amazing house

so this is officially my dream home. it actually caught my eye aesthetically, and then i realized that it is in fact made prefab from shipping containers! Composed of five recycled shipping containers, this beautiful home actually has a durable steel envelope that is capable of withstanding hurricanes in Florida and earthquakes in California. The embodiment of sustainability, this house also has FSC-certified woods, solar panels, rainwater recycling, and an Agilewaves resource monitoring system. Designed by the Lawrence Group, the prefab was fabricated in a month and assembled on-site in just 4 hours and 47 minutes!!



here's a video that's actually kinda long, but if you skip forward you can see it being built.

my new flat!

so finally after people asking and asking, the lighting was just right, and my flat was really tidy! i've put a few more photos up on flikr as well...so check it out! 

and i just want to say a big thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes from all the way back home. it was so nice to not be forgotten and to feel so loved. thank you and i love you all so very much! 

love.

new kind of couch

this really has inspired me. as my mentor is making me question the purpose and the reason and need for coasters, i found this. the artist olivia lee made this extraordinary couch. her statement was:

"A Stream of Light is a reinterpretation of the classic sofa. It is based on a brief set by Vitra to produce a piece of furniture that is unencumbered by commercial constraints and takes inspiration from the latest Vitra Edition. This work was done in collaboration with good friend and colleague, Alienor de Chambrier"

droog: urban play

with carl and saara in tow (and jose refusing to wake up), off i went to amsterdam to check out droogs installation of urban play. we ran into mie and peter and few other DAE friends and went on probably the funnest opening i've been to! urban play is a series of installations meant to have people interact with their city.

the opening consisted of an opening speech by renny ramakers of droog, two bikes with big crates full of food and beer, and beginning at the stephen sagmeister text-based installation of 300 000 eurocent pieces, we embarked on a journey along the banks of the ij river and experienced urban play. it was all part of a large exhibit called experimenta design. it's a biennial event, the first time in holland, and now every other year in lisbon. there was a series of speakers this week which i couldn't make it to, and little shows around the city. 

there's more photos as always now on my flikr page. soon i will let you all know about the gijs bakker lecture from last week (have to go through my notes first!) 

much love.

tokujin yoshioka

while my mentor aldo bakker (son of gijs bakker) was telling us all about this amazing paper company takeo from japan, he started talking about a designer who made a chair using a honeycomb shape, out of paper. it's incredible. it actually folds flat, and when you sit on it, the paper supports you, but at the same time part of it almost molds to your body.

tokujin yoshioka also has done an amazing display for toyota, other incredible designs. check out his site, its also really beautiful. very maani brothers. (clean, and helvetica)

heather by satellite

so i thought it would be sufficiently nerdy to post a legend of my life. in a nutshell, an image that maps out the small vicinity in which i am currently resided. from time to time i venture out to the oriental market (thanks to chester!) and the albert heijn XL...which is cleaner, open later, and out of my little bubble. which is good to leave from time to time.

it's easy to get stuck here. lately i have gone on a few biking adventures at night just getting lost in neighbourhoods, and finding my way home sans map. it's kinda fun. and my legs appreciate it. tomorrow i am going to have my first bout at the gym! yoga. from 830-10pm. i was going to go today, but i got stuck at school for a woodshop explanation. so tomorrow is the first official day. could be funny. i'll keep you posted on the events.

wednesday we are having a presentation/lecture by the amazing Gijs Bakker. the founder of droog. i'll also keep you posted on that. 

tomorrow is my first time sitting down and talking/working on projects with my mentors. i'm really excited. and anxious. i have been waiting for this for months!! wish me luck.

love.

lookbook

i stumbled upon this really cool website. it's kind of like ffffound, but regular people can become a member, and post images of their own style! some of the photos are inspirational and amazing in their own right...and some just show amazing creativity. its inspiring for me to see the experimentation, texture, and settings. enjoy!

it's a girl!

i'm so excited, and so proud of my dear friends nicola and matthew for bringing into this world the beautiful rachel rose sweet. she's cute, healthy - and lucky to have a father who is a photographer. i can't wait to meet her. until now i have to live with being the cool european auntie heather. 

big hug for you three!

paris! (said in a french accent of course)

so...the joys of being in europe came to life this week. it went a bit like this:

heather: we have five days off!
dana+saara: we're thinking of doing something
heather: let's find the cheapest ticket and go!

(then plane and train tickets were expensive, so we took the bus to paris)

heather on the phone: hey jose, wanna go to paris?
jose at the bank: ya!

jose now at the academy: hey chester, want to go to paris?
chester at home: ya man, that sounds great


and then voila! our trip to paris was born. i made a flickr account so i can upload photos of stuff! paris is here, and there will be more to come! tomorrow my school officially starts, and i get my very first project! i'm itching to get started, so wish me luck!