I am a huge fan of most of the Showtime original shows, so the Metropolitan Home Showhouse Showtime theme is so appealing to me (even a room inspired by by Dexter). The Tribeca tour is running on weekends through October 18, and all of the proceeds from the $20 tickets go to Housing Works.

Whoopsy, the picture above is from last year’s Dexter house, thanks to Maria for clarifying in the comments section! Dexter’s rooms for 2009 are right here. The entire pointclickhome slideshow for this year is here.

Decorated Life is covering each room after her visit. I know I’ll enjoy seeing all the rooms through her blog! Here’s one of her shots of the hospital/pill-themed Nurse Jackie Waiting Room/Lounge:

Tour the Californication house at pointclickhome:

images from showtime.com, Decorated Life, and pointclickhome respectively. Click on photos to link to the original sources.

It got me thinking about my favorite vernacular architecture in the USA – our barns. As small farmers become scarcer and scarcer, these beautiful structures that dot the rural landscape are falling into ruin as well. If you are interested in helping to preserve America’s barns, check out The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Barn Again! effort.

photograph by flickr member im pastor rick

Well, it seems everything Artecnica is catching my eye this month, even if I cannot seem to ever spell the company name correctly on the first pass! I’m a wicker FREAK, and even I never would have thought to put it together with a recycled scooter tire in a million years!

Tires are pretty much the bane of the planet’s existence. When Lake Lanier was so empty during the drought last year, way too many of them were discovered dumped in its basin. Have you ever seen a tire fire on the news? They rage on for days. I say, whatever uses we can find for used tires, go for it.

While I’m not sure how I would truly use this as a bowl, I picture a bunch of them arranged into some fabulous composition on a wall. A straight line of them would be great in a loft space with high ceilings, and a random arrangement on a smaller wall would be very graphically striking.

Here’s the rest of the scoop on what makes them green, and also how they help to alleviate poverty in Vietnam:

transNeomatic is designed by Estudio Campana and handcrafted by skilled artisans from rural Vietnam. Through Vietnamese non-profit organization Craft Link, Artecnica collaborated with Hai Tai rattan weavers and Hmong women weavers to create each piece. Disadvantaged Vietnamese youths were also enlisted to assemble the totes, providing them with artisan training and a framework by which they could establish sustainable livelihoods.

transNeomatic is a conceptually innovative container bowl crafted from a repurposed scooter tire and natural wicker. Each tire is thoroughly steam-cleaned and finished in an eco-friendly sealant. transNeomatic comes with an optional handwoven hemp cover that slips over its rubber base. Each piece is packaged in a reusable drawstring tote.

Did you overplant your veggie garden in an overzealous micro-local food movement frenzy this year? Do you want to plant a vegetable garden but wonder what you’ll do with 25 cucumbers all at once? These are not problems. Check out Plant a Row for the Hungry at gardenwriters.org to find out where you can donate your excess harvest.

As many of you know, The Farnsworth House has suffered great damage from the latest round of flooding in September 2008. The house was built in a floodplain, but Mies thought the water would only reach the floor in the most severe of circumstances. Apparently, he was wrong. The Farnsworth House site asks for flood mitigation ideas, but they also include a “heard it” list, which had me in stitches. I just had to share it with you:

Before you get started though…

We have, over the course of our five years managing this property, continually investigated solutions to the threat posed by the river.  To that end, we begin this discussion with a list of previously proposed ideas:

1. Placement of a pontoons under the building
2. Longer column extensions that slide out of their footings
3. Szikorsky Helicopter to lift the 300 ton house
4. Hydraulic jacks to raise it in place
5. Building up the site flood plain by 12 ft.
6. Move the house to high ground
7. Retractable flood walls surrounding the house.
8. Waterproofing everything inside the house (vinyl upholstery, plastic laminate wood?)
9. Inflatable raft under the house
10. Internal sandbags around furniture and core
11. Dikes and dams
12. Moats
13. Fixed Moment Frame below the soil
14. Sandbags
15. Temporary flood walls
16. Reverse aquarium designed to rise out of the ground
17. Giant Zip lock bag
18. Steel waterproof shutters

When considering these ideas we evaluate them against the following criteria:
• Cost
• Sensitivity to Preservation Initiatives
• Practicality

These are the same criteria the experts will use in considering your ideas.

The problem for me in finding a solution is that the house is so connected to the site. Moving it changes everything; the planned vistas, the way it relates to the topography, the idea of the floating house in the floodplain. Then again, I’m trained as a landscape architect so I am very biased towards the relationship of built work to site. If you have any bright ideas that do not involve a Sikorsky helicopter or the world’s largest Zip-Lock bag (hey Zip-Lock, have I got a marketing idea for you…), click here to submit it. For some reason, “Rollin’ on a River” is going through my head and I’m picturing some sort of Transformer action happening with the house and a tall stacks riverboat…and now casinos are now entering my mind. Not good.

• All photos from farnsworthhouse.org. The photos on that site are stunning, go check out the gallery if you need some inspiration today.
• Second photo by Jon miller, Hedrich Blessing
• Third photo by Tigerhill Studio
• Fourth photo by LPCI

Last week I mentioned the NYC Holiday House in my other blog in reference to Ondine from Top Design (she’s doing a room), and then I saw it mentioned again on 1stdibs, then it hit me over the head that I should be sharing it with you. A tour of this house is worth the $30, and all of the proceeds benefit the The Greater New York Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For a sneak peek, click here. For more information about how to get tickets and/or how to donate to the cause, click here.

images from 1stdibs.com, photo by Peter Rymwid. “Easter Room” Design by Harry Heissmann for Albert Hadley

Have you heard of Majora Carter? She rocks. In 2001 she founded Sustainable Bronx, an organization that “aims to alleviate poverty and remediate the environment through green-collar jobs.” She says “we believe that don’t you need to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one. We believe we need to create opportunities for people who are living here already so they can stay.”

She wrote a $1.25 million dollar grant for The South Bronx Greenway:

She’s big into  green roofs as well.  There’s a Smart Roof Demonstration Project video here. To make a contribution towards the Greening the Ghetto effort, click here.

quotes and first two images via CNN.com

before and after renderings by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects

A few months ago, Andrew Garrison saw my post about Project Row House and sent me a copy of the documentary he directed called Third Ward TX. This is a project that is so genius and moving to me; I’ve been following its progress for years. If you’d like to catch up, you really need to screen this film. I’ve dreaded and thus procrastinated writing this review for months because I know that words can’t do it justice. The last time I was moved to tears by a project or an exhibit was Gee’s Bend Quilts. It doesn’t happen often to this old cynic!

In 1993, Rick Lowe founded Project Row House. He was struck by how much the dilapidated shotgun shacks in the city of Houston reminded him of John Biggers’ paintings. He calls the shotgun shack “a humble abode and a temple.” As Lowe and a group of artists renovated the homes, they created a community where artists-in-residence would come stay and exhibit. Thus, the artists engaged the community and brought attention to a place that had been abandoned by many. Once a neighborhood with a small town feel, the area had fallen on hard times.

The first major result of PRH was eight exhibition houses housing two different artist per year, with exhibitions and exhibitions in progress showing for six months a year. The doors are open for people to walk through. Exhibits range from portraits to this 2001 Walter Hood installation:

After reaching this success, Lowe realized it was only the tip of the iceberg in helping the community. Thus, The Young Mothers in Residency Program was born. Single mothers were able to live in housing that is part of the project, and they are aided by mentor moms. They live rent free for two years while completing educations. These families become part of a thriving community. The amount of dignity this effort brings to people seems too powerful to describe. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I was perusing one of my favorite neighborhood shops, urban cottage, and I came across some beautiful beads. It turns out they were part of the Akola project. The Akola project is part of the Ugandan American Partnership Organization. The Akola project has employed over 90 widows to make necklaces that are sold in Atlanta Georgia and Greenville South Carolina, for the purpose of stimulating economic development and providing relief to widows in rural villages. The beads are absolutely stunning, by the way. To learn more go to TheUAPO.org; to purchase visit urbancottage-atlanta.com.

photo from UAPO.org

I am almost as obsessed with fashion magazines as I am with home magazines (it used to be the other way around). The delivery of the huge W every month is always exciting and this month it is incredible. I am so glad to see that some people are working hard to make sure the rest of us do not forget that New Orleans is still in dire straits. The April issue of W has an amazing 60-page spread of New Orleans shot by Bruce Weber. Since shotgun houses have been on my mind this week (and I’ll be sharing some more about some other shotgun houses next week), I thought I’d share this image with you today. So many houses like this one were lost in Katrina. Let’s make sure they are not erased.

To learn more about how to help rebuild the 9th Ward, check out The Make It Right Foundation. This is a really cool project that deserves its own blog post, so I’ll tell you a little more about it next week. Explore the site – the pink project (the color is so very Christo) and the tour of the affordable housing is very cool and inspiring.

Also, on a disaster-related note, for those of you in the Atlanta area who would like to help out with the tornado recovery in Cabbagetown this weekend, click here for more information.

photos by Bruce Weber for W magazine