Dear <<First Name>>,
it's all about perspective
Design at its best removes us from what has always been and takes us to what can be better. It's not just about making things pretty, it's about making things work (you've heard me say this before!) One way to improve your ability to see a problem and improve on the solution is to see it from another perspective....one that you don't usually embrace. Get out of your office, take a trip, dig in the dirt, read a book, make something. Get out of whatever bubble you use to define yourself. This month's Parti* Notes might give you some ideas to poke a few holes in that bubble. And you may find that the most unexpected directions yield the best solutions.
Next month I'm heading back to New Orleans for a visit with an old friend, Nat Turner at Our School at Blair Grocery. He has big plans for growing the farm and school that he started in the Lower Ninth Ward nearly a decade ago. I'll definitely be outside of my usual bubble and can't wait to dig in the dirt with Turner, his staff and the kids of the Lower Ninth. If you want to get involved but can't make a trip, they're running a crowdfunding campaign through Barnraiser. Help them out....and while you're there check out all of the good works that people are doing around food and healthy living with Barnraiser.
I've been pulling lots of retro permits lately....call me if you need me!
Leslie
for a retro permit
for a restaurant design
for help with your online presence
multi-potentialite....it's a thing and I am one
Let's say you're at a cocktail party and the guy in last year's suit marches over, sticks his hand out and says "Hi, I'm David. I'm an attorney. What do you do?" If you're like me you stand there looking baffled. David the Attorney probably is not terribly impressed and he walks away looking for someone with a single noun descriptor that he can relate to.
Meanwhile, if you're like me, you are still trying to figure out what exactly you do. I don't have a noun. I don't even have a paragraph. Forget the elevator speech, I have a full on rival to 24 hours of happy. With less dancing (except when I'm making dinner). And according to Emilie Wapnick, this is just fine. read more
tap tap tap
The psychologists say that we learn more taking notes by hand than we do taking notes on a laptop. Writing by hand allows us to not only store information, but more importantly to internalize the information. I know that when I need to learn something I write it down. Typically I never need to look at that note again as the act of writing itself has imprinted the information somewhere accessible in my brain. So there is some sort of problem solving that occurs between the pen, the hand and the brain. read more
what you do matters
Sometimes you get the shell of a popcorn kernel stuck in your tooth and it hurts a little but mostly just annoys you until you can take a moment to floss it away. I have one of those kernels stuck in my brain. Recently I had a conversation with someone in my life who tends to lean toward the ignorant. I'd say to the right, but it isn't so much to the right as it is to the empty and meaningless arguments of certain so-called 'news' programs. This current annoying kernel involves personal responsibility. read more
deafspace
At Gallaudet University, where one of my nieces graduated and then coached, everyone is hearing impaired to some degree. Many students are profoundly deaf. Those of us that are hearing don't always understand what this means moment to moment. Curbed just published a brilliant article explaining how architecture can affect the lives of those who live without hearing. At Gallaudet they've developed an architectural philosophy they call DeafSpace. A way of looking at the built environment that allows for multi-sensory engagement. This philosophy rests on five principles. read more
parti notes is...
a compilation of interesting, and hopefully enlightening, information about the worlds of architecture, design and food. My belief is that by sharing what intrigues us, the world we create will become that much more remarkable. If you'd like to expand your horizons, and get occasional tips on how to build your image and align your business, get me in your inbox.
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