A crowd that included actor/activist Don Cheadle gathered last week to celebrate the completion of the Upward Bound House Family Shelter in Culver City, Los Angeles, what is undeniably one of the prettiest and most cheerful homeless shelters we’ve ever seen. Once the site of a rundown motel with transient tenants, this 18-unit complex received a complete make over by an all-star cast of Los Angeles interior designers. With no budget at all, designers used their creative muscle to transform dark and dreary motel rooms into bright and uplifting spaces for homeless families in need.
Haily Zaki
Haily is a public relations consultant, freelance writer and secret agent in Los Angeles. She launched secret agent pr with a mission to promote outstanding architecture and design brands, particularly those with an eco-entrepreneurial spirit. Before delving into public relations, she worked in marketing for the built environment, had a stint at the UNDP and worked with the Mapuche people in Temuco, Chile. Today she focuses her efforts on mastering the art of communicating through the media. When she's not working, she enjoys epicurean delights, writing, budget travel and tubs of nutella.
February 1, 2010
January 21, 2010
In a charming Southern lilt, Interface founder and chairman Ray Anderson addressed a private gathering last night in Los Angeles, hosted at the LEED Platinum rated home of LivingHomes founder, Steve Glenn. Known widely as the grandfather of corporate sustainability, Anderson basically gave his rapt audience a progress report on how the proverbial climb up the mountain is going. The overall prognosis? There is still a long way to go.
January 12, 2010
It’s 2010; the beginning of a new decade of great, green design. Rather than counting the days of their lives like sand through the hourglass, eco-minded inhabitants of today’s urban jungle could soon be watching time pass with these gorgeous, artfully laser-printed time pieces. Each one is hewn on re-born pieces of wood by Los Angeles-based design studio se_earch+resQ.
December 22, 2009
While the holidays are definitely filled with great joy, year-end festivities can also have a slightly grimmer side. According to the Clean Air Council, an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays in the US, four million tons of which is attributable to wrapping paper and shopping bags. If you’re looking for alternatives to tinsel, foil paper, and double-wrapping this year, TapeSwell’s new holiday tapes offer both a practical and very pretty solution.
December 15, 2009
If you like the idea of giving something truly unique this holiday season, then why not choose a handcrafted present made or re-made by the hands of an individual? Etsy and other similar sites like Coriandr and Dawanda in the UK offer an incredible variety of beautifully handcrafted gifts that are sure to please. Admittedly, sifting through all the virtual shops can become an addiction or even an affliction (we know!), but with a bit of luck and patience, you’re sure to find something perfect for everyone on your list. Read on for a few of our top eco-picks!
+ HANDCRAFTED GIFTS
October 29, 2009
The Architectural Foundation of Los Angeles recently announced the winners of the Design Green awards at a recent ceremony hosted by the AIA/LA to recognize outstanding work built or conceived by Los Angeles architects. Citation, Merit, and Honor Awards were given to six projects that ranged in size from residential to corporate, non-profit to civic and educational, with Honor being the highest award. From the diversity of the projects, it’s clear to see that California architects do more than just design green. With each year and innovation, they elevate green, exceeding our expectations of what a green project should be.
July 23, 2009
As summer hits its stride many might be opting for the stay-cation this year, but for those adventurous green travelers headed out into the world to do some eco-exploring, we’ve rounded up our top picks for the best eco-hotels and hostels around the world! From high-flying airplane hostels to tranquil eco-lodges to stunning hotels made from reclaimed industrial materials, there’s a world of incredible eco-accomodations out there – read on for our top 5 picks. Happy Travels!
July 5, 2009
Did you know you can power a clock with dirt? Dutch designer Marieke Staps has figured out a way to grow time, instead of killing it. Her soil-powered bio-clock (is that like a biological clock?), showcased at Dutch Design Week in 2008 and most recently at Dwell on Design’s Kitchen Ecology Show last week, keeps time by plugging into mud!
July 2, 2009
Pre-built homemakers extraordinaire, Marmol Radziner Prefab were in the news this week once again introducing their newest custom prefab home. High up in the hills above Los Angeles sits the new Hollywood Hybrid, a 2576 sq. ft. sustainable, modern prefab home with killer views and a minimal carbon footprint. Inhabitat went up to the site where the home was being built for a peek.
June 29, 2009
Inhabitat is happy to report that Dwell on Design, the west coast’s largest modern design event, featured more smart green design than ever before this year. When we walked the floor yesterday with Dwell Publisher and President Michela O’Connor Abrams (and the carpenter and designer from HGTV’s Carter Can show), it was clear to see that the majority of the companies showcasing their products and services at the three-day festival are paying a great deal more attention to sustainability than in the past. We guestimate that about 80% of the companies there were promoting some kind of green story – in a varying shades, of course. Read on for our highlights from the show!
June 25, 2009
Inhabitat loves shipping containers, whether from down under or the Great North. These self-contained quadrilateral wonders are the perfect modular building unit; easily transported, super durable, and, with over 700,000 containers being abandoned per year in U.S. ports, in need dire need of being re-purposed. That’s why we are happy to see IC Green, another innovator in the field of shipping container architecture. Check out their line of modest but sustainable and stylish container dwellings as they sprout up all over Southern California, including this weekend at Dwell on Design!
June 12, 2009
It’s no secret that we dig Sustain miniHomes. Inhabitat has always appreciated their sustainable spin on the mobile home and have eaten up their eye candy since the beginning. But on this fabulous prefab Friday, we have some even more exciting news to report!  The Toronto-based builders are coming to Los Angeles to debut their California edition — the first of the 12 WIDE series designed with special consideration for passive cooling and ventilation in a range of California climates.
June 8, 2009
Dwell on Design is back in Los Angeles this month, showcasing an incredible array of modern design from June 26-28. Now in its sophomore year at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the three-day design festival brings together the best and brightest from the design industry to offer visitors “real live modern design” in the form of an expansive exhibition, design conference, home tours and special events. For fans of all things sustainable, we’ve scoured the schedule to find the show’s green highlights. It looks like there will be a lot to check out, and there are of course a few familiar Inhabitat faces in the line up.
May 22, 2009
As the air warms on Bainbridge Island, construction on the Ellis Residence continues to bring this state-of-the-art sustainable home even closer to its expected LEED Platinum rating. Designed by Coates Design, the Ellis Residence will be the first single-family residence in the Western Puget Sound region to attain this level of environmental building achievement.
May 15, 2009
The very heart of Singapore beats green, thanks to the new design for the National Heart Center conceived by Ong & Ong with medical planning and interior consultation by multinational firm Broadway Malyan. The ambitious 35,299 square-meter building at the center of Singapore General Hospital’s Outram Campus redevelopment plan will hopefully score high green marks with its unique design that places people first. Recognizing that the medical world advances quite quickly, the design incorporates modular building methods to ensure that the structure of the building remains flexible and adaptable both internally and externally, easily and efficiently allowing for future growth.
April 16, 2009
Award-winning international architects Zaha Hadid and Ben van Berkel recently unveiled their designs for two eco-pavilions that will be the centerpieces of Burnham Plan Centennial celebrations this summer in Chicago. Both pavilions emphasize the importance of boldly imagining a better future for all, as Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett did in 1909 in their Plan of Chicago. So how can something that is disposable and temporary really be sustainable? Inhabitat wondered the same thing. So we called the organizers and they were more than happy to explain.
April 13, 2009
San Francisco’s James Sampayan offers up a bright idea for the Spring Greening DIY Contest that combines old and new to create a lovely pendant lamp that gives the lowly light bulb a second life during which to “live long and prosper.” James’ design snaps ten standard bulbs between two acrylic plates along with a single CFL bulb that illuminates the rest. Simply crafted using bulbs, scrap acrylic, and miscellaneous Ace Hardware bits and bobs, this pendant is functional and economical. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!
VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SPRING GREENING DESIGN >
April 2, 2009
The beauty of design lies in finding expression in restriction. When Slovenian firm Ofis Arhitekti was commissioned to design a holiday home for their client but tasked with doing so without exceeding the pre-approved 6×11 meter footprint, the design team did exactly that. The result is an inspired and deceivingly spacious, sustainable reinterpretation of an Alpine classic.
March 28, 2009
As the WWF’s Earth Hour sweeps the planet this year, Los Angeles is stepping up to do its part (which it most definitely didn’t do last year).  Besides turning off the lights at several iconic city sites and urging citizens to do the same, the Earth Hour LA team is inviting crews of urban guerillas to help spread the good, green word before 8:30 P.M. on Saturday, March 28th.
March 26, 2009
Zagreb-based 3HLD has just won an international closed competition to design a new private medical center in the seaside town of Split, Croatia. With the keen eye of design surgeons, 3HLD has taken what we think of as the typical monolithic medical structure, incised key exterior sections, implanted the voids with green gardens, and finished by wrapping the entire building in bandages of protective sunscreen. The result? A light and airy medical facility that patients may actually enjoy visiting.
