Drinks by Design Tsunami Relief Efforts

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This Wednesday (5:30 pm), March 30, 2011 @ La Mar, we have a chance to be a part of the tsunami relief efforts in Japan.  Drinks by Design is contributing a portion of the proceeds from this months $10 cover to the American Red Cross, whose relief efforts are instrumental in helping Japan recover.  Thanks to the sponsors - Caesarstone, Fox Marble, Dwell Magazine and California Home + Design Magazine, your $10 cover will also get you a free drink or two.

Let's all do our part by joining Drinks by Design to network for a cause!

Heidi Contest

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Well it’s official, DM+A has the second best Heidi look-a-like in San Francisco working for them. Yeah that’s right, I got runner-up in the Heidi look-a-like contest.  What would drive me to rent a dirndl and take a long lunch break to pretend I am Heidi?  Well a trip to Switzerland!  Even though I didn’t get first place, I still get a trip, but I fly economy.  I am not complaining.  I studied abroad in Switzerland five years ago and I am excited to go back.  They have a great blend of traditional and modern architecture. Keep a look out for my blog of the trip, I am sure I’ll have a lot to share!

Future Designers of America

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AICA-SF LogoI was recently invited to be a member of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Interior Design Program at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco.  Always ready and willing to offer my two cents on anything design-related, I happily agreed.  This involved participating in a Student Portfolio Review and a discussion about the program’s curriculum.  My fellow committee members included other industry professionals from firms such as BAR Architects, HOK and the Wiseman Group.  It was great to hear what different studios are looking for in junior staff and to observe what other design pros see when looking at the students’ work.  The general consensus was: show more process and basic design practices and focus less on the smoke and mirrors in the presentation.  So, okay kids, listen up.  Here’s a little free advice: Hone your design skills; develop proficiency in drafting conventions; practice your hand sketching; and have a point of view!  If you can’t demonstrate these things, all the overblown graphics in your presentation documents won’t make a bit of difference.  As the incredibly astute Louis Schump of HOK offered, “It’s hard to see what’s going on with the plan when it’s cloaked in a sea of baby’s faces or a bamboo forest”.  So true, Louis.  So true.

Sun Shading

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Anyone who has visited our office, knows we are in an old textile factory that has large windows.  If you visit from October to March between 9am and 1pm, then you have probably seen the large umbrella in my cubicle.  No, I am not pretending to be on vacation in the Florida Keys. I am actually blocking the sun from hitting my computer screen.  If you don’t know, the sun angle is lower during the winter months.  During the summer months, the sun is higher and is only hitting the desk, however, during the winter it travels farther into the space and onto my computer screen.   We currently have Lutron shades in the office.  So what is the problem?  Lutron Sheer shades range in openness factor of their weave.  The openness factor can range from 0%, which is blackout, to 10% openness.  When Gregg originally built out the space, he planned for Lutron Roller Shades with 5% openness for the West side and 3% openness for the South side.  At the time, 3% was the lowest openness factor available besides 0%, which would “black out” the office.  Since then, Lutron has come out with a 1% openness, which should correct the glare during the winter months.  I am sure Gregg will be sad to see the umbrella go. Oh and that’s Jenga, she was a bat for Halloween this year.

Check out the solar metrics diagram on the Lutron link: http://www.lutron.com/Products/ShadingSystems/Fabrics/PerformanceSpecs/Pages/SolarMetrics.aspx

Al Crit

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Since I teach at the Art Institute of California – San Francisco, I was asked to do a portfolio critique at our office.  Gregg and Jennifer accepted to sit in as well.  Kimberly Pendergast & Jay Patel are in their final quarter of the Interior Design program.  I ended up not saying much because it was enlightening to just listen to Gregg and Jennifer.  Each of them have a different approach when critiquing, but they also complement each other.  Gregg’s approach is from the role of an architect and designer, who wants to see the overall product be of high quality and beautiful.   Jennifer’s approach is from the role of interior designer and her experience in advertising, focused on the details and the professionalism of the portfolio.  Any comment I may have had, they picked up and were spot on.  I was impressed to just how much was accomplished in such a little amount of time and I hope the critique helps Kim and Jay bring their portfolios to their full potential.

You can view AI student portfolio work here.

The Tradition Continues!

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Traditions are a way in which we show honor and respect for those that came before us. They show us the way to celebrate, to mourn or to help those in need. Tradition is what brought all of us back to Edgewood Center for Children and Families for our annual Gingerbread House Extravaganza. This year was no different, we had a room full of 20 excited kids, 9 boxes of pizza, 30 undecorated gingerbread houses and of course our wonderful clients, friends and co-workers who made it all possible. Mark and Kristin from Edgewood made the coordination of this three ring circus more fun than work. I don’t know who had a better time. Want to help us next year? Just let me know…

The Last Supper

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One of the great things about living in San Francisco is the amazing variety of locally grown, organic produce that is readily available in the farmer’s markets throughout the city.  Since I was scheduled to prepare the next staff lunch, I decided to buy as many ingredients as I could at my local farmer’s market and see what I could come up with.  One of my favorite summertime soups is a variation of gazpacho called Bloody Mary Soup.  It’s really only worth making when tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are really fresh and I lucked out on my shopping exposition, especially with the heirloom tomatoes.  Then I thought to myself, what better than fish tacos to round out the menu?  I used fresh corn tortillas, with a white bean & thyme mash, pan fried tilapia, purple cabbage slaw, green salsa and cojito cheese.

Little did I know that when I was preparing this lunch that it would be our last for awhile.  We voted as a team to take a break from preparing Monday lunch. Knowing this group, preparing and sharing food will probably continue in one shape or another.

Building for Charity, One Piece of Gingerbread at a Time

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I got involved with Edgewood a few years ago while working at another office when we started our gingerbread building party. It was such a cool thing to bring this kind of joy to a disadvantaged group of kids that I thought when I have a firm of my own I want to instill the same things in my employees.

So back in 2007 I contacted Edgewood to see if they had a need for a similar function like the one we did years ago. Luckily the director, who was once a counselor there, remembered me and the firm I had previously worked with. He thought it would be great to restart this tradition all over again and so did we....Stay tuned for photos from the 2010 Edgewood Gingerbread Extravaganza. The Edgewood Center for Children and Families is one the oldest charities in San Francisco. ECCF started in the gold rush days for kids orphaned by parents going off looking for gold. Today the ECCF takes in troubled youth and counsels families in need.

ARRRRE

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When someone asks what I do for a living, I usually say I am an architectural designer.  I am an architect in training since I still need to pass many exams in order to become licensed.  So, for those of you who do not know how one becomes an architect, let me explain.

Step 1: Attend a NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) accredited program.

Step 2: Experience through IDP (Internship Development Program) – accumulate 5,600 hours in specific areas of learning.

Step 3: Take the 7 ARE (Architectural Registration Examination) sections

1.     Programming Planning & Practice

2.     Site Planning & Design

3.     Building Design & Construction Systems

4.     Schematic Design

5.     Structural Systems

6.     Building Systems

7.     Construction Documents and Services

Step 4: Take the CSE (California Supplemental Exam)

When you pass and complete the above steps, then you finally become an architect.  This process, after your education, takes at least 3-5 years. I am currently finishing my hours for the IDP and beginning to study for the ARE’s.  When I finished school a few year ago, I was excited to start working in the real world and understand how the business actually works.  I was also excited about leaving my work at work and enjoying my life at home.  Well three years have passed and well, that break is over. In order to study for the ARE’s, I need to exam our practices in the office as well as learn many more areas in architecture.  You can say it has been a slow process reverting back to becoming a “student” again.

Keep a look out for updates on my attempt to tackle the ARE.

Blocks, Blocks, Who's There?

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When we have some downtime in the office, we have the opportunity to enhance our CAD standards for drafting efficiently. This week, I started creating AutoCAD blocks of cabinetry. I am doing traditional cabinets as well as modern ones. The key is to make the blocks dynamic, so that each block has the ability to be stretched to the appropriate size and use a simple drop down box for a choice of doors, drawers and all types of fun things. Next....Furniture Blocks!

The Fantastic Mr. Sox

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Sox is a feral kitty that I adopted from the SPCA.  I spotted him through the window of his room and he had both of his front paws over his nose and looked completely depressed and pathetic.  I went in to visit him and found him to be an extremely sweet, unusually calm kitten.  I thought to myself, “This is my kind of cat!”  As I approached his room, two people were outside of his door ready to snatch him up and I decided to adopt him immediately.  I took him with me back to DMA.   Despite the fact that I am allergic to cats, Sox won me over. I was sitting on the sofa watching television holding my brand new baby kitten and suddenly, I noticed that the bottom of my shirt was soaking wet. I knew that this definitely was not a good sign.  I had only had him for about five hours and I was on the phone with every animal hospital in town and rushed him to the emergency room.  Little Sox had a fever of 104 degrees and apparently had an abscess that had gone unnoticed at the SPCA and ruptured when I got him home.  They gave me medicine to give to him twice a day and told me that he would have died if I wouldn’t have adopted him and gotten him treated. Little did I know, but this would be the first of many trips to the animal hospital with Sox during our first few months of being buddies.  Every time he would start getting better, something would go wrong.  Right when his abscess was just about to heal, I came home and he ran to the door to greet me, squinting his eye like a little drunken pirate and he had conjunctivitis, then a cold….and on, and on.  I definitely had no idea what I was getting myself into that day, but I am thankful that I adopted him.  He came from the street and is quite a character that has made my house a much more interesting place.

They Don't Build 'em This Way Anymore

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Even though Saturday was grey and gloomy the sun came out on Ocean Beach for the Leap's 27th Annual Sandcastle Contest. The sunshine came in the form of 500 plus kids and their families, more than 25 Architectural firms, and over 100 Construction Industry companies all working together to build 25 glorious sandcastles. The theme this year was "Sand Francisco" and the subjects were all home grown wonders. From replicas of Alcatraz, to Lombard Street to ATT Park, San Francisco was immortalized in sand if for only a day. With Ryan Associates leading our group, DM+A worked alongside of William Duff Architects and Miraloma Elementary to create ATT Ballpark. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the adults. Even though I wasn't in the best physical form to do manual labor (look for my blog on "House of Air" ouch!) I had a blast helping the grownups corralling my new best friends while they made giant mounds of sand, stomping and packing it higher and higher to form the grandstands and outfield. When the bulk of the grandstands were complete the kids constructed all sorts of cool ballpark sculptures in sand like the famous Coke bottle slide, McCovey Cove and assorted ball park features. Of course there were entire cities of drip castles skyscrapers. You can only corral kids for so long, you know!

Even though this contest was for amateurs only the fun was first class, prizes will be given out October 20th at the after, after, after after party. Look for our blog from that event in the coming weeks.