Filed under: 30th Birthday Party Benefit for SFC, design, food, Garden, go green, recipes | Tags: baking, creative cupcakes, cupcake recipes, garden themed cupcakes, recipes, vegetable themed cupcakes
While I await some much-anticipated photos from Sunday’s successful birthday benefit, I wanted to share with you one of the most awesomest creations to appear at my party: Hollie’s garden-themed cupcakes. When asked how long they took to create, Hollie answered, “You don’t even want to know…”.
The toppings are all edible, created out of things like graham crackers, starburst, even icing-coated cornflakes to create individual leaves on a head of cabbage. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Click on the photo below for more info on these amazing works of art – and be sure to check out Hollie’s other creative endeavor, rubigirl photography, while you check out her website!
Check back soon for a full recap of Sunday’s event!
Filed under: arts, Austin, design, go green, lifestyle | Tags: austin tx condos, Cobra Studios, East Austin housing, east side studio tour, linkedin, mallet de varga architecture, new housing projects in austin
Two weeks ago I began a series of posts about the South 5th, SOL Austin & Cobra Studios projects, which represent a wide cross section of innovative housing options in the Austin area. I had the opportunity to visit each project this month. Below are some of my notes & observations on the Cobra Studios project – please chime in if you have other thoughts you’d like to share!
Cobra Studios
The overview: Designed by Mallet de Varga Architecture (who also designed the Perdenales Lofts project on E. 6th Street). The project site is located 3 miles east of downtown and just a stone’s throw from SOL Austin, which was profiled in Part II of this series. Four buildings host 24 individual one-story live/work units which wrap around an interior courtyard space. Units come in 3 sizes, aptly named Small (840 s.f.), Medium (1,000 s.f.). and Large (1,160 s.f.). Prices start at $129,900 and go up to $179,600.
Green Stats: A committment to green shows in this project from the moment you step onto the site. Pervious concrete sidewalks criss cross the site and wrap through the interior courtyard space. Large rainwater collection cisterns flank the buildings & provide irrigation water for the landscape. Interior details like sun tunnels for daylighting, dual flush toilets, and Energy Star appliances are all featured.
Goober on the Street (Moi) Review: Being less than a mile from the East Austin Studio Tour headquarters makes this an attractive housing + studio option for artists of all mediums. For one, it is affordable. But more importantly, the open floorplan and garage door windows on both ends of the units makes the space open & convenient for the making and showing of art of all shapes and sizes. I could even envision the living areas of these spaces functioning as a make-shift gallery space for the artists who live there. I’m eager to see if any of the units turn up on this year’s E.A.S.T. map.
The design is simple, yet functional and beautiful with it’s industrial flair. If I were a potential buyer, my main worry would be how to address the living space to maintain some privacy – is there a good way to window dress a garage door?
Summary: A unique and affordable solution for those looking for creative live/work environments.
More photos of this project can be found here.
Filed under: arts, Austin, design, go green, lifestyle | Tags: Beck-Reit & Sons, chris krager, Dwell magazine, East Austin housing development, geothermal HVAC, green homes in Austin, green housing, KRDB, linkedin, modern architecture, net-zero energy community, sol austin
Earlier this week I posted about the South 5th, SOL Austin & Cobra Studios projects, which represent a wide cross section of innovative housing options in the Austin area. I had the opportunity to visit each project last week. Below are some of my notes & observations on the SOL Austin project – please chime in if you have other thoughts you’d like to share!
SOL Austin
The overview: Designed by KRDB in Austin and built by Beck-Reit & Sons. 38 single-family lot development on 5.5 acre site currently under construction. Located within an existing neighborhood 3 miles East of downtown on site of former tree nursery. Units range from 1,200 – 1,800 s.f. Prices on available units range from $217,000 – $349,500. 12 Units are currently sold. Additional pricing information can be found through the Good Life Team website.
Green Stats: First net-zero energy neighborhood in the U.S., all homes feature the following: Geothermal HVAC, solar arrays ranging between 3-6kw per home, high efficiency glass & SIP construction. reuse of 150 live oak saplings from original tree farm & all homes are rainwater collection ready. The sub-grade bio-filtration system is the first of it’s kind in Austin & allows park space to inhabit the space where an unsightly detention pond would have been.
Goober on the Street (Moi) Review: I’m not even going to try to pretend that I have an unbiased opinion of this project. I’ve been tracking it’s development since I first attended the East Austin Studio Tour in the fall of 2007 and viewed the Sol-art exhibition (which was hosted in shipping containers scattered about the site). My own home is only a few streets away and I’ve kept an eye on progress since they broke ground on the streets & utility work a year ago. Also weighing heavily on my bias is the fact that I’d been fascinated with architect Chris Krager & his work with KRDB since seeing his East Austin debut project on the cover of Dwell Magazine in 2002.
All that said, I like the SOL Austin project. I like it, but I’m not sure if I LOVE it yet. I’m anxious to see how the community comes to life a year or two after it’s been filled with homeowners. The individual floorplans are practical & innovative. In most cases the tightly situated homes are sited so that windows do not look into neighboring homes, but some homes with private courtyards may not feel as private given the close proximity to neighboring homes. The exteriors are brightly colored, which in general I like, but at times the facades resemble collages of construction remnants (see photo at left), with their different textures & surfaces.
I’m eager to know how well these homes perform in the long run. As a net-zero community I have high hopes for their impressive efficiency stats. If successful, the SOL Austin project could set the bar for other communities on the East side.
Summary: An innovative, affordable community on the East side whose success may be measured in kw’s, not $$’s.
Additional photos can be found on my flickr page.
Filed under: arts, Austin, design, go green, lifestyle | Tags: Cobra Studios, condos in Austin, East Austin housing, green homes in Austin, KRDB, linkedin, sol austin, The South 5th
The South 5th, SOL Austin & Cobra Studios projects represent a wide cross section of innovative housing options in the Austin area. I had the opportunity to visit each project last week. Below are some of my notes & observations – please chime in if you have other thoughts you’d like to share!
The South 5th
The overview: Designed by Sprout Design in Austin and built by Acero Construction. 18 townhome style condo units in current phase, Phase II construction includes 14 additional units. Located in the 78704 zip code & has a private community pool/cabana. All units have attached garages and average 2,000 s.f. of living space plus an additional 1.000 s.f. of private exterior space. Prices start at $450,000.
Green Stats: HERS index of 55 (30% more efficient than an Energy Star Home). Projected 5-star Green rating & LEED Gold Certification. Each home is outfitted with it’s own 3kw solar array (all data collected from The South 5th website).
Goober on the Street (Moi) review: The South 5th is definately cool. Fancy-cool. The polished concrete floors & modern styling is enough to make you feel like you’re in the home of a museum cureator. The roof patio is to die for - maybe even literally, because it’s going to get pretty hot up there during a mid-July afternoon in Texas.
My biggest criticism of The South 5th is that the first-floor garage necessitates a 2nd floor kitchen & main living space. Without even having to live there I am annoyed by the number of trips involving stairs that would be required to carry shopping bags to the kitchen or master bedroom. At $225/s.f., I can only imagine that the person buying this house does a fair amount of shopping when they aren’t lunching with the ladies or visiting art galleries. I would be interested in a dumb waiter option, but perhaps the hired help can take care of the heavy loads?
One last nit-picking item: is the graffiti on the pool cabana wall a nod at the urban “styling” of the project? One can only hope that white primer is thick enough to cover it up properly. As an architect friend of mine put it, “that was the saddest little misguided attempt…”.
Summary: Clean lines, great detailing, excellent 78704 location. Great for someone who loves to climb stairs & has a boatload of cash on hand to purchase.
Additional pictures of the project can be found on my Flickr page.
Filed under: arts, design, go green | Tags: crafts, DIY cork projects, recycling wine corks, upcycle wine corks, wine cork crafts
Over the last few years, I’ve accumulated a copious reserve of wine corks. What began as a proud testament to my transition from the juvenile drinking world of Old Mud & Miller Lite had turned to thoughtless pack-rat mentality. It seemed I could not bring myself to throw a cork away, regardless of the quality of wine it protected or the memories (or lack thereof) associated with each bottle. The pile continued to grow with contributions from my roommate and her boyfriend even after my switch to box wine last fall.
A few weeks ago it came to my attention that my accidental wine cork collection had overtaken my house. Corks overflowed their designated glass vase in the kitchen, corks sat atop shadow boxes in my bedroom, on window ledges… they were under my bed & behind my dresser (thanks to my cat’s decision that wine corks made better toys than anything I’d ever bought him from PetSmart). I finally decided it was time to do something about the mess.
I went to the trusty internets to find ideas on how I could put my collection to good use. This wine cork trivet caught my eye… but everyone has one of those and I wanted something unique. So then I stumbled upon this unique & crafty trivet design, super cute but way labor intensive. And it doesn’t use very many corks since each is sliced into discs – I would be up to my ears in trivets if I went with this design. Up to my ears and minus a few fingers, if I hazarded a guess. Even beyond the danger of lost fingers & trivets out the wazoo, I feared that if I committed to this trivet design I would be spending the remainder of 2009 indoors, sewing cork projects. It was simply too time intensive for the amount of corks I needed to be rid of.
In the end I came up with my own solution. It started with an idea of shelves – very thin shelves that could be used for leaning photographs and tchotchkes. I collected some balsa wood from a craft store, warmed my hot glue gun, and began to slice my corks in half (under the supervision of Mallary’s watchful and wary eye). Once the frames were built, I painted them a purple wine color to offset the cork veneer I was about to apply. The result was something akin to wall-installation art. I still have a huge jar full of corks to repurpose – but I envision my walls slowly being covered with a web of cork sticks. Here’s a few images of the beginnings – what do y’all think? Have any better ideas on how I could use my limitless supply of corks?
