Thursday

The Design Process: Bubble Diagrams

This is an interesting video on the design process.  The thought patterns that go into designing a space.  In this case a house, but we use exactly the same bubble diagram/ function diagram process for designing outside space.

The Design Process: Bubble or Functional Diagrams

Wednesday

Award Winning Australian Design

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,This multi award winning courtyard designed by Cos Design, transformed what was a tired, old unused space into a stylish and functional outdoor room. A three level water feature hides the courtyards rear access, while custom built in bench seating and furniture, built in BBQ, raised planter boxes and screening bamboo planting, provide the aesthetics and functionality required by the clients.

The internal light well is also a feature from the bathroom window and stairwell. This garden was the winner of the 2009 National landscape of the year (Under $100k) along with 3 state awards.

[photography by Tim Turner as featured on Designhunter]

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,

Garden design, Courtyard, contemporary, raised planters, water feature, modern design, landscape design,

Tuesday

ARCTIC ICE AT RECORD LOW

seaicearea_09_21_1979_flat

seaicearea_08_26_2012_flat

Last year NASA released these rather shocking satellite images of the polar ice caps. According to its scientists and researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the area of the arctic ice sheet fell to a record low in August . And it is expected to continue to retreat over the next few weeks.

The extent of the arctic ice sheet grows during the winter and shrinks during the summer. The first photo above shows the total extent of the ice sheet’s retreat in the summer of 1979. The second shows its retreat so far this summer. The orange line shows the average minimum ice cover from 1979 to 2010.

According to NASA, the seasonal minimum area of the arctic ice sheet has gotten 13 percent smaller each decade for the past three decades.