Biophilia!

Biophilia: An appreciation of life and the living world; an innate love for the natural world, supposed to be felt universally by humankind;The biophilia hypothesis suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems

I am currently reading a book called "The Biophilia Hypothesis" for my sustainability minor.  As stated above, its basically the connection between humans and nature, our need and appreciation for our environment.  There are so many studies that show how important our interaction with nature is.  Creating better moods, overall just feeling good, psychological benefits, reduced stress and so much more.  Using nature in design is pretty much a "duh" concept in my opinion.  This can include having plants and natural day light within a space, using natural materials that are overall better for our health, being conscious of everything's life cycle as well as being aware of the site you build on.  These aspects and so much more can easily be implemented and NEED to be incorporated in design in order to turn our world around and show some concern about our current depletion and destruction being done to our environment. 

On a lighter note!  I wanted to share some pictures on how people have integrated the built environment with nature!

http://www.goempire.net/blog-2/ 

http://footnotesjournal.com/

http://press.siff.net/2012%20Design%20Fest/Biophilic%20Design/

Use of natural day light

http://www.architecture-view.com/2010/11/14/maxwans-extraordinary-house-g-in-netherlands/house-g-filled-natural-daylight/

Pinterest to Inspire the Senses!

Tonight in portfolio studio our professor said. "you have 30 minutes to 'Pin' what reflects your design style and inspires your senses!"  I was super excited to spend our class time on one of my favorite sites, Pinterest!  At first I was being too technical with it and went straight to pictures of interiors and architecture, then started to think less literal with pins of art, fashion, sayings and inspiring blurbs.  I even went as far as adding humorous pins of Dwight from the office and quotes like "If stress burned calories, I'd be a supermodel".  All of these things inspire me, motivate me and are just plain "ME"!  They give a glimpse of what my personality is like and my personality and inspirations are what drive my designs.  I consider myself to be very eclectic and versatile and I think this board of pins expresses just that.

After we were all done with the exercise we compared and discussed each others boards.  My professor described each of our boards in a few words that pretty much summed up our personalities and design styles.  Her words to describe mine?  Well at first she was at a loss for words saying "Ok... this is just not from here... but not necessarily 'California'..."  Then after some thought that translated to "Glamorous and Urban"; I'll take it! :)

I found this exercise to be very informative and showed me why I like certain things and why I design the way I do.  I just wish we can incorporate fun time with pinterest in every assignment!  But then again lets be real, nothing would get done!

Check out my "Define your style; inspire the senses" board here:
https://pinterest.com/nstephanie/define-your-style-inspire-the-senses/ 

Intro + Trends

A Bit About Me...

I am a young designer in the last year of my formal education at Auburn University.  I am a Cali girl living in a southern world, what a culture shock!  I have grown so much since moving here and I am so thankful I got to experience a different culture from what I grew up in.

Design is my passion and coming to Auburn University's program has taught me SO much.  However, I still have a lot to learn...  I will share things I see, experience and research along with my thoughts and reflections about different design aspects.  I believe design is everywhere, so whether you are an artist, a photographer, a graphic designer, an architect or an interior designer I hope to interest a realm of people that just love and appreciate design!

Now to the "Trend" part...

My classmates and I were recently assigned a hospitality project for studio in which we had to research for.  (Side note: Never start a project without some research!  Whether it be research about the location, target market, the industry in which you are designing for etc...)  My research was about trends in the hospitality industry and I came across an interesting array of "Themed Restaurants".  Its a debate as to whether this is a good way to go with designing a restaurant.  It can obviously be way over done or can be super successful.  I believe if done right and with moderation it can be a really cool way of bringing in customers and creating more of a dining experience rather than just going somewhere to stuff your face for the heck of it.  Here are some interesting photos of themed restaurants I found for your judgement...

 
Interesting right? 


Picture Sources:

http://craziestgadgets.com/2008/06/06/toilet-theme-restaurant/

http://eolake.blogspot.com/2009/06/unusual-restaurants.html

http://philadelphia.grubstreet.com/2008/01/singapores_medical_restaurant.html

http://www.homedit.com/airbus-a380-themed-restaurant/