Meera House in Singapore

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The Meera House in Singapore.

I love the roofs but those see-thru swimming pools always grab me, and I was surprised to see one here.  Adding Singapore to my bucket list.

Nammie

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My buddy http://eff-stoplocal just published a "Sepia Saturday" post devoted to my great grandmother, Mary Kimball Morris, who was a prolific oil painter in Great Falls, Montana.  I'm so proud of her to be honored in such a way.  And prouder still to have one of her paintings.  Taking up a paintbrush for the first time after her kids were grown, she is a real inspiration to me.  You go, Nammie!

Book of Puffballs

And now the puffballs have a book of their own!

Two from Eff-Stop

I can't let another post go by before directing you to two of Eff-stop's, one very recent and one first posted nearly two years ago:

Idiomatic achitecture of children's books

and

Letting an old landmark go with photos and surprising history of a humble garage in Seattle.

Boat Furniture

More from Inhabitat
"Matthias Pliessnig‘s beautiful organic benches strike a perfect balance between the the subjects he studied: sculpture, furniture design, and wood & art. The Philadelphia-based designer creates these astonishing sculptural seats by shaping ash and white oak strips with a low-energy, ancient technique called steam bending. Originally used for building bows and boats, steam bending works by shaping wood with heated vapor – allowing designers to create curvaceous structures like these dynamic furniture pieces.
To make his furnishings, Pliessnig first sketches his designs with a computer, allowing the ideas to grow into fantastic organic shapes."
Text by Ana Luis Alperovich
Read more: Matthias Pliessnig Steam Bends Strips of Wood into Stunning Sculptural Seats | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

Offices for T Bailey Construction and Fabrication

Another article on recent local Olson Kundig building from Inhabitat features this office for wind energy manufacturer T Bailey Construction and Fabrication in Anacortes, Washington.   Powered by renewable energy, the design was inspired by wind turbines.

Design Will Save the World

Photo by Benjamin Benschneider/Article by Ana Lisa Alperovich

A little pre-fab at Sol-Duc Hot Springs on the Olympic Peninsula by Olson-Kundig Architects posted today by a favorite blog of mine, Inhabitat: Design Will Save the World.  Their name pretty much says it all.  Built with structural insulated panels (SIPs) to enable it to be prefabricated off-site.  A good thing, because this reduces waste while maximizing respect for the area, in the words of writer Ana LIsa Alperovich. Four steel columns raise the shelter above ground for minimal impact, while protecting the building from the occasional floods of the nearby river. At only 350 square feet the steel-clad interiors are made from wood, contrasting with the rugged patina of the exterior that will continue to blend and evolve with the surroundings as time goes by.

WalMart Building Soon in the Neighborhood

And the bad news follows the good:

The Bellevue Reporter announced the news last month: WalMart comes to Factoria.  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom for comments.  It will be in the Mervyn's at Factoria Mall, just down the street from our gathering space we built last summer.

Interesting fact:  the markings left by the old Mervyn's sign are called labelscars.

Pomegranate Carve-A-Thon

The Dig Project at Factoria with Pomegranate Center: Part 2

The Design Comes Together and the Carve-A-Thon

Part 1 described in a blog entry here 

Eggs provided by Newport Hills hens

Midsummer 2011:   A full day of design, drawings and site walking planned.  I made a fresh frittata  with locally grown Newport Hills eggs, courtesy of neighbor Michelle Hilhorst's hens.  On to the drawings provided by Pomegranate staff and our volunteers, "Space Rangers" all!

Placement of carved panels on the roof supports

Corrugated metal roof plan

Stone seating layout

There was even a model of the amphitheatre in order to better visualize the seating and the roof over the stage

Much listening and presenting of ideas going on here

Milenko and Space Rangers back at the onsite drawing board

The site is walked over and over again:  fortunately the sun came out!

Bree Dillon, project manager, hard at work

Milenko explains it all

Kimberly Kibby as a  "placeholder"

Rick, Milenko and Janet 

Our P-Patch from the orchard site of the amphitheatre

Pomegranate Center's home in Issaquah

Then there was something called a "Carve-A-Thon", one of Pomegranate's unique ways of raising funds.  Carved panels are carved, assembled and painted at the Pomegranate Center,  all by us volunteers, and then sold off to the highest bidders!

Milenko  draws on a cedar panel

Beginning to carve

Finally, the panels are hand-stained and delivered to their new owners