from back home...

Lately I've been feeling a bit nostalgic for my home country Guatemala... I try to always include a bit of design influences from there in my work... Wanted to share some prized images I've stored as style inspiration from my country of birth... I want to go back and visit soon!

A cold one today?

My birthday is coming up soon, and I'm one of those people who really hate it.  But I do have a love-hate relationship with aging, so today I want to look at the bright side of getting older.

Architects are considered mature very well into their career. Most of the well respected and awarded architects are past their 50s and showing off white hair... It is difficult to explain why, but with every year that I've worked in the industry, I have gotten to understand it and respect it just a bit more. I've learned to be patient and have high hopes of reaching my architectural maturity some day, even it it happens when I'm a grandmother!

What I have now is 10 years experience in the architecture and design field, and can already tell you that I have developed a very selective affinity to airy spaces that are modern in their lines and execution, but still feel inviting, sophisticated and warm to the spirit through the use of materials and connectivity to its site. I've realized that most of the environments that achieve this balance seem very effortless, but that's just the genius of a well-thought design.

I did have my phase of liking stale and clinical modern spaces, most probably made up of white walls, exposed concrete, aluminum, clear glass and minimal details.  But to my surprise, today I found myself enjoying pictures of this gallery house in San Francisco that is very modern but "cold". It's been a while since a design like this one tickled my fancy.  What makes it work here is the way the house very well exhibits the colorful art collection without competing with it. Its sense of urban-place is also great, and this picture from the living room with its sliders wide open onto a green treeline just blows me away. 

{contemporist}

Eamespiration

I am one of those design enthusiast who cannot get enough of Ray & Charles Eames. The couple Eames chairs in our apartment are of my most beloved possessions, and remind me of their ahead-of-their-time genius every day.

Here is an interesting collection of pictures of the couple recently moved-in to their famous home when it was recently completed in 1950.

The pictures were taken by Peter Stackpole for Time Magazine. If you'd like to check out the original Time Mag article from Sept. 1950, you can find it here.