll end up falling back into bed.  You need to have something that you’re energetic about and excited to complete because it is either a necessary task you can get out of the way and clear up your day, or an activity that will drive your day in the best way possible – give you some energy, and get your happiness going early on.

The post How To Make The Most of Every Morning appeared first on Change your thoughts.

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Vancouver architect Bing Thom dies aged 75



Architect Bing Thom, designer of several major buildings in Vancouver, has died aged 75 following a brain aneurysm. (more…)

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CENTRO / TEN Arquitectos


© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa


© Luis Gordoa


© Luis Gordoa


© Luis Gordoa


© Luis Gordoa

  • Architects: TEN Arquitectos
  • Location: Av Constituyentes 455, América, 11820 Ciudad de México, D.F., México
  • Architect In Charge: Enrique Norten
  • Area: 7315.0 sqm
  • Project Year: 2015
  • Photographs: Luis Gordoa
  • Structural Engineer: CTC Ingenieros Civiles
  • Interior Design: Grupo Diarq
  • General Contractor: Grupo GA&A
  • Leed Certification & Comissioning: AKF
  • Leed Consultant: IBALCA
  • Acoustics: SAAD Acustica
  • Lighting Consultant: Ideas en Luz

© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa

From the architect. On one of Mexico City’s busiest avenues, Avenida Constituyentes, the new campus for CENTRO University is a multi-building complex of four volumes above grade, and three below-grade parking levels. This 78,740 sf, LEED Platinum certified new construction will also house public spaces, studios and study areas, an art gallery, a 400-seat auditorium and faculty and administrative offices. The volumes above grade are layered and interconnected to create the new dynamic central home and much-needed expanded facilities for the Design and Communications University.


© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa

Axonometric

Axonometric

© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa

Section

Section

Building A, a six-story building located on the rear side of the lot, houses studios and a cafeteria. The offices, double-height movie forum and five projection rooms are located in the three-storied Building C at the front of the complex, which serves as the facade to Constituyentes Avenue and the main entry point into the campus. Building B floats perpendicularly over Buildings A and C. It houses a 4-story mediatheque, along with study areas and an art gallery. Finally, Building D is a 40-foot-wide two level stair, under which the double-height auditorium and a snack bar are located


© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa

The overlapping and volumetric composition of the complex creates a serene courtyard at the center of the campus which aims to amplify the sense of openness within, while blocking noise and visual traffic from Constituyentes Avenue. The building facades surrounding the courtyard will offer exhibition space for student works. Communal spaces, such as the mediatheque and study areas, are strategically located to take optimal advantage of the views to the 7,000 sf of interior courtyard and to nearby Chapultepec Park, one the largest city parks in Latin America.


© Luis Gordoa

© Luis Gordoa

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Five of the best houses in Wyoming on Dezeen

No need to adjust your screen, this technicolor terrain is…

No need to adjust your screen, this technicolor terrain is Artist’s Pallette at Death Valley National Park in California. Aprons of blue, pink, green, purple, brown and black drape across the mountain front. Metals and minerals affected by oxidation and other chemical reactions created this unique landscape. Photo by Kevin O’Connell (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).