We are our stories, our collective dreamings — nor are we alone, as our modernist, isolationist culture of self-destructive madness would like us to believe. Our imaginings, the thought forms we send out as a species, do matter — on a level that may not be physically perceivable, but it nonetheless exists. Thought is power, …
One of the first things that struck me about Montréal when I first moved here were the spiral staircases. Winding, weaving, twisting upon themselves, these iron or wood stairways are treacherous in winter and yet add an element of elegance and fantasy to the city’s streets, while allowing for a greater density of residential occupation. …
Unseen and microscopic, this part of the fungi organism spreads as a branching network underground, making up what could be the largest organism in the world, according to mycologist Paul Stamets in his book Mycelium Running.
Another digital collage, part of a page done for a ‘zine I put together for Expozine 2011. You can see the rest of the PDF here.
Named after my mother-in-law’s initial reaction (“Oh! It’s an anemone!”), this illustration depicts a girl whose dress is indistinct from the body of a jellyfish, while her hair transforms into a school of fish. No, it’s not a mutant — this drawing is inspired by my fascination with patterns and the ever-changing flows that exist …
“Evolution is the manifestation of latent potentials… another way of saying this is that consciousness exists in all forms of life. It is the very basis of creation, the power of evolution. Life, creation and evolution are the stages in the unfoldment of consciousness. There is nothing in existence that is unfeeling, nothing that is profane or unspiritual, nothing without a unique value in the cosmos.”
The hummingbird is seen as a symbol of resurrection, beauty and magic. Set against a mandala or wheel design of bursting colours, a bird-creature dressed in white has her feet immersed in a pool of water (a symbol for the subconscious), while geometric lines of energy seem to emanate from its depths. A drawing with …
Visual musings on the mathematical and existential matter of infinity: like love, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Table of diagrams on right from Don Hatch’s amazing website on tessellations and other sundries. Schlafli and Wythoff symbols, enough equations to boondoggle the mind. Wikipedia entry on uniform tilings on the hyperbolic plane: There are …
A tweaked photo-collage created with Photoshop.
At the intersection of Villeneuve and Avenue du Parc stand two carpet stores, facing each other. What happens when the carpets break free?
This is a tri-fold design competition poster done for a proposed project located at 47-50 West Street in downtown New York City, showing site plan, floor plans, building section, facade rendering, window details and elevations. (with Fox & Fowle Architects)
A strange encounter with a truncated door in one of Montréal’s quiet laneways.
An interpretative take on Montréal’s famous ornamental mansard roofs.
In the summer of 2009, I attended a treehouse-building workshop held by Treehouse Workshop, a Seattle-based company that builds gorgeous treehouses, run by Peter Nelson and partners. The workshop was held at Finnriver Farm, where over the course of the weekend participants learned the basics of selecting trees, design and structural considerations, which tools to …
Study of different regional vernaculars, the importance of siting and materiality was also emphasized. Sites included Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland.
Turning a ho-hum balcony into a little oasis of blooming green (or at least starting to!) one July weekend in 2009. For this one-day workshop / permaculture blitz, we made self-watering containers, transplanted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, one banana and herbs, made a climbing wall, and started a rainwater collection system, made out of recycled election …
A community building for three local women’s groups, constructed out of (literally) earth-friendly, compressed stablized earth blocks (CSEBs).
A competition to design a new landmark building on Beijing’s Financial Street.
A traditional New England shingle-style house is adapted into an ecologically-conscious beachfront residence.
A sustainably-designed mixed-use residential & commercial development at the corner of Lexington and East 86th Street, with units ranging from two- to five-bedrooms.
A façade conceived as occupiable bridge for Venice’s Guggenheim Museum, located on the waters of the Grand Canal.