H2OFFICE BY CIBINEL ARCHITECTS LTD

I bought myself a bike last week, and I`m so happy with it.  I have been going for a ride every morning and I`m loving it!  I took this photo on my ride last week.  The little yellow umbrella and table is just so cheerful, and I`ve always been intrigued by this building that is supported by stilts and goes over top of the pond.  As I was taking this photo I realized I didn`t know anything about who designed this building.  After a bit of Google-ing I found out that this building is called H2Office (hee hee...cute) and was designed by Cibinel Architects Ltd.  You can scroll through some other photos on the Cibinel Architects Ltd. website here, and the inside of the building looks pretty darn cool, too.  ▲

5468796 ARCHITECTURE

I'm not really on the up and up on architectural theory, but I do know what I like when it comes to interesting and modern design.  One of my favourite new things is photographing interesting buildings, and Winnipeg seems to have lots of really amazing designs popping up all over the place.  Above are some photos I took of a condominium building here in Winnipeg called Bloc 10 by 5468796 Architecture.

ELLE-INSPIRED ROSE EMBELLISHMENTS

To my surprise and delight, I received a free copy of the August, 2013 edition of Elle Canada magazine in the mail last week.  I'll never turn down a free magazine!  The first thing that struck me about the cover was the use of colourful rose embellishments around the cover model.  They rarely seem to use clip art or graphics on their covers, so it struck me as something really unique.

COOL GARDENS

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  This weekend I wanted to get out and enjoy the nice weather so I decided to check out Cool Gardens at The Forks.  Cool Gardens is a series of public art installations all within walking distance of The Forks.  I heard about Cool Gardens from the Winnipeg Design Festival on Twitter and I have been wanting to check it out ever since it was announced.  I'm glad I went - It was such a  warm sunny day and perfect for getting out for a walk.

PAULA HAYES

I recently discovered New York Artist Paula Hayes and I am completely infatuated with her work.  Ms. Hayes creates works in glass that bring nature into urban environments to connect people directly with plant life.  Her most famous works are large (5 feet tall) hand blown glass terrariums, which she makes and fills with succulents, quartz, mica, gold powder, earth pigments, glass beads and recycled glass.  One can't help be facinated by the tiny living enviroments Ms. Hayes creates in these large glass vessles, and see the love and care she puts into her work.