Resourceful dads come up with crowd-pleasing organic chocolate bars
Certainly, there’s sugar everywhere. You may have a hankering for the traditional, mass-produced Mars bars and bionic sours on every corner, or wish to hold out for a more sophisticated free-trade 70% cacao gourmet morsel with enough antioxidants to be classified as a superfood. What about a little bit…
Continue Reading…
Premium basics built in California with the creative individual in mind
As a former graphic designer in the creative hub of San Francisco, Ryan Donahue watched as his wardrobe and those of his friends working in similar industries slowly shifted towards a more casual, yet refined taste. Consisting of a crisp T-shirt and perfectly worn denim, this “modern workwear uniform,”…
Continue Reading…
The entrance lobby at AOL‘s Palo Alto headquarters looks like a skate park (+ slideshow).
Just like AOL’s offices upstairs, the lobby was created by San Francisco designers Studio O+A for the campus at 395 Page Mill Road, which is also home to other internet-based companies including security firm TrustedID and cloud computing company Cloud-On.
The skateboarding ramp spans the entire lobby and integrates a reception desk and a lounge area.
Adjacent rooms house a business incubator run by Stanford University students, as well as an auditorium, a gym, a cafe and a yoga studio.
Bicycles are docked on a column in the centre of the lobby, while helmets hang on the walls and both can be borrowed by employees.
See our earlier story about AOL’s offices at the campus here.
Studio O+A have also designed headquarters for Facebook and offices for web hosts Dreamhost.
Photography is by Jasper Sanidad.
Studio O+A’s description of the project can be found below:
395 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto is the address of AOL’s new West Coast headquarters. It is also home to several small businesses—a coffee shop, a gym, some tech incubators—that occupy the same building. The 35,000 square foot ground floor area is divided into spaces ranging from 500 to 2,500 square feet. O+A’s design challenge was to coordinate these spaces and AOL’s public lobby in a way that builds community and fosters interaction. The solution: turn the complex and adjoining outdoor areas into a “campus.”
In keeping with that concept AOL has partnered with Stanford University to fill some of the building’s higher-profile spaces. The Ground Up coffee shop is a Blue Bottle cafe owned and operated by Stanford Student Enterprises. StartX: The Stanford Startup Accelerator is an entrepreneurial incubator with which AOL hopes to cultivate new ideas. Other tenants include tech venture firms Softtech, Morado Ventures and Imagine K12, the cloud computing company Cloud-On, identity security firm TrustedID and the management consultant company Medallia. AOL’s in-house labs are also on this floor as are a gym, an auditorium, a yoga studio and bike racks with cycles available for check-out.
A unifying selection of warm wood finishes, all crafted in an urban-rustic style, begins the process of drawing these disparate elements together. The interior design of the Ground Up coffee bar compliments the alfresco seating and leisure elements in the outdoor plaza, which, in turn, echo the fine grain facades in the building’s spacious lobby. The result is visual continuity with just enough variation to keep the eye—and mind—engaged.
Perhaps the most engaging feature of the space is the plywood entry portal, a sweeping abstract skateboard half-pipe referencing AOL’s beginnings. Seeking an iconic symbol of the 1980s culture into which AOL was born, O+A settled on this distillation of a skateboard ramp, a shape at once graceful and suggestive of youth, vitality and new thinking.
Common areas and paths of travel in the space encourage cross-pollination, not only between separate departments of AOL, but also between the separate entities in the building. The aim is to create communal energy, in essence to grow a little city at one location: organic, vital, adaptable to change. As with a real city, the consequences of this “urban planning” are never predictable, but always trend naturally toward growth and problem-solving.
Part of the “little city” or “campus” idea is a realization on the part of companies like AOL that their own creative advancement is enhanced by the proximity of like-minded people. The more amenities available at a given location, the greater the attraction to that class of creative, mobile, tech-fluent entrepreneur that is always in demand at Silicon Valley’s top firms. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey have all spoken of the importance of the workplace in recruiting top talent. AOL’s new complex at 395 Page Mill recognizes that when you’re competing with Facebook and Google, you need to have a cool sandbox.
The post 395 Page Mill Road
by Studio O+A appeared first on Dezeen.
Architects Swatt Miers have suspended three glass pavilions over the edge of a valley in northern California (+ slideshow).
Located in the grounds of the client’s home, the three Tea Houses were designed to provide quiet, contemplative spaces that are free from the distractions of television, internet, telephone and even music.
The largest of the three pavilions provides a workspace that can also be used for hosting small parties, while the second is for sleeping and the third was conceived as a meditative space for a single person.
Overhanging trees shade the transparent glass walls, which are held in place by horizontal steel joists and vertical concrete cores.
A bathroom bridges the largest of the two rooms and underfloor heating keeps each space warm.
We’ve previously featured a music recital room inspired by a Japanese tea house and a meditation hut with a v-shaped roof.
See all our stories about tea houses »
Photography is by Tim Griffith.
Here’s a project description from Swatt Miers:
The idea for the Tea Houses originated when the client and architect partnered years earlier on the sustainable remodel of the 6,000 square foot main house. During construction the client found respite in a remote location on the site, below a ridge an under a grove of Heritage California Live Oaks. As a high-tech Silicon Valley executive, the desire was to create a place where he could simply retreat into nature.
Years later the vision was realized as three individual Tea Houses. The 270 square foot ‘meditating’ Tea House, nestled under the canopy of the largest oak tree, is a place for individual meditation.
The slightly larger ‘sleeping’ Tea House, approximately 372 square feet, is a space designed for overnight stays. This structure is joined by a sky-lit bathroom ‘bridge’ to the largest Tea House.
At 492 square feet, the ‘visioning’ Tea House is for intimate gatherings and creative thinking. The notion of ‘quiet simplicity’ is a consistent theme throughout – there are to be no phones, internet, televisions or audio systems within the structures.
‘Respect’ and ‘restraint’ are the principles that would guide the construction, and extreme care is taken to minimize impacts to the landscape. The design concept of three separate’ micro’ structures, versus one large structure, enables the project to tread lightly on the land.
And to ensure preservation of the Heritage Oaks’ root systems, the teahouses are literally lifted off the ground, supported by cast-in-plate concrete structural cores. Steel-channel rim joists cantilever beyond the vertical cores to support the floor and roof platforms.
The Tea Houses are passively cooled to eliminate the noise impact from mechanical systems. Steel-framed doors and awning windows provide high/low ventilation.
Natural cooling is further enhanced by shading from strategically located landscaping, including evergreen oaks, bamboo, deciduous maple and gingko trees. Heating is distributed through a quiet and efficient in-floor radiant system.
The sculptural interpretation of a simple tea house has succeeded in a magnificent tribute to the beauty of nature. As the sunlight and shadows move across the hillside the Tea Houses take on different forms- at sunrise the structures disappear into the long shadows; the soft silhouette of the midday sun casts dramatic reflections off the glass; and by evening, the structures glow like lanterns.
Site plan – click above for larger image
Viewed from afar or viewed from within, the Tea Houses are works of art living amongst the trees and grasses of their native California hillside.
Plans and elevation – click above for larger image
The post Tea Houses
by Swatt Miers appeared first on Dezeen.
Sweet Instagram and Polaroid shots re-imagined into edible chocolate
Cooking up quite an online stir in the last few weeks is Philadelphia’s Cocoagraph, makers of artisanal chocolates topped with vintage-filtered Instagram and Polaroid shots. The small start-up allows customers to pick and choose any photograph they may have floating around and turn it into a unique and edible keepsake with just one scan. Founder Rae Vittorelli made us a special batch—featuring our very own CH mascots Otis and Logan—so we could get a closer look at, and taste, the graphic treats.
While the image is what creates the buzz, the artisanal chocolate is equally important, and equally satisfying. Sourced from a small-batch, organic chocolatier in Santa Barbara, CA, each bar is available in two sizes in white, milk, dark and dark organic, with the addition of a subtle mint leaf flavored dark organic coming soon. Of the group, we preferred the dark organic for its crisp snap and slightly bitter but full flavor.
The new brand has a selection of chocolates available to purchase on their website, and are able to fulfill custom personal orders for weddings, personal and corporate events.
This 4.5 metre-wide house in Los Angeles by Anonymous Architects was inspired by the narrow residences found in Japanese cities.
The three-storey house is named Eel’s Nest – a reference to the unusually narrow proportions of its plot – and is located in the hilly Echo Park neighbourhood in the north of the city.
Another small house had occupied the site before, but all that remained were basement walls which have been incorporated into the new structure.
To save space there are no corridors inside the building, but stairs lead up from the entrance to a first floor living room, second floor bedrooms and a terrace on the roof.
Other Californian houses we’ve featured include a writer’s residence in north Hollywood and a Malibu house with aeroplane wings for a roof.
Photography is by Steve King.
Here’s some information from Anonymous Architects:
Eel’s Nest
Echo Park, California
The name Eel’s Nest is often given to very narrow lots in Japan, those typically 5 meters or 15 feet in width. The width of this lot in Echo Park is exactly 15 feet and architect Simon Storey felt it was the perfect site to experiment with compact and efficient urban living.
By building vertically, simply and minimally, he was able to use every square foot of space to create a live-work house.
The lot size is 780 square feet and the original building on site was around 370 square feet. The permit from 1927 shows a small house on it’s own lot, which this rules out the possibility it was a carriage house.
It’s existence was so unique that employees at the building department said they had never seen anything like it.
In order to maximize the site and expand by an additional story special permission was required by the planning department. The original house was completely demolished except a few walls in the basement, which are still visible.
Because the house is built to the property line the code requires that the house be fire rated on the exterior.
To solve this challenge, Simon clad the house cement plaster for fire resistance. The interior space has now doubled to create a Warm wood floors and cabinets run through every level and light penetrates into the living and first level spaces by creating an open stair at the 2nd level.
A roof deck, which rises above the dense urban development, has views that extend as far as the Hollywood sign and the San Gabriel Mountains.
Architect: Anonymous Architects
Size: 960 sq.ft (approx 89 sq.m)
Lot size: 780 sq.ft (approx 72 sq.m)
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1
Design and Construction complete in March 2011
The post Eel’s Nest by
Anonymous Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
Intrepid drivers cover 3,500 miles with over $7,000 in traffic tickets for a first-place finish
More than just an excuse to take your super-car from the track to the open road, the Bullrun Rally is an eight-day adventure putting driving abilities, navigational skills and overall gravitas to the test. Started in 2004 with a cross-country, “Cannonball Run”-style inaugural race stretching from LA to Miami, the grueling competition winds across the US each year carving a unique route held secret until the race is actually underway. As the rules go, anyone with a car and the $20,000 entrance fee can enter—but while the buy-in covers luxurious accommodations, meals and even luggage transfer, without a quick wit and superior sense of direction teams aren’t likely to get far.
Now in its eighth year, the rally route has once again evolved to what has been dubbed the West Coast Loop for 2012. Covering more than 3,500 miles, this year’s Bullrun Rally set off in LA on 22 June, leading 100 cars north through Oregon, back down into Nevada and ending in LA again.
Reaching the final check point of the 2012 rally on 29 June, Tony King and Seth Rose became the first team to win back-to-back rallies as well as the first team to win twice with the same members. Pushing a heavily modified 800hp 2009 Nissan GT-R at speeds upward of 200mph, The team fought inclement driving conditions, rogue police and excessively aggressive drivers on this year’s route up and down the California coast. Contrary to the more widely publicized car rallies that flaunt extravagant parties, flamboyant rides and inexperienced drivers, Bullrun celebrates honest competition through expert navigation with a general sense of camaraderie for what Rose feels is just “one hell of a good time.”
First introduced to Bullrun in 2009 by sheer happenstance, King (founder and creative director of digital agency King and Partners) responded to a forum post on Rose’s NYC-based Exotics Rally website regarding the last-minute opportunity to run that year’s rally. The “blind date” as Rose jokingly recalls led the two strangers on a three day trial that planted the seed for success. After getting their feet wet in 2009, the two returned in 2010 for a fourth-place finish, followed by consecutive wins in 2011 and 2012.
While Rose drove, King navigated the car, suped up with top-of-the-line tech—streaming wi-fi, multiple iPads, go-pro cameras, radar detectors, binoculars. As King puts it, “Seth is the monkey behind the wheel and I’m the monkey behind the computer.” The rally commenced each morning at 8am, with teams given a single checkpoint card directing them on the day’s route. Sometimes a specific address was given, other times it was as vague as a scenic description. For one of the more cheeky, memorable checkpoints King found himself riding a jetski to the center of Lake Tahoe in order to physically check in and receive a tip towards the next stop.
“If your foot’s not knocked to the floor you’re not going to succeed,” explains Rose, who received eight traffic violations—including a $6,200 ticket in Oregon—during the 2012 rally. Although speed is obviously a key component, Rose credits their success to a combination of three things—”Navigation skills first, second being the vehicle and equipment that’s inside it, and driver capability. Navigation has to be the most important role though,” he says. “We just navigated better,” adds King.
According to King, the two “don’t have a choice” when it comes to returning next year to defend their title. Rose tells CH they plan to upgrade their car to something slightly more comfortable, and might even bring along their “girls” for next year’s rally. For more on the scenic landscapes, evidence of hairy situations and general car porn see the slideshow.
Outerwear born from the ocean
Predominately known for their surf gear and board shorts, Hurley—a company founded in 1979 in Costa Mesa—has had a huge hand in defining Southern California’s beach culture. These days it’s Ryan Hurley, son of the brand’s original founder, who acts as the company’s VP of design. In his role, he recently launched Phantom Protect, a line of outerwear inspired by all things water. With firsthand experience, the longtime surfer applied water-resistant technology to a new sub-line. First up is the Phantom Slicker, a hooded jacket that encompasses technical features like reflective detailing, three-layer waterproof, breathable fabric and a brushed tricot interior—built to withstand rough weather conditions. We caught up with Hurley so he could fill us in on why they equate the Phantom with innovation.
Phantom is all about innovation, so when it comes to providing innovative solutions for outerwear, Phantom Protect is a natural extension. Outerwear born from water and inspired by search and rescue is a completely new space. When technology is born from water, as opposed to the land or the trail, it requires a different design approach and problem-solving method.
We have started a dimensional approach to Phantom innovation where it applies. Walkshorts and hybrids are a very natural fit as well for Phantom. Phantom Walkshorts are made from recycled four-way stretch material, water resistant and pocketed with mesh, so they’re completely submersible.
The industry is at its best when it’s innovating. Phantom innovation changed the game in boardshorts with a new approach (i.e. a second skin). At the time, things were overly embellished, rigid and heavy. We wanted something that was lighter, faster and more flexible—a realistic version of a second skin. Informed by our athletes, we developed a boardshort that was a water repellent, had unparalleled stretch durability and also provided a new approach to its construction. The first Phantom boardshort was lighter, faster and more flexible than anything else out there. Naturally, we want to protect our invention, so we patented it.
Growing up surfing, I have a pretty good understanding of the elements and challenges that surfers face. Having experience in the water is helpful when working on athlete-informed innovations as we can relate on certain things. Research and development in the water isn’t the worst thing either.
Traveling to varying climates 10 months out of the year, our surf athletes are a tremendous source of information when approaching outerwear. Our athletes played a major role in the design of Phantom Protect, so there are some specific things we addressed. However, there are very natural crossovers that happen into streetwear. The approach here is “born from water, inspired by search and rescue, innovation by Phantom.” I believe that truly great or authentic products transcend “demographics.” Whether you’re a city guy, a surf guy, both or neither, if you’re interested in good products, then you’ll appreciate Phantom Protect.
The Phantom Protect Slicker is tough. It’s a three-layer waterproof, breathable slicker with a Cire Nylon Ripstop face for durability, a brushed tricot on the interior for comfort and a membrane sandwiched in the middle for waterproofing and breathability. Collectively, these provide the materials function of the Phantom Protect Slicker. Reflective detailing was inspired by search and rescue as a “low visibility” solution.
Se avete amigos negli states potete farvi spedire un paio di Vans California H&L Era 59 Dove Grey. Interno in tartan e tomaia in canvas grigio chiara. Linguetta e dettaglio sul retro in pelle marrone. I want.
{Via}
A return to skateboarding’s roots through innovative design and construction at Camp Woodward
Designed to mimic the sloping school yards and dried concrete waterways of Southern Califorinia, where skateboarding’s roots reach deepest, the snake run is the most fundamental form of all skatepark designs. While most snake runs are characterized by a long narrow path—or ditch—flanked by banks and berms to channel the rider through without pushing, the freshly poured concrete at Pennsylvania’s legendary camp Woodward resembles something significantly gnarlier. Designed and constructed by California Skateparks, arguably the world’s best skatepark builders, Woodward’s snake run stretches over 1,000 feet punctuated with head high jumps and quaterpipes.
Since welcoming BMX riders in 1980, Woodward has become the most recognizable name in action sports facilities. While the camp has always been about innovation, the construction of the 20,050-square-foot Target Plaza by California Skateparks in 2009 marked the end of an era dominated by wooden ramps, proving a dedication to staying ahead of the curve in terms of concrete skateboard and BMX park design. Now, with the completion of phase two of the snake run, Woodward is returning to skateboarding’s roots while still keeping an eye on progression.
In terms of design, California Skateparks builder, former professional BMX rider and 22-year Woodward veteran Ron Kimler explained “there was never a drawing for anything.” The design and building processes seem to happen simultaneously. Only the base and quarter-pipes require rebar and wooden support forms, the rest are simply sculpted by hand. “All the mounds and berms are piled up dirt. You shape it, then throw the gravel base on, then go around and shape it up with rakes and shovels,” says Kimler. The construction then culminates with the pouring of concrete and the hand shaping of every angle, a primitive process which gives the experienced riders and builders the vital, final touch.
Rather than stick to the idea of building a glorified golf cart path, Kimler and rest of the California Skateparks crew encouraged something better, and as the dirt was piled and concrete poured it grew. “They’d say make it two feet tall, and I’d make it three feet tall,” says Kimler, laughing. This playful attitude helped the more-than-1,000-foot path develop into a destination for campers on both boards and bikes. To make it more appealing for users of all abilities Kimler and the crew built the lower portion at a mellower pitch, allowing it to be ridden in both directions. “I can just cruise through here, get most the way and turn around, take one pedal and come back,” says Kimler. “You can ride most of the whole section back and forth, no sweat, just cruising through the rollers.”
By building the snake run in phases, California Skateparks is able to adjust their designs on the fly, adding or removing features at will. Even with all the pieces connected after more than 10,000 man hours, Kimler still sees the project as a work in progress. “Next year we can continue to add,” he says. “Maybe we need pocket here, lip there, berm here—it’ll get created, whatever’s awesome.”
For now the snake run stands as is for the many months of campers to come, but keep an eye on Woodward online for updates on future iterations. For a closer look at the construction and completion of Woodward’s snake run see the slideshow.
Images by Graham Hiemstra
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
