earth hour 09

Yes it's that time again, Earth Hour is on this Saturday the 28th March. Since Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 the message has swept the globe. 50 million people switched off last year, the goal for 2009 is 1 billion! 

By visiting the website you can show your support by signing up, whether you are an individual, school, organisation or business. 

VOTE EARTH, not global warming - come on people, switch off those lights!

in praise of process

bricks + cartwheels has been invited to participate in this exciting exhibition. The opening is this Friday 27th March at 6-8pm at the Tin Sheds Gallery, Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning at the University of Sydney. There is an amazing list of Architects showcasing their work/process and b+c is honoured to be a part of it! 

It is to be opened by Bob Carr, so make sure you pop in, if not on Friday then you will get a chance as it is showing until April 18th!

The Art of Architecture

There is a fantastic collection of Le Corbusier works currently showing at the Barbican. It is an amazing collection of original models, interior reconstructions, drawings, furniture, paintings and sculptures. His ideas of social housing and utopian urban plans still resonate today. Working your way through the exhibition, you can see why he is dubbed the most influential architect of the 20th century!   

meet green thing

Do the Green Thing is a public service that inspires people to lead a greener life. The website is an interactive one where you can watch brilliant short clips, add to the blog or add a story of your own. The mission is to get as many people in as many countries doing the green thing and then use that power to persuade government and business to do the green thing too. 

So make sure you take the time to watch Green Thing do his thing, very funny and imaginative. Oh and Plug Out Boy is also very cool!

nigel

I have to share with you all the blog of artist/photographer Nigel Peake. It is so refreshing to see fun, architectural images so equisitely hand drawn and the photos are great too!  

His website Second Street is a joy too... so many quirky drawings and the water colour site is just so cool. Make sure you check it out. 

Thanks Nigel. 

important news from b+c

The bricks + cartwheels directors are fresh off the plane and we have some important news for our supporters. Following our recent time spent in Kenya, bricks + cartwheels is reluctantly withdrawing from the previously proposed Secondary School for Girls project in Katolo, Kenya.

Whilst in Kenya bricks + cartwheels were faced with a series of challenges and difficulties, some of which we were able to resolve and some of which were largely out of our control. We are particularly regretful of this decision because of the great friendships we made with so many people in Kenya and the ongoing need for education of children in the community. During our time in Kenya we made every endeavor to rescue the project and this decision was not made lightly.

There were many issues that presented challenges... please read here for the complete letter. 

We appreciate your support and will make sure to keep you in touch with our future plans. Thank you! 

suno new york

One of the girls recently stumbled across this great website, Suno. Suno was formed in 2008 by Max Osterweis after more than a decade of collecting textiles in visits to Kenya. The design and development is New York based but the production is done in small workshops in Kenya. 

After falling in love with the fabrics on our trip we would all love to get our hands on some of these pieces. If only we knew about them while we were there... they are just beautiful.