Design Public

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

Both sides of the Teardown Story: Tom and Gina talk to the owner of Philip Johnson’s Alice Ball House in New Canaan Connecticut.

Learn about Art2Heart via Leah over at More Ways to Waste Time. This is a fantastic art exchange program with underpriveleged children.

Nicole’s gettin’ ziggy with it over at the new site for Making it Lovely.

The Peak of Chic is giving us a peak peek into Diana Vreeland’s apartment. Is she the one who said to always take one thing off before leaving the house? I know I once heard the quote attributed to Ashley Judd, which I think is hilarious.

Judge Presidential Candidates by their Homes. Thanks Apartment Therapy L.A.! Huckabee (A) definitely wins the ugliest McMansion primary. To see who owns what, click here.

all photos go with sites linked to in the text.  I have no idea why everything is center-justified.  I keep clicking on left-justify, but it’s just not working out.  Sorry for the bad layout!

Usually The Atlanta Journal-Consitution is not usually the hottest place to go for information on architecture and/or home design (or a lot of other things besides The Jumble), but over the weekend they featured something really cool.  It was an in-house design competition at Lord Aeck Sargeant Architecture to design a treehouse for Camp Twin Lakes.   Artist Cynthia Gentry, who runs Art Heals came up with the idea of providing a treehouse.  The program had to take into account that many of these kids are seriously ill and/or require wheelchairs.  The winning entry comes from Amy Leathers, who had the coolest thing to say about the whole thing:  “Every architect wants to design a treehouse.”  Don’t we all?!!

elevation by Amy Leathers of Lord Aeck Sargeant Architecture, from ajc.com

Continuing our first post about plastic bag alternatives, there are two more on the scene, if you can manage to get a hold of one.

Unless you’ve been on a media ban, you must have heard about Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m NOT a Plastic bag” frenzy. Such bag frenzies come along every season, whether it’s a Louis Vuitton Murakami Cherry Bag, the oversized Chanel tote, or the Kooba Sienna, the bags sell out and then the lucky few who have them make a bundle exploiting people who just have to have the latest trend. Oh yeah, and then China starts pumping out illegal fake ones. As of today, the $15 MSRP bag is going for $120-$140 on eBay.

My pick would be Lauren Bush’s FEED bag, and here’s why: (more…)

I know I’ve made brief mention of it before, but I wanted to emphasize that the next time you are in Chicago with a rental car and a free afternoon, you should definitely make the trip down to Mies van de Rohe’s Farnsworth House. We are so lucky that it has been preserved and is open to the public. (more…)

This May is the third annual National Preservation Month. Sponsored by The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the theme this year is “Making Preservation Work.” There is SO much more to The National Trust’s work than one might think. In addition to saving, maintaining, and making many genres of architecture across the U.S. open to the public, they have a ton of lobbying, organizing, and pro-active programs for saving structures and character of communities. Here are just a few examples of the wide array of work the Trust does:

Saving historic architecture in post-Katrina New Orleans

Providing helpful information about rehabilitation tax credits (more…)

Have you got an old bike that’s taking up space in your garage, or one that’s been hanging from your ceiling with flat tires for two years? It’s sad, out of shape and it wants to be used. Why not give it a free trip to Guatemala or Africa? Why not recycle it so that someone who will actually use it can have a chance?

In Chicago this month, Bike (re)Cycle Chicago will be collecting used bikes on Saturday, May 5 and Saturday, May 12. Drop your bikes off from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the following Chase location. (more…)

In my family we’ve always called my mom a Peeping Tom, as she loves it when people leave their lights on and their shades open when we take evening strolls. I’m the same way. No, we’re not stalkers, we are just nosy and like to check out how people live. Today’s New York Times has a fantastic list of Open Houses around the country in the Home and Garden section. While the concentration is on New York and the surrounding areas, the list covers the USA from coast to coast and includes tours of historic properties, green design, designer showhouses and hidden gardens. Fellow peepers, pull out your calenders and pull up the list!

photo from Secret Gardens of the East Bay (Oakland CA)

P.S.  The other article worth a read is “Getting Territorial out in the Hall.”   All of the things people will do BEFORE simply communicating with neighbors is so funny.  I kept thinking of Kramer putting a screen door on his apartment on Seinfeld, and how it attracted kids armed with eggs and toilet paper.

As I was cruising over to My eBay today (I lost out on a Russel Wright coffee table by $3), I noticed Ken Lay’s desk from his Enron office up for auction.  The proceeds will go to Saving Animals Across Borders.  Kinda odd, but hey, it is for a good cause.  The desk is pretty fugly, but apparently its price was in the 5-figure range.  I don’t know, who wants this?  I’d so much rather have Peter Jennings’ or Richard Russo’s desk, or even Gordon Gekko’s prop desk from Wall Street.  This thing has got to be loaded with bad karma, but perhaps it is  balanced out in a “My Name Is Earl” kind of way due to the cute little animals it will benefit. (more…)