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My friend Matt is making progress on his little buildings! Here are a couple of older posts about the project:

Model

Foundation

It will be very nice to have the garden and patio between the main house and the small buildings with good southern exposure. (See site plan below)

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I thought this was cool – from a blog called V-spot .

The little holes in the sides make the thing sparkle.

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Weathering Steel or COR-TEN steel weathers to a nice coppery brown color, then stops rusting for the most part. John welded up this planter box for a garden in Rockridge, CA this morning.

corten steel planter box

Isba supervises

Welder and two Landscape Architects

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The High Line in Manhattan is credited with generating over $2Billion of new investment and the creation of 20,000 jobs.

High Line fall 2010

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These small brick row houses face a lush gated courtyard perpendicular to the public street and each also has access to an alley on the back side. It is similar to this project in Berkeley, but minus the driveway through the middle….which makes a big difference. 

gate to the back alley

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This 20 unit apartment complex is layed out in two rows facing each other with a north-south lane down the middle. This way sunshine permeates the entire complex and allows for lovely gardens in front of every unit.  It seems like a very sociable design with all the front porches lined up facing each other. It would be even better if they could eliminate regular vehicular traffic down the lane and provide access to the parking lot at the end from the other side. At least the cars are out of sight.  I suppose privacy might be an issue at times with all of your neighbors easily able to see who comes and goes…but this is also a good safety feature.

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In honor of the Northern California Fall I am posting a few photos of the glorious trees that might be the most important architectural feature of my apartment. Without this pair of venerable deciduous Zelcova trees I would have much less privacy in my bedroom and the house and yard would be much hotter and sunnier in the summer months. The beauty of a deciduous tree smack on the south side of the house is that in the winter the sun streams into the south-facing windows.  warming and cheering the rooms.  Of course the fall foliage is a nice side benefit.

The seasons in Northern California have always seemed a bit confused to this native of Detroit.  I recently realized why: When the fall foliage begins, it is usually also the beginning of the rainy season.  This means that simultaneously some trees are turning red, orange, yellow and brown, and most other plants and trees are turning bright green from all of the rain. In the spring the reverse is true. The deciduous trees are sprouting little green leaves and buds….and most other things are turning brown as the water supply diminishes.

I painted the burgee on my art studio new colors for the fall.  This building also has the benefits of a deciduous tree to the south. This time it is the spectacular California Buckeye.

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Also in New York City, I revisited the wonderful High Line to see how all the plants are doing.  The are doing great!  In late October the High Line is alive with fall colors:

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Designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is a very quiet and peaceful retreat from the clamor of Manhattan.

Instead of more mundane and technical solutions, they chose to achieve the desired quiet by commissioning a textile artist to weave giant tapestries and growing plants on other parts of the walls. A subtle water feature completes the effect perfectly.

The plant covered wall and one of many round skylights

The water fountain and the living wall

Handwoven Tapestry and a Computer Screen

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This new fence caught my eye from across the street

All along the fence there are rows of peep holes of different shapes and sizes.

The peep holes let a bit of light through the fence and rhythmically break up the wall of redwood boards

The boards are on the otherside for one section of fence. The neat row of cactuses along it reminded me of Frida Kahlo’s cactus fence in Mexico City

On the front corner there is yellow grid in conversation with the three squares to the right. Im not as big a fan of this side. It looks a bit too post modern.

The owner of this fence also has a bright blue garage door

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