National Design Week -- Oct 18 - 24

In honor of National Design Week and the National Design Awards, the Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design is opening its doors to free admission.

Beyond honoring the National Design Winners in New York, the Week is a culmination of educational events around the entire country. An interactive map of all the opportunities is featured here: http://www.nationaldesignawards.org/2009/nationaldesignweek

In NYC alone there are over 160 events affiliated with Design Week. Here are but two of the featured events:

I.
Today, Tuesday Oct 20, there will be a panel discussion with this year's Award winners.. and it's open to the public for free as well.

The official description of the event as per the Cooper Hewitt website is:

"2009 National Design Award winners participate in a panel discussion about their inspiration and drive as designers and the state of contemporary design in America. Please join us for this FREE event from 6:30 – 8:30pm at the New York Times Center"

Online Registration required (scroll down until you see the name of the event and follow the link provided). If you can't make it in person there will be a live webcast starting at 6:30 pm EST.

Here's a list of the winners who will be in attendance:

• Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, Design Mind Winner
• Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Arts Center, Corporate / Institutional Winner
• Christopher Sharples, SHoP Architects, Architecture Winner
• Laurene Boym, Boym Partners, Product Design Winner
• Calvin Tsao, Interior Design Winner
• Jeff Han, Perceptive Pixel, Interaction Design Winner
• Steve Duenes, New York Times Graphics Department, Communications Design Winner

II.

Tomorrow's events (Wed Oct 21) include a film screening of Objectified -- a film about the design industry's interconnections with itself as well as the consumers who purchase their products.

The free film screening will take place at the Cooper Hewitt Museum at 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Online registration is required (scroll down until you see the registration link).

Beyond the special events, the Museum's current exhibition schedule and regular collection also promises to be interesting. Design USA: Contemporary Innovation showcases the design innovations of the National Design Winners from the last decade. Design for a Living World focuses on using sustainable materials in innovative ways (i.e. new function).

I haven't personally either exhibits but when I do I will post an update. Feel free to share your comments as well.

"Shop for a Cause" at Macy's -- Saturday, Oct. 17

Macy's is offering an all day 20% off savings pass for one day only, today Saturday Oct. 17. To obtain the pass, one must donate $5 which will go to non-for-profits which have partnered with Macy's. That's it.

For more info, visit: http://www.macys.com/campaign/shopforacause.jsp

You can get the pass online or in-person at a Macy's store.


Enjoy!

Open House New York -- This Weekend!!

Hi Folks... ok so what's one of the most exclusive architectural events that happens every year... but is also open to the public... and free.... ??? It's Open House New York!

You've never heard of it? Ok.. it's definitely time to find out.

The basic concept is as follows: open up some of the coolest private residences, architectural offices, exclusive landmarks, fascinating venues, etc to the public with tours and specially designed events. And make it free. That's basically Open House New York in a nut shell.

The OHNY listing guide sponsored by Metro New York

I participated a few years back and got an exclusive tour of a sustainable bakery in Manhattan and all access tour of a sustainably focused architectural firm in Union Square. Every year the selection changes and its basically up to how much time you have and how adventurous you want to be in your outings.

For a full listing of this year's events visit http://www.opny.org/ or click here for the PDF guide.

By the way, if you like to plan your meal breaks ahead of time, check out the Serious Eater's Guide to this year's Open House New York ( now you know if someone took the time to create a parallel eating guide to accompany a 5 borough wide event it's got to be something big).

ENjoy!!

P.S. don't forget to share your thoughts/pictures on this blog afterwards.

Bryant Park Fall Festival-- September 28 to October 9

Two days left of the Bryant Park Fall Festival. And it's going to be extraordinary.

Bryant Park is one of the few public parks in New York that is lucky to be nestled among the most beautiful skyscrapers but at the same time provide a leafy retreat from the crowded sidewalks of Manhattan. Bryant Park's midtown location also makes it close enough to nearly every train. It is also of Fashion Week fame (the tents are set up right on the lawn each year). So when a free event rolls around, offering the sights and sounds of New York's best performance art and cultural institutions.. you know you've got to at least check it out.

Among the many notable performances featured in this year's Fall Festival was a dance ensemble, Ailey II. The dance group performed exerts from 7 dances part of the Ailey repertoire. The stage was lit in bright purples, reds, blues. The dancers performed in costume and the speakers amplified the music well enough to hear regardless of your seat location. The audience filled half of the great lawn with lawn chairs provided by the park. Some brought wool blankets, others brought snacks. Either way, each dance piece received enthusiastic applause and as well as bursts of approval when the dancers performed difficult combinations. Among the evening sky and crisp fall air, one could almost imagine that they were far off somewhere perhaps in Massachusetts or Upstate NY. However when the performance drew to an end, the subways and everything else Manhattan has to offer was still right there as if you never left.

Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009 -- Bargemusic at Bryant Park Fall Festival

The following night, instead of a dance performance, it was Brooklyn's Bargemusic that took the stage. The show featured classical as well as contemporary chamber music (violin, viola, cello, base, and piano accompaniment). Two contemporary composers -- David Del Tredici and DeBorge Pennington -- were even present, and one, Pennington, sang on stage. The neoLIT ensemble performed Cafe Music by Paul Schoenfield, a modern composer, while the Barge's own musicians performed Bach's Concerto No. 1, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12, and four movements from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

The last two days of the Festival are set to feature the Brooklyn Philharmonic this evening-- Thursday, October 8, 2009 -- and Jazz at Lincoln Center tomorrow evening --Friday, October 9, 2009. All performances run from 6:00pm - 7:30pm.

For a full list of performances and more information visit the Bryant Park Fall Festival website.

Climate Week NYC Sept 20 - 26

September 20 - 26 has been declared Climate Week here in NYC as it coincides with the United Nation's General Assembly meeting, and perhaps more specifically, the United Nations Summit on Climate Change which took place on September 22, 2009 in NY.


In order to support this gathering, Climate Week NYC features dozens of events, exhibits, discussions, etc. with the central theme tied to Climate.

One such event took place last night (Thursday Sept 24), a panel discussion entitled "Building Solar Pathways to Economic Empowerment in the Developing World" . The event was co-hosted by Solar One, a green energy education and arts non-for-profit based in Manhattan, while the panelists included :

• Nicola Armacost, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Arc Finance (New York City)
• Asim Buksh, Chairman, The Buksh Foundation (Lahore, Pakistan)
• Max Lacayo, Sales Manager, Ecami S.A. (Managua, Nicaragua)
• Sarah Butler-Sloss, Executive Director and Founder, The Ashden Awards.

The speakers offered examples of solar projects currently being implemented throughout the world, as well as an overview of the particular benefits of solar energy to developing nations or populations that do not have any access to electrical energy. The topic of financing was brought up as well, in particular models that allow for individuals to use solar technology. There was also a dynamic question and answer period with attendees further guiding the discussion. For example, one attendee asked if deployment of solar technology was being tied to disaster relief organizations so as to provide some form of electricity for areas where access to electricity was affected by natural disaster. Others asked questions ranging from the cost of current solar technology, to the scope of implementation, as well as adaptability to specific populations/uses/locations (for example, one solar cube was shown which is water-proof and can be used at sea or in rainy weather).

To check out events scheduled for today, Friday September 25, visit the Climate Week NYC website at: http://www.climateweeknyc.org/events/2009-09-25#90 .

For events throughout the year, check out Solar One's website as well: www.solar1.org

If you attend any of the exhibits, we'd love to hear your comments.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream... $1 !!

As if you needed another reason to indulge yourself in some insanely good Peter Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream... here's one you can't resist: $1 cones until 1:00pm.

If you are anywhere near 72 West 36th Street (midtown) or can get there within a reasonable amount of time... get there. The ice cream has been around for some time, but I only recently discovered it a couple of weeks ago. The base ingredients like milk, sugar, and are sourced locally (NY and surrounding region) and the specialty ingredients are sourced from heritage beans and ingredients in Europe and elsewhere. In addition, their napkins, cups, etc are made from 100% renewable resources.


You can read more about the company here: http://www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/


And I suggest you follow them on Twitter for special announcements (like today's): http://twitter.com/Vlaic


Seriously, if you are in the area... this is an unbeatable deal. You'll most likely thank me after your ice cream cone. Can't wait for mine :))))



A side note-- As everyone in NYC knows by now, it's Fashion Week time. If you are heading to the ice cream truck, you will most likely encounter the Fashion Week crowds. If you want to do some shopping afterwards, check out Fashion's Night Out -- a one day event (today only) which offers unique performances, specials, consultations, music, etc at various fashion venues in the City. This is the first event that I can remember of this kind. There is also a charitable component to the event if you purchase a specially designed t-shirt to commemorate the event, 40% of the proceeds will go to the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. By the way, Fashion's Night Out is not only in NYC.. it's happening around the world.

Quick update -- The Waterpod

Hi Everyone,


Sorry for not posting in quite a while but I promise I will do a full update later today (Monday Aug 3). For now, I'll just post a few pictures of The Waterpod -- a wonderful barge that has its own garden, chickens, solar panels, solar cooker (more details will be up soon), rocket stove, hydroponics and sub-irrigation planters, and much much more. Not to mention, they host awesome events like free cooking demonstrations, lectures, music, discussions, art exhibits, etc. This is definitely worth a trip.

A view of one of the gardens on board

The barge (basically a flat ship) moves around the NYC every two weeks or so. Today was the last day that it was docked in West Harlem Park Piers ( 125th Street and Hudson River). It's next stop is Brooklyn Bridge Park. Full docking schedule here.
Here are some preview pictures:

Outside view, when the Waterpod was docking on W. 125th Street

On Board