Finally!! Little Free Library installed in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn (on Marlborough between Cortelyou and Dorchester) It’s beautiful!

http://brokelyn.com/a-tiny-free-library-has-popped-up-in-ditmas-park/

June 07, 2013 by Designsquish

April 12, 2013 by Designsquish

Rue de Meaux Housing is a low income social housing project. “Architect Renzo Piano teamed up with Desvigne and Dalnoky to design an amazing courtyard space for their project in Paris.  A modular architectural design establishes a background for the small forest of birch trees.  The thin birch canopy creates a diaphanous lighting condition while still obstructing views across the courtyard, thereby providing the inhabitants access to both privacy and light.” - http://ayounghare.wordpress.com

- http://www.rpbw.com/

December 13, 2012 by Designsquish

For Closure (Outdoors Providence), found local doors, 2009. By Gabriela Salazar.

June 16, 2012 by Designsquish

Poster by Federal Art Project, W.P.A, Ohio , US 1938. (Ohio is a buckeye state) Image found in The Library of Congress Photostream

May 27, 2012 by Designsquish

Photo taken at Brooklyn Botanical Garden during cherry blossom festival.

May 11, 2012 by Designsquish

Spring flowers in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

April 15, 2012 by Designsquish

http://www.keha3.ee/en/products/tulip-fun-fun

January 30, 2012 by Designsquish

January 25, 2012 by Designsquish

Finally!! Houses birds actually want to live in!

-http://www.thehighline.org/
-Birdhouses for High Line

September 30, 2011 by Designsquish

I am happy to share this interview with Matt Anderson, an amazing filmmaker and artist. In fact, Matt has almost completed his very first feature length documentary, Fall and Winter. The film focuses on environmental issues, but interestingly enough the underlying message doesn’t stop with political action to “change the world.” Fall and Winter inspires us to take matters into our own hands, often quite literally by working with our hands. Building our own homes, growing our own food, and other such practices may require us to alter our current world views, but will ultimately help achieve a much more sustainable lifestyle.

Q: What would be a dream come true?
A: To witness an extraordinary stage of evolution in human consciousness. I think this is happening one way or another.

Q: What did you like about growing up in Vancouver?
A: When I was about 6 or 7 we moved from the city to a small, unserviced island off the coast of Vancouver. There were no cars or stores, and all water and power had to be self-contained. I commuted to school every day on our boat. No matter how big the waves were we had to jump into the dinghy and make it to the mainland. I think this gave me a deep love and respect for the forces of Nature, and set the foundation for my values today.

Q: Why/where/when did you decide to make “Fall and Winter”?
A: There really is no beginning point for this film. For years I was fascinated by conspiracies as a modern mythology - a realm of free thought where fantasy and history co-existed in pursuit of meaning and truth. I went to some conspiracy conventions and read stacks of books about the New World Order, UFO’s and ‘hidden history’. Somewhere along the way I began to migrate from asking ‘what if…?’ and towards ‘what is…?’. This lead me to a small conference in the Silicon Valley called ‘Global Catastrophic Risks’ about 3 years ago. 30 scientists were meeting to discuss the myriad of threats facing life on earth, and strategies to mitigate these threats (if possible). I began to understand that what is really happening is more fascinating and important than the realm of conspiracy. I decided that the film had to be about the massive changes occurring on our planet - and the people facing this challenge head on.

Q: What are some things that inspire you?
A: To me, it’s important to be inspired both by positive and negative forces. I am driven by the beauty of Nature, the things that my dear friends create and also by the destructive practices rampant around the globe. I think it’s important to be full of love and also mad as hell!

“Fall & Winter is a documentary that explores the origins and present-day realities of our global crisis to better understand the catastrophic transition we have now entered. Over the past year we’ve traveled 15,000 miles around the country, documenting various aspects of both the collapse and rebirth happening all around us. The film highlights a variety of ways in which individuals are creating innovative, sustainable methods of living in adaptation to their environment, and fostering in their communities a vital transformation in the way we live on this planet.”

WatchFall and Winter previewand remember to donate at their website!

-http://fallwintermovie.com/
-http://fallwintermovie.com/donate.html

July 03, 2011 by Designsquish

Laneways of Oak Bay and Fairfield, Summer 2010. 
(Laneways are narrow alleys behind buildings common in British Columbia, Canada.)

Photographs by Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) artist Ali Bosworth.
-http://www.alibosworth.com/

June 23, 2011 by Designsquish

Above: Rhododendrons blooming everywhere.

Above: Blueberries.  Not yet ripened

Carless days. Catching a train from New York City,  Penn Station to Sloatsburg then hiking to Harriman State Park(Upstate New York)

June 11, 2011 by Designsquish

Rainbow Gatherings are temporary intentional communities usually held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream popular culture, consumerism, capitalism and mass media…Rainbow Gatherings are an expression of a Utopian impulse, combined with bohemianism, hipster and hippie culture, with roots clearly traceable to the 1960’s counterculture. Mainstream society is commonly referred to and viewed as “Babylon”, connoting the participants’ widely held belief that modern lifestyles and systems of government are unhealthy, unsustainable, exploitative and out of harmony with the natural systems of the planet….The first Rainbow Gathering, a four-day event in Colorado in July 1972, was organized by youth counterculture “tribes” based in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. - wiki

- Rainbow Gathering album on flickr by photographer Benoit Paillé

June 01, 2011 by Designsquish

Great blog from Vancouver, BC - http://www.old-chum.com/

April 12, 2011 by Designsquish

Floral Map of the United States. It would be nice to ride through it on this bike:

April 10, 2011 by Designsquish

Wild fields, abandoned fields, nobody’s fields, everybody’s fields….{Does anyone know a large to medium size field near New York City area anyone
can walk on?  )

April 09, 2011 by Designsquish

-http://www.artlovejapan.com

April 07, 2011 by Designsquish

Green streets in my neighborhood Moscow, Russia(Москва, район Ленинского проспекта и ул. Обручева).  One thing I miss about growing up during Communism - the overgrowth.  Photograph by Dmitriy Chistoprudov. 

http://chistoprudov.ru/portfolio/

March 29, 2011 by Designsquish

Autumn Workshop is a design and fabrication studio started by Brooklyn based designer Daniel Goers. The workshop designs products and furniture inspired by natural and found materials, often integrating plant and animal habitats.  Autumn workshop lamps are now on display until May 11 at Saffron* flower shop(31 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY)

-http://www.autumn-workshop.com

*Saffron is a boutique flower, vintage and handcrafted goods shop in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. They regularly present work by local artists amongst an exciting assortment of exotic plants and handmade items.

March 20, 2011 by Designsquish

http://artandagriculture.org/

January 08, 2011 by Designsquish

Community garden on Albemarle Rd in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Photo taken on December 2, 2010.
Read more about it on Sustainable Flatbush:

http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/03/flatbush-community-garden-2010/

December 04, 2010 by Designsquish

Jerko is an environmental cleanup movement with head-quarters in Gowanus Canal DIY slavaged, solar powered, rainwater harvesting house boat. Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum house boat floats up and down the Gowanus Canal, cleaning water through biological filtration.  (Gowanus Canal is one of the most polluted waterways in New York City, if not the world)
Read about Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum on Half Nomad:

http://www.halfnomad.com

Photographs of Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum were discovered on beautiful blog by photographer Elizabeth Weinberg:

http://www.elizabethweinberg.com

November 11, 2010 by Designsquish

Golden leaves and trees full of house sparrows in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

November 08, 2010 by Designsquish

The Shepherds Way -  photography series by Dima Gomberg

November 04, 2010 by Designsquish

I found these beautiful greenhouses made from upcycled old windows on HAUTE NATURE. I recently have seen a bunch of gorgeous old windows in the garbage. ...

October 29, 2010 by Designsquish

Pigeons need houses too?

Few decades back in Russia, almost every building courtyard had a pigeon house(pigeon loft / dovecote). There were two near where I used to live in Moscow near Molodezhnaya street.  Why? Pigeons symbolize peace? The need to care for environment and others (bird and non-bird friends)? To be used as messengers during war (haha)? White doves, brown, black and regular gray pigeons were trained to fly around the neighborhood in perfect circles.  I loved watching them flying or sitting in their pigeon lofts.  Today most of pigeon houses in Russia are abandoned or demolished.  Reasons: pigeons spread disease but most importantly care for pigeons asks for money and time. Maybe it’s not cool anymore to have pigeon keeping as a hobby..

“The hobby of pigeon keeping is gaining in popularity in the United States, after having waned within the last 50 years. Both the hobby and commercial aspects of keeping pigeons are thriving in other parts of the world” -Wiki

Read about John Neilko’s flock of 250 pigeons that lives on the roof of the Polonia Democratic Club in Williamsburg, New York - NYMag

October 27, 2010 by Designsquish

Bikes on Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York

October 14, 2010 by Designsquish

Sculpture on Governor’s Island, New York.

September 28, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Shelving/vase system displaying thistles, dried plants and exotic flowers.

Daniel Goers is a local Brooklyn designer, architect and artist who has a show right now called Scrap Ecology at Brooklyn coffee shop K-Dog in Lefferts Gardens.  All pieces are made from reclaimed materials except some lighting components. Daniel has been collecting scrap materials and remaking them into beautiful designs and sculptures for some time now. His other great project is in collaboration with artist Jennifer Wong called Birdtown. Fifty birdhouses were built from recycled materials and installed in Fort Greene:

http://myrtleavenuebirdtown.com/

Above: Daniel Goers and Jennifer Wong.

Above: Birdhouse from Birdtown.

Scrap Ecology aims to rearrange the raw materials of our urban and natural environments into objects with new meaning and purpose. These materials include abandoned shipping pallets from Red Hook, wood cutoffs from carpentry projects, recycled packaging, discarded architectural samples, donated plant stems and foraged specimens from Prospect Park and the mountains of Harriman State Park.

http://dgoers.com

Why reclaimed materials?

New York is a great place to find raw materials to build with.  every day the streets are filled with “trash” that can be so much more. But maybe the best reason is that material is free. The reclaimed material also tends to have more character.

Do you enjoy living in New York? Would you if you had an opportunity move somewhere where there are more trees and less garbage?

Of course, New York is a great place to be a designer but my sculptures do hint at the desire to be closer to nature.  I would love to live in a barn in the mountains but in the meantime I will work to bring nature to people’s homes here.

Above: Lamp made from glass jar moss terrariums.

Why do you think using reclaimed materials is popular today? 

It’s just marketing for many people. I like to believe that myself and many other designers simply see some intrinsic value and potential in the waste around us. What was once a shipping pallet can become a hundred new things, so why cut down another tree?  More people come to this realization and the ‘green’ movement will become less about marketing & more a part of the collective conscience.

September 10, 2010 by Designsquish