#architect in santa fe new mexico

[meusmelhoresbeijos]

Flat - Southwestern Exterior An illustration of a medium-sized two-story, southwest brown adobe flat roof design

[pisabookintown]

Mudroom - Contemporary Entry Entryway - mid-sized contemporary entryway idea with beige walls and a medium wood front door

[dd20century]

Alexander Girard: Color, Texture, and Joy

“Anything can be used to create beauty.” – Alexander Girard

Alexander Girard’s Youth

American architect, interior designer, product designer, and textile designer Alexander Girard was born on May 24, 1907 in New York City to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father. He spent his childhood in Florence, Italy, which likely influenced his later design aesthetic. (1) Florence’s rich artistic and architectural heritage of the Renaissance likely contributed to his appreciation for craftsmanship, attention to detail, and bold use of color that would later characterize his work.

When young Girard was 10 years old his parents sent him to a boarding school in England. After graduating school he studied architecture in London in 1927 and later in the Royal School of Architecture in Rome. (2)

Alexander and Susan Girard pose with their family and several pieces of their folk art collection (circa 1950). Photo credit: unknown. Image source.

Alexander Girard Begins His Career

“In 1932, Girard returned to the United States and opened his first design office in New York City. Five years later, he moved again, to Detroit, where he opened a second studio” (3). In the United States, Girard’s work became influenced by the current movements of Modernism and Art Deco, blending traditional European elements with contemporary design, creating a unique style that bridged both European and American aesthetics. (1)

During his time in New York Girard was “a member of the Architectural League of New York and the American Institute of Decorators” (4). Also while in New York Girard met designer Susan Needham March. They fell in love and married in 1936. The couple had a daughter and a son. Later Susan would be instrumental in helping Girard build their impressive collection of folk art for which the couple purchased a 200-year-old adobe house in the early 1950s in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Girard’s home “evolved into a showcase residence...featured in television shows and books” (4).

In Detroit, Girard “practiced design and architecture in Grosse Pointe, Michigan” (4) and decorated the homes of many wealthy clients. In 1949 he curated an exhibition “For Modern Living” on postwar Modernism for the Detroit Institute. (1) This groundbreaking show “included the first public display of Charles and Ray Eames’s molded plywood chairs” (3). In 1953 Girard served as interior designer on Eero Saarinen’s Irwin Miller House in Columbus, Indiana.

Alexander Girard, Living Area of the Miller House, Columbus, IN, (1953-1957). Photo credit: Library of Congress. Image source.

Girard Joins Herman Miller

During the late 1940s, Girard became friends with designer Charles Eames “when the two … realized they had coincidently designed almost identical modern radio cabinets and were both experimenting with plywood chairs” (1). In 1952 Charles Eames helped to recruit Girard to join the Herman Miller Company and head up their Textile Division. (5) Girard was responsible for transforming the “look and feel of the furniture products designed by Charles Eames” (5) and those of Herman Miller’s head designer George Nelson. Girard used bold colors and strong graphic patterns on the upholstery he designed for the firm. Many designs were inspired by the Southwestern folk art that he loved. (1) Girard was not only concerned with the look of the fabrics used but also their quality introducing “new and varied forms of fabrics that could be used on a whole host of products and offer durability, comfort and versatility" (5).

Alexander Girard, T&O Showroom, New York City (1961). Photo credit: Vitra Design Museum. Image source.

In 1961 Herman Miller opened the T&O (Textiles and Objects) showroom which featured, “textiles as an integral part of interior displays for both designers” (2) and consumers. Girard’s folk art was also predominant throughout the showroom. Unfortunately, the shop was a bit ahead of its time. Consumers still comfortable with the muted color palate of the late 1950s were not yet ready for Girard’s bold looks, although his designs would become very popular by the decade’s end. “Girard continued designing for Herman Miller until 1973. He created over 300 textile designs in multitudes of colorways, wallpapers, prints, furniture, and objects” (6).

While Girard is perhaps best known for his work with Herman Miller, he did not work exclusively for the company. This allowed him to obtain commissions for interior projects for Braniff Airlines and John Deere. He designed many restaurant interiors, most notably LaFonda del Sol (1960) and L'Etoile Restaurant (1966), both in New York City, and The Compound Restaurant (1967), in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (2)

Alexander Girard, La Fonda Del Sol Restaurant, New York City (1960). Image source.

La Fonda Del Sol

Girard collaborated with his friends and fellow designers Charles and Ray Eames on the La Fonda Del Sol project. The restaurant which opened in the Time-Life Building in 1960 "was a Latin American-themed eatery with beautifully designed murals, typefaces, menus, tableware and fabrics all by Girard” (5). The Eames designed the restaurant’s furniture, and Girard asked that the chairs “not be higher than the surface of the table and that they could be pushed to the table and leave a clear field of vision over the restaurant” (5). The resulting chairs were an upholstered “adaptation of the fiberglass arm and side chairs but with a lower rounded back.” Herman Miller later sold the Eames’ designs under the La Fonda line. (5)

Alexander Girard, Menu from La Fonda Del Sol Restaurant, New York City (1960). Image source.

Girard and the End of the Plain Plane

In 1965 Girard obtained a commission from Braniff Airlines to spearhead a rebranding campaign called “The End of the Plain Plane.” Girard was responsible for redesigning over 17,000 objects “airplane interiors to waiting room seating, condiments, blankets, uniforms and even food trays” (5). Girard did not design the airline attendant uniforms which were designed by Italian designer Emilio Pucci. In addition, Girard created a line of furniture for Braniff's ticket offices and customer lounges which Herman Miller marketed only in 1967. (5) Girard’s design was so popular that other airlines soon followed after the Braniff corporate redesign program.

The Girard Foundation

Alexander and Susan Girard founded the Girard Foundation in 1962. The organization managed over 100,000 items in the couple’s folk art collection. “Toys, dolls, icons, and other ethnic expressions” 2 made up the collection. “In 1978, Girard contributed his immense collection to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States”. (2) The Girard Wing of the museum houses Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, a permanent collection by Alexander Girard designed and installed. (2)

Alexander Girard, Poster for the 'The Nativity’ exhibition of folk art, Nelson Gallery of Art, (1962). Image source.

Alexander Girard's Awards and Legacy

Alexander Girard was awarded the Silver Medal by the Architectural League of New York in 1962 and the Elise de Wolfe Award by the New York Chapter of American Institute of Interior Designers in 1966. (2) In 2001, Cooper Hewitt in New York City held a retrospective of this work The Opulent Eye of Alexander Girard. Another exhibition of Girard’s work was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2006. Several books have been published on Girard’s work. (2) Alexander Girard died from complications of Alzheimer's Disease on New Year’s Eve 1993 in the home where he and his wife had lovingly assembled their folk art collection. (4)

With current interest in mid-century modern design, Girard’s work has become very popular and highly collectible. A new generation of designers has been influenced by his bold color sense and strong graphics and by his sense of joy and whimsy obtained by combining those designs with Southwestern folk art.

References

Stardust.com, 2024. Alexander Girard Biography. https://www.stardust.com/alexander-girard.html

Wikipedia.com, (1 October, 2014). Alexander Girard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Girard

Stylepark AG, (2024). Alexander Girard. https://www.stylepark.com/en/designer/alexander-girard

Lyons, R. D. (2 January, 1994). Alexander H. Girard Dies at 86; Architect and Interior Designer. New York Times online archive. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/obituaries/alexander-h-girard-dies-at-86-architect-and-interior-designer.html

Eames.com, (2024). https://eames.com/en/articles/alexandergirard

Herman Miller (2024). Designers: Alexander Girard. https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_lac/designers/girard/

[denimbex1986]

'In Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” the military asks the architect of the Manhattan Project what he’ll do with Los Alamos now that the bombs have been dropped. “Give the land back to the Indians,” he says. The brass scoffs. The work at Los Alamos will only intensify. There’s no returning the poisoned land.

Jenn Shapland’s new collection of essays, “Thin Skin,” circles the metaphor of being “thin-skinned,” which she defines as meaning to “feel keenly, to perceive things that might go unseen, unnoticed, that others might prefer not to notice.” Her previous book, “My Autobiography of Carson McCullers,” was a case in point: a brilliant dual biography focused on McCullers’ true sexuality and Shapland’s coming into her own identity as a lesbian.

In the opening essay that gives this follow-up its title, Shapland turns to what she notices in New Mexico. The Manhattan Project not only gave the world nuclear war, it pushed Indigenous and Latino people out of their homes and ruined the land and water. Of nearby Santa Fe, where Shapland lives, she writes, “What capitalism offers us: a stage set on which to live our lives without knowing whom we crush. In some ways it is the ultimate colonial insult, to adopt a bastardized version of an ancient cultural lifeway as an aesthetic to draw more white people. The city itself is a lifestyle brand.”

In “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour film, the “Indians” are mentioned twice in passing. The ravages of toxic waste and the horrific aftermath of atomic war are never seen. Shapland’s book is the film “Oppenheimer” should have been, one that reflects on the Manhattan Project’s lasting impact on the world community. With a writing style that recalls the work of Eula Biss and a goal in solidarity with “Who is Wellness For?” by Fariha Róisín, Shapland opens “Thin Skin” with devastating statistics tying nuclear waste to cancer rates before turning to people, speaking with tribal leaders and even with her own parents...

“Thin Skin” asks readers to consider themselves and the world they occupy — not the future, but the present. The choices we make for this world are for ourselves. “We can leave other things behind besides children,” Shapland writes. “Other forms of longevity exist, even if they are unquantifiable.”

At one point in “The Meaning of Life,” Shapland runs into a group of women in their 60s and 70s traveling and having a ball. “When they do not have children, or the burden of someday having them, or the need to prepare their lives to have them, they are at least free to be children themselves.” The alt-right, in response to “Black Lives Matter,” says “All Lives Matter.” “Thin Skin” motivates us to act like we believe it.'

[ultraheydudemestuff]

Tower East

20600 Chagrin Boulevard

Shaker Heights, OH

Tower East is a twelve story high-rise office building located at 20600 Chagrin Boulevard in Shaker Heights, Ohio. At 160 feet, it is the tallest building in the city. Built in 1966-1969, Tower East was the last building in the United States designed by German architect Walter Gropius who founded the Bauhaus school of design and is considered a pioneer of modernism. Gropius designed this building during his tenure with The Architect's Collaborative (TAC).  BGK Equities of Santa Fe, New Mexico, purchased the building for $12.68 million in 2000. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 22, 2014.  In 2015, it was sold to E2G, an affiliate of the Equity Engineering Group Inc.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Thursday, 16th November

Welcome, שלום, Willkommen, Velkommen 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 16th November through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

16th November 2022 🗓️ : Event - Artemis program Artemis Program: NASA launches Artemis 1 on the first flight of the Space Launch System, the start of the program's future missions to the moon. "The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with six major partner agencies— the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),..."

Image by EricMuss-Barnes

16th November 2018 🗓️ : Death - William Goldman William Goldman, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1931) "William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories—once for Best..."

Image by Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer

16th November 2013 🗓️ : Death - Tanvir Ahmad Khan Tanvir Ahmad Khan, Indian-Pakistani diplomat, 19th Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (b. 1932) "Tanvir Ahmad Khan (12 June 1932 – 16 November 2013) was a career diplomat from Pakistan...."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Prospero100

16th November 1973 🗓️ : Event - Richard Nixon U.S. president Richard Nixon signed an act authorizing the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to transport oil from the Beaufort Sea to the Gulf of Alaska. "Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A lawyer and member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961 under..."

Image by Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center. (ca. 1974 - 05/15/1984)

16th November 1922 🗓️ : Birth - Gene Amdahl Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist, physicist, and engineer (d. 2015) "Gene Myron Amdahl (November 16, 1922 – November 10, 2015) was an American computer architect and high-tech entrepreneur, chiefly known for his work on mainframe computers at IBM and later his own companies, especially Amdahl Corporation. He formulated Amdahl's law, which states a fundamental..."

Image licensed under CC BY 3.0? by Perry Kivolowitz (Pkivolowitz at en.wikipedia)

16th November 1822 🗓️ : Event - American frontier American Old West: Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail. "The American frontier, also known as the Old West, popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and..."

Image by John C. H. Grabill

16th November 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Hugh of Lincoln "Hugh of Lincoln, O.Cart. (c. 1140 – 16 November 1200), also known as Hugh of Avalon, was a French-born Benedictine and Carthusian monk, bishop of Lincoln in the Kingdom of England, and Catholic saint. His feast is observed by Catholics on 16 November and by Anglicans on 17 November...."

Image by

Unknown authorUnknown author

[bethestaryouareradio]

Roots, Dog Lessons, Anger Angst

Tune in LIVE weekly to the upbeat, positive lifestyle broadcast where producer and host Cynthia Brian showcases strategies for success on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!®. Available wherever you listen to your favorite programs!

Why are roots essential? Without healthy roots, all plants would struggle to survive. Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian, describes the importance of a strong root system and shares a bit about her family roots.

Author Hersch Wilson of Firefighter Zen, joins Cynthia Brian for his newest book, Dog Lessons, a heartwarming meditation on the powerful presence of dogs in our lives and the transformative lessons they can teach us about love, loyalty, grief, and more.

Everyone gets angry. Anger is responsible for aggressive and violent behavior. How can we manage our anger and express ourselves with assertive communication techniques? We’ll focus on positive tips. 

Bio: Hersch Wilson is an organizational consultant, pilot, former professional dancer, and volunteer firefighter. He writes a monthly column on dogs for the Santa Fe New Mexican, has published articles and done presentations on PTSD and firefighters, and is the author of Play to Win and Firefighter Zen. His wife Laurie owns and runs an award-winning, popular boutique pet store. They have two daughters and currently two dogs: a Great Pyrenees named Toby and a Chihuahua-terrier mix named Maisie. They live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. More information at HerschWilson.com. Twitter: @bravingfires

Instagram: Herschwilson

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Read how BTSYA is Making a Difference: https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/460747/IBPA-Member-Spotlight-Cynthia-Brian.htm 

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[archatlas]

Two Hundred Fifty Things an Architect Should Know

by Michael Sorkin

  1.    The feel of cool marble under bare feet.   2.    How to live in a small room with five strangers for six months.   3.    With the same strangers in a lifeboat for one week.   4.    The modulus of rupture.   5.    The distance a shout carries in the city.   6.    The distance of a whisper.   7.    Everything possible about Hatshepsut’s temple (try not to see it as   ‘modernist’ avant la lettre).

The Temple of Hatshepsut 

  8.    The number of people with rent subsidies in New York City.   9.    In your town (include the rich). 10.    The flowering season for azaleas. 11.    The insulating properties of glass. 12.    The history of its production and use. 13.    And of its meaning. 14.    How to lay bricks. 15.    What Victor Hugo really meant by ‘this will kill that.’ 16.    The rate at which the seas are rising. 17.    Building information modeling (BIM). 18.    How to unclog a Rapidograph. 19.    The Gini coefficient. 20.    A comfortable tread-to-riser ratio for a six-year-old. 21.    In a wheelchair. 22.    The energy embodied in aluminum. 23.    How to turn a corner. 24.    How to design a corner. 25.    How to sit in a corner. 26.    How Antoni Gaudí modeled the Sagrada Família and calculated its structure. 27.    The proportioning system for the Villa Rotonda. 28.    The rate at which that carpet you specified off-gasses. 29.    The relevant sections of the Code of Hammurabi. 30.    The migratory patterns of warblers and other seasonal travellers. 31.    The basics of mud construction. 32.    The direction of prevailing winds. 33.    Hydrology is destiny. 34.    Jane Jacobs in and out. 35.    Something about feng shui. 36.    Something about Vastu Shilpa. 37.    Elementary ergonomics. 38.    The color wheel. 39.    What the client wants. 40.    What the client thinks it wants. 41.    What the client needs. 42.    What the client can afford. 43.    What the planet can afford. 44.    The theoretical bases for modernity and a great deal about its factions and inflections. 45.    What post-Fordism means for the mode of production of building. 46.    Another language. 47.    What the brick really wants. 48.    The difference between Winchester Cathedral and a bicycle shed. 49.    What went wrong in Fatehpur Sikri. 50.    What went wrong in Pruitt-Igoe. 51.    What went wrong with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 52.    Where the CCTV cameras are. 53.    Why Mies really left Germany. 54.    How people lived in Çatal Hüyük. 55.    The structural properties of tufa. 56.    How to calculate the dimensions of brise-soleil. 57.    The kilowatt costs of photovoltaic cells. 58.    Vitruvius. 59.    Walter Benjamin. 60.    Marshall Berman. 61.    The secrets of the success of Robert Moses. 62.    How the dome on the Duomo in Florence was built.

Duomo in Florence

63.    The reciprocal influences of Chinese and Japanese building. 64.    The cycle of the Ise Shrine. 65.    Entasis. 66.    The history of Soweto. 67.    What it’s like to walk down the Ramblas. 68.    Back-up. 69.    The proper proportions of a gin martini. 70.    Shear and moment. 71.    Shakespeare, et cetera. 72.    How the crow flies. 73.    The difference between a ghetto and a neighborhood. 74.    How the pyramids were built. 75.    Why. 76.    The pleasures of the suburbs. 77.    The horrors. 78.    The quality of light passing through ice. 79.    The meaninglessness of borders. 80.    The reasons for their tenacity. 81.    The creativity of the ecotone. 82.    The need for freaks. 83.    Accidents must happen. 84.    It is possible to begin designing anywhere. 85.    The smell of concrete after rain. 86.    The angle of the sun at the equinox. 87.    How to ride a bicycle. 88.    The depth of the aquifer beneath you. 89.    The slope of a handicapped ramp. 90.    The wages of construction workers. 91.    Perspective by hand. 92.    Sentence structure. 93.    The pleasure of a spritz at sunset at a table by the Grand Canal. 94.    The thrill of the ride. 95.    Where materials come from. 96.    How to get lost. 97.    The pattern of artificial light at night, seen from space. 98.    What human differences are defensible in practice. 99.    Creation is a patient search. 100.    The debate between Otto Wagner and Camillo Sitte. 101.    The reasons for the split between architecture and engineering. 102.    Many ideas about what constitutes utopia. 103.    The social and formal organization of the villages of the Dogon. 104.    Brutalism, Bowellism, and the Baroque. 105.    How to dérive. 106.    Woodshop safety. 107.    A great deal about the Gothic. 108.    The architectural impact of colonialism on the cities of North Africa. 109.    A distaste for imperialism. 110.    The history of Beijing.

Beijing Skyline

111.    Dutch domestic architecture in the 17th century. 112.    Aristotle’s Politics. 113.    His Poetics. 114.    The basics of wattle and daub. 115.    The origins of the balloon frame. 116.    The rate at which copper acquires its patina. 117.    The levels of particulates in the air of Tianjin. 118.    The capacity of white pine trees to sequester carbon. 119.    Where else to sink it. 120.    The fire code. 121.    The seismic code. 122.    The health code. 123.    The Romantics, throughout the arts and philosophy. 124.    How to listen closely. 125.    That there is a big danger in working in a single medium. The logjam you don’t even know you’re stuck in will be broken by a shift in representation. 126.    The exquisite corpse. 127.    Scissors, stone, paper. 128.    Good Bordeaux. 129.    Good beer. 130.    How to escape a maze. 131.    QWERTY. 132.    Fear. 133.    Finding your way around Prague, Fez, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Kyoto, Rio, Mexico, Solo, Benares, Bangkok, Leningrad, Isfahan. 134.    The proper way to behave with interns. 135.    Maya, Revit, Catia, whatever. 136.    The history of big machines, including those that can fly. 137.    How to calculate ecological footprints. 138.    Three good lunch spots within walking distance. 139.    The value of human life. 140.    Who pays. 141.    Who profits. 142.    The Venturi effect. 143.    How people pee. 144.    What to refuse to do, even for the money. 145.    The fine print in the contract. 146.    A smattering of naval architecture. 147.    The idea of too far. 148.    The idea of too close. 149.    Burial practices in a wide range of cultures. 150.    The density needed to support a pharmacy. 151.    The density needed to support a subway. 152.    The effect of the design of your city on food miles for fresh produce. 153.    Lewis Mumford and Patrick Geddes. 154.    Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law Olmsted, Muso Soseki, Ji Cheng, and Roberto Burle Marx. 155.    Constructivism, in and out. 156.    Sinan. 157.    Squatter settlements via visits and conversations with residents. 158.    The history and techniques of architectural representation across cultures. 159.    Several other artistic media. 160.    A bit of chemistry and physics. 161.    Geodesics. 162.    Geodetics. 163.    Geomorphology. 164.    Geography. 165.    The Law of the Andes. 166.    Cappadocia first-hand.

Cappadocia

167.    The importance of the Amazon. 168.    How to patch leaks. 169.    What makes you happy. 170.    The components of a comfortable environment for sleep. 171.    The view from the Acropolis. 172.    The way to Santa Fe. 173.    The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 174.    Where to eat in Brooklyn. 175.    Half as much as a London cabbie. 176.    The Nolli Plan. 177.    The Cerdà Plan. 178.    The Haussmann Plan. 179.    Slope analysis. 180.    Darkroom procedures and Photoshop. 181.    Dawn breaking after a bender. 182.    Styles of genealogy and taxonomy. 183.    Betty Friedan. 184.    Guy Debord. 185.    Ant Farm. 186.    Archigram. 187.    Club Med. 188.    Crepuscule in Dharamshala. 189.    Solid geometry. 190.    Strengths of materials (if only intuitively). 191.    Ha Long Bay. 192.    What’s been accomplished in Medellín. 193.    In Rio. 194.    In Calcutta. 195.    In Curitiba. 196.    In Mumbai. 197.    Who practices? (It is your duty to secure this space for all who want to.) 198.    Why you think architecture does any good. 199.    The depreciation cycle. 200.    What rusts. 201.    Good model-making techniques in wood and cardboard. 202.    How to play a musical instrument. 203.    Which way the wind blows. 204.    The acoustical properties of trees and shrubs. 205.    How to guard a house from floods. 206.    The connection between the Suprematists and Zaha. 207.    The connection between Oscar Niemeyer and Zaha. 208.    Where north (or south) is. 209.    How to give directions, efficiently and courteously. 210.    Stadtluft macht frei. 211.    Underneath the pavement the beach. 212.    Underneath the beach the pavement. 213.    The germ theory of disease. 214.    The importance of vitamin D. 215.    How close is too close. 216.    The capacity of a bioswale to recharge the aquifer. 217.    The draught of ferries. 218.    Bicycle safety and etiquette. 219.    The difference between gabions and riprap. 220.    The acoustic performance of Boston Symphony Hall.

Boston Symphony Hall

221.    How to open the window. 222.    The diameter of the earth. 223.    The number of gallons of water used in a shower. 224.    The distance at which you can recognize faces. 225.    How and when to bribe public officials (for the greater good). 226.    Concrete finishes. 227.    Brick bonds. 228.    The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels. 229.    The prismatic charms of Greek island towns. 230.    The energy potential of the wind. 231.    The cooling potential of the wind, including the use of chimneys and the stack effect. 232.    Paestum. 233.    Straw-bale building technology. 234.    Rachel Carson. 235.    Freud. 236.    The excellence of Michel de Klerk. 237.    Of Alvar Aalto. 238.    Of Lina Bo Bardi. 239.    The non-pharmacological components of a good club. 240.    Mesa Verde National Park. 241.    Chichen Itza. 242.    Your neighbors. 243.    The dimensions and proper orientation of sports fields. 244.    The remediation capacity of wetlands. 245.    The capacity of wetlands to attenuate storm surges. 246.    How to cut a truly elegant section. 247.    The depths of desire. 248.    The heights of folly. 249.    Low tide. 250.    The Golden and other ratios.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the Washington Post:

The southwestern New Mexico town of Columbus, site of a 1916 raid by Pancho Villa, is now home to a border entry center that is powered by the sun and landscaped with recycled concrete “sponges” that harvest rainwater.

An apartment complex in Los Angeles created expressly for formerly homeless men and women has features that maximize natural light and airflow, a roof designed to minimize heat inside the units during summer, and a rooftop garden that attracts migratory birds.

And across the country in Brooklyn, e-commerce giant Etsy established its headquarters in a 200,000-square-foot building that previously housed a printing press for Jehovah’s Witnesses, then renovated and retrofitted so it is powered by renewable energy.

All three sites, spotlighted last year by the American Institute of Architects in its top-10 list of sustainable projects, reflect the expansive reach of “low-energy” design strategies and the building industry’s embrace of sustainability as a de facto imperative. They’re part of a remarkable evolution, one that could prove crucial since the building sector globally accounts for at least 40 percent of the world’s emissions of carbon dioxide — far more than transportation sources.

Some advocates think the U.S. sector can achieve net-zero emissions within 20 years, a decade ahead of President Biden’s net-zero goal for the country. The administration’s initiative includes new codes and efficiency standards for homes, appliances and commercial buildings — and a clean electric grid. Dozens of cities and states are moving forward with their own measures.

“Decarbonization of the sector is inevitable,” according to Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Fe, N.M., that aims to reconfigure the built environment as part of the solution to global warming.

The past several years served as an “urgent call to action,” he thinks, with devastating storms and wildfires on several continents, profoundly diminished Arctic sea ice, and the highest global temperatures in recorded history. “It’s not a matter of if we transition to renewables, but whether it will be fast and well-orchestrated enough to avert irreversible climate chaos.”

[nyc-uws]

Architecture | Rafael Moneo:

Flashbacks to Brick Virtuosity in Mérida and Madrid 05.20.15

My thanks to ArchDaily for spotlighting Rafael Moneo’s National Museum of Art in Mérida, Spain in their AD Classics series. As much as a fan as I am of Moneo’s talent, this building was a new discovery. Moneo was commissioned in 1979, as part of the Spanish government’s celebration of the bimillennial anniversary of the founding of Emerita, Augusta. It replaced an 1838 museum on the same site, built in the middle of one of the largest and best preserved Roman cities in Western Europe, immediately next to one of the most spectacular surviving ancient theaters in the world. The museum opened in 1986 to critical acclaim.

Click to see a larger image.

It is one of the finest contemporary brick buildings to date and an exceptionally sensitive space to show Roman antiquities. Seeing as new museums is the architecture profession’s least successful genre, it is a pleasure to encounter one that is so free of ego and competiveness that too often comes with these commissions. For contrast, I’m reminded, painfully, of a recent extension at the Denver Art Museum, an example of architectural overreach that creates a hostile place for the art to live (or, more often in this case, to die).

There is not an artifact that does feel warmer or richer for it contrast against the brick. And the soaring spaces, seemingly too large, create a sense of a stirring epic moment in time. There is also something egalitarian about the brick and its workmanlike presence that takes away from the austere-white-marble-box-temple-aesthetic so often chosen for museums.

Click to see larger images.

Finally, the building material gives seeming authenticity; it links the art on view with the superb brickwork of ancient Roman builders all over Mérida. Even today “Roman brick” is used as the title for bricks that are based on Roman standards, standards that Moneo has followed in spirit but not stylistically.

Click to see a larger image.

The article ArchDaily comments on his imaginative use of use of brick and light:

Thin, elongated brickwork, distinctly non-Roman in its shape and perfect uniformity, gives the museum its trademark appearance. Walls, columns, and arches are made of the same material, but the appearance is far from monotonous; patchworks of gold and red hues paint the walls in pixelated clusters of color, lit afire by the dramatic overhead lighting. For Moneo, whose body of work displays remarkable stylistic variation, it is perhaps this careful and deliberate control of daylight that makes this building characteristically his. As Robert Campbell wrote in a Pritzker retrospective of the architect, “the handling of the interior daylight is masterful, here an ever-changing golden wash. The light contrasts with the ghostly paleness, therefore the pastiness, of the antiquities on display.”

Arches have long been used to mark the greatest achievements of Roman civilization. Constantine, Titus, and Septimus Severus built them to commemorate their military victories. Engineers at Segovia and Nîmes incorporated them into their revolutionary aqueducts. And fifteen hundred years after the Fall of Rome, Rafael Moneo gave a modern touch to the ancient structure in Mérida’s breathtaking National Museum of Roman Art, located on the site of the former Iberian outpost of Emerita Augusta. Soaring arcades of simple, semi-circular arches merge historicity and contemporary design, creating a striking yet sensitive point of entry to the remains of one of the Roman Empire’s greatest cities.

Click to see larger images.

The small bricks returned when Moneo was invited to design the extension to the Prado in Madrid. Completed in 2007 it was hugely controversial as Helen Zuber explained De Spiegel.

Moneo has been fiercely criticized for his project, which took six years to complete. The costs soared until they reached the final sum of €152 million ($219 million) — more than three-and-a-half times the original budget. The architect has modestly hidden his creation behind the Prado’s historical wing so that only visitors entering the museum through the back entrance can see it from outside. The size of the Prado has increased by more than a half thanks to the addition of four exhibition halls, an auditorium, workshops facing the cloister and an archive.

Moneo has “distanced himself from the trend towards spectacular buildings” — such as the glass pyramid built in the Louvre’s courtyard in Paris by I.M. Pei or Norman Foster’s sophisticated steel-and-glass addition to the British Museum in London — says Spain’s most renowned art critic, Francisco Calvo Serraller, in defense of the new building. Moneo has found “the most admirable solution” for Madrid, in Serraller’s view, by opting for avant-garde architecture instead of mere imitation.

The building is built with materials, including bricks that were used in the original Prado buildings, and while it has bulk it’s characterized by modesty. It also allowed for Moneo to create a wonderful esplanade of hedges in a cross-hatch maze. Both are high points for brick in architecture and, to bring the inside and outside together, many of the galleries inside have rich brick-red painted walls.

Garth Clark is the Chief Editor of CFile

Any thoughts about this post? Share yours in the comment box below.

The National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, Spain by Rafael Moneo.

Click to see a larger image.

The Prado in Madrid by Rafael Moneo. Click to see a larger image.

Moneo’s drawings for the Roman Museum.

Filed Under: All Topics, Architecture, Brick Tagged With: madrid, mérida, rafael moneo

Bill Rodgers

Bill Rodgers is a reformed journalist living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A lover of nontraditional storytelling, he explores the role of narrative in art. Bill is Managing Editor of cfile.

https://cfileonline.org/architecture-rafael-moneo-flashbacks-to-brick-virtuosity-in-merida-and-madrid/

[abitofcolor]

Seven Day Book Cover Challenge - Day 2 “Le Corbusier Designer Furniture” by Renata De Fusco Feel free to join and post your favorite books. #books #bookstagram #lecorbusier #corbusier #designer #furniture #architect #decor (at Santa Fe, New Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAidJgVJ58_/?igshid=1gtvik6fp0rkr

[thethingssafhaslearnedsofar]

TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THINGS AN ARCHITECT SHOULD KNOW

Michael Sorkin

 1.    The feel of cool marble under bare feet.  2.    How to live in a small room with five strangers for six months.  3.    With the same strangers in a lifeboat for one week.  4.    The modulus of rupture.  5.    The distance a shout carries in the city.  6.    The distance of a whisper.  7.    Everything possible about Hatshepsut’s temple (try not to see it as   ‘modernist’ avant la lettre).  8.    The number of people with rent subsidies in New York City.  9.    In your town (include the rich). 10.    The flowering season for azaleas. 11.    The insulating properties of glass. 12.    The history of its production and use. 13.    And of its meaning. 14.    How to lay bricks. 15.    What Victor Hugo really meant by ‘this will kill that.’ 16.    The rate at which the seas are rising. 17.    Building information modeling (BIM). 18.    How to unclog a Rapidograph. 19.    The Gini coefficient. 20.    A comfortable tread-to-riser ratio for a six-year-old. 21.    In a wheelchair. 22.    The energy embodied in aluminum. 23.    How to turn a corner. 24.    How to design a corner. 25.    How to sit in a corner. 26.    How Antoni Gaudí modeled the Sagrada Família and calculated its structure. 27.    The proportioning system for the Villa Rotonda. 28.    The rate at which that carpet you specified off-gasses. 29.    The relevant sections of the Code of Hammurabi. 30.    The migratory patterns of warblers and other seasonal travellers. 31.    The basics of mud construction. 32.    The direction of prevailing winds. 33.    Hydrology is destiny. 34.    Jane Jacobs in and out. 35.    Something about feng shui. 36.    Something about Vastu Shilpa. 37.    Elementary ergonomics. 38.    The color wheel. 39.    What the client wants. 40.    What the client thinks it wants. 41.    What the client needs. 42.    What the client can afford. 43.    What the planet can afford. 44.    The theoretical bases for modernity and a great deal about its factions and inflections. 45.    What post-Fordism means for the mode of production of building. 46.    Another language. 47.    What the brick really wants. 48.    The difference between Winchester Cathedral and a bicycle shed. 49.    What went wrong in Fatehpur Sikri. 50.    What went wrong in Pruitt-Igoe. 51.    What went wrong with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 52.    Where the CCTV cameras are. 53.    Why Mies really left Germany. 54.    How people lived in Çatal Hüyük. 55.    The structural properties of tufa. 56. ��  How to calculate the dimensions of brise-soleil. 57.    The kilowatt costs of photovoltaic cells. 58.    Vitruvius. 59.    Walter Benjamin. 60.    Marshall Berman. 61.    The secrets of the success of Robert Moses. 62.    How the dome on the Duomo in Florence was built. 63.    The reciprocal influences of Chinese and Japanese building. 64.    The cycle of the Ise Shrine. 65.    Entasis. 66.    The history of Soweto. 67.    What it’s like to walk down the Ramblas. 68.    Back-up. 69.    The proper proportions of a gin martini. 70.    Shear and moment. 71.    Shakespeare, et cetera. 72.    How the crow flies. 73.    The difference between a ghetto and a neighborhood. 74.    How the pyramids were built. 75.    Why. 76.    The pleasures of the suburbs. 77.    The horrors. 78.    The quality of light passing through ice. 79.    The meaninglessness of borders. 80.    The reasons for their tenacity. 81.    The creativity of the ecotone. 82.    The need for freaks. 83.    Accidents must happen. 84.    It is possible to begin designing anywhere. 85.    The smell of concrete after rain. 86.    The angle of the sun at the equinox. 87.    How to ride a bicycle. 88.    The depth of the aquifer beneath you. 89.    The slope of a handicapped ramp. 90.    The wages of construction workers. 91.    Perspective by hand. 92.    Sentence structure. 93.    The pleasure of a spritz at sunset at a table by the Grand Canal. 94.    The thrill of the ride. 95.    Where materials come from. 96.    How to get lost. 97.    The pattern of artificial light at night, seen from space. 98.    What human differences are defensible in practice. 99.    Creation is a patient search. 100.    The debate between Otto Wagner and Camillo Sitte. 101.    The reasons for the split between architecture and engineering. 102.    Many ideas about what constitutes utopia. 103.    The social and formal organization of the villages of the Dogon. 104.    Brutalism, Bowellism, and the Baroque. 105.    How to dérive. 106.    Woodshop safety. 107.    A great deal about the Gothic. 108.    The architectural impact of colonialism on the cities of North Africa. 109.    A distaste for imperialism. 110.    The history of Beijing. 111.    Dutch domestic architecture in the 17th century. 112.    Aristotle’s Politics. 113.    His Poetics. 114.    The basics of wattle and daub. 115.    The origins of the balloon frame. 116.    The rate at which copper acquires its patina. 117.    The levels of particulates in the air of Tianjin. 118.    The capacity of white pine trees to sequester carbon. 119.    Where else to sink it. 120.    The fire code. 121.    The seismic code. 122.    The health code. 123.    The Romantics, throughout the arts and philosophy. 124.    How to listen closely. 125.    That there is a big danger in working in a single medium. The logjam you don’t even know you’re stuck in will be broken by a shift in representation. 126.    The exquisite corpse. 127.    Scissors, stone, paper. 128.    Good Bordeaux. 129.    Good beer. 130.    How to escape a maze. 131.    QWERTY. 132.    Fear. 133.    Finding your way around Prague, Fez, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Kyoto, Rio, Mexico, Solo, Benares, Bangkok, Leningrad, Isfahan. 134.    The proper way to behave with interns. 135.    Maya, Revit, Catia, whatever. 136.    The history of big machines, including those that can fly. 137.    How to calculate ecological footprints. 138.    Three good lunch spots within walking distance. 139.    The value of human life. 140.    Who pays. 141.    Who profits. 142.    The Venturi effect. 143.    How people pee. 144.    What to refuse to do, even for the money. 145.    The fine print in the contract. 146.    A smattering of naval architecture. 147.    The idea of too far. 148.    The idea of too close. 149.    Burial practices in a wide range of cultures. 150.    The density needed to support a pharmacy. 151.    The density needed to support a subway. 152.    The effect of the design of your city on food miles for fresh produce. 153.    Lewis Mumford and Patrick Geddes. 154.    Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law Olmsted, Muso Soseki, Ji Cheng, and Roberto Burle Marx. 155.    Constructivism, in and out. 156.    Sinan. 157.    Squatter settlements via visits and conversations with residents. 158.    The history and techniques of architectural representation across cultures. 159.    Several other artistic media. 160.    A bit of chemistry and physics. 161.    Geodesics. 162.    Geodetics. 163.    Geomorphology. 164.    Geography. 165.    The Law of the Andes. 166.    Cappadocia first-hand. 167.    The importance of the Amazon. 168.    How to patch leaks. 169.    What makes you happy. 170.    The components of a comfortable environment for sleep. 171.    The view from the Acropolis. 172.    The way to Santa Fe. 173.    The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 174.    Where to eat in Brooklyn. 175.    Half as much as a London cabbie. 176.    The Nolli Plan. 177.    The Cerdà Plan. 178.    The Haussmann Plan. 179.    Slope analysis. 180.    Darkroom procedures and Photoshop. 181.    Dawn breaking after a bender. 182.    Styles of genealogy and taxonomy. 183.    Betty Friedan. 184.    Guy Debord. 185.    Ant Farm. 186.    Archigram. 187.    Club Med. 188.    Crepuscule in Dharamshala. 189.    Solid geometry. 190.    Strengths of materials (if only intuitively). 191.    Ha Long Bay. 192.    What’s been accomplished in Medellín. 193.    In Rio. 194.    In Calcutta. 195.    In Curitiba. 196.    In Mumbai. 197.    Who practices? (It is your duty to secure this space for all who want to.) 198.    Why you think architecture does any good. 199.    The depreciation cycle. 200.    What rusts. 201.    Good model-making techniques in wood and cardboard. 202.    How to play a musical instrument. 203.    Which way the wind blows. 204.    The acoustical properties of trees and shrubs. 205.    How to guard a house from floods. 206.    The connection between the Suprematists and Zaha. 207.    The connection between Oscar Niemeyer and Zaha. 208.    Where north (or south) is. 209.    How to give directions, efficiently and courteously. 210.    Stadtluft macht frei. 211.    Underneath the pavement the beach. 212.    Underneath the beach the pavement. 213.    The germ theory of disease. 214.    The importance of vitamin D. 215.    How close is too close. 216.    The capacity of a bioswale to recharge the aquifer. 217.    The draught of ferries. 218.    Bicycle safety and etiquette. 219.    The difference between gabions and riprap. 220.    The acoustic performance of Boston Symphony Hall. 221.    How to open the window. 222.    The diameter of the earth. 223.    The number of gallons of water used in a shower. 224.    The distance at which you can recognize faces. 225.    How and when to bribe public officials (for the greater good). 226.    Concrete finishes. 227.    Brick bonds. 228.    The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels. 229.    The prismatic charms of Greek island towns. 230.    The energy potential of the wind. 231.    The cooling potential of the wind, including the use of chimneys and the stack effect. 232.    Paestum. 233.    Straw-bale building technology. 234.    Rachel Carson. 235.    Freud. 236.    The excellence of Michel de Klerk. 237.    Of Alvar Aalto. 238.    Of Lina Bo Bardi. 239.    The non-pharmacological components of a good club. 240.    Mesa Verde National Park. 241.    Chichen Itza. 242.    Your neighbors. 243.    The dimensions and proper orientation of sports fields. 244.    The remediation capacity of wetlands. 245.    The capacity of wetlands to attenuate storm surges. 246.    How to cut a truly elegant section. 247.    The depths of desire. 248.    The heights of folly. 249.    Low tide. 250.    The Golden and other ratios. https://www.readingdesign.org/

[nikinaki23-blog1]

7 golden tips from the real estate business

If there is a sector of solid tradition to invest, it is undoubtedly real estate. Those who are dedicated to developing houses, corporate offices, warehouses, shopping centers and mixed developments in Mexico know that it is a land of opportunities in which, if things are done correctly and there are the right people, everything can go very good.

In Mexico City alone, 37,000 marriages take place annually, which represents 58% of the demand for new homes.

Another feature of this business is that it is not exclusive, although there are great players it is very easy to participate, since there are also hundreds, but thousands of small ones involved.

“It is a pulverized business, the barriers are few. If you do it with professionalism, market knowledge and deliver a good product, you have a chance that it will go well. And I say pulverized because there are few barriers to entry, there are no great players. For example, the largest developer in the DF has no more than 5% of the market. If you have a five-apartment building, it is competition as well as one of 500. It is easy to enter the sector, ”adds Gabriel Casillas, director of Marhnos Habitat.

Experts say

To explain what it means to invest in this sector and how to do it, we choose some of the builders and developers with greater probity and experience in the country. Companies with several decades or young people, who have managed to change the face of the areas where they work.

STUDY IN FUND TO THE CUSTOMER

Grupo Marhnos has more than 60 years of experience in Mexico and is a leading company in the sector. He has ventured into the construction of homes, infrastructure, shopping centers, hotels, hospitals and offices.

Today one of their main bets is the issue of mid-level housing, in which they are experts. Before making a decision, Marhnos studies location, segment they want to reach, facilities around the area and previous experiences in it .

“We are studious of our clients. Our success is that we go into the way of life of our main client : the Mexican middle class. We have invested time and resources in surveys, focus groups and studies to see what adds value to your way of life. We give them a context, not just a house. We consider everything: communications, interior spaces, amenities, services in the area, among others, ”says Casillas.

Among Marhnos' works, the corporate buildings of Bimbo and Bancomer stand out; and various real estate developments in the metropolitan area of ​​the Valley of Mexico.

PREVENT TRENDS

A young company, which in a few years has built a name in commercial, tourism, housing and services developments is Arquitectoma, whose partners, José Portilla and Francisco Martín del Campo are architects of origin who have incorporated the vision in the march business and have been launched to make projects of great proportions.

Arquitectoma partners do not doubt what their best practice is: “search and deliver products above the expectations of our customers. Sacrifice even utility. Always give a good return to investors. ”

One of the most emblematic projects of Arquitectoma is the Garden Santa Fe shopping center, in the west of Mexico City, but they are also responsible for some vertical housing developments such as the Taua Towers, Rubén Darío 123 and Santa Fe 443, a building mixed use.

“More than following trends, we anticipate. For example, before the small departments were not used. We started to do them because we saw that people cared about the location, but for the price it did not access and the way to do it was to build smaller but better distributed spaces. In Capital smart city we made the first apartments with generous terrace and private pool. We also capture the need to make spaces for people who live alone, who are divorced or leave their home early. Now those markets have expanded a lot, ”explains José Portilla.

TWO SECRETS TO CHOOSE A PROJECT

In general, two essential aspects to decide to invest or develop a project are to identify needs and problems and then to conceive a project that provides a solution and find a good land, at an affordable price and in a well located area.

“We choose based on spatial and social needs. Once we define what is needed, we mold it mentally thinking about space, volume, size and area. With that diagnosis we are going to look for the raw material, which is the terrain. In Mexico City, there is less and less land and it is more expensive. We discard a lot of land for the prices, ”explains Martín del Campo, from Arquitectoma.

Another relevant issue is to consider what is the vocation of the land and do market research. In cases where it is large land, it is very good to do mixed developments, in which end consumers are given much more than just housing.

HOW TO ASSESS PROFITABILITY

To invest it is vital to evaluate the profitability. The value at which it can be sold is very predictable because of the prices in the market, since the value of the materials and labor is calculable and, in general, the investor can know how much the construction will cost. The only variable is the terrain.

“In terms of business, what we always try to achieve is that the partners who put the capital give them an annual return that suits them instead of having it in the bank. From 12 to 15% per year, on average, ”explains José Portilla.

As for those who buy real estate, it is generally also a good business. As the Arquitectoma team says: hardly the value will go down, it usually goes up. “You can ask people with many resources and you will see how many times they have bought debt papers or shares that they have disappointed. They will tell you five, 10 times.

Instead, ask someone who has bought a good and does not depreciate, nobody loses. Unless, of course, they mess with a thief, ”says Martín del Campo.

THE RED FOCUSES

In order not to go through what others have already gone through, these are the red spots that the leaders of the sector see:

·         Procedures and management in general. It is important to do everything in a transparent, legal way and take care of the relationship with the authorities. Bureaucracy and corruption can be an ordeal in this sector.

·         The relationship with the neighbors of the place where you are looking to develop a project is fundamental. You have to maintain a close relationship with the colony, the neighborhood and the community. “Sometimes the norm allows it, but there are communities very reluctant to carry it out and it becomes a huge problem. You better not get in, ”comments Martín del Campo.

·         A subjective issue is timing, the opportunity to make a development or not. It is necessary to always consider economic factors and market circumstances before carrying out a new project. “There are projects that we have already canceled with the purchased land. We worked some beach projects when there was bonanza worldwide, everything promised to go well, but the crisis came and we decided not to embark on a high-risk adventure. Sometimes the most important decisions are not to do something, ”says Portilla.

7 gold tips

Gabriel Casillas, Marhnos Group:

1. Take advantage that Mexico City is in an unbeatable position in real estate terms. Globally, the price of the square meter is below what it will cost in some years. Good years are coming to invest.

2. Serve the neighbors. Not turning to see the neighbors can compromise a project. The investment must be committed to the boundaries and the area of ​​influence of development, to benefit nearby families.

Francisco Martín del Campo, Architect:

3. Check the veracity of the ownership and use of the land in which you plan to invest. There are those who invest with the idea of ​​getting good. They are buyers dressed as investors. If that is the case, it is important that the product in which you invest is the one you want to live.

Fernando Abusaid, former national president of Canadevi:

4. Invest in truly sustainable projects that have good connectivity, good services, schools, etc.

José Portilla, Architect:

5. Investigate well with whom to invest. Moral quality, the work record. As an investor it is important to get involved in the project.

 Óscar Peralta, GMI Group:

6. Be sure to be able to fulfill the commitments that are contracted  with University town and have the ability to withstand the slow payments.

7. Do a thorough market research, so as not to be mistaken in what kind of services and products to offer that are competitive.

"The opinions expressed in the articles and comments are the responsibility of their authors." "Cubic Meters respects the plurality of ideas and comments, as long as they are not discriminatory or harmful to the identity, race, condition or dignity of people."

[fiftyshadesofsleigh]

Enchanted Christmas (2017)

Tropes:

Successful single woman

Single parent

Widow/Widower

Protagonist works too hard

Return to hometown

Highschool/Childhood sweetheart run-in

Holiday traditions

Cheerful best friend

Lead in a red dress/suit

Adorable child who never misbehaves

Grand Gesture

Suddenly snowing

Christmas/Holiday party

Recounted childhood story

Interrupted almost kiss

Douchebag boy/girlfriend

Starring: Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids) as Laura and Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) as Ricardo.  

Street Cred: Alexa PenaVega has been awesome since she was a kid  (hello, Repo! The Genetic Opera) and Carlos has the perfect amount of cheesy charm you can only get from being a Nickelodeon child star. Plus, they’re married IRL and combined their names. I mean, does it get sweeter than that?

Official Synopsis: Interior designer Laura is sent to her hometown of Santa Fe, NM to remodel a landmark hotel in time for a Christmas Eve benefit dance performance. As Laura dives into renovations, she discovers that a former love is the star of the benefit.

True Story: Laura is a project manager for an architect firm (?) and oversees new builds and renovations of properties. I just feel like 'interior designer’ downplays everything this woman has on her plate. Plus, according to Hallmark cannon, interior design requires a lot more vases. Anyway, her clearly bored and impulsive boss buys a hotel over the Thanksgiving weekend and expects Laura to bring the renos in on time for the Christmas Eve charity dance show. For those of you who are not American, there’s 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. For renovating a hotel. With no workers lined up. Yeah.

The hotel is, predictably, in Laura’s hometown of Rosemount, Utah (not Santa Fe, New Mexico), which makes sense when you realize the subplot of this film is ballroom dancing. She uproots her daughter with a light dose of guilt manipulation, says ‘see you later’ to her new boyfriend, and goes to stay with her somewhat-distant father. Laura left town when her husband died and her dad hasn’t forgiven her for it yet. 

Daddy Dearest is put in charge of his granddaughter’s schooling but they are easily distracted away by the dance show that is practising in the newly finished ballroom. Turns out the star of the show is none other than Ricardo, Laura’s ex dance partner and ex boyfriend. Laura forbids her daughter from taking part in the show because she’s super annoyed with her past as a dancer and never got over Ricardo leaving her to follow his dreams. (Except for the part where she met her hubby and had a baby, but don’t worry about that, they barely even mention the guy and the daughter was too young to remember him!)

Amid mounting stress from her impatient boss and the pressure from her judgemental dad, Laura agrees to dance with Ricardo for the show when his partner (the talented Chelsie Hightower from Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance?) flakes out to go to an audition. 

At its base, this is a movie about a woman with unreal expectations put upon her by the men in her life and is told to “just relax” by her love interest. We’re all Laura, aren’t we? 

Meanwhile, Ricardo doesn’t hide that he’s still carrying a torch for Laura but she’s unsure, even after he finds the missing fountain from their youth and presumably rebuilds and installs it all by himself to surprise her. The made wishes there, people. All the wishes. They share a romantic dance in front of said fountain for old time’s sake, and that’s when Laura’s boyfriend shows up. Did I mention he works with her? His job is apparently to second guess all her decisions for the hotel and be a jealous douche. He’s great at it.

It all comes to a head when douchenozzle tells their boss that he single-handedly saved the project and Ricardo’s partner returns with the dance offer of a lifetime. Laura gets overwhelmed and does what we all wish we could do during the holidays: run away. When she returns, she tells Ricardo to follow his dreams, they make more wishes in the fountain, and then it’s opening night. 

The important things to know about the ending are:

Douchebag boyfriend gets fired

I hate all of Laura’s suits

Alexa and Carlos PenaVega are adorable and good dancers

It snows

The PenaVegas sing all the songs in this movie. Together. Ugh, so cute.

Bonus Notes: When Laura returns to town, she seeks out her best friend, who has her whole family in town, yet spends all her time with Laura and hers, which no one questions. I decided the best friend and Laura’s dad have been secretly dating and will tell Laura on New Year’s Eve that the best friend will be her new mommy. Seriously, the woman is there Christmas morning.

Fix It: Meh, this was a good one, I’ll keep it as is.

[hakesbrother]

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