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Belgian beer brand finds five men with extraordinary stories to match its equally remarkable flavor

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With a history steeped in robust flavor, Belgian beer brand Leffe recently turned to the intriguing men of NYC to find a cast of characters whose personal stories matched the beer’s extraordinary qualities. Part of Leffe’s nationwide “Craft Your Character” campaign, the five finalists shared intimate stories from the past that shaped who they are today, spanning an archaeologist lost in the arid deserts of Petra to a gym teacher waking the streets of Prague with an inspirational bell ringing.

The first finalist, Ryan Eberts, saw his opportunity to make a difference after watching a slideshow on Bangladeshi orphans. For two and a half years Eberts taught at an orphanage in Bangladesh, and has since published his written experiences. Also seeking adventures in foreign places, fellow finalist and Notre Dame alum Blaine Pennington backpacked and lived abroad for three years, traversing 26 countries. His escapades, including finding himself lost in the city of Petra on a recent excavation, are documented in his travelogue site, Glimpse. Not to be outdone, Adam Strauss chimes in with his exotic tale. The comedian-turned-entrepreneur details leaving the Volvo-lined streets of Newton, MA for the spiritual mecca of Varanasi, India, crashing weddings and catching sunrises on the River Ganges.

Diverging from the exotic theme, but spinning no less of an interesting tale, teacher-turned-trader Charlie Sewell has been an NYC educator for 20 years and currently manages an online equities account. Sewell’s story of friendship founded over beers and brawls made him a worthy finalist. Last but not least, Nick Sonderup balances his love for music with a career in advertising, working at Weiden + Kennedy while promoting his personal project, “100 Bands in 100 Days.” Ranging from indie venues in the Lower East Side to a church in London, Sonderup chases a whirlwind odyssey of music.

Though a close race, ultimately the winning entry went to Connecticut-based teacher and fisherman Ryan Eberts for his heroic work with orphans in Bangladesh. As the winner, Eberts will fly to Belgium, Leffe’s home.

Leffe’s Stories of Characters will continue to travel throughout the U.S. in search of men with character. Check out some of the finalists’ stories in this video.

By the early 20th century you had certain things you wanted in every kitchen: Running water, a heating element, a work surface, storage areas and a window with a sill where you could let a blueberry pie cool off, even if it was eventually going to be stolen by a hobo. But there was no overarching design scheme detailing how the elements that provided these things all went together.

In the 1880s, mechanical engineer Frederick Taylor was working in a steel factory and noticed problems with workflows, well before anyone knew what the hell a workflow was. A factory is a place where things are supposed to be produced consistently, yet workers themselves are inconsistent: Some are smart, some are dumb, some are lazy, some are hard workers. You could apply a series of workplace rules to all of them, but you would not get consistent results due to differences in ability and motivation. As foreman you could ride, nag and micromanage the lazy or stupid workers, but eventually they could start to wonder whether they were too lazy or stupid to get an iron spike between your shoulder blades when no one was looking.

What the heck does this have to do with kitchens? Read on.

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Semi-translucent flax fiber bike hits stores just in time for summer riding

Presented at Eurobike 2010 (where it took home a Gold Award for innovation), the Schwinn Vestige is finally hitting the mainstream market, selling in stores across the U.S. toward the end of July 2011. The biodegradable bike is made from recyclable flax fiber and coated with water soluble paint, taking the already environmentally-friendly act of cycling a step further.

Utilizing flax’s naturally clear composition, Schwinn implemented a lighting system powered by the front hub, which illuminates the bike’s translucent frame when in motion. In addition to the amusing effects, flax also has functional qualities. Highly absorbent and super strong, flax rivals carbon fiber frames in terms of performance and capability.

The 80% flax fiber bike (the other 20% is made from carbon) is topped off with bamboo fenders and grips, Schwalbe tires and a 9-speed Shimano drive train. The Vestige comes in men’s and women’s styles and will sell for $1400 from Schwinn dealers around the U.S.

The High Line Section 2 in New York (top left) and Peter Zumthor’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (bottom left) were among our most popular stories this month so here’s a roundup of our ten most-clicked stories about parks and gardens from the Dezeen archives.

1: in first place is the High Line, an elevated park along an abandoned rail track in New York City, designed by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.  The High Line Section 2 opened to the public a few weeks ago, doubling its length.

2: Second place goes to Anne Holtrop’s Floating Gardens, an artificial floating island containing gardens and a spa.

3: Peter Zumthor’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion with a central garden opens this week and is our third most-clicked story about parks and gardens. Watch our movie interview with Zumthor on Dezeen Screen.

4: at number four is Chyutin Arhitects’ entrance square at Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

5: Field of Light by Bruce Munro at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England, comes in fifth.

6: number six is Work Architecture Company’s urban farming project, Public Farm One, where they grew food outside the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre in New York.

7: our seventh most popular park story is Landhausplatz by LAAC Architekten and Stiefel Kramer Architecture, a plaza of undulating concrete in Austria.

8: Master Designer’s Garden Plot 6, designed by Martha Schwartz Partners for the 2011 Xi’an International Horticultural Expo, comes in at number eight.

9: ninth place goes to this giant travelling human-shaped herb garden by Japanese studio EARTHSCAPE.

10: finally, this garden by Thilo Folkerts and Rodney LaTourelle where mushrooms grow around walls of old books is in tenth place.

See all of our stories about parks and gardens »

See all  Dezeen’s top ten stories »

We’ll be back with another top ten next month.

See also:

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Dezeen’s top ten: cantilevers	Dezeen’s top ten: shoes	Dezeen’s top ten: mirrors

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If you enjoyed our “live sketchnoting” of The New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof’s keynote address at this year’s Internet Week, you’re going to love our followup: a fireside chat with curators Joan Young (Guggenheim) and Lauren Cornell (New Museum) on how the Internet is affecting the art world. They give recent examples of programs, artists and exhibitions that are grappling with the topic including digital artist Cory Arcangel’s current solo exhibit Pro Tools at the Whitney Museum and Marina Abramovich’s “The Artist is Present” performance piece at MoMA—documented via Flickr. You can listen to the original conversation on UStream or simply learn from the video! Thanks to Bastard Jazz Recordings for the soundtrack.

To learn more about sketchnotes including a great overview of a new kind of visual thinking and some basics to start you off, visit our Sketchnotes Channel at www.core77.com/sketchnotes

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