Hasta La Ideas

Though it’s been well known that Norman Foster‘s Harmon Hotel, a large tower connected to the multi-billion, pedestrian-shooing CityCenter complex in Las Vegas, had seemingly long ago seen the nail driven deeply into its coffin, it appears that it’s been made official this week. You might recall that the troubles started back in 2009, partially due to the crumbling of the world’s finances, but also because it had been discovered that there were numerous construction errors (for example: 15 floors were found to have wrongly installed rebar). Still trying to finish the project, the hotel was cut from a planned 49 stories to just 28. That trimming, it turns out, would be just the start of the project’s collapse. From that point forward, the building’s owners, MGM, got into an all out war with the company it claims was responsible for all of the construction problems, Perini Building (who in turn were already suing MGM for not paying them). And that’s just a sliver of the issues that have plagued the project and MGM has stated that it’s ready to demolish the Harmon as early as next year. It seems as though that might now be a good option, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that an engineering firm was hired by MGM to look at the structure of the building, to get a sense of just how bad things are. And bad they most certainly were. Apparently so bad are the problems that it seems demolition is really the only option. Here’s a bit:

“The construction defects in the tower observed to date are so pervasive and varied in character that it is not possible to quickly implement a temporary or permanent repair to remediate the defects, or even determine whether such repairs can be performed.”

In the letter, Ekwueme said that if a code-level earthquake were to take place, “it is likely that critical structural members in the tower will fail and become incapable of supporting gravity loads, leading to a partial or complete collapse of the tower.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Firebelly University is looking for five socially-conscious entrepreneurs-in-the-making aspiring to start their own design studio and build a social enterprise.

Hands-on learning is the mantra of this new nine-month entrepreneurial incubator program, the latest brainchild of Dawn Hancock, founder of Firebelly Design—a Chicago-based branding and design studio—and it’s nonprofit arm, Firebelly Foundation. Joining forces with 4 other do-gooders, participants learn the nuts and bolts of business by collaboratively running their own real world design studio complete with real clients. At the same time, engagements with community and industry leaders teach and inspire as studio members lay the groundwork for launching their own entrepreneurial ventures. Participants invest $6,000 as seed money but get every penny of it back…and then some. Each month, they receive a stipend of $1,000 plus 10% of the profit.

“The Firebelly business model is one that leads to a lot of questions,” shared Hancock, “I’m constantly asked if I live on ramen noodles because other business owners find it so hard to believe that we can do what we do and still turn a profit. We can and we do. We’re looking for superhumans and believers who want to do just that. We want to create a whole army of entrepreneurs who understand that doing good and running a sustainable, profitable business or nonprofit are not mutually exclusive. That is why we are starting Firebelly University.”

Applications are due July 25th and the program will run September 2011-May 2012 in Firebelly Design’s Chicago offices.

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With the numbers reported in the American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index having returned to a monthly signal of gloom and despair, you’d think the AIA wouldn’t want to compound the collective depression with more knowledge of how rough things are right now in the business of building. Unfortunately, if you happened to miss it, last week the AIA announced that it is in the middle of assembling a database of stalled projects across the country, sharing that “almost two-thirds of architects responding to a recent AIA survey reported at least one project that is stalled due to lack of financing, despite record low interest rates.” But before you start crying into your beer (also: the larger problem could be that you’re drinking at 7am), you might perk up to learn that such a database might turn out to be a really good thing, and not some sort of sadistic torture perpetrated by the AIA. Instead, the goal of the database, which is set to be released “in the coming months,” will be made available to potential investors, to perk their interest in “stalled building projects nationwide that make economic sense but which lack the financing to be completed.” So instead of relying on investors to hunt around for new ways to make more money or fuel growth, the AIA’s database will hopefully handle some of that leg work for them. Our fingers are crossed.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Bravo’s design-fueled summer programming train rolls on! As Martyn Lawrence-Bullard and Mary McDonald continue their delightful scenery chewing over on Million Dollar Decorators (last night’s episode included a priceless shot of McDonald taking delivery of an Edible Arrangement, which instantly convinced her that the sender/would-be client was not a good match), quiptastic house flipper and interior designer Jeff Lewis returns for a fifth season of Flipping Out. In anticipation of tonight’s premiere, we spoke with Lewis and his trusty assistant Jenni Pulos (who has a second career as a rap artist for the toddler set) about the Jeff Lewis design ethos, what’s in store for the new season, and whether they see a Million Dollar Decorators/Flipping Out crossover special in their future.

This season, the focus of Flipping Out shifts from flipping properties to designing spaces. How would you describe the Jeff Lewis Design aesthetic?
Jeff Lewis: I definitely lean more contemporary and my looks are definitely more streamlined. And I like big open spaces. I don’t really like a ton of furniture. I’m not one of those people that over-accessorizes. That’s a little trick of the trade that designers do which I don’t. I work out a different fee structure, so, I don’t mark up everything that I buy for my client. That’s the reason that you’ll see a lot of homes that are over-accessorized and over-furnished.

Jenni, how would you describe Jeff’s style?
Jenni Pulos: Jeff, I would like to say that I think that you possess a warm relaxed modern style. You like that? I just filled in the “relaxed” this morning. What do you think?

Lewis: Well, when I did the kitchen for House Beautiful that’s what it was called. They basically said that what I do is “soft modern.” It’s basically taking a very modern space but warming it up. Because that’s the problem for people that love contemporary design. It does tend to feel chilly, and it’s not always so family-friendly.
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I am happy to introduce a new contributor to UPPERCASE, Rena Tom. I’ve been virtually following Rena’s entrepreneurial career for many years and had the pleasure of meeting Rena and her family at the Collection a Day book launch in San Francisco earlier this year. At that point, Rena and Lisa Congdon had just sold their shop Rare Device to a new owner. (Rare Device stocks A Collection a Day and other UPPERCASE titles, by the way!)

“Rare Device was renowned early on for its carefully edited collection of design objects, books and fashion, and for supporting small and innovative designers and artists whose work was not easily found in stores. I sold Rare Device in February 2011 but the entrepreneurial bug has not left me. I have met so many wonderful designers, crafters, artists, retailers, buyers and bloggers and have learned a great deal from every one of them.”

Rena has since harnessed her experience as an artisan, designer and shop owner and is passing on her knowledge on through retail consulting. She can help you start a new business, open a store, evaluate your product and help you get noticed by the right people.

After reading Rena’s guest post “Too Much Success” on Poppytalk, I immediately emailed to thank her for a post that hit really close to home and invited her to extend her experience to UPPERCASE readers. For her first column (appearing in the fall isssue #11), we are accepting questions.

What would you like to know about starting or maintaining your creative business? In what areas do you need most encouragement or advice? Please leave your questions in the comment section.

(Please note that these are general questions, not specific questions or evaluations of your products.)