Monday, February 15, 2010

project h

I've been meaning to post something about the fabulous work of Project H here for way too long. And unfortunately this isn't related to what I originally intended to tell you about! I'll save that for another post as telling you about the refresh project is more pressing!

Project H are an amazing non profit of designers and builders based in the US. I initially found out about their work when perusing the Architecture for Humanity projects and their innovative and fun playground at the Kutamba Aids Orphans School in Uganda. More on that later.





Emily Pilloton heads Project H and is about to take a year out to run a design/build curriculum in Bertie County School District in North Carolina - one of the US's most underprivileged areas. The course will combine design thinking, vocational trade training, and community citizenship to equip low-opportunity teenagers with critical creative problem solving skills for life. Students will collaborate to design, develop, and prototype a built community project. The following summer, they will be offered paid summer jobs to actually construct the project. How cool is that? Just amazing- I want to be a student in Bertie County!

So, Emily has entered the project in the Pepsi Refresh Project for the chance to be awarded $50,000 to kick start the first semester. You can help by voting every day until the end of February. They're currently in 15th place so every vote counts to get the project back in the top 10 where they'll grab the $50K!

You need to register to vote and then all you need is to click each day until the end of Feb - get voting everyone, this would be an amazing project to see come to fruition.

More on Project H and the Kutamba Aids Orphans School and Emily's new book very soon!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

palette places

In the words of Miss Lush the world has gone palette-o-rama mad! I don't know about you but I seem to be seeing them all over! We love palettes so here are some of our top palette picks:

Amber's number 1, The Palettenhaus in Linz...

The Kinglake temporary village, constructed by Monash University students in consultation with Emergency Architects...


My personal fav, Mano Ponnambalam and Jenny Heim's ILLUMS BOX, a 2009 Sculpture by the Sea entry...


and lastly Section8 in Melbourne where thirsty vistors can lounge around and grab a drink from the shipping container bar (a container-o-rama blog will be featured next!)


The Social Studio


On a recent visit to Melbourne I stumbled across this great community concept. On first glance you expect this Smith Street studio to be just like any uber trendy cafe/clothing store that Melbourne so often delivers. However The Social Studio provides a unique opportunity for young refugees to not only use their style and skills to produce a clothing range but offers them emplyment, advice, encouragement, counselling and training.

At a time when it is becoming more and more important to reuse and recycle The Social Studio collects excess manufacturing material and reconfigures it into funky fashion! Take a look at their website, such a fantastic social enterprise!