#affordable wedding photographer in San Francisco California

[rachellevinephoto]

Wedding photographer in San Francisco California by Rachel Levine Photography

Can you provide examples of your previous work? It is important to see a photographer's portfolio to gauge their style and techniques, as well as the quality of their previous work. Ask the photographer to show you a range of examples from previous weddings to get a feel for their artistic style, the types of shots they take, and their overall approach to capturing the special day.

How do you handle lighting and shooting in different weather conditions? Wedding days can be unpredictable, and photographers need to be prepared for all kinds of weather and lighting conditions. Ask the photographer about their experience with shooting in different weather conditions, how they handle lighting challenges, and if they have backup plans in case of inclement weather.

What is your editing process like? Once the wedding day is over, the photographer will go through a post-production process to edit the photos. Ask the photographer about their editing process and if they use any specific software or tools to enhance their images. You should also ask about the turnaround time for receiving the edited photos and if you will have the opportunity to review and make changes.

Can you accommodate our specific photo requests? Before the wedding day, you may have specific photo requests in mind, such as shots of the bride and groom getting ready, family photos, or specific posed shots. Ask the photographer if they can accommodate these requests and if they have any limitations or restrictions.

What is included in your wedding photography package? Photographers often offer a range of packages with varying levels of services and costs. Ask the photographer to provide details on the services included in each package and any additional fees or charges. You should also ask about the number of hours the photographer will be shooting, the number of edited photos you can expect to receive, and the delivery method for the final photos.

How do you handle touch-ups and retouching? Ask the photographer about their policy on touch-ups and retouching. Find out if they offer any post-production services, such as skin smoothing, teeth whitening, or other cosmetic adjustments, and if there are any additional fees associated with these services.

How do you handle unexpected events during the wedding day? Wedding days can be unpredictable, and it is important to know how a photographer will handle unexpected events or challenges. Ask the photographer about their experience with handling unexpected events and if they have backup plans in case of emergencies.

Can you provide references or reviews from previous clients? Ask the photographer if they have any references or reviews from previous clients. This can provide valuable insight into the photographer's work, professionalism, and overall approach to wedding photography.

Do you have insurance? Ask the photographer if they have liability insurance to protect both them and you in case of any accidents or damages during the wedding day. This can provide peace of mind and help ensure that any unexpected events are covered.

How do you handle print and digital rights to the photos? Ask the photographer about their policy on print and digital rights to the photos. Find out if you will have the rights to print and distribute the photos as you wish, and if there are any restrictions or limitations. You should also ask about the resolution of the digital photos and if they will be delivered in a format that allows for easy printing and sharing.

In conclusion, these are some of the key questions you should ask a wedding photographer before booking them for your special day. It is important to choose a photographer who you feel comfortable with, whose style and approach align with your vision for your

[sfcityhallphotographer]

Wedding photographer in San Francisco California

The Ultimate Guide to Planning a San Francisco City Hall Wedding

San Francisco City Hall is a popular wedding destination for couples looking for a beautiful and historic location to tie the knot. The building, which was completed in 1915, features stunning architectural details and grand marble staircases that make for a stunning backdrop for wedding photos. Additionally, the City Hall offers a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces for ceremonies and receptions, making it a versatile option for a variety of wedding styles.

The first step in planning a City Hall wedding is to secure a date and time for your ceremony. The City Hall is open for weddings Monday through Friday, and ceremonies are typically held between 9 am and 3 pm. It is important to note that City Hall is closed on weekends and holidays, so be sure to plan accordingly.

Once you have secured your date and time, the next step is to apply for a marriage license. The marriage license application process can be completed online and requires both partners to provide identification and proof of residency. It is important to note that there is a waiting period of at least three days after the license is issued before the ceremony can take place, so be sure to plan accordingly.

When planning the details of your ceremony, consider the location of your ceremony within City Hall. There are several options to choose from, including the grand marble rotunda, the Mayor's Balcony, and the North Light Court. Each location offers a unique setting, so be sure to visit City Hall in person to decide which location will be the best fit for your wedding.

Another important consideration is photography. City Hall is a popular spot for wedding photography, and the building's grand architecture and historical details make it a beautiful backdrop for photos. However, it is important to note that photography is not allowed inside the building, so be sure to plan for outdoor photos before or after the ceremony.

When it comes to attire, City Hall is a fairly formal location, so it is recommended that the bride and groom wear traditional wedding attire. The groom should wear a suit and tie, and the bride should wear a white wedding gown. Additionally, it's important for the couple and all of the guests to be dressed in formal attire as well.

Finally, when planning your San Francisco City Hall Wedding, it is important to consider the logistics of the day. The City Hall is located in the heart of downtown San Francisco, and parking can be difficult to find. It is recommended that you plan ahead and either take public transportation or arrange for a car service to get you to and from the venue.

Overall, San Francisco City Hall is a beautiful and historic location for a wedding, and with proper planning, your ceremony can be a memorable and stress-free experience. With its stunning architecture and variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, it is the perfect setting for a sophisticated and elegant wedding.

[tanarakphotography01]

Why Should You Hire the Best Wedding Photographer?

Planning a wedding ceremony calls for ample time and effort. When two lovebirds are all set to unite for an eternity, they want everything to perfection. Are you ready to get hitched? Then, you should take care of all the crucial arrangements in the begging.

For instance, booking the best destination wedding photographer in San Francisco and California is a time-consuming task. If you do not shortlist your options well in advance then you may have to settle for less. 

You cannot afford to get your precious wedding pictures in substandard quality. Therefore, you should not take any risk while hiring a wedding photographer for your D-day. 

Handing over the task of capturing photographs to a seasoned expert enables you and your near and dear ones to enjoy the event to the fullest. Moreover, there is always a high risk associated with handing over the photography responsibility to amateurs.

You might have planned your wedding photographs to be captured in a specific style. However, only an experienced wedding photographer can cater to your preferences, requirements, and expectations. 

A best-in-class destination wedding photographer in San Francisco, California and across the Bay Area can freeze all the crucial moments in a wedding ceremony and goes the extra mile to transform the event into a fairytale. 

If you want to hire the best wedding photographer, Tanarak Photography is your one-stop destination. Tanarak from Tanarak Photography holds exceptional photography skills and years of experience to convert your D-day into unforgettable memories.

[emotionsofthesoul]

FOREVER

Summary:

Valentina is a first year college photography student,

Juliana is working on her fashion portfolio to get into a fashion school,

Leon isn’t dead,

Chino isn’t a sicario,

Johny no existe.

Los Carvajal still have their media empire.

Los Valdes are a hardworking middle class family.

What happens when destiny brings them all together?

-

CHAPTER 1 _ Primer Encuentro

It’s midterm season for the fall semester. Valentina is busy editing away at her computer in her favorite café. On this particular Monday the café is completely full. Valentina got there early since she has Mondays off. She wasn’t too worried about not finding a table because her table is always free, almost as if everyone who goes to that café knows THAT is HER table and off limits. The table is all the way to the back near the old mine entrance with no windows - the perfect table to edit with no light interference. This is actually why Val fell in love with the small coffee shop, it’s perfect.

Juliana. Life hasn’t been so easy on her or her parents. She was born in San Antonio, Texas but right before her senior year of high school after losing almost everything they made the decision to move to California. Sacramento to be exact. They wanted to start over and her parents believed the Golden State was the best place for that. Safe to say, she hates it here. The only thing keeping her afloat is the fact that when she finishes her portfolio she can finally begin applying for schools out of the city. Juliana has been struggling to find her place in this city that she hates, in the only neighborhood her parents could afford. If there is one thing she is thankful for it’s her 1964 Mustang her parents gifted her on her 15th birthday, she’s able to get away when she needs to. This Monday Juliana just so happened to stumble upon a small café after driving down US-50 until reaching Placerville. She had been driving without a destinations in mind but the small town caught her eye and she took a right on the first light and a left when she came to the stop sign. She was driving down Main St when she saw Cozmic Café. The mermaid on the building caught her eye so she decided to park across the street and make her way inside, find a place to sit and sketch.

Once she had made it inside she noticed just how full the small place actually was. She ordered a mango smoothie. When the smoothie was ready she went to find a seat but every table was taken with little to no room. She went a little further in and found a girl completely lost in whatever she was working on. There were 3 open chairs at this table so she took the chance of asking if she could sit so she too could work.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt you, I was wondering if I could grab a seat here. I promise not to bother you, this is the only table with any seats available.” Said Juliana.

“Uh, yeah go for it.” Valentina said in her usual friendly manner.

They sat there in silence for about ten minutes, each working on their own stuff. Valentina was editing her midterm portfolio for her Digital Imaging class but she had one more image she had to create and all her brainstorming was not helping her get any closer to what she wanted to do for it.  She has been assigned to create a Dérive and after weeks of planning she still had no clue. After pondering for a bit she decided to seek help from the pretty girl sitting across from her.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, I need your help. I’m Valentina by the way.”

Juliana looked up at Valentina and shyly said, “Juliana. No problem, what’s up?”

“It’s just I have an assignment I’ve been trying to do and it’s been weeks and I still don’t know how to approach it. It’s called a dérive, meaning I have to take a few photographs and combine them in an interesting way to create a completely new image. So our assignment is to go on a walk on a different route than we usually would and rediscover or discover interesting vantage points. It’s due in 2 weeks.” Valentina explained in the simplest way she could.

“Okay, so how do I fit into this?” Juliana said raising her eyebrow.

“Okay so I know this entire town backwards and forwards but that’s through my eyes and I would love to have your take on this. How long have you been living here for?”

“Oh, no I don’t live here. I live in Sacramento.”

“Oh really? I love going to midtown, and Old Sacramento. Though now that I think about it, there is still a lot I’ve yet to see there.” Val said as an idea popped into her head, “how about… I pull up a quick map of downtown and you give me your route from Crepeville on L to Old Sacramento?”

“Uh… okay. I’m fairly new, we just moved to Sacramento from San Antonio so I don’t really know the downtown area or anything in the city really. I live in the south side of town and do not go out much.” Juliana said.

“Wait so what are you doing all the way over here? It’s almost an hour drive.”

“I got into an argument with my parents because they aren’t happy that I want to study fashion so I had to get away for a bit. I hopped on 50 and just drove east trying to get my mind off things. Then I found this small town and decided to drive around a bit but when I saw the mermaid outside and the sign to the café I decided to come in and here we are.” Juliana explained.

“You’re a fashion designer?” Valentina said excitedly, “I’m a photographer and I love fashion photography. It’s like we were destined to meet! Show me what you have so far. I’m very intrigued.”

“Uh, okay sure. This is a sketch I actually started right when I sat down.”

“Neta wey, this is so cool. What was your inspirations for this? It looks very sophisticated.” Valentina said.

“Uh… um… you. When I approached you I noticed how beautiful your outfit is and how elegant you looked so I went from there.” Juliana said hoping Valentina wouldn’t feel creeped out.

“Que chido. That’s so sweet of you. What else do you have?” Valentina said while blushing.

They spent the next hour sharing their work with each other. They were no longer sitting across from one another but instead side by side. Juliana went off about the different designers she loved and what her inspirations were. All the while Valentina just stared in admirations of this girl who she just met and who is just so beautiful and perfect.

“Val, have you been listening to me? Why are you staring at me like that?” Juliana giggled.

“I’m listening.” Valentina said with a coy smile, “Actually would you like to go for a walk with me? I can show you around Main St and take you to one of my favorite designer’s shop. She started here and now has shops all around the worlds. I think you’ll love it.”

“Okay, yeah sounds good.” Juliana responded with a special gleam in her eyes.

For the next hour Valentina showed her around and introduced her to different shop owners. Valentina took her time explaining Placerville’s history and showing her everything she loved. When they got to the fork she told Juliana to look to her left. When Juliana turned she saw beautiful wedding gowns. Valentina took her by the hand and walked her in.

“Renata! Donde estas corazón? Ven, I wanna introduce you to someone.” Valentina said loud enough for Renata to hear her in the back of the shop.

“Hey babe, what’s up? Who’s this?” Renata said while hugging Valentina.

“This is Juliana she’s new to Cali, lives in Sac. She’s an incredible designer in the making. I told her I would bring her so she could see your shop and meet you.” Valentina told Renata and then turned to Juliana, “Juls this is Renata my brother’s wife and my amazing sister-in-law. She’s had this shop for the last 9 years and she’s incredible at what she does. She designed her own wedding dress and my stepmom’s.”

Juliana couldn’t understand why but she felt a sense of relief when Valentina said Renata was her sister-in-law.

“Hi, I’m Juliana. Your dresses are incredible.” Juliana said to Renata.

“Gracias. What kind of work are you interested in?” Renata replied.

“I love fashion, I’m trying a little bit of everything. I actually designed and made what I’m wearing right now.” Juliana said with a smile.

“Really? I was gonna ask you where you got that top!” Valentina cut in very excited.

“Nice, where do you study design?” Renata asked Juliana completely ignoring Valentina.

“Oh, I’m in my senior year of high school. I’m actually working on my portfolio for when application season comes around. I’m homeschooled though so I have more than enough time on my hands to sketch and create nonstop.” Juliana responded feeling more at ease with both women.

Valentina interrupted, “Juls! Renata is actually opening a fashion school, my family is providing 5 scholarships for 5 different students. You should totally consider it. The school opens next fall. She’s hired the best of the best to teach there.” Valentina turns to Renata, “Naty tell her a little about your idea and your goals for the school.”

Juliana was very interested but the only thing keeping her from getting too excited was the location, it was in Sacramento. The only thing she has wanted since they arrived was to get out of that city but this could be a good idea. They talked for a few hours and Renata told her about her plans with 5 other designers to make Sacramento a new fashion district. After seeing her sketches Renata told Juliana she could definitely get in if she applied. Juliana said she would think about it and she was actually interested. Tuition wasn’t as high as the other schools she had been looking into in San Francisco and New York so that was definitely a plus.

After leaving Renata’s shop Valentina invited Juliana to get dinner.

“Oye Val, we completely went off topic. You had asked me for help for your picture. What was your idea again?” Juliana said bringing the conversation back to the photography topic.

“Oh yeah, how about this Saturday I come down there and we explore downtown a bit and walk towards Old Sacramento? You’ve never been so it would be perfect, you lead the way and I get my pictures from your perspective and your direction.” Valentina said, she definitely wanted to see Juliana again. She knows they just met but she already considers her a great friend.

“I’m down. What time? It’s been really hot so definitely bring something to shade you from the sun.” Juliana said.

“Hmm… how does 10am sound? We can get breakfast and go from there. I can pick you up if you’d like?” Valentina responded.

“Sounds good. Just call me when you’re outside the gate so I can come out.” Juliana said as she wrote down her address and the gate number to the trailer park she lived in.

They had a lovely dinner and talked like old friends. They made each other laugh and simply had a great time. Around 6pm Juliana pulled her phone out and saw the time. She had spent the entire day in this little town with a beautiful girl. This was one of the best days she has had since arriving to California and is actually looking forward to sightseeing with Valentina on Saturday.

“Val, I think I should get going. It’s been an incredible day thank you so much. I am so happy I met you. You’ve definitely made my week and it just started. It’s a bit of a drive back so I should get going now that traffic shouldn’t be too heavy.” Juliana told Valentina.

“No, Juls, quédate. A little longer. I don’t want to leave yet, I have to wait 5 days to see you again. I love spending time with you.” Valentina said with a pouty face.

“Val… my parents are expecting me home soon. I live an hour away.” Juliana said but Valentina kept pouting, “okay, how about this. How about I meet you for lunch tomorrow at the university?”

Valentina’s face lit up, “Si si si! Okay pero mejor vamos a Bento Box near campus because food on campus is okay but BB has amazing sushi.”

“I’ve never tried sushi… but okay donde tu quieras.”

“Wey, es neta? You’ve never tried sushi?! Okay entonces si. They have other stuff too though if you don’t like it.” Valentina said.

“Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow?” Juliana said with a big smile on her face as they approached her car.

“Yeah. Definitely.” Valentina said she closed Juliana’s car door.

Valentina walked to her car while her driver waited with the door open. She couldn’t contain her smile the entire ride home. Juliana couldn’t do anything but smile the whole drive back to Sacramento. She was finally feeling like she could find her place in the Golden State.

Little did they know this was the beginning of forever.

---

Disclaimer: Not a writer, this is my first fic, go easy on me. Not sure how many chapters it’ll be but as of now I have 10 fleshed out. We’ll see how this goes.

[dunjosephurieimagines-blog]

Photo Restoration Service-CLIPPING USA

Clipping USA, California perfectly meets the requirements of the photo restoration service with its expert professional. It’s for those who want to save time or a novice and wants images to be professionally edited. All your needs from portrait to wedding and from newborn to landscape along with real estate and definitely e-commerce photography those we do with our professional team members in the skilled hands. We’re one of the best companies who offer high-quality restoration as well as photo enhancement services at very affordable cost. In this case, we’re using sophisticated technology, including pen tablets to provide non-destructive photo restoration.

We have the team and technology to restore them with high-quality restoration service whether it’s old photos or vintage photos or damaged photos or blurred photos or photo with abnormal exposures along with lost pixels or any other deformity. This content is all about our service of professional photo restoration along with vintage photo restoration. Here, we’ll learn about what photo restoration is and how we do plus what we offer for you through the service.

Photo Restoration Service by Clipping USA, California

Photo restoration service is also known as digital photograph restoration, which is the practice of restoring the appearance of a digital copy of a physical photograph. It’s the refurbishing process of the images that have been damaged by natural or man-made, or environmental causes. Or, they also may simply be affected by neglect or age. In this purpose, there is a variety of image editing techniques involve removing visible damage and aging effects from digital copies of the image. While repairing the appearance of the digital images and add to the digital copy of the photo where pieces of the physical photograph are torn or missing, raster graphics editors are typically used.

By painting over them carefully, evidence of dirt and scratches along with other signs of photographic age are removed from the digital image manually. When unnecessary color casts are removed, the contrast of image or sharpening may be changed in an attempt to bring back some of the contrast range or detail. This way it’s supposed to bring back the original state of an image. On the other hand, for the purpose of digital photograph restoration, the image processing techniques, for example, image enhancement and image restoration are also appropriate.

What are the Importance/ Benefits of Photo Restoration Service?

As the most of the photo papers and inks finished until recently have not been archival value, many image prints show signs of color shifts and fading after a very few years. And while keeping photos in basements or attics or allowing images to be uncovered to sunlight in the pitiable storage practices, it has contributed to the meager state of most image collections. Until they take observe their photo compilation after several years of storage, people don’t understand there is a difficulty. In order to stop the unavoidable destruction that will take place no matter how carefully the photos are stored, it’s a good idea to restore your entire photo collection.

Besides, the photos can be copied to CD or DVD for long time storage and secure keeping when they are stored. Because digital images do not change at all if you have digital copies you need not worry about further damage. Also, it will allow you to make a set of prints, and additional prints at any time in the future should a disaster strike while having digital copies. Apart from these, there are sentimental reasons for wanting to restore some special family photos. It could be a great exclusive personal gift for family members if you have restored photos.

Photo Restoration Service San Diego, California

For the restoration of old photographs that are known as photo restoration service has been around for a long time. Photo retouch, photo enhance etc are used to restore old photographs. As photo restoration starts with a scan, we never modify the original photograph. Instead, we only work with the scanned copy. Clipping USA, California offers the following photo restoration service for different types of images:

Repairing watered damage and also the damaged those are occurred by mold or spots. Moreover, we remove stains and color cast as well as aged yellow paper.

Restoring calibrates color levels and faded photographs by correcting contrast, faded black/white tones

Removing all scratches of the images that are available by keeping their original looks

Restoring images with extreme damage and even for the missing pieces

Fixing torn photo with many rips or tears

Restoring various hard copies, including certificates and documents along with marriage certificate etc

Fixing red eye of your wedding pictures

Restoring images stuck to the glass

Removing writing from images

By retouching photos enhance or manipulating images, our restoration service mends all flaws

Description of Photo Restoration Service by Clipping USA, San Francisco

All of us have old photographs and we think them as a treasure. These may be either your family photographs or historic photographs. But, when some bad things happen to your photographs, such as stains, fading, and rips, then you need to make them removed. Also, the images are stored properly; they can succumb to the ravages of time. That’s the photo restoration service. While leaving your originals untouched, we’re experts at digitally restoring your most treasured photographs. This is because we know the value of the old photographs as they are truly one of a kind. Now, let’s know what and how Clipping USA does as the photo restoration.

Photo Colorization Service in Orange County, California

Clipping USA provides photo colorization service along with image tinting. Since it helps to have a nice, high-resolution scan to work from, it will provide around 600dpi or so. Also, if your scanner glass is gleaming then you have blown all the dust off with its assistance. Simply send us a scan of the image and allow us to give you a free, no-obligation estimate if you’re not sure and if it’s worth going to the trouble of one of our caring, professional restorations.

Photo Preservation Services in Northern California Counties

If you have the video and DVD projects then Clipping USA is specialized in photo preservation services, including photo repairing and restoration. In this case, you may need to remove someone from a group shot or some other similar task. Or, the image also may stick to the glass and discolored and even it could be faded or torn or stained. From image enhancement to design and the addition of text and graphic elements, we can help with that and we also handle poster projects. Also, making photo enlargement suitable for large-scale reproduction is one of our duties without making any change to the original image. Now, we’re available in Orange County, California with the services of photo restoration as well as photo repair service along with digital image graphic design.

Black & White Contrast Expanding Services in San Joaquin County, California

A great image comes with an indefinable quality. As it looks like “pop”, it has an authentic eyeball-grabbing impact. It’s the full tonal range that’s responsible for many cases. On the other hand, despite having the normal range, it also has true black and true whites in between. The blacks are dark gray and the whites are muddy is the most common reason for a washed out photograph requiring retouching or restoration. That’s why it’s essential to adjust the contrast of an image. As it really boosts the contrast and sees how it prints, don’t be scared to “go long” with this one. Clipping USA offers the services all over in the USA along with San Joaquin County, California.

Vintage Photo Restoration Services in San Diego County, California

A vintage photo print is the first print and it’s that the photographer makes instantly after developing a negative in photography. As it’s the first print of the photo, it may bean old look or even ruin. Clipping USA comes with the service in San Diego County, California to keep your memory colorful and unique. This is because it’s not a secret the old photography is very sensitive. But, it may get relentless in the tern of the time and improper storage. As the constant humid environment, for example, is able to bring the problem of mold damages. The image also is affected by flood destruction. In fact, image spoiling reasons also could be quite diverse.

But, everything can be fixed by our skillful editors; no matter what disaster has affected your photography. In this case, we provide photo repairing services of all levels of complexity. And we get the most frequently order is to restore the faintly damaged image. Besides, the faded images are as low bright as they are not so deep. As a result, colors in these images are not so deep where light colors less vivid, but black color becomes visibly less dark.

Conclusion

Careful judgment is a critical aspect of the restoration process because photo restoration service requires many interpretive decisions. So, you can ask us before you touch your images. As the service of photo restoration is much more complex, you can’t do it your own. It requires professional and expert hands to resolve the issues of photographs. If you need photo restoration service for your old images then don’t hesitate to knock us. We’re Clipping USA, a team of the professionals to make your images eye-catching.

[lyralikesdonuts]

Lyra's Bride Guide to Saving Money on a Wedding

The following is my personal experience to budgeting for my dream wedding. Disclaimers: My wedding is still in progress, so definitely more to come and add WITH VISUALS. #budgetwedding #brideonabudget #brideguide

1. All-inclusive resort in another country

Let's get real y'all, living in California/ America for that matter, is expensive. My man and I have saved thousands of dollars by having a wedding in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. And do you really want to spend your future wedded life in so much debt that you're swimming in it up to your eyeballs? So far, we have spent less than $15k on this wedding. As I was speaking to my friends, it seemed that a wedding will often cost $20k at base price. (Unless you're having it in a forest, with like 30 people. More power to you 💪.) An all-inclusive resort includes everything you need to have a wedding (i.e. wedding planner, dj, photographer, food, drinks on tap, ALCOHOL, dance floor, entertainment, chairs AND tables). All you need to do is ask and shop around. You would be doing that anyway, but at a more reasonable price. Another positive thing about an all-inclusive resort, is that although your wedding would be smaller than normal, it would allow you to have a more personal wedding. You'd be able to distribute your time among your guests a lot more frequently. Often, we find ourselveg cutting people/ distancing ourselves from people in order to keep the number of guests down. In another country, that process will often happen itself. It can suck, but if you really want someone there, you can offer to pay for their stay. I mean, you're already saving so much money on your wedding. Although you are spending a couple hundred on plane tickets, depending on where. I chose Mexico to keep these tickets from getting too outrageous. Your guests will be paying for their stay, after all.

Downside: not everyone can make it to another country, but with technology today it would be easy to broadcast your wedding live for those loved ones that can't get on a plane. Or.... just record the wedding, if that is not necessary. Another potential problem, although it's cheaper, you have to pay for the wedding prior to having it. We often had to wire/ dump a couple thousand every month to deal. Balancing the amount of funds you spend every month on bills and outings MATTER a lot... A lot... A lot.

2. Take your time to shop around

It can be easy to pick the nicest, brightest deal out there but it may not be the BEST DEAL. What I'm saying is... take time to compare your options. A lot of resorts tend to have similar packages, but after calculating out how much food and drinks would cost per person.... The deal may actually not be as good as it may seem. Taking time to do some basic math when searching thru the hotel menus helps, literally in the thousands $$$. There are also things like having outside vendors or guests that don't stay at YOUR resort, in which you would have to pay a higher fee to have them attend the wedding. Guest list size may also play a factor. Some resort packages are limited to a certain amount and you may have to change resort location because of that. I had to ask to make sure my count would be reasonable for the hotel. The wedding planner had to alter the package price for my wedding. ( I have around 150)

3. If necessary, give yourself enough time to save money.

As much as I'd love to say I'm rich and flaunt whatever goodies I have.... I'm definitely not. And many of us are not, so let's be real. To be honest, I was shamed for the gap in which we had our engagement and when we're having our wedding party. It actually got me a bit insecure. BUT, I had to ask myself ..."are they paying for your wedding?? Answer: NO." So don't let these inconsiderate comments get to you. You are the master of your own grand plans. Your partner will thank you when you are saving money to own a big, large house that you can have your babies or hundreds of puppies in. Maybe not in San Francisco, but maybe in the Bay Area perhaps.

4. DIY as much as possible

To date, I spent a good amount of change on bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts, invitations, and etc . You may think that invitations and gifts can't be that expensive but..... When you think about it you will need nice, thick cardstock paper, envelopes, pretty printer paper, vellum, quality gifts, decorations, stamps.... So much more. I found that I saved money best by using Amazon, having experience in art, YouTube-ing, buying in bulk, and buying things over time (to decrease the monthly spending impact, ya girl has a lot of bills y'know) I also took A LOT OF time to compare gift value online in my spare time. I'm saying this because... How often will your friend wear a shirt or bring out a bag that says BRIDESMAID on it out? I tried my best to find practical but cute things, specifically with just their name on it. That is just personal preference. If you have money to spend on gifts that your friends won't really use EVER AGAIN... That's totally up to you. They are likely going to be in other weddings that provide similar trinkets. For me, I had to use my personal relationships to determine what style of bag they would often use or how often that friend parties or does activities to determine what I should spend on. If you don't know your friends personal style, take that time to get to know them to determine what to buy. I really try to be considerate and not load my friends up with things that they'll simply throw away. Useful shit is not always... crazy expensive. It doesn't have to be. For example, I found really cute monogram bags for $16. Follow my future posts for more on this.

5. Use your social network

I never did think that I would be looking to maybe BUY a 3d printer... But there I was ... Looking up to see if I could budget for a Glow Forge which has monthly payments.... To make invites, table settings, etc. I was looking at Etsy and Pinterest to determine if adding cute little details would be feasible. They were all SO OVERPRICED. Luckily for me, I found out that my super talented and artsy friend had a 3d printer and was willing to make me calligraphy wood signs, table name plates, and more. I literally thank God that I have friends with awesome talent and love me enough to give me hookups. I also have a very talented friend who takes wonderful pictures and works as a photographer to take my City Hall pictures. I would brag and show off their work, but my wedding is still " In progress." My cousin is a choreographer so he was able to help me come up with some choreography for my entertainment. Anyway, the huge takeaway is that... Friends are truly a blessing. Don't take them for granted because you may need their help.

6. Don't rely on others who will offer to help pay ** very important**

When your engagement comes, you will often have relatives asking where you'll have your wedding and in their excitement somehow come to offer in helping pay.... When asking for help, it starts to take an emotional toll when they tell you they don't have money yet or actually... "something came up". For me, this happens often. I have a large Filipino family who can be somewhat "wishy washy". I love them but it's hard to deal with when there are deadlines to be completed. There may be even times when you ask for help and they turn on you for haggling them for money. I would cry to my fiance and it would take a toll on him to have to step up and work more. Even today, I feel so guilty but grateful to have such a dependable man on my side. ANYWAY, Save yourself from any of these troubles by budgeting for a wedding you can afford. Make a high interest savings account and transfer a good amount of money into it every paycheck. Shop around to compare savings interests rates and try to transfer out money AFTER interest $ has been added to your account. The safety net offered by others may have a few holes.

You may spend more time than you think being worried about how the hell you'll afford any of this wedding nonsense when monthly bills are piling up. Relying on funds that you can't see may be a big, huge slap to your face and your wallet. It may even ruin a few relationships, but hey once YOU are able to finish paying this damn thing off you can thank YOURSELF and your partner for all the damn good hard work you put in. You'll even prevent a few relationships from collapsing. You can really say that you are your own boss and step back and be proud of your work. The day will be ALL ABOUT YOU, after all. You would've definitely earned it.

More to come as my wedding approaches... Stay tuned!

[spicynbachili1]

Yosemite fall: Victims identified as married bloggers from India

Picture copyright Instagram

Picture caption The couple saved a weblog of journey photographs together with this one in White Sands Nationwide Monument in New Mexico

A person and lady who died after falling from a cliff in Yosemite Nationwide Park have been recognized as a married couple from India.

Vishnu Viswanath, 29, and Meenakshi Moorthy, 30, had been dwelling within the US and had maintained a journey weblog of photographs from their journeys across the nation.

In a current Instagram submit, the couple contemplated the “daredevilry” of taking photographs from harmful areas.

Park rangers are investigating however say the reason for demise might by no means be recognized.

Picture copyright Getty Pictures

Picture caption Taft Level, on left, rises about three,000ft (900m) off the valley flooring

Viswanath and Moorthy’s our bodies had been recovered from a steep rocky space beneath the lookout on Taft Level on Thursday, based on park spokesman Jamie Richards.

The Taft Level promontory affords views of the valley flooring three,000 ft (900m) under and has turn into a preferred spot for romantic photographs and wedding ceremony proposals.

Two lifeless after fall from Yosemite cliff

“We nonetheless have no idea what induced them to fall,” Mr Richards instructed the San Francisco Chronicle.

“We’re attempting to grasp what occurred. We might by no means know, (however) from every part we see, this was a tragic fall.”

‘Journey-obsessed’

The couple maintained a weblog referred to as Holidays and HappilyEverAfters the place they described themselves as “journey obsessed”.

On the weblog, Moorthy referred to as herself a “mermaid-haired wanderess who likes to waltz with phrases” and her husband “Captain Inventive who wows me and everybody together with his phantasmagoric photographic abilities”.

They each graduated in 2010 from the Faculty of Engineering, Chengannur in Kerala state, which took to Fb to mourn the “unintended demise of its two alumni”.

Vishnu’s brother Jishnu Viswanath instructed the Related Press in India that the 2 apparently fell whereas taking a selfie after establishing their tripod close to the ledge on Tuesday night.

He mentioned the 2 had been married 4 years in the past at a Hindu temple in Kerala, and that their funerals would happen within the US.

Viswanath had labored as a software program engineer for Cisco and was planning to maneuver together with his spouse from New York to California for the job.

On their Instagram account they posted to their 14,000 followers final March of the hazard of taking selfies from harmful areas.

Skip Instagram submit 2 by holidaysandhappilyeverafters

View this submit on Instagram

CHASING SUNSETS or CHASING LIKES ???

… Sooo at present on #socialmediabadasstribe we’re speaking about limits of #doitforthegram.

Yeah positive it may be limitless however guys, we reaaaallly must have boundaries(that is helpful as life classes too however we are going to revisit that later

) Numerous us together with yours actually is a fan of daredevilry makes an attempt of standing on the fringe of cliffs

and skyscrapers

, however do you know that wind gusts could be FATAL???

Is our life simply price one photograph? … After we squirm at one other selfie try gone south

from a skyscraper, let’s bear in mind to save lots of that in our core reminiscence

and never the reminiscence dump

(I’m nonetheless on the Inside Out

prepare y’all

) Identical applies once we get our knickers in a twist and hog a spot until we get the proper shot

I do know I do know, I’m responsible as charged for all of this

and if I didn’t have Mr. Two Goody Sneakers, Vishnu

with me, I’m not even positive if I might have written this submit. … Allow us to all attempt to be accountable digital residents and use our “numbers” to be clear and sincere, we could?

None of us is ideal and the extra we settle for it and share our flaws as a lot as our wins, we’re one step nearer to making a sane social media with out the scary brouhahas.

… Nonetheless there?

Woohoo, a backflip is so as, or wait perhaps a pizza?

What a few unicorn ice-cream

with some Disney-approved cotton sweet

and pixie mud infused sprinkles

if…..IF you could possibly inform me the one time you had been effin’ pleased with being candid and actual AF in social media?

… PS – Not sponsored however sweatshirt is from @radearthsupply • • • #grandcanyonnps #northrim #instagramaz #visitarizona #travelarizona #shotzdelight #discovertheroad #usaroadtrip #visittheusa #outdoorsusa #exploretheusa #womenwhoexplore #iamtb #radparks #thediscoverer #gtgi #sheisnotlost #wearetravelgirls #hikemore #radgirlslife #travelreality #dreamscape @womenwhoexplore @visit_arizona @visittheusa @shotzdelight

A submit shared by TravelCreatives

Minaxi+Vishnu (@holidaysandhappilyeverafters) on Mar 28, 2018 at eight:45am PDT

Finish of Instagram submit 2 by holidaysandhappilyeverafters

“Numerous us together with yours actually is a fan of daredevilry makes an attempt of standing on the fringe of cliffs and skyscrapers, however do you know that wind gusts could be FATAL???” Moorthy wrote within the caption of a submit of her sitting on the sting of the Grand Canyon.

“Is our life simply price one photograph?” she wrote.

In the meantime, a photographer’s viral search to establish a pair who obtained engaged earlier this month at Taft Level has ended, after they got here ahead on social media.

Photographer Matt Dippel posted an attraction on-line, in an effort to search out the couple featured within the romantic shot.

Charlie Bear and his fiancée Melissa stumbled upon the photograph of themselves on Instagram, mentioned Mr Dippel in a follow-up Fb submit.

Viral seek for Yosemite proposal couple

“Regardless that this was the second time round I used to be simply as nervous as the primary time, and I used to be much more nervous being excessive up on the cliff,” Mr Bear instructed CNN.

“I’ve a concern of heights, and I type of overcame that for her.”

Greater than 10 folks have died in Yosemite this yr.

Final month an Israeli teenager by accident fell to his demise whereas taking a selfie from one other a part of the world-renowned park.

from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/yosemite-fall-victims-identified-as-married-bloggers-from-india/

[citizentruth-blog]

Car Break-Ins and Property Theft on the Rise in California Following Passage of Prop 47 - YOUR NEWS

New Post has been published on https://citizentruth.org/car-break-ins-and-property-theft-on-the-rise-in-california-following-passage-of-prop-47/

Car Break-Ins and Property Theft on the Rise in California Following Passage of Prop 47

(All Your News articles are submitted by readers of Citizen Truth and do not reflect the views of Citizen Truth. CT believes in the power of regular people sharing their stories and experiences with each other and working together to find the truth. We are proud to share your stories.)

California crime is on the rise and many residents of the Golden State are now regretting the passage of a significant law implemented a few years ago that essentially emboldened criminals despite its good intentions.

In November 2014, California voted in favor of Prop 47, a law aimed at reducing charges from felonies to misdemeanors for drug and property crimes, including theft. The intention was to reduce the state’s prison population and emphasize rehabilitation, helping drug addicts keep a felony off their record for what lawmakers view as minor crimes.

As long as the theft does not exceed $950 in value, it is charged as a misdemeanor, no matter how many prior offenses one has on their record. Shoplifting, receiving stolen property, writing bad checks, check forgery, and other theft such as car break-ins are now deemed as misdemeanors if under the $950 mark.

This law has had a dangerous ripple effect throughout the state and its courts have interpreted it broadly to uphold it despite law enforcement’s opposition to this new reality.

In November 2017, the California Supreme Court decided that a person convicted of a felony for stealing a car can have that conviction reduced to a misdemeanor if the vehicle is worth less than $950.

Shattered glass from car break-ins are strewn on an increasing number of streets in the liberal bastions of San Francisco and Oakland. The numbers are astonishing.

Oakland had 10,000 car break-ins last year, 24 percent more than in 2016. San Francisco totaled more than 30,000 last year, almost three times the number reported in 2010. The Mission district alone saw a 47 percent increase in car break-ins from 2016 to 2017.

Stories abound of this troubling trend on the rise from a tourist chasing after their stolen car on foot to a photographer who lost a couple’s wedding photos and an Olympic skater who had her skates and costumes stolen from her rental car.

Burglars work in organized groups called crews made up of career criminals. A 2016 civil grand jury report, stated that these crews consist of two to five people. 70 to 80 percent of all car break-ins in San Francisco are done by these crews which drive around in cars without titles or license plates that cannot be tracked down easily.

What is San Francisco’s solution for this out of control problem? Throw more money at it of course! In February, District Attorney George Gascon announced he’s seeking $1 million from the city’s board of supervisors to help put a stop to car break-ins in addition to adding a website and telephone tip line.

It’s a similar story in Los Angeles.

Recent data from LA’s Sheriff’s Department on the impact of Prop 47 in LA County is both sobering and incontrovertible.

New report shows the impact of Prop 47 in #losAngelesCounty. The sobering numbers vividly prove that we cannot afford, both in the fiscal and public safety sense, to continue to “experiment” with public safety #LASD #LAPD @LAPPL @AirportPoliceLA Read https://t.co/4ensEsUQwJ pic.twitter.com/iEzbCOlgWV

— ALADS (@aladsonline) April 24, 2018

Since the prop’s passage in 2014 through the end of 2017, a total of 78,537 people were arrested in LA Country for theft or drug offenses that were made misdemeanors by Prop 47. After these arrests, more than 32,000 were arrested again at least twice. Many of these crimes were for Part I crimes, which includes homicide, robbery, arson, rape, burglary, and grand theft auto. LA County law enforcement has repeatedly stated that making thefts under $950 a crime of minimal consequence would embolden and encourage more theft across the county and state.

The Part I larceny (AKA theft) rate is higher by double digits in each of the three years since the passage of Prop 47 in LA than it was in in the year prior to passage of Prop 47: 15.4% higher for 2015, 23.3% higher for 2016, and 21.3% higher for 2017. Grand Theft Auto saw jumps of 21.9% 2013/2014 vs. 2014/2015, 29.2% 2013/2014 vs. 2015/2016 and 31% in 2013/2014 vs. 2016/2017. Meanwhile, in the rest of the U.S., property crime declined from 2015 to 2016. The numbers tell the story and they do not paint a pretty picture on law and order in the nation’s most populous state.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote an editorial about how the city by the bay needs to get serious about car break-ins.

A mere 13 arrests were made for more than 81,511 car break-ins reported online in the last seven years, according to data from the district attorney’s office. Police arrested only 446 people suspected of auto burglary from January through November 207 despite the fact that there were over 30,000 car thefts during that time.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón pointed out that the difficulty in prosecuting break-in cases is that it requires evidence that the car doors were locked. Otherwise, the theft with a smashed window and stolen property under $950 will be treated as a misdemeanor.

“San Francisco needs to treat this crime wave as the serious issue it has become,” the Chronicle concluded. It, unfortunately, does not attribute the rise in crime to the passage of Prop 47 despite ample evidence to the contrary.

Erica Sandberg’s January 2018 headline in National Review read, “After Proposition 47: Crime and No Consequences in California.” She pointed out the many flaws in this law that made crime more acceptable to criminals and subsequently reduced the police’s willingness to respond to the rampant crime perpetrated in communities from San Diego to Sacramento to Chico.

Almost a thousand dollars in stolen property is not a small thing to many Californians. Many in the state now have such little trust in the system they thought was supposed to protect the innocent. Anger is expanding across the political spectrum by voters who thought they were helping reduce our prison population and assisting addicted individuals to help them stay connected with and involved in society. But the reality is far different as law and order has deteriorated in numerous and obvious ways.

“Every bicycle in our building has been stolen,” says Karen Burns, president of a San Francisco condo association. “I’ve caught so many people stealing packages. They don’t care. They know nothing will happen to them. It’s crazy. It’s horrible. I feel like these people need to go to jail.” But many do not. Many get away with it and live on without prosecution.

In addition, the personal use of drugs was reduced to a misdemeanor. The city of San Francisco now has addicts shooting up in public on a regular basis. Either on the steps of the City Hall, in front of a store or even at the entrance of a playground. As if fecal matter and urine on its city sidewalks weren’t bad enough, San Francisco now enjoys needles and whacked out addicts on its city streets.

Theft rose dramatically after the passage of Prop 47. Magnus Lofstrom, a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California, referred to a 12 percent rise in larceny-theft in California right after Prop 47 took effect. “Crime rates always fluctuate, and the data isn’t always accurate,” says Lofstrom. Nevertheless, the early results are showing a disturbing progression that shows few signs of slowing down.

San Franciscans know crime is up. They don’t need to see the data. In January, Police Chief William Scott proved the point anyway, stating that there was a 24 percent increase in property crimes from 2016 to 2017. Auto break-ins are up dramatically in every district and the arrest rate is a lowly 1.6 percent. Addicts are nodding off and passing out in front of storefronts across San Francisco. Drug deals are being done in the light of day as the reduction of consequences have made these criminals care little about getting caught. Most don’t get caught anyway.

Prop. 47 has emboldened criminals. They steal $950 a day, everyday from stores. Their only punishment – a misdemeanor citation, just like a parking ticket. Shop owners are powerless…so is law enforcement. It’s why I’m fighting to @KeepCalSafe https://t.co/I5p5MnwAyl

— Jim Patterson (@JimPatterson559) April 21, 2018

Some lawmakers are finally starting to listen to their constituents to fix these unintended consequences. State Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D., Elk Grove) and Sacramento County district attorney Anne Marie Schubert are spearheading Assembly Bill 16, an initiative that will reverse some of Prop 47’s damage. Those convicted of a third theft of property worth $250 in the proposed law could be charged with a felony and DNA collection would be reinstated for certain misdemeanor convictions. If 370,000 signatures are obtained, the measure would be put on the November 2018 ballot to pass it into law.

I’m all for reducing our prison population if the emphasis is actually put on additional and effective rehabilitation facilities which can handle the additional influx of addicts. But I also want laws that do not incentivize crime or reduce the legal consequences that in turn encourage criminals to steal even more. Prop 47 had a noble intention behind it but it has resulted in a catastrophic rise of crime that is unacceptable to a majority of Californians.

Let’s hope California wakes up and reverses this law that has directly resulted in a rise of car break-ins, shoplifting, property crime, and auto thefts. Law and order is craved by all. One should not feel uncomfortable or unsafe in their own community.

  Follow me @BobShanahanMan

Former Brazilian President Behind Bars, How ‘Lula’ Went From A Beloved World Leader to Prison Stripes

[weddingideasonline-blog]

From Vienna to Versailles: Marie Antoinette’s Bridal Journey – Part Two From Vienna to Versailles: Marie Antoinette’s Bridal Journey – Part One On 1 November 2003, Spain’s Casa Real announced had hosted a royal wedding, and as a whole Ron White, 43, the shoe designer, and Brad Wilson, 42, an entrepreneur, met at a Casa Loma TIFF after-party in 2007 when Ron accidentally spilled his wine on Brad. “I was mortified,” says Ron. So was Brad, who was wearing an old pair of Aldo shoes. Many visitors to Toronto’s World Pride will head to Casa I’m a real person, I have a real life, and I have a real marriage.” After they were married, the couple went down to watch the Pride parade. They carried a sign from the wedding that read Less than four months after accepting a proposal from her real-life McDreamy wear a custom made Monique Lhuillier wedding dress, the source says. The Saturday reception will be held outdoors at the inn’s Casa Elar, a Spanish-style estate, where Casa Loma, an audacious 180,000-square-foot castle in Toronto Decades earlier, O’Leary had hoped to hold his wedding reception in this very room but couldn’t afford it. He endorsed stylish Quebec libertarian Maxime Bernier only to watch Saskatchewan’s to have their own wedding special! Two babies later and Kourtney Kardashian is finally ready to marry Scott Disick. We never thought the day would come! The two are planning to get married at Casa Armara But the real driver, according to the .

The house on Interlachen Drive is known most for setting into motion an unlikely chain of events that ended up launching one of Central Florida’s most popular wedding venues — Casa Feliz. Former cruise sales entrepreneurs Wayne and Judy Heller For those of the children who just can’t bear silly discussions about the seemingly capricious real estate activities of a pregnant might be willing to part with his epic Bel Air estate, Casa Encantada, if some deep pocketed buyer comes along with Adams has already chosen his wedding gift for his former co-star Meghan Markle Ulla Johnson and Garrett Leight California Optical collaboration, fittingly at at Casa Perfect in Beverly Hills. Joe Manganiello introduced wife Sofia Vergara to one Six Baylor University graduates — Ben and Skylar Worley, Ali and Nate Sloan, and Luke and Rachel Whyte — have announced they will open a new wedding venue between merging operations with the Casa Ole in Bellmead. Waco real estate agent Pat Farrar .

source casa real wedding: http://www.yes-i-do.com.pt/wp-content/uploads/galleries/post-3442/full/Sheraton%20Algarve%20-%20Yes%20I%20do!%20Photography%20006.jpg: https://gracehavlak.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/024-san-francisco-san-jose-indian-south-asian-wedding-photographer-swaminarayan-temple2.jpg: https://wwcdn.weddingwire.com/vendor/60001_65000/60453/thumbnails/800x800_1385758909276-reception-1.jpg: https://leasing.dmcihomes.com/wp-content/uploads/Casa-Real-Facade-A-Dusk.jpg: https://weddingpassion.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/entrevistamimoki.jpg: Casa Real Wedding From Vienna to Versailles: Marie Antoinette’s Bridal Journey – Part Two From Vienna to Versailles: Marie Antoinette’s Bridal Journey – Part One On 1 November 2003, Spain’s Casa Real announced had hosted a royal wedding, and as a whole Ron White, 43, the shoe designer, and Brad Wilson, 42, an entrepreneur, met at a Casa Loma TIFF after-party in 2007 when Ron accidentally spilled his wine on Brad.

[sfcityhallphotographer]

SF City Hall Photographer

Are you looking for something unique in your wedding photography? Then consider having your photos taken at San Francisco City Hall. This historic building offers a stunning setting for your wedding photos, and a professional photographer will be able to capture the beauty of the building and the love between you and your partner.

San Francisco City Hall is one of the most popular places to get married in the Bay Area. And for good reason, it's a stunning location with a variety of beautiful architecture and settings for photos. But if you're thinking about getting married at City Hall, you might be wondering how to make your wedding photos stand out.

Here are some of his tips:

Look for interesting angles and vantage points. There are so many different areas to explore in City Hall, so don't be afraid to try new things.

Take advantage of natural light. City Hall has some great skylights and windows that make for beautiful photos.

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[caredogstips]

‘We will be torn apart’: the combat to save Silicon Valley’s oldest trailer park

The Buena Vista mobile home park in Palo Alto is a close-knit community. But can they withstand the march of developers who want to build plains for tech laborers?

Its not a big manor, Amanda Serrano answers of her ageing off-white trailer in patch 59 of the Buena Vista mobile home park in Silicon Valley. But I feel happy here. Its my own trailer.

Serrano, a 48 -year-old care assistant, reads the common in Palo Alto is the first place shes lived where she experiences comfortable living openly as a transgender wife, in connections with her lover Arturo Saucedo.

But life is about to become uncomfortable for Amanda, Arturo and 400 other low-income, primarily non-native-English-speaking local residents who summon Buena Vista home. They are facing expulsion from the 4.5 -acre plot, so its owners can sell it for development into luxury accommodations for young tech workers.

Its prime location on El Camino Real at the very heart of Silicon Valley, precisely miles from the headquarters of Facebook and Google, makes it could be worth as much as $55 m( APS3 6m ). But if the sale goes ahead, Amanda, Arturo and the rest of the community will be forced to leave not just Buena Vista but, for numerous, Palo Alto, or even the US.

The influx of young tech developers with large-hearted purses has sent hires across Silicon Valley into the stratosphere. The median monthly hire for a one-bedroom apartment in Palo Alto is $2,600( APS1, 725 ), the increased number of more than $1,000( APS6 63) over the past five years. According to US Census fleshes, more than 20 million people, or 6 % of the population, live in trailer park. In California alone, 393,000 households live in trailers.

Amanda Serrano finds comfortable living as a transgender female in Buena Vista. Picture: Winni Wintermeyer

The Buena Vista trailer park is concealed between a small shopping center and a gasoline station, and began life in the 1920 s as a rest stop for those travelling along the west coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a 40 -mile drive to the north. Occupants offer between $700( APS4 64) and $1,000( APS6 63) a month in rent. Room on neighbouring streets are selling for well in excess of$ 1m( APS6 63,000 ).

Amanda, who earns just over the minimum wage helping local, elderly people in their homes, knows that she and Arturo, who works as a housekeeper in a neighbourhood inn, wont is to find anywhere they can yield nearby. Across the street from Buena Vista, a 700 sq ft one-bed accommodation in a new development is being marketed for $2,895 a few months. How would I ever be able to pay that? she expects, as rends well up.

Its not just the money. Amanda has obligated friends in Buena Vista, and reads she feels tighten among her neighbours even if her minuscule Coachman trailer is rigged with CCTV cameras that play a constant live feed upon one of the two monstrou TVs above the bed.

These people accept me and I get along with everybody, she announces, as her dogs, Princess and Ruby, a poodle-bichon and a corgi-chihuahua, play at her paws. Since they have been talking about closing this home, I have been facing a lot of health editions. I have hollow and anxiety.

Amanda came to California from Nicaragua 38 years ago. Id preferably kill myself than be homeless, she responds. I suffered a lot a very long time ago, while I was homeless. I am so scared. I have been assaulted in other cities because of this, she suggests, gesticulating to her face and figure. Here I act, I come home. I am safe.

Most of Buena Vistas residents who are able to work many are disabled, housebound or elderly are employed within a few minutes commute of the park, doing the low-paid enterprises that help keep Palo Alto running. Among them is Melodie Cheney, 57, who has worked as an administrative deputy at a nearby college for the past 18 years.

This is like my second lineage, she speaks. Im a single girl. I know my neighbours. We watch out for one another. This is the closest community Ive ever come across.

Don Roberto Munoz has been unable to answer his daughters questions about whether she will be able to finish high school. Picture: Winni Wintermeyer

Don Roberto Munoz, 40, affectionately nicknamed the cowboy because of his logo hat, wreaks servicing the septic tank of nearby multimillion-dollar mansions. He lives with his wife and two daughters in a classic silver Airstream trailer, surrounded by potted bushes, and has been unable to answer his daughter Jennys questions about whether she will be able to finish high school. Agitated, she has been unable to sleep at night. If he told her the truth, he says, he would have to say: Its impossible. To pay the hires around here in Palo Alto is crazy. My spouse wields part-time, I wreak full-time, but still we wont have the money.

Last week, Jenny, 14, told the worlds most powerful grandmother about her sleepless darkness. Hillary Clinton had piloted into township for a campaign fundraiser, and Jenny was invited, to facilitate invoke the plight of Buena Vistas occupants with the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. I told her that living at Buena Vista had been a huge part of my life and I was worried that I wont be able to stay here, Jenny does. She reports that Clinton seemed concerned, and said she is endeavouring to take up Jennys invitation to visit her familys trailer. She said it wasnt right that I would have to leave my education and try to fit in a different community far away.

Munoz says he chose to come to Buena Vista not only because it was affordable, but because of the friendliness of the multiracial parish in the heart of such a white and wealthy municipality. When we arrive in 11 years ago, I articulated, This is the place we are looking for. We have all the different cultures in here, he adds, counting off the home countries of his neighbours on his digits: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, China. Across the potholed superhighway on which children hasten tricycles and play in liquid engages, Saul Bracamontes, 30, and his wife Erika Escalante, 29, live in the most well-appointed trailer on the website, with their eight-year-old son, Andre. While some of the other mobile homes are patched up with membrane metal and corrugated cast-iron, Saul and Erikas trailer is double-glazed and covered a colour they announce firecracker red.( I know it appears pink, but its not, Bracamontes tells .)

Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer

Escalante, the president of the Buena Vista Residents Association and programme coordinator at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, has lived in Buena Vista since she was 11, when her father Rene, a retired construction worker, moved into the common so he had been able to transmit “their childrens” to the nearby school. Barren Park Elementary is just a 10 -minute walk away, and is particularly well equipped: every student is issued with a free iPad instead of a notebook. More than 100 schoolchildren from Buena Vista are enrolled in Palo Altos schools.

All of Renes juveniles went to university, the first generation of the family to do so. Erika, who lives a few doors down from her parents and sister, is hoping to follow her daddies sample and save enough fund to transport Andre to university. But the family horror this wont happen if they have to move.

We might be able to stay in the sphere, Saul tells, but it will be living offer cheque to wage cheque; we will not be able to save. Even if we can stay, Erikas parents will not be able to render to abide their own families will be torn apart. Andre will no longer be able to roam between his grandparents, aunts and mothers trailers, and Erika will have to cut down her hours to take care of him after school.

Ive stayed 33 times in this trailer: Blanca Fonseca moved to Palo Alto from Mexico City. Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer

The Escalantes arent the only family who have lived in the ballpark for generations. Blanca Fonseca moved with her family from Mexico City in 1981, when she was 14, and has watched its transformation from all Caucasian elderlies to 90% Hispanic parents with “their childrens”. The common( total population 400) now mansions 10% of all the Hispanic people living in Palo Alto.

I stood 33 times in this trailer, she announces of the small story she shares with her husband, a waiter at Reposado, a high-end Mexican eatery in downtown Palo Alto. A photo of the couple standing outside the trailer on their wed day takes pride of place on the sideboard. We decided to work hard and stay here to save money, so that we would have enough money for my son to be the first party in the family to go to university. I craved him to have a better life, and he did.

***

Three years ago, Joe Jisser, whose pedigree has co-owned Buena Vista since the 80 s, transmitted letters to all residents saying he was considering selling the park to developers. Tension between the residents and Jisser, 44, has remained high ever since, and powerful Palo Altans lawyers, publicists and academics have thrown their weight behind the residents cause.

Melody Cheney: This is like my second kinfolk. Im a single female. I know my neighbours. We watch out for each other. This is the closest community Ive ever come across. Photograph: Winni Wintermeyer for the Guardian

Developmental psychologist Professor Amado Padilla, of Stanford University, two miles up El Camino Real, has been working to highlight health risks to the families if their children are forced to leave their Palo Alto academies. I dont wondering where these households will go it has become so expensive living a life in Silicon Valley, he answers. My son is a college graduate who works full era, and he cant yield living a life in Palo Alto. What hope is there for service proletarians? Our police force, most of our coaches, most of the professional service employees, dont live[ in or near Palo Alto ], answers Padilla, who has been a resident since 1998. If the ballpark shuts and theyre not able to stay here, these people are going to lose their jobs, their homes, and “their childrens” are going to lose one of the best institution regions in the state.

A study by Padilla and his students found that none of the 129 school-age children around the common, 90% of whom are Hispanic, had fallen out of academy, compared with a 26.7% drop-out rate of Hispanic students nationwide. Several Buena Vista students have stimulated it to college in recent years, including Karen Camacho, who is currently at Stanford, the Ivy League university that has given delivery to so many of the tech startups that offspring Silicon Valley.

It is the businesses that have moved it so expensive to live in the orbit, and Padilla says they probably should take specific responsibilities and try to accommodate the workers who need to live close to their employment. It would be nice if Facebook did, if Google did, if Apple did if they took specific responsibilities to maintain affordability in Palo Alto and the circumventing communities.

Some of the 129 school-age brats who live in the common. Photo: Winni Wintermeyer

Its not just the Palo Alto community that is suffering from the marching of tech business across California. In 2013, protesters smashed openings on the Google- and Apple-branded bus that move works to their Silicon Valley jobs, waving placards speaking Fuck off Google. A University of California, Berkeley learn found that leases within a short gait of a Google bus stop are lift at a rate of 20%, compared with a 5% national norm. The shuttle impression has helped send payments in the more popular San Francisco vicinities above some of the most expensive areas of Manhattan.

Ken Dauber is a Palo Alto resident and a Google software engineer. Over a lunch of kale salad, three-bean soup and shrimp fettuccine in the dappled sunshine outside his Google office, Dauber explains why this trailer park is representing a wider difficulty. For these pedigrees, going their boys into Palo Alto schools and hearing them graduate is part of an upward-mobility campaign, he enunciates. It is about inducing sure the next generation lives middle-class was living in America, so that they dont have to represent the same kind of relinquishes as their parents.

Dauber knows that his employer is in part to blame for the overwhelming distres on land values in the Valley, and has told his leaders they should be doing more to assistant not only their own workers, but military forces of lowly paid people who help keep the community clicking. Losing this common would intend losing an enormous amount of ethnic and income diversity.

In May 2015, after a two-and-a-half-year review, Palo Alto City Council approved Jissers plan to sell the park, saying that landowners have a legal right to sell their belonging when they want. As part of the application, Jisser has pledged to compensate inhabitants for the loss of their trailers, which in most cases cannot be moved, and pay for temporary accommodation and relocation expenses. The inhabitants say the money offered does not come close to covering their costs. Padilla, Dauber and several other tenants of Palo Alto have helped inhabitants file suits against the city council for approving Jissers redevelopment plan with, they claim, insufficient considered by the impact and relocation costs.

As the residents panicked, a potential saviour marched on to Buena Vistas forecourt. Joe Simitian, the county supervisor of Santa Clara, the local authority that administers Palo Alto and often of Silicon Valley, has cleared it his mission to end the order progress towards eviction and save the common and its residents.

He is not challenging Jisser in special courts, but plea directly to his billfold. Simitian, a 62 -year-old balding anglophile, has pulled together $39 m of metropolitan and district money to give Jisser a third path: sell the park to his authority and allow the residents to stay, while making a tidy earning on his familys original investment.

Under Simitians propose, the ballpark would be transmit to Caritas Corporation, a non-profit organisation that has rescued 20 mobile home commons across California. Run by Robert Redwitz, Caritas, whose name is derived from attending about others, was set up in 1996 to render and preserve character, affordable casing for beings of low income and symbolizes, focusing on manufactured home parks.

Across the US, more than 20 million people live in trailer park. Buena Vista is home to 400 of them. Photograph: Winni_Wintermeyer/ Winni Wintermeyer

Simitian, the son of a educator, confesses he is emotionally are subject to the Buena Vista residents predicament, but says he is motivated by a more practical issue. Throw aside all the values-laden issues and social issues, and just ask yourself as a practical purposes: can an country like Silicon Valley subsist if it doesnt have parties that can do the duty all levels of society motives?

The right of low-income families to a good education has long been close to Simitians heart. His first political persona was as president of the Palo Alto School Board between 1983 and 1991, before rising to become mayor of the city and then county superintendent. In 2000, he struck an agreement with Stanford University that, if it wanted to expand, it would have to give a significant amount to an inexpensive home money. That money words a big chunk of the currency Simitian is offering to the Jisser family.

The Jissers officially rebuffed Simitian and Caritass offer in September. Their advocate indicates that they did so because they cant enter into negotiations with Simitian and other potential purchasers while the residents persist action at law against the city. Because of the ongoing threat of action at law from the very same inhabitants association, the Jisser family has not been able to honestly enter into negotiations with other interested parties, Jissers lawyer suggests. The Jisser family will not be coerced into accepting a sale agreement by the use of litigation as a strong-arm tactic.

But Simitian told me that he conceives Jissers abandonment is the start of the bargaining process, rather than a straight-out refusal to negotiate. Even so, Jisser, who arrives for work at Buena Vista at 5am every morning, refused to speak to me when I saw his prefab part within the ballpark. The pedigree have given up trying to make their speciman via the media. In a snatched discussion with a reporter from USA Today earlier this year, he said, I dont know what to tell you. I live down in San Jose. I entail, I cant even afford Palo Alto.

Simitian is now on a mission to find extra stores, going through his contacts in the tech fellowships around the Valley for fund to sweeten the deal. If that doesnt design, he says, hes prepared to join the residents in front of the bulldozers. He will be standing there with a cluster of new friends. Amanda, Arturo, Erika, Melodie, Roberto and the rest of the Buena Vista 400 will be there, and theyve pledged to dig in for a fight. I dont plan on going anywhere, Melodie supposes. Im going to be here until they pick me up and carry me out.

Read more: www.theguardian.com

The post ‘We will be torn apart’: the combat to save Silicon Valley’s oldest trailer park appeared first on caredogstips.com.

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AIA reveals winners of 2017 Honor Awards for the year's best American architecture

Shigeru Ban's Colorado art museum, a Senegalese cultural centre by Toshiko Mori and a Pinterest office in San Francisco are among this year's recipients of design awards from the American Institute of Architects.

The AIA has announced 23 winners of its 2017 Honor Awards, described as "the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture and urban design". The awards are bestowed upon architects licensed in the United States, although the projects can be located around the world.

The Aspen Art Museum in Colorado – designed by Shigeru Ban Architects with associate firm CCY Architects – and Thread: Artists' Residency and Cultural Center in rural Senegal by Toshiko Mori Architect were among the honorees in the architecture category.

Other architecture winners include a micro-unit apartment tower in Manhattan, an energy facility at Standard University and the adaptive reuse of a tobacco warehouse in Brooklyn.

The Pinterest headquarters in San Francisco, by IwamotoScott with Brereton Architects, was recognised in the interiors category, while an SOM-designed masterplan for Philadelphia's 30th Street Station won in the regional and urban design category.

Chosen from roughly 700 submissions, the award recipients were selected by a jury of architects and academics.

Related story

Paul Revere Williams becomes first black architect to receive AIA Gold Medal

In December, the institute announced it was awarding its 2017 Gold Medal to the late Paul Revere Williams – the first African American to receive the award. Williams, who died in 1980, became the first black architect to join the AIA in 1923.

Read on for an overview of each Honor Award winner from the AIA:

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture

Photograph by Michael Moran

Aspen Art Museum; Aspen, Colorado, by Shigeru Ban Architects with CCY Architects

Founded in the late 1970s as a non-collecting institution, the Aspen Art Museum worked in tandem with the design team to determine programmematic needs and to ensure its new home completely supported the art it hangs. Adhering to a strict 18-month construction schedule, the new museum opened in 2014 and has seen a 400 per cent increase in visitorship and a 1,140 per cent increase in the number of students served by the museum's educational outreach initiatives. Three floors—two above ground, one below—are dedicated to gallery space, while the top floor includes an ample multi-use space, cafe, and public terrace with sweeping views of the Rockies.

Find out more about Aspen Art Museum ›

Photograph by Iwan Baan

Carmel Place; New York City, by nArchitects

Winner of the 2012 adAPT NYC competition for New York City's first micro-unit apartment building, Carmel Place represents a new housing paradigm for the city's growing small household population. The design of the nine-storey building's 55 units aims for spaciousness and luminosity through the implementation of 9'-8" ceilings, 8' tall sliding windows and Juliet balconies. With a goal of conveying the residents' nested scales of community, afforded by varied interior and exterior shared spaces, the building's brick exterior massing resembles four slender "mini-towers" – a microcosm of the city's skyline.

Find out more about Carmel Place ›

Photograph by Jeff Goldberg

Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project; New York City, by Iu + Bibliowicz Architects LLP

The Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project centred on: renovation, reorganisation, and repurposing of 167,000 square feet of non-performance venues at the National Historic site. The seven-year project encompassed the creation of a Music Education Wing, new roof terrace, consolidation of administrative offices, expanded backstage space and functionality, and facade lighting to showcase the landmark. Substantial interior structural modifications and infrastructure upgrades aided in the success of the renovation. The project was awarded LEED Silver Certification, one of the oldest and most notable buildings in the country with such distinction.

Photograph by Brian Mihaelsick

The Cotton Gin at the CO-OP District; Hutto, Texas, by Antenora Architects

The reuse of the two existing cotton gin structures is the first piece of a 2012 masterplan to revitalise the site, which was purchased by the City of Hutto. Both structures were selectively deconstructed and reused to create a single open-air 6,500-square-foot public events space. The new building is wrapped in perforated stainless steel that reflects the hot Texas sun during the day and provides intriguing transparency at night. The design team succeeded in creating a flexible space for public and private events that complements everything from programmematic functions of the local library and farmer's markets to artisan fairs and wedding receptions.

Photograph by Iwan Baan

Grace Farms; New Canaan, Connecticut, by SANAA with Handel Architects

Grace Farms was established with the idea that "space communicates" and can inspire people to collaborate for good. To realise this vision, Grace Farms Foundation appointed SANAA to create a porous, multipurpose building nestled within an 80-acre landscape that would encourage people to engage with nature, the arts, justice, community, and faith. The River building emerged as a new kind of public space that embodies these aspirations. Its sinuous structure is comprised of 203 individually curved glass panels containing five volumes: a sanctuary; library; commons; pavilion; and partially submerged court.

Find out more about Grace Farms ›

Photograph by Kate Joyce

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts; Chicago, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects with Holabird & Root

Sitting on the southern edge of Chicago's Midway, the Center houses the University of Chicago's visual arts, film, music, and theatre programmes, finally uniting the programmes under one roof.  The building comprises a 10-storey tower and an adjacent two-storey "podium." Both are clad in Missouri limestone cut into four-foot lengths and laid as bricks. The material echoes the limestone found on the University's neo-gothic structures as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, also located on campus.  Bathed in natural light, the smaller building is lit by north-facing skylights throughout its many creative spaces.

Photograph by David Sundberg

St Ann's Warehouse; Brooklyn, New York, by Marvel Architects

Beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Marvel Architects has brought the brick and mortar ruins of the historic Tobacco Warehouse back to life, creating a new theatre space for renowned presenter St Ann's Warehouse. Leading a team of Silman, Buro Happold and Charcoalblue, Marvel created a controlled acoustical environment using natural state materials - concrete, blackened steel, Douglas-fir plywood. With a respectful sleight of hand, a new roof floats atop a ribbon of solid glass brick. Adjacent to the theatre is a trapezoidal garden designed with Michael Van Valkenberg Landscape.

Photograph by Tara Wujcik

The Six Affordable Veteran Housing; Los Angeles, by Brooks + Scarpa

The SIX is a 52-unit LEED Platinum affordable housing and support services building for disabled veterans. Located in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, which has one of the highest densities in the USA with a total population of 120,000 people in 2.72 square miles.  The SIX breaks the prescriptive mould of the traditional shelter by creating public and private "zones" in which private space is de-emphasised, in favour of large public areas. The organisation is intended to transform the way people live away from a reclusive, isolating layout towards a community-oriented, interactive space.

Photograph by Tim Griffith

Stanford University Central Energy Facility; Stanford, California by ZGF Architects

The Central Energy Facility is the heart of Stanford University's transformational campus-wide energy system, projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68 per cent. The centrepiece of this composition of large, industrial components is a central courtyard pivoting around a 2.5-million-gallon hot water thermal storage tank, showcasing the energy plant's mission. The architecture takes its cues from Stanford's rich heritage: the Stanford arcade is reimagined as PV trellis; integrally coloured cast-in-place concrete nods to the prevalent limestone; and weathered Corten steel accents suggest terracotta tile roofs that give the campus much of its character.

Find out more about Stanford University Central Energy Facility ›

Photograph by Iwan Baan

THREAD: Artists' Residency and Cultural Center; Sinthain, Senegal by Toshiko Mori Architect

Located in the remote village of Sinthian, Senegal, this project offers multiple programmes for the community, including a gathering space, performance centre, and residency for visiting artists. In the design, a parametric transformation of the traditional pitched roof inscribes a series of courtyards within the plan of the building while also creating shaded, multi-purpose areas around the perimeter of the courtyard. The inversion of the roof creates an effective strategy for the collection and storage of rainwater, capable of fulfilling substantial domestic and agricultural water needs for the community. Relying exclusively on local materials and construction techniques, the building's traditional structure is formed primarily of bamboo and spaced-brick walls that absorb heat and promote airflow through the building interior.

Photograph by Richard Caspole

Yale Center for British Art Building Conservation Project; New Haven, Connecticut by Knight Architecture

Following nearly forty years of continuous operation, the Yale Center for British Art, designed by Louis I. Kahn and recipient of AIA's Twenty-five Year Award, faced mounting programmematic, infrastructural, and operational pressures which threatened to degrade its extraordinary architectural character. The multi-year conservation project renewed interior finishes that had grown tired and worn; restored and expanded teaching spaces that were oversubscribed and underequipped; fortified spaces for exhibition, storage, and study of the growing collection; and replaced vital building systems which had reached the end of their practical life.

Find out more about Yale Center for British Art ›

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture

Photograph by Paul Warchol

30 Rockefeller Plaza: 65th Floor, Rainbow Room, SixtyFive; New York City, by Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Montroy Andersen DeMarco

Gabellini Sheppard Associates opened a new chapter for the 13,160-square-foot Rainbow Room and 65th floor, blending contemporary needs with design that rekindled the room's original Art Deco-inspired spirit and radiant notoriety of 1934. In the Rainbow Room, the revitalisation of the rotating dance floor, addition of mesmerising crystal window veils, and restoration of the chandelier and central dome, reinforce the modern-day grandeur. In Bar SixtyFive, a faceted ceiling composed of glass-reinforced gypsum panels anchor the space, reinterpreting the open-air height the room once had as a sun parlour.

Photograph by James Haefner

General Motors Design Auditorium; Detroit, by SmithGroupJJR

In 1956, the General Motors styling team moved from Detroit to a new design space. The complex, originally designed by Eero Saarinen, has become a legendary corporate master piece of planning and design. For SmithGroupJJR, the overall design intent was to modernise the facility but to do so in a manner consistent with the original Saarinen detailing. Technologies of materials, lighting and audio/visual have progressed dramatically and the revised Design Dome is now poised for General Motors to re-establish the relevance of this significant space for the design community.

George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health; Washington DC by Payette with Ayers Saint Gross

Located on iconic Washington Circle Park in the heart of the nation's capital, this School of Public Health is a rigorous, innovative response to site and programme. With its most sustainable solutions so deeply embedded as to be nearly indistinguishable, it keenly demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between sustainability and public health. The building's unusual skylit atrium, in which classrooms and study areas overlook the city through an open latticework of floor openings, invites exploration and discovery. The building supports a highly effective learning and interaction environment that is equally memorable for its intimacy and transparency.

Photograph by Matthew Millman

In Situ; San Francisco, by Aidlin Darling Design

Located in the recently reopened San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), In Situ represents a unique intersection of art, design, food and community. The restaurant features a curated collection of culinary innovators from around the world to make their contributions accessible for greater public engagement. Its design operates at many scales from urban to the intimate, and is intended to engage all of the senses with an emphasis on tactility and acoustics. The exposed interior shell of the building provides a backdrop for discreetly placed "artifacts" which include commissioned art, custom designed lighting, custom furniture and a sculptural wood ceiling.

Photograph by Bruce Damonte

Pinterest HQ; San Francisco, by IwamotoScott Architecture with Brereton Architects

The new Pinterest headquarters is inspired by the redesign of the company's web platform — clean, simple, intuitive. It occupies a concrete structure in the SOMA district that previously housed a John Deer factory. A key aspect of the design extends the existing atrium through to the ground floor, spatially connecting all four floors. The Knitting Stair occupies this newly activated heart of the building. The workspace programme is organised as porous, concentric layers around the atrium and Knitting Stair, opening up to the city at the ground floor's lobby, cafe, all-hands space and maker lab.

University of Massachusetts (UMass) Dartmouth, Claire T Carney Library; Dartmouth, Massachusetts, by DesignLAB with Austin Architects

Conceived in 1963 as a utopian community by architect Paul Rudolph, the UMass Dartmouth campus remains a tour de force of late 20th-century architectural exuberance and optimism. The Claire T Carney Library is the 160,000-square-foot centrepiece of the concentric campus plan. DesignLAB's transformation celebrates the historic architecture, while creating a state-of-the-art learning environment, improved group study spaces, a cafe, a lecture space, and a new campus living room. Inspired by Rudolph's original design intentions, the renovation included the re-introduction of a vibrant colour palette, bold supergraphics, and dynamic social spaces.

Photograph by Hedrich Blessing

Writers Theatre; Glencoe, IL, by Studio Gang

While functional requirements of performance venues often dictate opaque volumes, the 36,000-square-foot Writers Theatre is instead a transparent cultural anchor that embraces its community. A double-height lobby provides a flexible space for outreach, gatherings, and performances, with glass doors that open to the adjacent park. Clad in wood hewn from the site, box office and concessions are treated as furniture, integrated into flexible lobby tribune seating. A canopy walk hung from timber trusses provides an open-air gathering place before, after, and between shows. The two stages are configured to enhance the intimacy for which Writers is known while creating new opportunities for innovative performance.

Find out more about Writers Theatre ›

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design

Photography by James Maguire

Cleveland Civic Core; Cleveland, by LMN Architects

Cleveland's civic centre is one of the most completely realised examples of the City Beautiful movement in US city planning that flourished during the late 1800s. In 1903, architect/planner Daniel Burnham designed the Mall – a large public park flanked by major civic and government buildings on a bluff above Lake Erie. One hundred years later, the Cleveland Civic Core project continues Burnham's vision while reimagining it for the 21st century, weaving together two public assembly facilities with civic green space to catalyse a dramatic revitalisation of the downtown core.

Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan; Philadelphia, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

The master plan for Philadelphia's 30th Street Station District, created through the partnership of Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, PennDOT, and SEPTA, and developed by SOM in association with WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, OLIN, and HR&A Advisors, will realise the long-awaited vision of a mixed-use urban district centred on a vibrant transportation hub. The plan, determined through a broad and inclusive public process, creates a sweeping transformation of the historic station and the 88-acre rail yard it anchors to build a new neighbourhood above the district's complex transportation infrastructure.

Find out more about Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan ›

Reinventing Vilonia; Vilonia, Arkansas by, UA Community Design Center

The town of Vilonia was levelled by an EF-4 tornado that killed 11 people in 2014.  The reinvention plan, unanimously adopted by the city council in 2015, is built upon a new strategy to employ underground safe rooms as a municipal planning format that can be transferred to other towns susceptible to tornados. To deal with these issues, the plan calls for the implementation of a "safescape" comprising a modulated system of shipping containers buried underground. By combining the network of safe rooms with a park system and new town loop, residents and visitors will be within a five-minute walk of safety during a tornado.

Regeneracion: A Vision for the Campus and District of the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico; by Sasaki Associates

"Regeneración", the new Framework Plan for Monterrey Tec's flagship campus rethinks the institution's relationship to its complex urban setting to make a new kind of contribution to the city, the country, and the very nature of higher education in Mexico. Inter-disciplinary learning, mixed-use R&D clusters and cultural facilities are carefully connected to the district by a strong public realm, reinforcing synergies with surrounding neighbourhoods. The plan reflects a new pedagogical vision, and sets the stage for continued expansion of the Tec's influence as an engine of innovation and development in Mexico.

Rock Chapel Marine; Chelsea, Massachusetts, by Landing Studio

A shared-use road-salt transshipment facility and recreation and habitat landscape, Rock Chapel Marine is a new model for the integration of active industrial uses with public access on the working waterfront. Through design, the project interweaves industrial operations with everyday life, making use of the seasonal nature of the salt industry to expand public recreation during the summertime and then return to industrial use in the winter. Structures from the site's former use as an oil terminal are re-appropriated throughout, creating new forms of public engagement with the working waterfront.

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AIA reveals winners of 2017 Honor Awards for the year's best American architecture

Shigeru Ban's Colorado art museum, a Senegalese cultural centre by Toshiko Mori and a Pinterest office in San Francisco are among this year's recipients of design awards from the American Institute of Architects.

The AIA has announced 23 winners of its 2017 Honor Awards, described as "the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify excellence in architecture, interior architecture and urban design". The awards are bestowed upon architects licensed in the United States, although the projects can be located around the world.

The Aspen Art Museum in Colorado – designed by Shigeru Ban Architects with associate firm CCY Architects – and Thread: Artists' Residency and Cultural Center in rural Senegal by Toshiko Mori Architect were among the honorees in the architecture category.

Other architecture winners include a micro-unit apartment tower in Manhattan, an energy facility at Standard University and the adaptive reuse of a tobacco warehouse in Brooklyn.

The Pinterest headquarters in San Francisco, by IwamotoScott with Brereton Architects, was recognised in the interiors category, while an SOM-designed masterplan for Philadelphia's 30th Street Station won in the regional and urban design category.

Chosen from roughly 700 submissions, the award recipients were selected by a jury of architects and academics.

Related story

Paul Revere Williams becomes first black architect to receive AIA Gold Medal

In December, the institute announced it was awarding its 2017 Gold Medal to the late Paul Revere Williams – the first African American to receive the award. Williams, who died in 1980, became the first black architect to join the AIA in 1923.

Read on for an overview of each Honor Award winner from the AIA:

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture

Photograph by Michael Moran

Aspen Art Museum; Aspen, Colorado, by Shigeru Ban Architects with CCY Architects

Founded in the late 1970s as a non-collecting institution, the Aspen Art Museum worked in tandem with the design team to determine programmematic needs and to ensure its new home completely supported the art it hangs. Adhering to a strict 18-month construction schedule, the new museum opened in 2014 and has seen a 400 per cent increase in visitorship and a 1,140 per cent increase in the number of students served by the museum's educational outreach initiatives. Three floors—two above ground, one below—are dedicated to gallery space, while the top floor includes an ample multi-use space, cafe, and public terrace with sweeping views of the Rockies.

Find out more about Aspen Art Museum ›

Photograph by Iwan Baan

Carmel Place; New York City, by nArchitects

Winner of the 2012 adAPT NYC competition for New York City's first micro-unit apartment building, Carmel Place represents a new housing paradigm for the city's growing small household population. The design of the nine-storey building's 55 units aims for spaciousness and luminosity through the implementation of 9'-8" ceilings, 8' tall sliding windows and Juliet balconies. With a goal of conveying the residents' nested scales of community, afforded by varied interior and exterior shared spaces, the building's brick exterior massing resembles four slender "mini-towers" – a microcosm of the city's skyline.

Find out more about Carmel Place ›

Photograph by Jeff Goldberg

Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project; New York City, by Iu + Bibliowicz Architects LLP

The Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project centred on: renovation, reorganisation, and repurposing of 167,000 square feet of non-performance venues at the National Historic site. The seven-year project encompassed the creation of a Music Education Wing, new roof terrace, consolidation of administrative offices, expanded backstage space and functionality, and facade lighting to showcase the landmark. Substantial interior structural modifications and infrastructure upgrades aided in the success of the renovation. The project was awarded LEED Silver Certification, one of the oldest and most notable buildings in the country with such distinction.

Photograph by Brian Mihaelsick

The Cotton Gin at the CO-OP District; Hutto, Texas, by Antenora Architects

The reuse of the two existing cotton gin structures is the first piece of a 2012 masterplan to revitalise the site, which was purchased by the City of Hutto. Both structures were selectively deconstructed and reused to create a single open-air 6,500-square-foot public events space. The new building is wrapped in perforated stainless steel that reflects the hot Texas sun during the day and provides intriguing transparency at night. The design team succeeded in creating a flexible space for public and private events that complements everything from programmematic functions of the local library and farmer's markets to artisan fairs and wedding receptions.

Photograph by Iwan Baan

Grace Farms; New Canaan, Connecticut, by SANAA with Handel Architects

Grace Farms was established with the idea that "space communicates" and can inspire people to collaborate for good. To realise this vision, Grace Farms Foundation appointed SANAA to create a porous, multipurpose building nestled within an 80-acre landscape that would encourage people to engage with nature, the arts, justice, community, and faith. The River building emerged as a new kind of public space that embodies these aspirations. Its sinuous structure is comprised of 203 individually curved glass panels containing five volumes: a sanctuary; library; commons; pavilion; and partially submerged court.

Find out more about Grace Farms ›

Photograph by Kate Joyce

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts; Chicago, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects with Holabird & Root

Sitting on the southern edge of Chicago's Midway, the Center houses the University of Chicago's visual arts, film, music, and theatre programmes, finally uniting the programmes under one roof.  The building comprises a 10-storey tower and an adjacent two-storey "podium." Both are clad in Missouri limestone cut into four-foot lengths and laid as bricks. The material echoes the limestone found on the University's neo-gothic structures as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, also located on campus.  Bathed in natural light, the smaller building is lit by north-facing skylights throughout its many creative spaces.

Photograph by David Sundberg

St Ann's Warehouse; Brooklyn, New York, by Marvel Architects

Beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Marvel Architects has brought the brick and mortar ruins of the historic Tobacco Warehouse back to life, creating a new theatre space for renowned presenter St Ann's Warehouse. Leading a team of Silman, Buro Happold and Charcoalblue, Marvel created a controlled acoustical environment using natural state materials - concrete, blackened steel, Douglas-fir plywood. With a respectful sleight of hand, a new roof floats atop a ribbon of solid glass brick. Adjacent to the theatre is a trapezoidal garden designed with Michael Van Valkenberg Landscape.

Photograph by Tara Wujcik

The Six Affordable Veteran Housing; Los Angeles, by Brooks + Scarpa

The SIX is a 52-unit LEED Platinum affordable housing and support services building for disabled veterans. Located in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, which has one of the highest densities in the USA with a total population of 120,000 people in 2.72 square miles.  The SIX breaks the prescriptive mould of the traditional shelter by creating public and private "zones" in which private space is de-emphasised, in favour of large public areas. The organisation is intended to transform the way people live away from a reclusive, isolating layout towards a community-oriented, interactive space.

Photograph by Tim Griffith

Stanford University Central Energy Facility; Stanford, California by ZGF Architects

The Central Energy Facility is the heart of Stanford University's transformational campus-wide energy system, projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 68 per cent. The centrepiece of this composition of large, industrial components is a central courtyard pivoting around a 2.5-million-gallon hot water thermal storage tank, showcasing the energy plant's mission. The architecture takes its cues from Stanford's rich heritage: the Stanford arcade is reimagined as PV trellis; integrally coloured cast-in-place concrete nods to the prevalent limestone; and weathered Corten steel accents suggest terracotta tile roofs that give the campus much of its character.

Find out more about Stanford University Central Energy Facility ›

Photograph by Iwan Baan

THREAD: Artists' Residency and Cultural Center; Sinthain, Senegal by Toshiko Mori Architect

Located in the remote village of Sinthian, Senegal, this project offers multiple programmes for the community, including a gathering space, performance centre, and residency for visiting artists. In the design, a parametric transformation of the traditional pitched roof inscribes a series of courtyards within the plan of the building while also creating shaded, multi-purpose areas around the perimeter of the courtyard. The inversion of the roof creates an effective strategy for the collection and storage of rainwater, capable of fulfilling substantial domestic and agricultural water needs for the community. Relying exclusively on local materials and construction techniques, the building's traditional structure is formed primarily of bamboo and spaced-brick walls that absorb heat and promote airflow through the building interior.

Photograph by Richard Caspole

Yale Center for British Art Building Conservation Project; New Haven, Connecticut by Knight Architecture

Following nearly forty years of continuous operation, the Yale Center for British Art, designed by Louis I. Kahn and recipient of AIA's Twenty-five Year Award, faced mounting programmematic, infrastructural, and operational pressures which threatened to degrade its extraordinary architectural character. The multi-year conservation project renewed interior finishes that had grown tired and worn; restored and expanded teaching spaces that were oversubscribed and underequipped; fortified spaces for exhibition, storage, and study of the growing collection; and replaced vital building systems which had reached the end of their practical life.

Find out more about Yale Center for British Art ›

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Interior Architecture

Photograph by Paul Warchol

30 Rockefeller Plaza: 65th Floor, Rainbow Room, SixtyFive; New York City, by Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Montroy Andersen DeMarco

Gabellini Sheppard Associates opened a new chapter for the 13,160-square-foot Rainbow Room and 65th floor, blending contemporary needs with design that rekindled the room's original Art Deco-inspired spirit and radiant notoriety of 1934. In the Rainbow Room, the revitalisation of the rotating dance floor, addition of mesmerising crystal window veils, and restoration of the chandelier and central dome, reinforce the modern-day grandeur. In Bar SixtyFive, a faceted ceiling composed of glass-reinforced gypsum panels anchor the space, reinterpreting the open-air height the room once had as a sun parlour.

Photograph by James Haefner

General Motors Design Auditorium; Detroit, by SmithGroupJJR

In 1956, the General Motors styling team moved from Detroit to a new design space. The complex, originally designed by Eero Saarinen, has become a legendary corporate master piece of planning and design. For SmithGroupJJR, the overall design intent was to modernise the facility but to do so in a manner consistent with the original Saarinen detailing. Technologies of materials, lighting and audio/visual have progressed dramatically and the revised Design Dome is now poised for General Motors to re-establish the relevance of this significant space for the design community.

George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health; Washington DC by Payette with Ayers Saint Gross

Located on iconic Washington Circle Park in the heart of the nation's capital, this School of Public Health is a rigorous, innovative response to site and programme. With its most sustainable solutions so deeply embedded as to be nearly indistinguishable, it keenly demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between sustainability and public health. The building's unusual skylit atrium, in which classrooms and study areas overlook the city through an open latticework of floor openings, invites exploration and discovery. The building supports a highly effective learning and interaction environment that is equally memorable for its intimacy and transparency.

Photograph by Matthew Millman

In Situ; San Francisco, by Aidlin Darling Design

Located in the recently reopened San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), In Situ represents a unique intersection of art, design, food and community. The restaurant features a curated collection of culinary innovators from around the world to make their contributions accessible for greater public engagement. Its design operates at many scales from urban to the intimate, and is intended to engage all of the senses with an emphasis on tactility and acoustics. The exposed interior shell of the building provides a backdrop for discreetly placed "artifacts" which include commissioned art, custom designed lighting, custom furniture and a sculptural wood ceiling.

Photograph by Bruce Damonte

Pinterest HQ; San Francisco, by IwamotoScott Architecture with Brereton Architects

The new Pinterest headquarters is inspired by the redesign of the company's web platform — clean, simple, intuitive. It occupies a concrete structure in the SOMA district that previously housed a John Deer factory. A key aspect of the design extends the existing atrium through to the ground floor, spatially connecting all four floors. The Knitting Stair occupies this newly activated heart of the building. The workspace programme is organised as porous, concentric layers around the atrium and Knitting Stair, opening up to the city at the ground floor's lobby, cafe, all-hands space and maker lab.

University of Massachusetts (UMass) Dartmouth, Claire T Carney Library; Dartmouth, Massachusetts, by DesignLAB with Austin Architects

Conceived in 1963 as a utopian community by architect Paul Rudolph, the UMass Dartmouth campus remains a tour de force of late 20th-century architectural exuberance and optimism. The Claire T Carney Library is the 160,000-square-foot centrepiece of the concentric campus plan. DesignLAB's transformation celebrates the historic architecture, while creating a state-of-the-art learning environment, improved group study spaces, a cafe, a lecture space, and a new campus living room. Inspired by Rudolph's original design intentions, the renovation included the re-introduction of a vibrant colour palette, bold supergraphics, and dynamic social spaces.

Photograph by Hedrich Blessing

Writers Theatre; Glencoe, IL, by Studio Gang

While functional requirements of performance venues often dictate opaque volumes, the 36,000-square-foot Writers Theatre is instead a transparent cultural anchor that embraces its community. A double-height lobby provides a flexible space for outreach, gatherings, and performances, with glass doors that open to the adjacent park. Clad in wood hewn from the site, box office and concessions are treated as furniture, integrated into flexible lobby tribune seating. A canopy walk hung from timber trusses provides an open-air gathering place before, after, and between shows. The two stages are configured to enhance the intimacy for which Writers is known while creating new opportunities for innovative performance.

Find out more about Writers Theatre ›

2017 Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design

Photography by James Maguire

Cleveland Civic Core; Cleveland, by LMN Architects

Cleveland's civic centre is one of the most completely realised examples of the City Beautiful movement in US city planning that flourished during the late 1800s. In 1903, architect/planner Daniel Burnham designed the Mall – a large public park flanked by major civic and government buildings on a bluff above Lake Erie. One hundred years later, the Cleveland Civic Core project continues Burnham's vision while reimagining it for the 21st century, weaving together two public assembly facilities with civic green space to catalyse a dramatic revitalisation of the downtown core.

Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan; Philadelphia, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

The master plan for Philadelphia's 30th Street Station District, created through the partnership of Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, PennDOT, and SEPTA, and developed by SOM in association with WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, OLIN, and HR&A Advisors, will realise the long-awaited vision of a mixed-use urban district centred on a vibrant transportation hub. The plan, determined through a broad and inclusive public process, creates a sweeping transformation of the historic station and the 88-acre rail yard it anchors to build a new neighbourhood above the district's complex transportation infrastructure.

Find out more about Philadelphia 30th Street Station District Plan ›

Reinventing Vilonia; Vilonia, Arkansas by, UA Community Design Center

The town of Vilonia was levelled by an EF-4 tornado that killed 11 people in 2014.  The reinvention plan, unanimously adopted by the city council in 2015, is built upon a new strategy to employ underground safe rooms as a municipal planning format that can be transferred to other towns susceptible to tornados. To deal with these issues, the plan calls for the implementation of a "safescape" comprising a modulated system of shipping containers buried underground. By combining the network of safe rooms with a park system and new town loop, residents and visitors will be within a five-minute walk of safety during a tornado.

Regeneracion: A Vision for the Campus and District of the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico; by Sasaki Associates

"Regeneración", the new Framework Plan for Monterrey Tec's flagship campus rethinks the institution's relationship to its complex urban setting to make a new kind of contribution to the city, the country, and the very nature of higher education in Mexico. Inter-disciplinary learning, mixed-use R&D clusters and cultural facilities are carefully connected to the district by a strong public realm, reinforcing synergies with surrounding neighbourhoods. The plan reflects a new pedagogical vision, and sets the stage for continued expansion of the Tec's influence as an engine of innovation and development in Mexico.

Rock Chapel Marine; Chelsea, Massachusetts, by Landing Studio

A shared-use road-salt transshipment facility and recreation and habitat landscape, Rock Chapel Marine is a new model for the integration of active industrial uses with public access on the working waterfront. Through design, the project interweaves industrial operations with everyday life, making use of the seasonal nature of the salt industry to expand public recreation during the summertime and then return to industrial use in the winter. Structures from the site's former use as an oil terminal are re-appropriated throughout, creating new forms of public engagement with the working waterfront.

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