• A great post on having modern-day class. (thanks Style Odyssey!) “Have some damn class” has been my signature profile quote since the Friendster days.
• 25 years ago, architect Ricardo Bofill discovered an abandoned cement factory and has been renovating it ever since. I love that so many old elements have remained. This place is HUGE and he’s using some larger rooms for gallery space and lectures. Parts will also be rented office space eventually. A bit much but the reno job is amazing. I couldn’t commit myself to 25 + years of that.

via dornob

• With thrift stores full of old neckties for $1, this is a great little project you can try yourself – necktie brooches! Or you can buy them already made via etsy! Each one looked a little different – not sure on an exact technique but working in a bunched/folded spiral with a few stitches to secure seems easy enough.

• Unfortunately, DIY fashion made it to the the NYT list of “Worn-Out Fashion Terms“
• The Zeigarnik Effect – proof that when faced with huge tasks, you just need to start somewhere, anywhere.
• Last Thursday I met up with a bunch of chicks for a Richmond lady blogger/twitter pot-luck. Some I had met before and some were new. Everyone was delightful and I got good and drunk. What do you expect when I haven’t had more than one drink in months, was beyond stressed, was around a bunch of rad women who were cracking me up, and was in charge of bringing booze?

(via)

• I didn’t grow up with cable TV. My only chance was on weekends at my grandma’s where I would glue myself to my older cousin’s fashion magazines, a bag of Doritos and MTV. So, it wasn’t until SATC reruns started airing on FOX late at night did I start watching the show. I missed a lot and was half-lit most of the time after coming home late. So now SATC is on E! and I’m catching up. I just found out Carrie cheated on Aidan! I am so pissed. Samantha was always my favorite but Carrie disgusts me even more now, in addition to her gold-digging, whiny, selfish ways. How could he take her back? And Big?! What was the appeal?
• This has been a long week. So long. There has been work stress for the bf and a few stupid financial issues. I also started painting the bathroom last Saturday. I don’t even want to talk about how much I’ve hated the walls in there, but I will. Who the hell paints over old textured wallpaper, screws crap into the walls, removes that crap and does a horrible patch job to only paint over it again? I don’t know who but they need a swift kick in the ass. I did the best I could to fix the patches and began to paint and it just won’t end! I’m going to need another gallon before I’m done. There’s so much trim, an old built-in medicine cabinet, a tall window, a linen closet, the door with an old vent window above, a radiator, plus working around fixtures including a claw foot tub. I love the character of Fan district homes but the landlord just did not care about keeping the place up when college kids were going to destroy it, hence the amazing deal we have here. The bf had just been laid off when we moved in together so we had to take what I could afford on my own if worse came to worst. I could see what it could be though when we moved in and I’ve really made a little gem out of the place in the past 1.5 years. After the bathroom is done, I’m done with improvements here. Thank god because I’ve just about had enough of polishing this turd.

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I took a walk around my neighborhood today to play with the new camera and take some pictures of the old architecture that makes this area so distinct. I played with the pinhole effect on the camera a few times. The neat thing about the Fan District is that each walk you take brings you new discoveries. I could walk around a thousand times and it would always be exciting. I love this place.  (Click on the Flickr link to the right to see all the pics!)

Each block has its own characteristic architecture that seems to run in groups.

Good ole Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue. This is the South.

The way people take care of their tiny yards and porches makes me smile. As the seasons change, so does the entire feel of the neighborhood. There are a lot of hidden gardens tucked around that I would love to climb over fences to see!

There are some of the cutest little houses ever here… and so many strange varieties of trees. My favorite is the ginkgo, one of the oldest trees in the world. You can see the distinctive branches peeking in the 2nd picture.

Even the alleys are inviting and magical to me but the bf is convinced that they are full of stranglers.

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Get a load of this spectacular 1/12 dollhouse from MIAIM called Clearview House designed by Elaine Shaw.

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My mom has a ton of books taking up a wall in her house. I wanted to share with you some pictures from a 1965 interior design book called Decoration USA. I love how a lot of the design elements and furniture styles are still relevant today. At least we have steered away from saturating the entirety of a room with a singular bright color. I spared you those eye-burning pictures.

Click the picture for a larger version.

Yay! Large scale abstract art dominating a room!

one room 2 ways

I wish all the pictures were in color. They sure loved their woven rattan in the 60s. This photo was showcasing the fireplace pit. We still see those dining chairs used today.

good grief

Not a laptop in sight in any of the desk shots – kind of refreshing!

love these chairs!

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• Oh holy crap look at this house! (photos via)

no, I am not kidding

• Oh holy crap look at Luxirare’s latest post on bento boxes! I’m maintaining a list of all of her food posts here.
• Oh holy crap look at this Donna Karan bustier for $2,495!!! Beautiful construction!

• I’ve been hard at work at a somewhat personal post for the one-year anniversary of this blog. I’m pretty excited!
• I will also soon be posting pics of the project I undertook to get something on my living room walls (if I don’t die first). I can’t believe I signed myself up for this but I have to see it through to the end. I always overextend myself on goals. Lets just say about a gazillion little dots are involved. Stay tuned!

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• I have had an AOL email address since 1995. I KNOW! “LaraRan” is what everyone called me since I was a kid since no one could pronounce my last name. It’s pretty much been my online identity. I think it’s time to move on over to gmail.
• Christian Siriano’s shoes for Payless suck hard. How much do you wanna bet the Spring 2010 line won’t look anything like this?
• I want to thank I Hate Your Fashion for telling it like it is about drop-crotch pants.
• Air hunger. Have you heard of this? It’s a phenomena that affects tons of people and there is no real relief available except for trying to relax and giving it time. It happened to me on occasion when I was a kid and has started up again, out of the blue, same with a lot of other people. Basically, you feel like you can’t get a deep breath and it lasts for days and can last for months (please god no!). Anyhow, you feel like you’re suffocating, that no breath you take is satisfying and the only thing that gives you relief is to build up to a giant yawn and then it starts all over again. It can ruin your entire day, making you feel anxious (when you really weren’t feeling any anxiety until this crap started, although it gets associated with anxiety all the time). You feel like you could slide into a panic attack if it doesn’t ease up. This has been going on for 3 days now and is driving me insane. Today has been a bit better and forcing myself to breath through my nose and realize I am getting enough oxygen has helped a bit. So has xanax.
• indeed
• NY Fashion Week is going on and I’m not there. I think I will try to get my press credentials for next year. Apparently it’s not that difficult. OMG… how awesome would that be!? Also, I am amazed at all the whining I have seen on Twitter about how much the lady bloggers’ feet hurt. You guys seriously wore heels when you would be on your feet all day long at standing room only shows and it’s been raining? Ridiculous! Okay, I’ll quit scolding but c’mon ladies! Why are we always trying to impress one another to the point of agony?

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These bold pops of color are refreshing in the massive sea of monochromatic futuristic design I usually gravitate towards.

This $1/2 million home in the Netherlands designed by Marc Koehler Architects still maintains a wide open floor plan and clean lines. This home is part of a movement towards a more enclosed environment, providing privacy and utilizing wide glass expanses carefully, with seclusion in mind. The yellow kitchen could become old after a while but the warm fuchsia is an element I could get used to (via Arch Daily).

This housing cluster in Slovakia designed by Vallo & Sadovsky Architects involves 21 multi-level dwellings, each level having its own terrace and carefully separated areas to ensure parents their privacy. From the floor plans, it appears that the brightly colored paneling is storage space (via Arch Daily).

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I’ve always enjoyed industrial/commercial design elements much more than those of residential. Industrial strength doors and flooring and the stronger small fixtures just made more sense to me than wimpy door hinges and flimsy wood railings. Things that need repeated maintenance like painting, and cleaning that involves waxes and special products just irks me to no end. Metal and glass make sense in my mind and I think I would’ve been happy to live in the icy stoic Fortress of Solitude. When I was little, a new office park  (The Boulders) was being built off a local highway and I was in awe over the course of that year watching the steel skeletons transform into mirror covered, sharply angled modern structures. My mother eventually had to do a lot of business in this area and it was always fun for me to be able to go with her. (A glass encased home would tickle my fancy to no end.)

Here’s a collection of modern commercial design that I have been stashing away for quite some time, throughout my perusings of the interwebs. The clean lines, sharp angles, large open spaces, natural light, abundance of glass and minimalistic approach makes a certain part of my brain feel safe and at ease.

This is the NRGi headquarters in Denmark, designed by SHL architects. I actually love the bamboo flooring since it’s virtually indestructible (and responsible) and being juxtaposed against oddly angled concrete just feels right. (via Arch Daily)

This is Chebanca!, a bank in Milan, Italy.  The fact that it’s nestled into a traditional and probably historic building is wonderful to me. I also like the warm glowing yellow accents. More pictures via Trend Insights.

The vaulted angled ceilings and wide open expanse of space of the Grenada Science park in Spain looks like heaven. Architects Carlos Ferrater and Jiminez Brasa Arquitectos utilized a $50 million budget for this enormous project. More amazing pictures via Arch Daily.

This is also in Spain – the Bakio Sports Center. There’s nothing exceptional about this building. It’s unassuming (purposefully so as not to overwhelm the scenery) but will be relevant for ages, designed by ACXT architects.

The translucent cellular polycarbonate, in the public perimeter areas, resolves the thermal insulation and together with the birches, the protection from the western sun. At night it turns into a lighthouse which crowns the valley. (via Arch Daily)

This is a concept by Gianni Botsford Architects for Kolkatta, India. There are 18 more pictures you can view there. Wow.

…the intent of this project is to create an environment that captures the cultural and intellectual intensity of Kolkatta. An organic street, naturally ventilated and self shaded, is populated with open cafes, flower shops, fruit sellers, kiosks, chaat vaalas, and  musicians leading to the retail, hotel, library, art gallery and auditorium that make up the programme for this hillside site. In the client’s words this is an intellectual destination. The process of evolving the architecture from the various forces prevalent on the site results in a humanist solution- the nature of the space forces the inhabitants to think, explore and discover.

In Austria, one can do their grocery shopping at the super styley Mpreis! (via Serious Eats)

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I needed to purge my overflowing bookmarks so here’s some beautiful architecture I’ve been collecting. Check out the links for additional information and pictures! (There are a lot of wood and stone floors in these homes… not my usual)

Tijuana apparently isn’t just for novelty vacations and abominable side shows anymore. A modern apartment complex has been developed, sticking with a strict color scheme of black, white and deep orange.

A 120 year old home in Japan has been renovated, with the central focus being an enormous table. Okay.

This is an old firehouse in London that has been converted into a really impressive house (check out the retractable roof).

Another conversion, is a silo in Utah. The curved walls require ingenious utilization of space and the way standard windows were accomodated is impressive. I’ve always been intrigued by round structures and used to dream of living in a geodesic dome house but after learning that everything must be custom made to conform to the shape, I lost interest. This makes me want to dream again.

Another curved house in London. The giant leather sling in the library just kills me. How wonderful and cozy could that be? All that glass and the pops of color are so ideal.

This home is tucked away in the woods of Holland. So much beautiful glass! Oh, to live without curtains and have nature so close.

Oh, and the next time I happen to be swinging through Spain, I’ll definitely be staying at the Hotel Diagonal in Barcelona! ;)

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I saw this house from Japanese architect Takao Shiotsuka and was in love.

The Agnes Lofts in Seattle, WA are also amazing (and a bit more warm) and just won an award for architecture in Washington.

And another minimalistic Japanese box design. Sigh.

Oh, and the Japanese have even designed a cat-friendly house… it’s actually quite attractive! My cats would love this!

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