Gurunsi Earth Houses of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a small country near Ghana. This is what the villages looks like. They are covered with intricate ornamentation and motifs. "The motifs can illustrate just about anything from objects used in normal daily life, to religion and beliefs, to decorative patterns that distinguish one house from the other. the artwork is then embossed with rocks and etchings that highlight the designs and give a truly unique character." Learn more at Design Boom.

Celebrating Minorities in Design Unapologetically

Open publication - Free publishing - More amani at home

Pharrell Williams Gives Back to his Hometown BIG TIME

Image courtesy of Oppenheim Architecture + Design

Pharrell Williams, famed front man of the production duo, N.E.R.D wears many hats: rapper, producer, fashion designer, muse, and now... patron of do-gooder architecture!
He is building an after school center in his hometown of VA Beach called The Pharrell Williams Resource Center.
Designed by Chad Oppenheim of Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture + Design, it’s a futuristic tree house, of sorts, with glass-and-steel boxes jutting out from the canopy of a lush little forest. There, kids will be able get help on their homework, tinker in a digital music lab, and meet with mentors, among other activities. The Pharrell Williams Resource Center is slated for completion in 2013. It’s being built in partnership with the city of Virginia Beach. He is paying for the Pharrell Williams Resource Center in part out of his own pocket and will help campaign for the rest of the capital.
Read the entire article on Fast Company.

METAMORPHOSIS: Have you ever seen 1000 butterflies in 1 place?

"...it is an incredible installation and a great concept done for the first time ever in Philly...an installation of thousands of butterflies in the color spectrum throughout Philadelphia. The installation launches June 1st and is up until July 28th. it will be installed in all of these locations at all times : Bus Stop Boutique, Carmelita Couture, Vintage Wine Bar and the historic Head House Shambles. The main purpose of this installation is...to make people move through 3 different locations of Philadelphia: Queens Village, Old City, Midtown Village and Society Hill.
All of the buterflies are cut out by hand by Conrad Booker, an incredible local artist, and are made out of recycled fashion magazines and recycled soda cans. They are elaborate and just purely beautiful."~Curator Zivile Pupinyte

Opening receptions with specialty cocktails sponsored by Absolute Vodka and conversations with the artist will be held on the following dates:

• June 1, 2011

            ‘Mourning Cloak’

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m

BUS STOP Boutique

750 S. 4^th st. Philadelphia

• June 8, 2011

            ‘Scarlet Jezebel’

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Carmelita Couture

17 N. 3^rd st. Philadelphia

• June 15, 2011

            ‘Blue Doctor’

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Vintage Wine Bar

129 S. 13^th st. Philadelphia

Closing reception: July 28, 2011 @ Headhouse Square Shambles. Begins at 5:30PM, 2nd & Lombard Streets, Philadelphia PA.

Curated by Zivile Pupinyte http://ziv-a.com/Curating.html

About the artist:

Conrad Booker - Booker is an architect/designer with more than 20 years experience as creative director for a local architecture and interior design firm. He also assists antique textile pillow designer MaryJane McCarthy, whose pillows can be found in high-end stores including Bergdorf Goodman, Takashimya and Bloomingdales. A Queen Village resident, Booker combines his architecture and design experience to create new conceptual pieces of artwork that use common materials in an unusual way. Booker is donating the tabs from the cans he uses to a local charity.

For more information on the artist contact Conrad Booker @ 610 416 8688,