ISSN 1913-0759
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Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century |
The occupation of space is a trend that can currently be recognized in many creative fields. While furniture and product design were once largely driven by classical industrial and interior design, these disciplines are now also being shaped by the visual culture of graphic design and high-tech production processes. These new influences are contributing to the creation of furniture and interiors that go beyond anything previously designed or imagined.
 Furnish: Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century presents domestic territories that expand upon our current understanding of interior design. The book documents recent work by designers, artists and architects that shows how they are using furniture in pioneering ways: as environment, as art object, as digital-organic growth, as mutation or as insertion. These cutting-edge examples are a sure indicator of the trends that will be influencing interiors as well as hotel, restaurant and club design for the next several years.
Furnish also explores the new hybrid nature of occupied spaces, where the domestic enters the realm of fine art and where objects from pimped heirlooms to rapid prototypes find their homes. The book also presents surprising interdisciplinary work, for example, the results of architects engineering tables, graphic designers creating soft furniture and industrial designers making concept art.
The experimental spaces that are shown in Furnish are not only interesting for interior designers, but also contain innovative examples of interdisciplinary design work that are relevant and inspiring for anyone working creatively.
Furnish: Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century
272 pages hardcover, 22,7 x 28,1 cm, full colour, ISBN: 978-3-89955-176-1
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The Screwdriver and the Screw |
Why did Peter L. Robertson think he had the "biggest little invention of the twentieth century"? How did a quest to improve the precision of the screw result in Captain Cook's voyages of discovery? And how did Witold Rybczynski discover the true origins of the screwdriver in an obscure 15th-century tome known as the Medieval Housebook, despite historians' claims that it had not been invented until three centuries later?
 In a narrative that reads like a satisfying detective story, Witold Rybczynski takes the humble screwdriver and turns it into an object of mystery, a seemingly simple tool that has driven its way into our history, politics, technology and even fashion.
Along the way he introduces us to a cast of inventors, artisans, tool makers and factory owners whose ingenuity has helped to shape our most essential household tools. From the genius of Leonardo da Vinci to the ambitious marketing plans of Canadian Peter Robertson (critics agree that the Robertson screwdriver is still superior to the Phillips), One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw is a book for all those who love tools and inventions, woodwork and metalwork, and who are curious to know more about the origins of our mechanical world.
Written in Rybczynski's trademark intelligent, fluid style, and backed by meticulous research, One Good Turn is infused with the author's personal sense of discovery and enthusiasm for his subject, as demonstrated in the many books he's produced on similar subjects.
The copy we have was tucked into the bulging shelves of High Browse Books, Tim Kirker's excellent used bookstore on Ellis Street near Bernard - add this great little shop to your list of places to visit on a regular basis. Paperbacks are availabe from Mosaic and Chapters (at least on special order), and the usual online new and used bookshops.
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The Value of Home Ownership |
City-dwelling Canadians who own their homes become wealthier over time, on average, than those who choose to rent, according to research by the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.
 How much wealthier depends on which metropolitan region in Canada the homeowner chooses to live. And in best-case scenarios in a few Canadian cities, renters can actually outdo their owning counterparts in terms of wealth accumulation, so long as they remain highly focused.
Somerville's study, Are Renters Being Left Behind? Homeownership and Wealth Accumulation in Canadian Cities, compares the wealth homeowners can achieve by paying down a mortgage with what a renter could amass by investing an amount equal to a home down payment and the difference between ongoing owner and renter costs.
For the comparison, the researchers looked at the aggregate across nine Canadian cities and several scenarios. The scenarios allow for variation in how much of the difference between owner and rental costs that renters invest, renters' choice of investment and the type of mortgage selected by owners. The data analysis covers the time period from 1979 through 2006.
Ultimately, says Somerville, homeownership offers a unique opportunity for households to accumulate wealth. "The significant benefit of homeownership for individuals is that a mortgage effectively forces them to save and build equity through mortgage payments."
The paper in its entirety is available at the UBC Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate website, at: http://cuer.sauder.ubc.ca/.
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Published 6 times a year, the 20,000 copies of Okanagan Home deliver timely and practical information to help buyers and owners make smart choices about their homes and living environment.
Printed full-colour on high-quality paper, each 80-plus page issue contains feature articles on homes and builders, building trends, materials and techniques, and a directory of CHBA member builders, trades and suppliers.
Okanagan Home provides
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