Painting existing development can be used to minimize the visual impact on the environment by using a color scheme which blends the dwelling into the environment. This has achieved mixed results as can be seen with the “pixilated camouflage” of this home in Ohio:

Perhaps someone still has an issue after an extended tour in Iraq, but the following home in Gulfport, Florida achieves a more appealing, aesthetic impact by using a jungle paint job, inspired by Vietnam or excessive viewing of Oliver Stone’s “Platoon“?

These two “camouflage” paint jobs may be amateurish in their effort to stamp individuality onto existing dwellings or a valid attempt at integrating the property with its surroundings, but serious designers and architects are exploring the possibilities too.

The “Camouflage House” by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, seeks to combine a low slung design with funky paintwork and natural materials to provide aesthetic appeal.

The funky paint work still intrudes upon the eye when close up to the dwelling, however this is countered by the dwelling nestling into a bluff on a lake side and takes advantage of a camouflage feature: the ability to blend in with surroundings at a distance but to be visible up close.

Japanese architect, Hiroshi Iguchi has taken the camouflage concept further in home design with his “Camouflage House 3″ and eschewed the use of paintwork completely. Here, a greenhouse design incorporates trees and plants as part of the design of the dwelling which further minimizes the impact on the landscape by using trees, commonly found in the area, as the basis for the living material of the design.

Camouflage is not simply the use of color or materials which mimic the immediate location but also uses the fact that our brains are keyed to recognize set shapes and associate them with certain objects. In military terms, the object of tying rag and netting to a helmet or weapon is to break up the outline and shape so they will not be recognized. Mobius Architects of Poland have used this camouflage concept in their Edge House development – the angles of the roof with inset skylight, with a steep shingled pitch are striking but mimic the quarry location while the outline of the dwelling is deliberately at odds with the viewers expected view of what a house should look like:

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The term “earthship” is a bit of an overstatement. The name connotes an earthen vessel which slowly creeps over the sea or air, perhaps carrying with it a crew representing earth’s only hope. The reality, while cool, is not nearly that cool.

The earthships of reality are made by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico and they’re a bit different than your normal house. If green is a trend, earthships are the trend setters. Earthships don’t typically come equipped with things like heating and air conditioning, choosing instead to rely on passive solar technology and recycled tires to control the internal environments.

Many earthships are also built off the grid, using water recycling systems and generating their own electricity through solar and wind harnessing technology. And they look like they’d fit in just fine on Tatooine. I know, that’s two Star Wars references in as many posts. Anyone else sensing a trend here?

The water’s depth at the North Pole has been measured at 13,980 feet. The Soviet Union and later Russia have manned drifting stations. They study what is basically global warming and predict that the North Pole could become ice free (seasonally) due to ice shrinkage or ice melting in as few a fifty years. Kaffeklubben Island is the closest land mass, off Greenland some 430 miles away.

From the 16^th Century, most people believed that the North Pole was in the sea. They sent expeditions to study the area using ships that were accustomed to sailing in cold, Northern climates. Lots of those expeditions ended badly, with few returning to tell the tale.

The Stella Polare set forth from Norway in 1899 and in March, 1900, Captain Umberto Cagni headed a party over the ice until they reached latitude of 86 degree, 34’ in April. They set a new record and returned home safely in August of 1900.

American engineer Robert Peary is credited with reaching the North Pole on April 6, 1909. In 1989 Wally Herbert, originally a supporter of Peary researched and found what he thought were tampered records. Then in 2005, a British explorer named Tom Avery made a trip to the North Pole similar to Peary’s overland trip and found the North Pole in 36 days, 22 hours. This was 3 hours faster that Peary had made it. Avery was quoted as saying that he was more convinced than ever that Peary did indeed discover the North Pole.

Currently, journeys to the North Pole are much more common and even open to tourists during the Christmas season. Usually those trips are by helicopter or ice breaking boats.

At this time of the year, doesn’t it make you wonder, since it has gotten so much easier to get to the North Pole, do Santa Claus and the elves ever think about relocating?  Why do we think that Santa lives at the North Pole?  An interesting website presents their evidence, saying that OBVIOUSLY Santa lives at the North Pole because:

1.  He wears really warm clothes

The website claims that it does not get as cold in Sweden or Finland, so Santa obviously needs such warm clothes because he lives in the North Pole.  The website also claims that Walt Disney said that Santa lived in the North Pole, so it must be true.  Another page on the website says that Santa lives in Finland, and that Walt Disney was paid a great deal of money by Northpolian whalers to say that.  The Swedes maintain that reindeer live in Sweden, so it logically follows that Santa does too.  For a full synopsis of each country’s argument, check out Santasnationality.com.  Then tell us what you think.

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OCADU is Canada’s largest and oldest known art and design university so it’s no surprise that when it comes to the architecture of the building, the approach is novel and unexpected amid a city skyline that is known for striking design.

The Sharp Centre for Design that makes up this quirky structure was designed by the British architect Will Aslop, of Aslop Architects, in conjunction with the Toronto-based Robbie/Young + Wright Architects Inc.  Aslop’s work is as distinctive as it is controversial.  This English architect has amazed and infuriated onlookers with his modernist designs, loud colors and unconventional forms.

Aslop told the CBC Canada his use of color and shape worked to aerate Toronto, and said the problem with most cities is a lack of refreshing color.  His work on the Sharp Centre served as a launch pad for other Toronto architects, like Frank Gehry, who revamped the Art gallery of Ontario and Bruce Kuwabara, designer of the National Ballet School’s 2005 expansion.

Aslop’s prominent Sharp building has won numerous awards for design including the Royal Insitute of British Architects Worldwide Award, an award of excellence in “Building in Context” in the 2005 Toronto Architecture and Urban Design Awards and was also noted as the “most outstanding technical project overall in the 2005 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards.

The Sharp Centre was built to accommodate an expansion of the growing campus.  The college, the Province of Ontario and Rosalie and Isadore Sharp, who the building was named after, funded the unconventional structure.  The striking building houses art studios, exhibit spaces, lecture theaters and faculty offices.

The Centre straddles the college’s existing buildings, creating a unique contrast between the conventional classroom structures and modernist space.  Located on a modest side street sandwiched by two main commercial thoroughfares, Sharp Centre is surrounded by mid-rise housing, the Art gallery of Toronto, Gardner Museum of Ceramic Art, a community park and a food court.  All of this adds to the tight-knit feel of a true artist community.

One of the best views of the building is from Grange Park, where the black and white structure seems to hover above the trees, creating a surprisingly beautiful contrast with the vibrant green grass of the park.

With his design, Aslop tackled the challenge of developing an urban setting and creating new space while preserving the old. The Sharp Centre builds a connection between existing buildings, but also provides additional civic space.

The Sharp Centre for Design was the College’s $42.5 million redevelopment project that was completed in September 2004. The Centre includes a striking “table top” parallelepiped structure that stands atop angled mutli-colored pillars. The face of the building appears to be pixellated as it is made up of a multitude of black and white squares. The Centre houses OCAD’s studio and teaching spaces and is connected to the older part of the campus by an elevator and stair core with a newly created entrance hall that marries the two styles of architecture. The new appears to float above the old, complimenting and building upon the design knowledge of generations.

The School and lifestyle

Established in 1876 by the Ontario Society of Artists and was the “first school in Canada dedicated exclusively to the education of professional artists in fine and commercial art.”  Today it is the third largest art and design university in North America. The environment of the university creates a creative hothouse for ideas and inspiration amplified by the unique architectural style of the buildings. The structure itself challenges students to take risks and explore new ideas.  Despite the university’s long history, it has proven that it can modernize, develop and stay on top of the latest artistic trends.

As impressive as the design itself, OCADU offers a wealth of creative educational programs with a variety of design and art programs unrivaled in Canada.  Students here hone their craft in the heart of culturally rich Toronto.  This thriving artistic community attracted professors whose work has been shown in the most renowned galleries in the region.

The college is a destination for Canadian artists, designers, creative thinkers and strategists.  The campus architecture itself represents a philosophy of staying on the forefront of artistic creation while preserving the integrity of generations past.

OCADU offers Bachelor of Fine Art and Bachelor of Design degrees in industries from advertising to sculpture and printmaking.  The liberal studies courses explore theories and ideas behind art while providing students with a historical context that applies to modern-day studio work in art and design.

The college bills itself as an institution that builds on traditional artistic strengths, but adds new approaches to cross-disciplinary collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies.

Both the design of the school itself combined with the educational philosophy and coursework proves that tradition and the cutting edge can mingle in a community that seems handcrafted for artists.

Taylor Drauden is a cosmetology college graduate but currently focuses her time freelance writing and blogging. Taylor tends to focus her writing on topics that interest her regardless of how bizarre they are but mainly focuses on covering college life topics and esthetician school advisement.

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That wall she’s leaning against?  Yep.  Made out of hemp.  Hemp and lime, pressed into a form.  The substance hardens and ta da!  You’ve got hempcrete.  The advantages of this method are numerous.  The building material is resistant to mold, is fire resistant, recyclable, sound-dampening, resistant to rodents and other pests, and would stand up great in an earthquake.  Second best of all, it’s cheap and you can do it yourself.  Best of all, it’s crazy good for the environment.  It doesn’t look so bad, either.

Klara and a guy named Paul Benhaim have written an e-book called Build A House of Hemp wherein they tell you all the ins and outs of building a hemp house for yourself.  If you have 2.5 acres of land and a hardware store nearby you can grow and cultivate the hemp and process it yourself, and build your own house.  Klara has actually built her own house out of hemp, and I think that’s the one seen directly above this paragraph.

In April of 2009, Fast Company did a small write up on hemp houses, saying that a hemp house leaves  no carbon footprint – that the small footprint left by the lime in the mixture is negated by the “negative” footprint of the the hemp.  Fast Company does bring up the one sticky wicket – it is illegal for American farmers to grow industrial hemp.  So, a big old law would have to pass to make this type of building a viable, local option.  What do you think?

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