Monthly Archives: June 2012

Pollination

28 Thursday Jun 2012

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I’m a HUGE fan of Interface, Ray Anderson’s company, and the work they do.  I read their blog often, and one of their latest in a series about Biophilia was interesting and inspirational.

Discussing how London, England has 25% green space in the form of parks and gardens — 2,500 registered bee hives can be found in London, with 50,000 bees in each hive, producing 70 lbs. of honey from each hive in every season — was eye opening on many levels.

I know bees are important but the post brought how essential they are to life as we know it right into focus for me.  Attributing the following to A World Without Bees, urban beekeeping experts Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum discuss how,

if all the world’s bees disappeared, mankind would have only four years left to live. Without bees, there’s no pollination, and without pollination, there are no plants — and soon no animals, and then no humans. It’s a sobering thought that the western honeybee pollinates 70% of the food we eat.

I took the bait: curious to discover what’s going on in our local communities, I looked for some area beekeepers associations, and found too many to list. But, in case you’re interested to learn more, here are a few key ones in Denver’s Front Range.  It sounds like a pretty amazing network out there!

Colorado State Beekeepers Association
Oldest beekeeping association in Colorado, organized in Denver in 1880. 

Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association

Boulder County Beekeepers Association

Squash Blossom Bees

— Debbie Hindman

In Honor of the Sun

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Today is the summer solstice. Full of light, this longest day of the year denotes the onset of summertime. Translating from French as soleil (sun) and sistere (to make stand still), the summer solstice marks the day the sun stops getting higher in the sky or the point at which the sun seems to stand still.

If we take this literally, the solstice signifies an ephemeral moment we can use as a cue from nature to stand still and, perhaps, embrace the occasion with reflection on our lives up to this point, consideration of where we are presently and visualization for what the ensuing days may bring.

I couldn’t resist sharing a few questions I came across from a post on MindBodyGreen. These questions resonated with me as a way to check in and connect with my life’s purpose and intention, serving to focus my attention more clearly on what is most essential. So, if you like, pause a moment to ponder…

    • How has the start of summer made you thirsty for your greatest happiness?
    • What new steps are you taking that are really important to you?
    • What are you nurturing that really matters to you?
    • What are you doing to stay creative?
    • What are you excited about right now?
    • Where are you growing?
    • What 3 things are you fired up to do this summer?
    • What role does imagination have in your life?

Soleil

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.  — Maori Proverb

— Amy DePierre

:RETREAT and REFRESH:

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Every once in a great while we close our doors and head out for a much needed retreat. This year we headed west into the high country where we toured through homes we are currently working on as well as a few past homes we designed, too! We spent a couple days in the Vail, Beaver Creek, Lake Creek, Edwards, and were delighted  to stay overnight in Cordillera. There we put our feet up, enjoyed a dinner together and evaluated our company goals with the future in mind.

We ate good food, hiked together, were inspired by the natural and beautiful backdrop of Colorado’s wondrous mountains and enjoyed thoroughly touring the homes we have had the privilege to design. It was visually refreshing! But most importantly meeting with clients, contractors, architects, care takers and property managers at these homes was just the best; we are thankful to be a part of these teams to create warm home environments. It was a lot of fun!

Here are a few pictures:

House Tour

Nature Walk

Associates III

Road Home

— Kelley Cleveland

Balanced Design

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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One of the fundamental objectives in design is to create balance, no matter the discipline — landscape design, product design, interior design. There are elements to consider, a check list of sorts to follow. The approach is not set in stone and guidelines exist, yet there’s a need for a creative eye that may be learnt but is more often innate.

I’ve asked designers how this works for them and received a variety of answers: color, pattern, lines, context, proportion, functionality. Essentially it comes down to relying on or having a sixth sense or a third eye: you know or see when something is in balance… or not.

That’s not to say every element has to be perfect; symmetry can be obtained through a varied palette of color, texture and shape. Using nature for inspiration, I went about looking for clues and found a few images to share.

Snails

As the snail grows, so does its shell — in a spiral shape, an ever growing circle.

Leaves

Each one of these clusters has four leaves, yet that is where their similarity ends. Amazing.

Peacock Feather

Peacock Feathers have been used for healing for centuries in many cultures. Said to carry Spiritual Healing Energy, they are often used to assist those seeking balance and harmony in their lives.

Ducks

The symmetry of birds as they fly is an inspiring reflection of teamwork at it’s finest!

How does your eye see these images?

— Debbie Hindman

World Environment Day

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

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Today, June 5th has been declared World Environment Day by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The theme for this year is Green Economy: Does it include YOU?

UNEP defines Green Economy with the following four initiatives:

    • Improved human well-being and social equity
    • Significantly reduced environmental risks and ecological scarcities
    • Low carbon, resource efficient
    • Socially inclusive

A Green Economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. (http://www.unep.org/wed/theme/)

At Associates III, we support the Green Economy and World Environment Day everyday by taking both small and large actions within our office, on our various projects and at our personal homes. We believe in the triple bottom line – people, planet, profit – and have found that doing business in a sustainable and just way benefits everyone involved, whether that translates to increased dollars in pocketbooks or the ability to breathe more easily in a home devoid of toxic products. So, yes – we are included in the Green Economy. Are YOU?

Learn more about World Environment Day and UNEP.

— Amy DePierre