Tom's Shoes: Keeping up with the Summer Fashions

The well-known company Tom's Shoes has launched a summer nautical line for men, that expands their clientele as well keeping this trendy label in fashion. Popular among the celebrities, Tom's Shoes strives to accomplish their mission of giving a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold. The company has also been successful in using natural materials and sustainable manufacturing methods.

Inspired by barefoot Argentinian children, Blake Mycoski sought to create a program to give children shoes, not once, but over and over again. Shoes may seem like a minor amenity, but in many cultures children must have the proper uniform in order to attend school, which includes shoes. Shoes are also a very important factor promoting major health concerns.

TOM stands for "Tomorrow" and Mycoski believes these are the shoes for tomorrow. The idea is that if you buy a pair of shoes today, a pair of shoe will be given away tomorrow.

The design was inspired by traditional Argentinian farmer's shoes that have been around for hundreds of years. Using the shoes practicality and adapting it to modenr fashion, Toms shoes is a quick drying material that weigh less than the popular Havanas flip flop while availabel in a variety fo colors and designs.

15 volunteers every week are taken to differetn dorp sites incliding Africa, South America and even the United States, to help distribute and give children shoes. But Mycoski notes that this company is not only about the children in need, but also about the volunteers that get an experience of giving somewhere else in the world. Mycoski hopes that the volunteers on Toms drops will help inspire the concept of giving so more people can benefit for this ideology.

Toms shoes has gone from 9 employees last year to 42 full time employees this year. But Mycoski says that the young fast-growing company is still struggling on the business side. He explains that most companies that sell in high retail stores like Nordstrom are hundred million compnaies and this small company just does not have the business background that most companies such as Nike or Tori Burch have, yet they are selling in the same retail stores and hope to grow even more.

The Art of Money

The United States Treasury has recently released the new design of the $100 bill that will go into circulation February 10th 2011. As the highest value domination and most counterfeited bill, The New York Times has provided a report on how the new bill is expected to cut down on counterfeiting. Additional colors and objects have been unnecessarily added to make the design more complicated and abstract. The government has also made a video demonstrating its new decorative features.

When Design Isn't Faithful

Robert Grudin's new book Design and Truth analyzes an interesting viewpoint on design. He goes through history pointing out the flaws in design and noting that when projects have poor outcomes it is often times because the designer is not true to their original design. This happens when politics, power and money enter the concept.

One of the most interesting examples he looks at in his book is the World Trade Center. Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of the World Trade Center in NYC originally proposed two 80-story towers, but in order to increase their profits, the developers demanded 110-story towers. If the project could be the world's tallest buildings,the developers could have more space to rent out and charge more for that space. Thus according to Grudin, Yamasaki altered his design to have more space by centralizing the escape routes to one on every floor instead of having three spread throughout the floor. Grudin states that because the designer did not stay true to his original design, the buildings were made taller with less escape routes.

Grudin then states that it is possible that if the building was true to its design and not built at this grand height, it may not have been a target for Al Qaeda. An even if it was, if the designer was true to the design, there would have been more escape routes and possibly more people may have survived.

The author expresses his modernist ideology that "form follows function" and writes an extremely compelling argument about design's responsibility.

Field Operations Wins Santa Monica's Park Competition

A $25 million park project for the Santa Monica Civic Center is expected to start construction in 2012. Located in a vast lot across from Santa Monica High School, will be a one acre cultural and civic square for various events. The site's remaining six acres will be used to create a spacious open park and walkway. In addition, a mixed use housing development is expected in the future.

In a competition between firms including Gehry Partners, Peter Walker and Partners, Studio Works and SWA Group, the panel selected the New York based firm Field Operations. The firm was not selected directly by the City of Santa Monica but by a panel including USC's Architecture Dean Qingyun Ma, UC Santa Barbara's chancellor and campus architect Marc Fisher and landscape architect Ken Smith. Field Operations was chosen because it "offers an understanding of the connectivity of the park to its surroundings, its major circulation elements, and local horticultural imperatives, along with a focus on designing a signature civic park."

Shanghai Expo to Open on May 1st

First Day of Trails at the Gates of the Expo


China is making headway as a world superpower with the 2010 Shanghai Expo to open May 1st and run until Oct 31st. This 184 day expo in China is the first expo hosted in a developing country and is expected to have 70 million visitors. The concept behind the expo is "Better City, Better Life" and is the largest world's fair to date.

Unfortunately the Expo trails, http://en.expo2010.cn/a/20100421/000001.htma preview for 200,000 Shanghai residents, was a disappointment for many. The food was overpriced and there were extremely long lines at every attraction. Many visitors said that it was uncomfortable and inconvenient, making it difficult to appreciate, or even see, the few pavilions that were open for trials. Before the opening days China will strive to make adjustments in time to be fully prepared for the crowds on opening day. The ten-day trial run gave a sneak-preview to Shanghai's newest building projects and China's pavilion, the main attraction.

Most countries will be showcasing their most recent developments including Iran, Korea and Myanmar.

Iran's pavilion features architecture inspired by ancient Iranian art and modern Islamic life. The building is themed "Blending Diverse Cultures in the City" and divides the pavilion into three parts: Iran's past, present and future. The consul-general of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai stated that Iran hopes that China will see the two nation's similarities and the expo will help build a relationship between Iran and China.

Directly next to Iran's pavilion is North Korea's pavilion themed "Prosperous Pyongyang". Pyongyang literally means "flat land" and is the name of the nation's first capital city. This will be the first time North Korea has participated in a world expo. With this said their pavilion's architecture has three national characteristics, including a flowing river representing the Taedong River, a 13 foot model of Pyongyang's Juche Tower and replicas of Jiangxi's tomb murals and cave paintings.

One environmentally focused pavilion is by The Union of Myanmar, or Burma, who named their pavilion "Better Urbanization with Harmonized Eco-System." The architecture features a courtyard suspended over a stream and the pavilion is decorated in bright colors with Southeast Asian design elements.

Different from designs featuring natural resources, Spain pays homage to traditions with there pavilion themed "From the City of Our Parents to the City of Our Children." Extravagant, yet true to its theme, Spain has created a giant animated baby that will greet visitors as they enter the pavilion.

Years of planning and now only days away, the world awaits what other pavilions will showcase on the opening day.

The Interiors of Hollywood's Leading Ladies

Carole Lombard
Ginger Rodgers
Bette Davis

This month Architectural Digest took a look at the interiors of the ladies that made Hollywood glamorous.

Icons like Carole Lombard bought her first home in 1934 and made it a space for herself in the most feminine way, making it obvious a single woman occupied the home. Her designer William Haines became the interior designer for the stars after decorating this Hollywood Hills home for a good friend.

Similarly, Ginger Rogers acquired her first home after the separation from her husband and she set out to create her childhood dream house. This Beverly Hills home was complete with a movie screening room and her own soda fountain, an amenity she claims she could only get if she built it herself.

Bette Davis on the other hand didn't chase her dream house, but lived in about 75 homes during her life. In her autobiography she wrote that the city made her want to push the buildings aside to let the sunlight in. Space is perhaps what she was seeking in the multiple homes and never quite found enough of it.

The Shiny American Dreamworld

Pearl Bedspread, Hartland Mansion
Tiffany Studios Dragonfly table lamp, 1902

The gaudy American Aesthetic has recently been defined by artist and writer Stefany Anne Goldberg through a timeline demonstrating how handcrafts met the factory.

Why is it that rhinestone denim jackets are popular country clothing or gold grills with rhinestone studs are seen in the mouths of pop culture icons? Where did the spinner rims originate? Goldberg writes that Americans are attracted to shiny things because it recalls a type of dreamworld. They are attracted to the shiny forms of new cars and jewelry and by imitating fine materials, the fantasy associated with beauty is brought to the masses. A plastic rhinestone instead of a rare gemstone also shimmers and possesses the same light reflecting qualities. Thus the production of fine materials in the factory made it possible for individuals without money to enjoy the fantasy of awe-inspiring extravagance.

The Arts and Crafts movement was the foundation for imitation and Louis Comfort Tiffany was the vehicle that transported beautiful things into the middle-class home. His stained glass gave the appearance of a European handcraft yet was made in a factory, thus the price was affordable. This accessibility changed American design and was the seed for American "bling" and the reason why iconic places such as the Hartland Mansion exist today. The mansion was decorated with a glue gun and many trips to the craft store, creating a shiny environment that emulates the abundance of Versailles. This venue is used for a wide range of events, all that enjoy the grand rooms filled with gold, silk and pearls at an affordable price. The Hartland Mansion is the epitome of the shiny American dreamworld.

More recently, the development of linoleum flooring is a craft that has made its way into many homes. It can appear as an imported tile or a rare wood, but is in fact a type of plastic. Similarly, Home Depot sells the popular white picket fence in sets of five plastic pickets that latch together. Now everyone can have their white picket fence without the expensive cost or maintenance of wood. The American Aesthetic is thus the accessibility of beautiful looking materials.