“What A Wonderful World”

This world is something that we need…Imagine!

Axwell, Bob Sinclar, and Featuring singer Ron Carroll

It was and still is a great goal!

Come on and let’s get together. What a wonderful world this would be!

Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent — A Liberal’s Calm Before The Storm

Made glorious summer by this sun of Windy City;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried…

…for how long?

For some of us the inauguration of Barack Obama ushered in the potential for an era of liberal progress, of recovery from the dark clouds of George W. Bush… illegal wars, reactionary social policy, and economic destruction.

The republican party nomination process stimulated my presaging fear of tumult as I witnessed enthusiastic applause for the proposed destruction / elimination of women’s’ rights, civil and marriage rights, health care access, criminalized physical expressions of hate, and responsible stewardship of earth’s resources.

While I know that I am not alone in my liberal desires for a more progressive and better nation, it sure feels a lot lonelier.

As I contemplated my sense of alienation and just how far I am away from the American political norm, a battery of political spectrum tests proved that, indeed, I am a Liberal Elite in a right wing, conservative nation…and it is not a good feeling.

For the Liberal Elite contemplating the national mood, it may soon be another kind of Winter…the end (winter) of our contentment…

North Beach House — A Contemporary Take On Environmentally Responsible Modernism

This low-impact, easy to maintain summer home provides contemporary functionality with minimum distractions from wooded land and open view. The solution places the house among mature fir trees located directly between the beach and an upland meadow — walls of glass look out upon both.

As part of the home’s contemporary functionality, the roof is vegetated, which filters rainwater that in turn is collected and stored for use in irrigation. Potable hot water and hydronic heating are aided by solar collectors on the roof, and PV panels above the vegetable garden provide supplemental electricity.

The home is intended for occupancy from May through October, and systems have been designed to zero out electricity use from the grid over the course of a full year.

Location: Orcas Island, WA
Architects: Heliotrope Architects
Contractor: David Shore
Building area: 2,070 sf

Click Images For Larger View

Gas Prices: It’s Obama’s Fault!…Or, Is It? — Part 2: Refining Bottleneck

As a follow up to my October 11th post outlining the factors “not Obama” that are increasing gasoline prices, I was challenged by the same anti-Obama businessman I mentioned to explain this “supposed” refining capacity bottleneck.

Ok… here ’tis:

Here’s the bottleneck in a graph. No matter how much crude oil is brought out of the ground or imported, the bottleneck is that US refining capacity has not increased in over a decade (actually you’ll see later, it’s about two decades). That folks is what’s called a “bottleneck.” Very simple. The gap between demand and what we have the capacity to refine is imported at substantially higher costs.

“Yeah, well, you know dude, the free market will fix that!”

Really? ‘Cause here’s the federal EIA outlook up until 2030. Um…barely any capacity improvement. And the gap between demand and what the US can refine: goes from a shortfall of a little more than 3 million barrels of oil per day to a gap of almost 8 million barrels of oil per day. The gap is made up by importing expensive refined product from abroad.

Ooops! Looks like a lack of energy industry progress.

Now, let’s look at what the energy industry and the feds have to say about our refining capacity and the coming urgent problems:

From U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Refining: Petroleum & Other Liquids”

“U.S. refining capacity, as measured by daily processing capacity of crude oil distillation units alone, has appeared relatively stable in recent decades, at about 16 million barrels per day of operable capacity—the level is a reduction from the capacity of twenty years ago. …the first refineries were shut down as demand fell in the early 1980′s. …additional refineries were shut down in the late 1980′s and during the 1990′s, always, of course, those at the least profitable end of a company’s asset portfolio.”

The report notes a mediating factor: “At the same time, refiners improved the efficiency of the crude oil distillation units that remained in service by “debottlenecking” [internally] to improve the flow and to match capacity among different units and by turning more and more to computer control of the processing.”

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Nonetheless two contravening facts deny the relief of improved capacity utilization efficiencies so that refineries continue to function as “the bottleneck:” 1) Continued shut down of refinery facilities reducing total potential capacity levels and 2) A turn to exporting American refined oil products to industrializing, higher profit margin international markets.

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From ”Rising Gasoline Prices 2012,” Congressional Research Service (R42382), March 1, 2012

“Two large oil refiners in the Northeast, Sunoco and ConocoPhillips, have decided to close refining assets.  Sunoco announced the closure of its Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania refinery on December 1, 2011, followed by ConocoPhillip’s closure of its Trainer, Pennsylvania refinery later that month.  Sunoco also plans to close, its Philadelphia refinery. Together, these three refineries comprise over 50% of refining capacity in the Northeast.  Higher wholesale price margins would be required in the Northeast to draw supplies from other areas to make up for the loss in refining capacity.”

“Separately, the Hovensa Refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands is also closing. Most U.S. refined product imports from Europe and the Virgin Islands go the East Coast.”

“Europe, a major source of U.S. gasoline imports, has also experienced a reduction in refining capacity recently. It has been reported that Petroplus, the largest European independent refiner, has begun shutting down three of its five refineries.  (As a result of these closures, Europe may also seek to draw greater supplies of diesel fuel from U.S. refineries.)”

From EIA February 2012 Executive Summary of Report. “Potential Impacts of Reductions in Refinery Activity on Northeast Petroleum Product Markets”

“…price impacts are highly uncertain. …in the short term, prices can spike. In the longer run, higher prices and possibly higher price volatility can result…loss of the Sunoco Philadelphia refinery presents a complex supply challenge, and no single solution has been identified by industry participants… The industry will have a financial incentive to serve all markets in the Northeast, and companies are currently investigating options. However, companies are not [soon] likely to make significant investments in new logistical arrangements…”

From The White House, March 11, 2012, “A Secure Energy Future: A Progress Report.”

The U.S. refiners export gasoline, and that shrinks national supply. Though placing a positive spin by extolling the virtues of a “world-class refining sector,” the report revealed a “refining sector that last year was a net exporter for the first time in sixty years.”

Report by Ron Scherer at the Christian Science Monitor, ““As Gas Prices Rise, Should US Oil Industry Stop Exporting?”

The oil industry maintains it must export to stabilize profits and avoid layoffs. Observers contend the new status of refiners as “net exporter[s] for the first time in sixty years” keeps domestic supply low and gas prices high.

“The oil industry maintains the exports are necessary because domestic demand is weak. The industry says if refiners could not send American-made gasoline to China, India, Europe, and South America, the refineries would have to close as several have already done on the East Coast. Yet, other energy observers say exporting gasoline at a time of rising prices is sort of like throwing flammable liquid on a fire.”

TADA! US Refining Bottleneck!

Not the fault of Obama… the fault of industry.

Gas @ $3.79! It’s All Obama’s Fault!…Or Is It?

Two weeks ago I had the unfortunate displeasure of suffering cocktails with a confused businessman. He owns and manages a firm that processes payroll for a large city school district, so one might reasonably assume a certain level of intelligence and sophisticated thinking. Well, I did. Puh! Should’ve thought otherwise.

About a half hour into what had been otherwise a congenial conversation, and from nowhere, this fella spits out, “So…Obama…A fucking Communist, right!” I think my response nearly set his hair on fire.

The next thing out of his mouth is this party-line diatribe folks are attempting to foist onto the public: “My God! Obama has caused gas to skyrocket! His policies have practically shut down oil production in the US!”

Hummm? Gee I thought it was because the oil industry has chosen, under the reign of free market ideology, not to expand or build additional refining and gasoline processing facilities? ‘Cause, when I look at the numbers…they show more oil wells and more gas wells and more of practically everything geared to get product out of the ground…but no industry effort to expand processing to useable fuels for your SUVs. Gees, do you think that bottlenecks things? Maybe.

And, do ya think that maybe an industrializing China and India have increased total demand? Maybe. And do ya think that given the tensions between us and Iran (and the constant party-line drumbeat to Bomb Baby Bomb!) and the threat to the Strait of Hormuz through which most of the oil passes… that maybe the oil speculators have speculated oil futures high? Maybe.

Gees…this stuff isn’t difficult…just doesn’t fit with a mindset that thwarts all reasonable efforts to develop alternative fuels, increase our auto efficiencies, and implement effective and efficient mass transit across the nation.

No, I’m afraid it is shortsighted policies from conservatives and threats to oil transport and the pressures of speculation within a free market and industry refusal to expand gasoline refining capacity and a newly resurgent American economy that are driving gas prices higher.

Where were gasoline prices before the markets and the Bush economy crashed? Oh, yeah, about where they are now (Sept ’08 just before the crash: $3.86… March ’12 as economy grows again: $3.79). Things that make you (thoughtful people) go hummm….

Global Warming Controversy — Which Makes Sense?

I’m A Liberal…

Swedish Fake China

In 2009, designer Nille Svensson was asked to create products on the theme of identity for an exhibition. He chose to explore Chinese porcelain. Contemporary China, at least from a Western perspective, is often regarded as a place where things are produced but not designed. However, it was the Chinese who introduced chinaware. This plate set concedes to stealing elements from the classic blue-and-white motif of the East while reminding us that cultural influences have shifted over time. The design solidifies that change can be good, but that history is as important.

Click to enlarge each image and enjoy the image irony

ABOUT FAKE CHINA – From The Designer

On the 12th of September 1745, the sailing ship Götheborg, part of the Swedish East India Company fleet, returned to Sweden from Canton after more than 30 months at sea. It is believed that over 35 members of the crew died during the journey. Only 900 meters from its home harbor in Gothenburg, the ship ran aground and sank. The cargo of several thousand pieces of china was lost and the sailors who did not survive the journey had died for nothing. This story of the harsh reality of commerce has always fascinated me.

When I was asked to create something on the theme of »identity« for the Notch exhibition in 2009, I first thought a lot about how contemporary China, at least from a Western perspective, is generally regarded as a place were things are produced but not designed. China’s design identity is also associated with the issue of plagiarism and fake products. I then came to think about the sad fate of Götheborg, and the extremely high demand of Chinese ceramics in Europe at that time. A high demand created out of the fact that the knowledge of how to manufacture ceramics of such quality was not locally available.

As the understanding of production techniques spread, manufacturing of chinaware started in Europe as well. In many cases featuring designs that looked »Chinese«, or were direct copies of Chinese originals. The design was made with the main purpose to add a quality of authenticity to what was basically product piracy. The most famous of these designs is perhaps the »Willow design« made around 1790. The company behind this plate even invented a fake Chinese legend based on the motif just to further promote the authenticity of the product. The motif and the legend has in turn been copied and spread widely ever since. There is even an animated Disney film based on the willow tree legend.

From the early plagiarism, the designs grew and permuted and became the starting point of the British and Dutch porcelain-tradition as we know it. Contemporary designers and artists even relate to the Willow-motif as a kind of starting point. The copy has grown to become an original and as such carries cultural integrity in its own right as it has transformed through the states of copy – original – culture – tradition. What we today may regard as a highly valuable (collectable) item was originally created as a simple copy.

It is a healthy reminder of how cultural influences and values shift and change over time. Not only geographically, but economically and demographically, the general presumption that the Western world is where things are designed and originated, whilst the East is where they get produced and copied will not prevail forever.

With all this in mind I went to the Museum of Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, stole designs and design elements from plates in the collection, and created my own »fake china« plates, while convinced that nobody can copy anything without adding something to the story.

The result is a small step of cultural evolution.

- Nille Svensson, designer

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FAKE-CHINA is included in the Röhsska Museet permantent design collection.

In Stockholm, Sweden FAKE-CHINA are available at Svenskt Tenn — http://www.svenskttenn.se/

LifeEdited: Less Stuff, More Happiness

Treehugger.com founder Graham Hill established a competitive project about editing one’s life for more time, freedom, and happiness. Simply it is a philosophy of the “luxury of less.”

In this world of declining expectations, stagnant incomes, strained natural resources, global warming and excess pollution, dramatically unequal income distribution… in this world… your world… our world… understanding a “luxury of less” is paramount to establishing a life of “happy.”

So, what’s the scheme? What’s a LifeEdited?

Think about editing your life’s story. What of the plot is essential? Which locations and settings are necessary? What characters are essential? Now… what could be left out? What parts of your life serve as filler?

Every choice made — the home lived in, the furniture bought, the objects on the coffee table, the relationships kept, the career chosen, the activities engaged, the media consumed… all shape your story.

So, if you want a good story, you want to live a good story with beautiful settings, an interesting plot, great characters and a good message. Good stories need good editors, a difficult effort for many if not most. Good editing gets rid of that which fails to move the story forward — including letting go of things to which we might have strong emotional attachments.

The point is: good editors know that great stories can be ruined when crowded out by unnecessary elements.

LifeEdited project launched last year because the story of humankind needs a good edit. The splendor of the story — the beauty, art, love, etc. — is crowded out by unnecessary crap — the six-car-garage McMansions, the disposable culture, the overstimulation. LifeEdited is showing a different way.

The project initiated with Treehugger.com founder Graham Hill’s 420 square-foot New York City apartment. The point was to demonstrably show through creation… “the luxury of less” — having everything that’s needed while our lives and planet will be happier, healthier, and more beautiful using less stuff and space.

The effort was to find the best way of working these principles into the apartment through design — to launch a competition to design the space. Graham defined what was essential to him, personally: the ability to have dinner parties for 12, plenty of seating to socialize with friends, comfortable beds for self and guests, and a home office.

300 entries arrived from all over the world, with the winning design submitted by two Romanian architecture students: Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu. Their elegant design, entitled “One Size Fits All,” met all of Graham’s requirements and brought purpose and intention to every square foot.

Learning about this project, I recalled a line from an old movie: “Honey, good fashion and taste is about good editing. Stand with your back at the mirror. Twist around real quick. Whatever first hits your eye… take it off.”

This small apartment should serve in such a manner: to be the launch pad for an editing movement.

A better future with large-scale developments that have beautiful, compact units, communal spaces and sharing systems can make lives happier. Such spaces are extremely energy efficient and have healthy, safe air. Such developments support focusing on what’s important… prioritizing.

Such spaces create a world where people spend more time with one another, where possessions and time can be shared, not hoarded, where products are passed onto children, not trash collectors.

200 years of industrialization have brought us to a point where we can produce products, services and information at an overwhelming rate. The story of our civilization in 2012 is really a rough draft. So far, it’s a great story, whose meaning is often hidden by unimportant and unnecessary stuff.

As the project creators say, “2012 is the time to edit. We edit for the sake of the planet, for the sake of our pocketbooks, for the sake of our happiness.”

Your personal edit might be buying a smaller home, participating in a car share, or buying one less pair of jeans. The specifics are not important. Remember that everything added to your life that is not important detracts from everything that is important.

From The Designers…

one size fits all

Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu

DESIGN CONCEPT

Given both the small footprint of the existing apartment and the quite high number of desired functions that should be fitted inside of it, we thought the most logical solution would be to draw a line between the convertible and non-convertible areas. So for the starting point of the concept, we decided that the best configuration of the apartment would have the wet and non-convertible areas (the kitchen and the bathroom) positioned next to the eastern wall facing the building’s private courtyard, using the rest as the convertible area, a comfortably sized open space, receiving natural light from all four windows and meeting all the owner’s needs, by transforming itself.

In order to achieve this multifunctional space, we came up with a mobile modular piece of furniture that can be retracted from the apartment’s entrance wall, providing a degree of privacy that is needed for the 2 guests’s space ,and the work space(home office), and another fixed modular piece of furniture, occupying the whole length of the opposite wall, so that the main area of the apartment could be used entirely, without partitioning, as a clear, bright and generously sized open space.

LOUNGE/DINING/BEDROOM AREA

The main area of the apartment is a convertible room,by using smart space saving furniture systems, combined with the mobility of the modular piece on the entrance wall.

The furniture modules fixed on the south wall of the apartment contains storage space for the 12 dining chairs , clothing  and other personal things ,an Atoll 202 sofa for the lounge area, with a wall queen size bed behind it, that can easily transform the lounge area into a bedroom, and also a built-in wall folding side sofa at the right of the sofa/wall bed that can complete the lounge area when is needed. The coffee table and the other 2 extra stools  for the lounge can also be hidden in the furniture modules behind them. Basically, that features permit this space to be used, one at the time, as a lounge area for 8 people, a dining area for 12 people, or  a simple bedroom for 2 people.

The mobile furniture module can be positioned on the entrance wall,in order to permit a bigger area for living, dining or bedroom activities, or it can be moved horizontally towards the central area, with  a system of double tracks, built on the surface of the floor and the ceiling as well. This mobile module  has two sides: on the one facing the apartment’s living area there is a  folding dinner table for 12 people built-in, with a folding system that consists of two boards with pliable metallic legs on the interior side, dining storage ,an empty rectangular space for the rotating 31” monitor(that can be also used  as a computer screen from the  office area, when the mobile module is moved) and more storage drawers.

Also there is a thinbike slot behind the folding dining table that can be accessed from the entrance area.

GUEST AND OFFICE  AREA

The other side can be accessed when the module is moved horizontally towards the center of the room, and contains  built-in retractable bunk beds for the the 2 guests, and sliding doors that can close the guest area, providing them privacy ,and also a retractable desk for the home office area, that can also be closed with sliding doors, offering visual and auditory privacy.

The living/bedroom area can be closed as well with sliding doors( positioned in the fixed south furniture wall),in order to offer  privacy/separation from  the guests, in the situation of using the bathroom.

KITCHEN AND BATHROOM AREA

Positioned  near the entrance, oriented to the private courtyard ,the kitchen contains a  front positioned on the entrance wall ,having an electrical oven, an induction cook top with a built-in  hood on top,with a storage space  above it, a tall storage space for drinks, an electrical  dishwasher and a fridge on top; also there is a large drawer at the lower side ,for storing shoes,  that is accessible from the entrance area.

The other  kitchen front is on the opposite side, having  a sink near the window with a trash container and  a compost machine under it, storage drawers, and  a tool cabinet that is accessible from the living area.

The kitchen area is also separated from the living area by a small breakfast bar for two people,.Between the kitchen and the bathroom there is a stridia slot, and a few shelves above it, orientated to the main living space.

Also oriented to the private courtyard, is the bathroom, which contains  a space for the washbasin with storage space under it ,a cabin for shower and sauna near the window, and a separated room for the toilet, so that the shower/sauna and the water-closet can be used separately at the same time.The bathroom is entered  by a sliding frosted glass door that allows the natural light to enter the main living area.

Efficiency & Environmentally Responsible Building Design Co-Exist To Great Affect At Kowloon East In Hong Kong

The project, Kowloon East In Hong Kong, is a 28-story mixed-use building with offices, retail spaces, and carpark. A design with efficient office floor plates and a rational box were requested by the client.

With ‘green’ as the theme, the design introduces extensive planting at the carpark floors located at the lower portion of the tower. In addition to the visually greening effect to the neighborhood, the plants also filter and improve the air quality within the carpark.