Hasta La Ideas

Just when everyone was starting to finally become so used to the U.S. Green Building Council‘s LEED certification that it’s nearly reached the point of ubiquity, up pops a new system that is going to try and provide an alternative. Launched this past fall and starting to make waves is the Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities, or SERF certification for sure. Crain’s Detroit reports that the program was founded as an alternative to LEED, which founder Joe Maguire says has grown too expensive and time-consuming (you’ll recall that there have been questions about the program’s real world benefits as well). How much quicker and less expensive is SERF? Here’s a bit:

“Our timeline is four to six weeks,” he said. “They take two years. We’re approaching this from the perspective of the property owner and investor. How can the process be more efficient, more accessible?”

Among the differences, he said, is that the application can be filled out by the architect who designed the building rather than LEED’s requirement of hiring another architect to fill out the paperwork. A streamlined application process cuts down on the time it takes consultants — paid by the hour — to complete the work.

So far, the USGBC seems okay with the competition, telling Crain’s that they are okay with other certifications popping up, as anything to promote green building is a positive. Also, it’s fairly easy to say you aren’t too concerned when you have more than a billion square feet under your belt and a certification like SERF has 32 buildings in total to their name.

Update: The USGBC dropped us a line, letting us know about an error: “The quote from Joe Maguire says that LEED Certification takes two years, however, the timeline actually only ranges from 5-15 weeks but depends on the project and their submittals, as well as if the project has make any appeals on LEED credits.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

La visita a Belgrado di un mese fa ha fornito lo spunto per l’articolo di oggi, era impossibile infatti non parlare di quello che probabilmente è il miglior negozio di design della città: l’Italian Design Center.
Il negozio si trova nell’area di Beton Hala che ho già citato in un articolo precedente come la più interessante per vedere buoni esempi di interior design contemporaneo. Tra i tanti ristoranti e lounge bar che si affacciano sul fiume Sava, c’è anche questo grande showroom di due piani che espone i prodotti di eccellenti aziende italiane come Moroso, Boffi, Foscarini, B&B Italia, Magis, Matteo Grassi e tante altre, elencate in questa pagina.

E’ piacevole vedere come in Serbia il design italiano sia tanto apprezzato da avere un negozio dedicato in una delle aree più prestigiose di Belgrado.

IDC ha fornito arredi e consulenze progettuali a tanti uffici e abitazioni private di Belgrado e se passi per la città ti consiglio di visitare questo negozio perché l’esposizione è aggiornatissima e di gran livello. Puoi rendertene conto anche sfogliando la pagina del sito dedicata ai designer in catalogo, per me è stata anche un’occasione per scoprire prodotti che ancora non conoscevo.

The Urban Low Table is a coffee table made of several small boxes of different colors, materials, volumes, and heights making for a very interesting a..

These photographs by Roland Halbe show a mixed-use building by German architects NPS Tchoban Voss, which cantilevers over a neighbouring rooftop in Berlin.

The five-storey building is clad in metal panels and contains a ground-floor gallery, two floors of offices and a split-level apartment.

The new block completes the Hamburger Hof complex, for which the architects also renovated and extended surrounding buildings.

Extensions to existing buildings are also finished in metal panels.

The group of buildings surround a courtyard that previously housed a carpenter’s workshop.

More stories about cantilevering buildings on Dezeen »

Here is some more information from the architects:

Große Hamburger Street
addition for a court as listed monument

The Hamburger Hof complex presents itself today as a terrain genuinely grown and constantly re-combined by means of residential and commercial buildings over the last 200 year.

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First documented in 1828, the front building was complemented over and over by additions on the courtyard side, establishing both small trade businesses as well as places of entertainment such as a bowling house.

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A bronze casting house, a coffee roastery, a brewery, locksmith and carpentry workshops, and various restaurants and bars were located here during the last two centuries, an addition to residential and small office units.

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The client was fond of the idea to continue this mix of crafts, culture and housing when he acquired the property with the heterogeneous existing development in 2006. In close collaboration with the alert preservation authorities a renovation and expansion concept was developed solely removing two small sheds from the 1960′s.

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Generously glazed attics were sensibly added, partly resuming again the droop volume of the roofs that had been destroyed during World War II.

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The only completely new building within the ensemble is a five-story construction abutting an existing fire wall.  On the top floor it protrudes widely into the retral adjacent park, while at the corner of the neighboring brick house shifting onto the old coffee roastery in respectful distance.

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New fenestrations on the upper floors of the complex offer spectacular views onto this “pocket park” and the surrounding houses, while the historic courtyard is recast by the new layout explicitly implementing modern materials and shapes and yet retaining its vintage character as a semi-private space.

Location: Berlin
Builder: Schauder & Shani GmbH
Completion year: 2010

See also:

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Casa Paz by Arturo Franco Office	Torreagüera Vivienda Atresada by Xpiral	Balancing Barn by MVRDV and Mole

The Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco was massive (spot Glen and Finley in the crowd):

Pretty incredible as far as craft fairs go! I was impressed again this year.

Here’s our San Francisco team:

Here Glen shows Kathleen, Margaret and Annie how to use the technology—since last year, transactions have definitely gone digital and the venue had wi-fi this year which was helpful. And most helpful were our lovely San Francisco/Oakland friends! Most of my time was spent wandering the floor with Finley, keeping him amused as much as possible. (What a difference a year makes, from a contained little 4-month-old at last year’s Renegade to a toddler, curious and clever!

Here are some shots of the UPPERCASE offerings:

Visit the blog throughout the week for more Renegade wrap-up!

Thank you Kathleen, Annie and Margaret: we couldn’t have done it without you.