On Monday I took the bus up to the bottom of OHSU, to take an unplanned hike through Maquam Nature Park. I never knew this trail system existed up until Sunday when I was searching for a way to get out of the urban environment, but still be close to a bus line. When I arrived at the trail head I set my sites on the 4T trail that leads up to Council Crest, then over to Washington Park. After about an hour I arrived at Washington Park I moved off the 4T trail and on up to Hoyt Arboretum. I spent over an hour walking through the Arboretum soaking in the trees, sun and fresh air. I wandered through a few of the trails and learned to identify some of the trees I see around the Northwest. I got onto the Wildwood trail and followed that over to the Pittock Mansion and then down into Forest Park where I ended my journey at MacLeay Park.

It was a fantastic day, and I really needed to get out of the house. The thing that I really enjoyed about it was being able to get away from of all the noise and stress of the city, but still be close to home. When you don’t have a car, and are limited to public transit and foot travel, park systems like what I experienced are a wonderful way to connect with nature. I didn’t spend a single dollar, and had more fun than I would at any bar, movie theatre or most other entertainment sources. Here is a rough route of my adventure, click on it to make it bigger.

Next week I plan on setting out on a much larger hike. I will take the Tillamook County Shuttle to Tillamook and then hike back to Forest Grove, where I will either walk home or take Trimet. Just depends on how I feel. My friend Andy might come along. We have been talking about going out for a walk while he is on his break from PCC. I just need to get my paperwork from OHSU, so I can sign the forms and send them back. And then I am free until my start date on the 28th. Below is my intended route, which is about 52 miles. Which should take 3 days. If the weather is nice, I might keep going and hike out to another destination. Looking forward to the freedom of the woods and open road.

This oil spill is incredibly awful, but in terms of its effect on the planet vs. our total consumption and demand for oil have. It does’t even come close. You may argue the point that man made climate change is a hoax, and this is just the natural cycle. Fine, I’m not going to argue that with anyone because I am not an expert. There are scientist and people seeing it first hand that are better suited to do so. But for what it is worth the difference I see between man made development vs. a balanced ecosystem is visually disturbing to me. If it weren’t for my student loans I would surly kiss this capitalistic resource hogging world behind, and live with less out on the road.

Ok, back on topic. I really like this idea of public transit being used to travel great distances. Think about it, I could get on Trimet then connect with other regional transit systems and in a matter of hours I am in Seattle. It may not be as convenient, but there is nothing convenient about sitting in your car all alone unable to share the experience with other people. We are social animals, and while some of the people you may encounter on the bus aren’t the type of people you want to buddy up to. If more people ditched their cars the chances are better that you could meet someone new on your commute to — for example, Seattle.

This is just another idea that a better planned urban area, that focuses resources on transit of the foot, pedal, and mass-transit systems could go a long way towards developing stronger communities. So what am I missing? I’m not sure human beings; despite our social nature are ready for that close of a community. Some people just don’t want to change, don’t want to listen, and don’t want to give up on what they have come to believe is the American Dream. I wish it were different. My inner hippy mellow is being harshend, haha.

California just banned plastic bags. Oregon, are you listening? Safeway, you are the worst offender. My Safeway store doesn’t even offer paper. So if I forget my reusable bag, I have to take plastic. Boo!

Oh, check out this great audio visual bliss of five New York neighborhoods captured in their full glory. No inserted outside music, just a great ambient soundtrack and neighborhood blips. Sources: Architects Newspaper Blog and Urban Omnibus

Daniel, stop being such a gloating flower power dude and show us a cool house. Ok, here you go.

This is the JD House. It is located in the forest of Mar Azul, in the Argentinian province of Buenos Aires. Minus the Zebra skin on the ground, I really love this. The Architecture is so inspiring. I also like the minimalism of the interior. Sure it could use some art and a bit of color, but that is really those personal touches that are made by the inhabitant. Here, have a look.

Sources: Contemporist and BAK Architects

I put up this weeks mixtape. You can listen to it, or download it on the sidebar to the right. Um, the language is NSFW. But so is leaving the window open. I guess try it out with headphones first before you start a dance party in the office. This will be a weekly thing, unless I find it to be too much to keep up on. For now, no problem on that front. Enjoy.

30 Days of Creativity starts today. I made a mix to kick things off. I have a few ideas in my head and sketch pad that I am going to try and get more developed. One of them includes a remodel experiment for my family’s house down in Florence, Oregon.  It’s a really great mid-century ranch style house. Some other things will show up here before or after that. This 30 day project will be my motivation to really kick my portfolio into high gear.

“30 Days of Creativity is a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff, anything, every day for 30 days.

This is your excuse to buy that tub of Playdough, unbox your Erector set, or dust off your Holga. You might be working on one huge project for 30 days straight. Maybe you are creating something new thing every day. (That’s the best way to participate!) It could be as simple as taking a picture of your outfit for 30 days to something as involved as a writing a song or making a movie every day.” — MAKE Magazine Blog

#30daysofcreativity — A How To Guide from 30 Days of Creativity on Vimeo.

Finally, something to share. I’ve been trying to share at least one project/design a week that inspires me. Today I am sharring the Palmyra House located in Nandgaon, Maharashtra, India. This has been featured on a few architecture blogs. So it may look familiar. It was designed by Studio Mumbai Architects.

What I like most about it is the interior use of very dark and rich woods, along with natural stone and concrete elements. It has a strong textural aesthetic — almost rough looking. Still though, the end experience that I observed from the images it that the the house has a quiet and soft feeling. The house has great Eastern Asian design elements as well, to unify the modern design with traditional finishes. More images and observations are available over at Contemporist.

Architects: Bernard Tschumi Architects
Location: Athens, Greece
Associate Architect: ARSY
Bernard Tschumi Architects Team: Bernard Tschumi; Architect and Lead Designer Joel Rutten; Project Architect, Adam Dayem, Aristotelis Dimitrakopoulos, Jane Kim, Eva Sopeoglou, Kim Starr, Anne Save de Beaurecueil, Jonathan Chace, Robert Holton, Valentin Bontjes van Beek, Liz Kim, Daniel Holguin, Kriti Siderakis, Michaela Metcalfe, Justin Moore, Joel Aviles, Georgia Papadavid, Allis Chee, Thomas Goodwill, Véronique Descharrières, Christina Devizzi
ARSY Team: Michael Photiadis; Principal, George Kriparakos, Nikos Balkalbassis, Philippos Photiadis, Jaimie Peel, Niki Plevri, Maria Sarafidou, Makis Grivas, Elena Voutsina, Manoulis Economou, Anastassia Gianou, Miltiadis Lazaridis, Dimitris Kosmas
Structure: ADK and ARUP
Mechanical and Electrical: MMB Study Group S.A. and ARUP
Civil: Michanniki Geostatiki and ARUP
Acoustics: Theodore Timagenis
Lighting: ARUP, London
General Contractor: Aktor
Project Area: 21,000 sqm
Project Year: 2003–2009
Photographs: Courtesy of Bernard Tschumi Architects

via Archdaily.

URBAN FARMING: GOOD

I think GOOD is becoming one of my favorite information sources for all things I love. They have a really interesting article, written by Peter Smith on future farming. Urban farming was a topic I studied for an environmental science class while in school. It is an idea that I see totally viable for reclaiming vacant or unoccupied land in cities all over the globe. If you are interested and have a couple of minutes I suggest checking out the article. This idea could do a lot to decrease our dependence on oil and bring local jobs. Forward thinking my friends! I need to work on my green thumb.

These greedy oil tycoons and lobbyist controlled politicians with their thumbs up their butts need to step aside from their agendas, and deal with this HUGE problem. I know efforts are being made were made, and it was successful at stopping the flow, but it’s not enough. It is not just this spill. It is their inability to control technology, due to greed and status whoring.

Then there is this guy, who is too smart for Washington. Thank you Dennis Kucinich. Though once again, you have proven that these morons in Washington have too much dirty money in their ears to hear you. Sadly though, much of this falls on people like me. I and others like me demand for products that do more to sustain our oil addiction.

I don’t drive anymore, and I try to limit the amount of energy I consume. I am however not doing enough to demand for better sources of energy, better technology and better food production/packaging practices. We are simply victims of our own ignorance. Mother Nature — we are not worthy.

Treehugger.com has some images to help calm some anger, with satire. Which is different than Sarah Palin’s definition. /rant

Now for my daily distraction. Sports! This is a promo for the Portland Timbers MLS 2011 crest design. The Timbers will unveil the crest on June 12 — in a friendly against England. Great production, and I am very excited for the future of Portland Football. Thanks to Dropping Timber and PortlandMLS2011 for showing me this.

This fantastic boardwalk is located on the Benidorm Seafront in Spain . Designed by Office of Architecture in Barcelona. I can only imagine how the air flows through these elegant curves. The design reminds me of a wind sock. I’ll have to add this to my list of places to see someday. Found on Archdaily and Abitare.

This project needs support and you can help.  For a minimum $1.00 pledge you can help fund this. Go here and help out. Find out more about this over at Inhabitat.

“Nobody walks in L.A.”, at least that’s what Missing Persons sang about. Over at GOOD, Ryan Bradley has started a series discussing walking in Los Angeles, and how to open the city to pedestrian friendly transportation. Narrow roads that are friendly to on-foot transportation are a staple for European cities. It brings neighbors closer together — which strengthens the bond of their inhabitants. It builds micro-economic markets and enriches culture. Both of which could use some help in my neighborhood.

I am a strong advocate for pedestrian friendly cities. It’s part of the reasons my friends have to put up with my biased love for Northwest Portland — my favorite and former neighborhood. I now live right on Cesar E Chavez Blvd; which is horrific for foot travel and keeps me from enjoying my neighborhood. I just don’t see the bond between people the way I did living in a close, walk friendly part of town. I’m glad someone is starting to ask these questions in Los Angeles. It could go a long way towards our continued efforts to build smarter transportation systems through better urban planning. It could also help small local based businesses open doors and thrive.

The Miles ‘59 series is an homage to the original band that created the epic recording “Kind of Blue” 50 years ago this year. -Rad Collector

Ian Johnson has some other amazing work up on his site, to check out. Someone hire me so I can pick these up.

GOOD.is has posted a really cool project, in which they asked people to create a flag that represents their neighborhood. There are some Portland neighborhoods in there, as well as many more really solid designs. I love the Roseway flag. Check it out.

This first video is some proper reuse/adaptation to the foreclosures and economic dumps of these crazy times. This may be a little controversial depending on how you look at it. I grew up skateboarding, and see no harm done. What do you think? If you are watching at work, be careful. The language is NSFW.

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

This next item is a fantastic combination of modern architecture and near perfect integration into the house’s surrounding landscape. I call this success. Beautiful textures, stunning lines, and so many interesting focal points. I would love to be a part of a project like this someday. This gets me going.

Los Molles House / Oltmann Ahlers W. + Oltmann Ahlers G. + dRN Arquitectos — Source: Arch Daily

All images by Colin Smith