Tag Archives: California

The New York Times Magazine – Oct 29, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (October 29, 2023): The latest issue features The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear; Can We Save the #Redwoods by Helping Them Move?; ‘It’s Like Our Country Exploded’: #Canada’s Year of #Fire and #ClimateChange Is Keeping Therapists Up at Night….

The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear

All the photographs in this article are black-and-white. David Obura holds finger coral.

Some are stubborn optimists. Others struggle with despair. Their faces show the weight they carry as they witness the impact of climate change.

Interviews by Catrin Einhorn

Amid the chaos of climate change, humans tend to focus on humans. But Earth is home to countless other species, including animals, plants and fungi. For centuries, we have been making it harder for them to exist by cutting down forests, plowing grasslands, building roads, damming rivers, draining wetlands and polluting. Now that wildlife is depleted and hemmed in, climate change has come crashing down. In 2016, scientists in Australia announced the loss of a rodent called the Bramble Cay melomys, one of the first known species driven to global extinction by climate change. Others are all but certain to follow. How many depends on how much we let the planet heat.

Can We Save the Redwoods by Helping Them Move?

Redwoods with foliage in a violet specturm. All of the photographs in this article have special color treatment to highlight the foliage.

The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes.

By Moises Velasquez-Manoff

When Philip Stielstra retired from Boeing in 2012, he needed something purposeful to do. He and his wife, Gay, were casual golfers, but Stielstra, an antiwar activist in college who refused to fight in Vietnam — he worked in a post office instead — wanted a pastime with bigger stakes. Before leaving his job, he received an email from the city of Seattle: The Parks and Recreation Department needed “tree ambassadors.” Tree canopy cover had receded in the city, and the department was responding by promoting an appreciation for its remaining trees. The volunteer ambassadors would learn about these trees and lead residents on walking tours to marvel at them. Stielstra, despite being a self-described introvert, signed up.

California Architecture: Modern ‘Moon Retreat’

The Local Project (October 24, 2023) – Believing that architecture is about creating something permanent, Butler Armsden Architects built Valley of the Moon Retreat as a beautiful modern home that is everlasting.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Beautiful Modern Home 00:48 – A Countryside Location 01:35 – Belonging to the Landscape 02:32 – The Layout of the Beautiful Modern Home 04:39 – The Exterior Material Palette 05:22 – Preserving The Surrounding Landscape 05:36 – Designing For Climate Changes

After remodelling the client’s city dwelling, the architect was tasked with creating a family holiday residence in Glen Ellen, a place the clients could retreat to and escape city living. As one turns onto the narrow driveway, the house tour begins with a picturesque trip to the modern abode. The architecture and interior design enables the family to create lasting memories whilst being connected to nature, which completely surrounds the beautiful modern home.

Nestled between the trees, the residence blends seamlessly into the landscape. However, as the house tour reveals, the façade of the beautiful modern home is relatively closed off until the breezeway is opened up to expose the valley beyond. As one walks through the breezeway, the large courtyard opens up to expansive vistas of the valley beyond, with a pool that offers an additional reflection of the natural surrounds. The architect ensures the family can either entertain and find moments of respite by introducing separate cabin-like pavilions that can be opened up or closed.

California Wildflowers: Pinnacles National Park

CBS Sunday Morning (October 8, 2023) – A tour amidst the wildflowers at Pinnacles National Park, located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about five miles east of Soledad and 80 miles southeast of San Jose.

Videographer: Lance Milbrand.

Architecture: A Modern Home In Pacific Palisades

The Local Project (September 26, 2023) – On the hills of Pacific Palisades, in Los Angeles, is Palisades Residence by Abramson Architects, a breathtaking modern home with sweeping views of the canyon backdrop. As the house tour begins from street level, the house opens onto a one-storey main level before descending to the second floor.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Breathtaking Modern Home 00:59 – The Riviera Neighbourhood 01:12 – The Layout of the House 01:35 – A Walkthrough of the Home 04:03 – Designing For A Dynamic Climate 04:53 – A Simple Material Palette 05:09 – A Collaborative Process

Journeying further, the main level opens to reveal the living space with dropped ceilings that at first obscure the top of the canyon. However, as the house tour moves further into the living area, the interior design opens up with the ceiling, lifting to gift the occupants breathtaking views of the canyon. From the entry way, the architects have designed a tall space with concrete walls and split skylights, which have been designed specifically to allow light to reflect and bounce into the breathtaking modern home.

The upper level contains the primary suite, which has its own his and hers bathrooms and dressing rooms. Additionally, this level contains the kitchen, dining room, living room and the covered outdoor space that leads to the outdoor entertaining areas. From here, the house tour leads down to the second level where additional living spaces are placed – these three secondary suites complement the interior design of the breathtaking modern home.

Architecture: An Off-Grid Super House In California

The Local Project (September 15, 2023) – Remote and wild, Off-Grid Residence is an off-grid super house that serves to elevate the ecology of the verdant California ranch it inhabits. Anacapa Architecture honours the home’s ruralness by bringing the sensitively designed dwelling into equilibrium with the landscape, embracing the elements and creating an intimate connection between the inhabitants and the land.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Off-Grid Super House 01:06 – A Narrow Ridge Location 01:18 – On Approach to the House 01:44 – The Rooftop Gardens 02:17 – A Walkthrough the Off-Grid Home 02:30 – The Design and Building Constraints 03:38 – A Completely Off-Grid House 04:28 – The Interior Material Palette 04:53 – Immersion in the Environment

Perched atop a knoll situated inside a historic working cattle ranch on the central California coastline, the off-grid super house is the work of Santa Barbara-based studio Anacapa Architecture and co-designer Willson Design. The site is vast and has sweeping vistas of the ocean and rolling hills, and the home sits along a steep ridge, which divides the twin volumes of the garage and the sleeping quarters.

Due to building constraints associated with the historical site, the dwelling is fairly simple, with all living areas contained in one main structure with a basic cooking facility and just one bedroom and one bathroom. There are two gardens atop both roof structures of the off-grid super house that include a mix of local grasses and succulents that are consistent with the greenery of the hillsides beyond.

#SuperHouse #Architect #HouseTour

Exhibits: Printed In 1085 – A Thousand Years Of Books At The Huntington Library

The Huntington (August 25, 2023) – The history of printing has many missing pages. Li Wei Yang, Curator of Pacific Rim Collections, searched the library for the first documented connections between the great printing cultures of China and Europe.

Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty

April 29–Dec. 4, 2023

The oldest printed book in The Huntington’s collection, the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha, is on display in “Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty” in the Library West Hall.

The exhibition delves into the circumstances of the book’s creation and its religious significance while broadening visitors’ understanding of Chinese textual tradition. Additional materials related to the text are on display to provide historical context.

The book is in a specially designed display case that allows Huntington visitors to have a unique experience when viewing the sacred text. Though the book was meant to be read by flipping from one page to the next, in the exhibition it is expanded in a custom case designed for maximum visibility, offering a rare opportunity to view the miraculously preserved relic and observe its unique bibliographic characteristics and exquisiteness.

More than 900 years old, the book is part of the 5,850-volume Great Canon of the Eternal Longevity of the Chongning Reign Period. Produced during the Song dynasty (960–1279) between 1080 and 1112, the accordion-style book fully unfolds to a length of 31 feet. It is one of the longest sutras, or collections of aphorisms, in the Buddhist canon and is a compendium of doctrines and ritual practices widely followed throughout East Asia.

The text presents a vision of the entire universe as consisting of elements that all interpenetrate (like mirrors reflecting in mirrors) within the body of the Cosmic Buddha. According to Li Wei Yang, curator of Pacific Rim Collections at The Huntington, it reflects the notion that “I am you, you are me; we all are Buddha.” It is not known whether the Buddha himself actually spoke the words found in the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament.

Rather, it is likely that his followers, over centuries of adaptation and interpretation, incorporated the essence of his teachings into this and many other Buddhist works that have survived.

Profiles: David Hockney At The Huntington Library

Painting of a bare tree, with many small branches, in a green field with a blue sky.
David Hockney, Tree on Woldgate, 6 March, 2006

The Huntington Library (August 9, 2023) – A David Hockney in The Huntington’s venerable European art gallery? Yes, visitors can view the large and striking Tree on Woldgate, 6 March (2006), which depicts the serene Yorkshire countryside where the renowned artist grew up.

You can see fields in the distance and, in the center, a leafless tree with branches that twist and turn in an almost snakelike manner. The painting comes from a period in Hockney’s career when he created a series of plein air landscapes around his hometown.

Watercolor self-portrait of David Hockney, paintbrush in hand, looking at the viewer.
David Hockney, Self-Portrait with Red Braces, 2003

The painting hangs in conversation with John Constable’s monumental View on the Stour Near Dedham (1822). While the two works were created more than 180 years apart, their inspiration comes from the same source—childhood surroundings—and they both convey a sense of place and nostalgia.

One of the most famous British artists of the 20th century, Hockney emerged as a major contributor to the 1960s pop art movement and has had a multifaced career as a painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. He is perhaps best known for his acrylic paintings of bright swimming pools, split-level homes, and suburban California landscapes.

In 2022, The Huntington acquired its first Hockney works: 17 works on paper that include an artist book, drawings, prints, photocollages, and watercolors. These works display an intimate side of Hockney—like the self-portrait of the artist in red suspenders, bent over a table and peering over his wire-rimmed glasses, paintbrush in hand. His blue eyes, gazing straight at the viewer, create an immediate intimacy.

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National Geographic Traveller – SEPT 2023

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National Geographic Traveller Magazine (September 2023): This issue features Portugal – Surf The Atlantic Coast, Hike in the Algarve, Kayak through Porto and Explore Alentejo’s Lakes; California – Follow in the path of Gold-Rush Pioneers; London to Istanbul – How to plan the ultimate train trip across Europe, and more…

Modern Garden Homes: ‘Palms Residence’ In Venice

The Local Project (July 25, 2023) – From the moment the gates opened, client and interior designer Gillian Wynn knew Palms Residence was the secret garden house she had been looking for. After enlisting the help of Olson Kundig for the architecture and design of her home, Gillian delivered a brief that asked for something that was unlike the past work of the studio.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction From The Homeowner 00:57 – Collaborating With The Architect 01:28 – Intertwining The Indoors And Outdoors 02:43 – Venice’s Natural Light 03:14 – The Unique Kinetic Sculpture 04:09 – A Modest Palette 04:56 – Disappearing Into The Garden 05:27 – The Deconstructed Geometry Of The House

As the agenda of the residence was mostly focused on emphasising the garden, both Tom Kundig, Principal and Founder at Olson Kundig, and Gillian knew that in order to make her vision come to life, the home needed to be manipulated around nature. Seen throughout the house tour is a yoga studio, living and dining areas and a couple of bedrooms, each space blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor living and taking advantage of the paradise-like climate of Venice. Employing a number of design techniques,

Olson Kundig treats architecture like “layers of clothing,” in that there are multiple ways to open and close the home and manipulate how one can enter and exit. Yet it is how the garden is shaped around the home to encourage light to trickle through the trees and inside to complement the interior design that turns Palms Residence into a secret garden house. With the focal point of indoor and outdoor living, the home is complemented with wide glass doors and a glass-walled stairwell that invites the light in and creates a warming character.

Moreover, due to the home’s location, there is a magical quality of natural light that emphasises the architecture and interior design from the moment the sun rises and until it sets. Additionally, the home’s private yoga studio features a Gamelatron installation, a kinetic sculpture designed by the owner’s close friend Aaron Taylor Kuffner. Composed on site, the sculpture emits a sound bath via Indonesian gongs, which sets the tone of meditation and flow for the rest of the secret garden house.

Architecture: The ‘Desert Palisades’ In Palm Springs

The Local Project (July 14, 2023) – Floating above the landscape is the best modernist home. Desert Palisades by Woods + Dangaran is a family home that was built from a goal to introduce a more international style of modernism to the desert.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Best Modernist Home 01:06 – Creating A Family Refuge and Paying Homage to the Mountains 01:39 – The Approach of the Home 02:04 – Ensuring the Home is Timeless and Fitting 02:34 – A Climate Focused Material Palette 03:50 – The Tonal Nature of the Home 04:33 – A Fine Curation of the Details 05:28 – Taking A Backseat to the Surroundings

Though focused on creating a desert oasis home in which the family could escape to and decompress, the architects have also paid homage to the mountain and enabled the owners to experience its form completely. In line with the basin of the San Jacinto Mountain, the home encompasses views across Palm Springs and the surrounding rocky landscape that further encourages the owners to not only appreciate it but to connect with it.

Approaching the desert oasis home as if it is a beacon on the hillside, the house tour unfolds in a natural procession, guiding viewers past the pool area and then into the pavilions that showcase the home’s sweeping views. Recognising the presence that the structure holds, Woods + Dangaran worked with a responsibility to make sure the best modernist home feels timeless and fits into the desert landscape. From its base, the architecture of the house is made up of a concrete masonry unit, while the support walls and ends of the pavilion are created with burnished CMU blocks that appear to come from the soil.