Category Archives: Landscape Architecture

Gilbert Lang Mathews, Lighting Industry Pioneer, Receives Honorary Architectural Designation

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San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) May 25, 2012

The maker of precision-engineered architectural lighting fixtures, Lucifer Lighting Company, has announced that its founder and chief executive officer, Gilbert Lang Mathews, has been given the special designation of Honorary AIA membership (Hon. AIA) by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

A visionary and creative entrepreneur in lighting technology who is active in a wide realm of the arts. Mathews is a longtime supporter of architecture and the AIA in San Antonio, the state of Texas, and nationally.

Commending his extensive accomplishments, the AIA jury called Gilbert Lang Mathews committed to improving his community, to opening minds through active dialogue, and to partnerships that advance opportunities for all. Adding that he has served as an inventor and a collaborator, the jury described Mathews as an inquisitive student, bringing people together who can connect, solve problems, and elevate the value of our profession.

The award was presented at a May 17 ceremony in Washington, D.C., as part of the AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition.

Honorary membership is among the highest honors the American Institute of Architects bestows upon a person outside the profession of architecture, granted to allied professionals of esteemed character who has rendered distinguished service to the profession of architecture or to the arts and sciences allied therewith. The Honorary AIA membership is granted only if the accomplishments of the nominee are truly outstanding and of national significance. The 2012 selections for Honorary AIA membership were made by a jury of two professional architects Pamela Touschner, FAIA, of DLR Group WWCOT in Palm Springs, California, and Christopher Kelley, AIA, with Gensler in Washington, D.C. along with Carol Pedigo, Hon. AIA, executive director of AIA Middle Tennessee in Nashville.

Rare Honor

The AIA does not often grant honorary membership to leaders of manufacturing enterprises, and Mathews was commended in part for his development of innovative, sophisticated lighting technologies at Lucifer Lighting but even more so for helping sustain architecture and the arts elsewhere. Mr. Mathews is an indispensable supporter of AIA San Antonio and has extended his support to the Texas Society of Architects and AIA National, said the AIA jury. His financial support has enabled AIA San Antonio to sustain a very successful world-class lecture series that is free and open to the publicthe only one of its kind in the region.

The lecture series has featured such luminaries as Marlon Blackwell, Billy Tsien, Peter Bohlin, Tom Kundig, Julie Vandenberg Snow and Thomas Phifer, among many other prominent architects. For his support and service to the Institute, he was named an honorary member of AIA San Antonio in 2009 and of the Texas Society of Architects in 2010. Of Mathews, the AIA Gold Medal recipient Peter Bohlin said, Through his support of the AIA, programs at the University of Texas and sponsorship of events like the lecture series, he opens doors for young people to pursue a future enriched by knowledge and exploration. This is a contribution that will have a great impact on our profession for years to come.

Lucifer Lighting is also active in developing continuing education programs for architects and lighting designers.

More than a generous benefactor and underwriter, Mr. Mathews is a vital part of the community of design professionals, says the AIA jury. As an influential member of the wider design community, Mr. Mathews has enabled AIA to better serve its members and strengthened the profession.

A Legacy of Efficient, Elegant Lighting

As CEO and founder of Lucifer Lighting Company, Gilbert Mathews has built a thriving family business manufacturing high-end architectural lighting fixtures that are widely regarded as innovative and of exceptional design quality. Appealing to acclaimed architects and designers around the world, Lucifer Lighting fixtures are found in museums, five-star hotels, top restaurants, corporate headquarters and luxury residences. Many of the products use sophisticated LEDs as the illumination source.

Prior to founding Lucifer Lighting more than 30 years ago, Mathews practiced law with Vinson Elkins in Houston and founded his own law firm in San Antonio, with degrees from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School and Columbia Universitys School of Law. Mathews became interested in lighting design and manufacture indirectly, through his familys longtime retail business, Frost Bros., a high-fashion retail chain based in San Antonio since 1917. Armed with only his law degree and an inquisitive nature, Mathews saw an opportunity to improve display lighting in the stores. Using bright strip sources that were concealed, his ideas improved the visibility of merchandise on display cases and shelves and the solution led Mathews to establish Lucifer Lighting, named for the Latin term light-bearer.

Since then, Mathews and his family have built Lucifer Lighting into a global leader in creating sophisticated, precision-engineered lighting systems that allow unmatched design possibilities. Known for harnessing and concealing their powerful, advanced light sources within elegant, inconspicuous housings, Lucifer Lighting has attracted architects needing solutions for a range of interior challenges. According to many customers, Lucifer Lightings progressive, research-oriented building product solutions allow architects the ability to advance and develop their craft in new directions.

An Ally of Arts, Design and Culture

Mathews is widely regarded as an ally of architectural design, the arts and historic collections. He is a Life Advisory Board Member of The University of Texas School of Architecture, a member of the Advisory Council of the Ransom Center at the University of Texas, a member of the President’s Development Board of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, a board member of the San Antonio Museum of Art and the KLRN Endowment Fund and founder of the Winston Salem Light Project. He is also a member of the Board of Visitors of the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Press contacts:

Alexandra Mathews

Lucifer Lighting Company

3750 IH35 North

San Antonio, TX 78219

+1.210.227.7329

a(dot)mathews(at)luciferlighting(dot)com

Chris Sullivan

C.C. Sullivan

PR Counsel to Lucifer Lighting

+1.914.462.2096 (mobile)

chris(at)ccsullivan(dot)com

About Lucifer Lighting Company

For more than 30 years, Lucifer Lighting has created original lighting solutions that bring to life the places and spaces we inhabitindoor and outdoor, from grand-scale commercial to cozy residential nooks. A manufacturer of precision engineered downlights, light strips, track and spot lights, and landscape lighting, Lucifer Lighting uses a variety of light sources, from halogen to metal halide, from LED to fluorescent. Lucifer Lighting has received numerous awards for innovative lighting and building projects, and it manufactures form a LEED-rated facility in San Antonio. The companys fixtures are regularly recognized for distinction. Installations of Lucifer Lighting may be found in diverse venues ranging from Polo Ralph Lauren and Gucci to Goldman Sachs and Yankee Stadium, and from Windsor Castle to the White House and private residences around the world.

For more information, please visit our website http://www.luciferlighting.com.







Local Wisdom Wins Three Communicator Awards

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Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) June 12, 2012

Local Wisdom today announced that it is the recipient of three Communicator Awards one gold and two silver – by the International Academy of the Visual Arts for excellence in communications in 2012. The awards recognize the Local Wisdom mobile weather application, Weatherwise as well as the Local Wisdom website.

Local Wisdom won the Gold Award of Excellence in the Mobile App category for Weatherwise and its associated weather themes, available on http://www.weatherwiseapp.com. The digital agency also received two Silver Awards of Distinction for the Local Wisdom website in the areas of Visual Appeal and Web Applications/Services.

We are honored to add the Communicators Awards to the other Weatherwise awards we received last year from the Art Directors Club of NJ, said Shawn Venkat, VP, Local Wisdom. We put 150% into everything we do whether its our client work or internal projects so its wonderful to be recognized for our hard work.

RJay Haluko, Creative Director, and R&D team members Patrick Pierson, Ryan Bailey, and Chris Smith are responsible for the creative and technical work behind Weatherwise, including their work on the hand-drawn illustrations and user interface. With over 220,000 downloads and featured on Gizmodo, Weatherwise is a visually entertaining way to view weather using animated landscapes and personas using an iPhone or Android device. The refresh of the Local Wisdom website was made possible through the creative talents of Haluko and Pinaki Kathiari and the development expertise of Melissa Penta, front-end developer at Local Wisdom.

The Communicator Awards is an international awards program that honors creative excellence for communication professionals. Founded in 1994 by communication professionals, The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms.

About Local Wisdom Labs

Founded in 2011, Local Wisdom Labs was built as a creative outlet for employees, an inspiration for clients, and to expand the overall company expertise, all while fueling the passion for digital. The results include: Weatherwise, a reimagined mobile weather app; Photomash, a photo app that lets users remix their images; and Wooble Attack, a mobile twist to a classic arcade game. To find out more, please visit http://www.LocalWisdom.com/labs.

About Local Wisdom

Founded in 1999, Local Wisdom is a digital agency headquarted in Princeton Junction, NJ specializing in architecture, design, development and curation of Internet and Intranet sites, web applications and mobile apps. Delivering custom, digital solutions that drive business growth, Local Wisdoms roster of clients include Johnson & Johnson, ELS Educational Services, Purdue Pharma L.P., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and other Fortune companies. To learn more about Local Wisdom, visit http://www.localwisdom.com.







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BlueSnaps Open Commerce Handbook to Help Online Vendors Navigate an Evolving eCommerce Landscape

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Fremont, CA (PRWEB) May 15, 2012

BlueSnap, a global provider of open Cloud Commerce technology and services, today released the Open Commerce Handbook, a practical guide for companies and entrepreneurs wanting to expand their online selling presence. The handbook is a free, downloadable resource designed to help companies navigate the changing eCommerce landscape and develop best practices for increasing revenue. As it evolves, the Open Commerce Handbook will help newcomers and veterans alike expand their Web presence to new monetization models and provide a path toward an agile, flexible architecture that addresses the changing demands of their customers.

We believe that the future of commerce is open and will be fundamentally different from traditional eCommerce said Hagai Tal, CEO of BlueSnap. We created the idea of this handbook as a living document that will grow and deepen with additional chapters and expand to cover emerging challenges and future opportunities. It will never really be finished just as the evolution of Open Commerce will never end, but only evolve. We hope the handbook will be an excellent resource for enterprise clients as well as small and medium-size businesses. Whether you are a new entrant to the digital goods space, or an eCommerce veteran eager to expand into Open Commerce monetization models, we hope the information will be as interesting as it is useful.

BlueSnap is committed to enabling digital commerce through an open and simple payment-processing architecture. The Open Commerce Handbook will cover various business success factors including:

Architectural Brown Bag Lunch Program on Building/Site/Landscape

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Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 12, 2012

In its upcoming program for the brown bag series 25 Architects in 25 Weeks, the District Architecture Center will host a discussion with Ralph Cunningham, FAIA on the environmental, contextual, and other factors contributing to his design work. The program, entitled Building/Site/Landscape, will be held at noon on June 21, 2012. The District Architecture Center invites those who share an interest in green building and an integrated approach to architecture to attend.

Ralph Cunningham, of Cunningham/Quill Architects, has received numerous awards for both his modern and historic residential design and renovation. Most recently, his Mother & Child project won the 2011 Washingtonian Residential Design Award and the 2011 Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Award of Merit. Mr. Cunningham will share his analysis of climatic, contextual, and other influences on building and landscape design. He will show examples of how these factors inform his work from conception to completion, and he will describe the integration of building and landscape in memorable indoor and outdoor spaces.

The Center is excited to welcome Mr. Cunningham and share the details of his stunning works, says Mary Fitch, Executive Director of AIA|DC. His discussion on landscape and building design and its impact on green and carbon neutral development is extremely relevant today, and will serve as a positive jumping-off point for open conversation.

The 25 Architects lunch series is typically hosted on the first and third Thursday of every month. Its held at the District Architecture Center, located at 421 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20004.

About the District Architecture Center

The District Architecture Center is home to the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Washington Architectural Foundation, two organizations that advocate for architecture and the built environment, educate both professional architects and the public, and inspire design excellence through workshops, tours, exhibits, lectures, and special events.







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Florida-based Landscape Architecture Firm Knaak Design Group Launches Budget-Friendly Online Landscape Design Services for Homeowners and Investors

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Orlando, FL (PRWEB) June 13, 2012

With PlanWorx, homeowners gain more control over the budget and schedule of their outdoor living project through innovative design and accessibility. Homeowners can receive comparative bidding by presenting the same set of construction plans to various landscape and pool contractors. If a homeowner wishes to implement a DIY (do-it-yourself) strategy, PlanWorx can reduce the labor costs by up to 40% and open scheduling options to phase various parts of the project over time.

Our landscape design services are help homeowners who are trying to maximize their return on one of their largest investments, by lowering costs and offering a friendly alternative to the traditional way of shopping for a landscape contractor. We feel it is important for consumers to know what they are buying and getting apples-to-apples bids from different landscape and pool contractors will help them be more informed and gain more buying power said Robert Knaak, Principal and founder of Knaak Design Group.

PlanWorx is the online division of Knaak Design Group, offering low-cost landscape design services to homeowners, real estate investors, and contractors nationwide and in Canada. Kn

Otis Symposium Draws International Design Stars to Los Angeles

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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 13, 2012

Otis College of Art and Design brings internationally recognized guests and attendees to its bi-annual design symposium. Kali Nikitas, Chair of Otis Graduate Graphic Design, brought together designers, artists, and educators from around the world whose work exemplifies alternative practice and innovative collaboration. One of the great highlights of the MFA Graphic Design Program is hosting incredible talent for workshops and lectures, says Nikitas. There is no better way for our students to start their summer session. The energy generated is infectious when committed designers, artists, educators, and students come together … magic!

SCHEDULED PRESENTERS INCLUDE:

Ludovic Balland (Basel, Switzerland) Award-winning Swiss type specialist known for his innovative typographical investigations and editorial design.

Hugo Puttaert of Vision and Factory (Brussels, Belgium) – Graphic designer, educator, and editor who investigates the crossovers between graphic design, typography, new media, architecture, and art. Teaches at Sint Lucas Antwerp College of Art.

James Goggin of Practise (Chicago/ UK) – Design Director at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, working across various media: from typefaces, visual identities, and stationery, to exhibition design, mobile platforms, video, and textile design.

Hanjse van Halem (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Installation artist, curator, and graphic designer whose books, typography, and drawings make use of geometric patterns and pen illustrations in combination with traditional Dutch graphic design craftsmanship.

Boy Vereecken (Brussels, Belgium) – Editorial designer, researcher, and publisher interested in semiotics of design and editing. Boy runs a studio in Brussels, is a member of the Slavs and Tartars Art Collective, and is Advising Researcher in the design department of Sint Lucas Antwerp College of Art.

Peter Bilak (The Hague, Netherlands) An important figure in Dutch design who focuses on editorial, graphic, and type design, Peter teaches at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, writes for various magazines, and lectures frequently on design-related topics.

Jan en Randoald (Gent, Belgium) Partner in the collaborative studio of Randoald Sabbe and Jan W. Hespeel that specializes in graphic design, typography, prints, and other artistic explorations.

The symposium was made possible in part by a generous grant from The Consulate General of the Netherlands.

EVENT DETAILS:

DATE & TIME:

Saturday, June 16, 2012

11:00 AM 5 PM

Party and Swap Up Shop Immediately Following at 5 PM.

LOCATION:

Otis College of Art and Design

Goldsmith Campus

9045 Lincoln boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90045

PARKING:

Free, park in the main parking structure level A and above, or street parking.

RESERVATIONS:

Space is limited to 100 seats, reservations on a first come first serve basis.

To reserve a space, please email Barbara Edison: bedison(at)otis(dot)edu

ABOUT OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN:

Founded in Los Angeles in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design prepares diverse students of art and design to enrich the world through their creativity, their skill, and their vision. The College offers an interdisciplinary education for 1200 full-time students, awarding BFA degrees in Advertising, Architecture/Landscape/Interiors, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Illustration, Graphic Design, Product Design, Painting, Photography, Sculpture/New Genres, and Toy Design; and MFA degrees in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Public Practice, and Writing. Continuing Education offers certificate programs as well as personal and professional development courses. Additional information is available at http://www.otis.edu.







Explore Tibet Offers Guide for First-time Tibet Travelers

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(PRWEB) June 14, 2012

Explore Tibet, a Lhasa-based travel agency that focuses on responsible tourism, has put together a guide to help travelers organize their Tibet tour.

The Tibetan plateau is the highest in the world, with much of the area over 5000 meters. The landscape ranges from lush river valleys to high alpine meadows surrounded by rocky peaks to scrubby, barren high-altitude desert. For travelers with a limited time and budget, planning a tight itinerary is crucial. In addition, many places require special permits for foreigners that must be applied for ahead of time.

Tibet can be divided into four different geographic and cultural regions:

Secure-24 to Showcase at Red Hat Summit 2012 in Booth 2833

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Southfield, MI (PRWEB) June 14, 2012

Secure-24 Inc. a leading provider of managed IT operations, application outsourcing and enterprise cloud computing announced today that it will showcase its capabilities at the Red Hat Summit, being held June 26-29, 2012, at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

Secure-24 will be in booth 2833 to answer questions about the company’s capabilities and to meet other highly experienced IT professionals who are interested in cloud computing, critical application management and IT outsourcing. The company is also recruiting additional team members for various technical openings. Interested parties can stop by the booth or visit the website to learn more about the current job listings.

Secure-24 provides innovative and transformative IT solutions for an expanding base of clients in growing industry segments, including manufacturing, technology, consumer goods, chemicals, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and transportation. The company currently supports over 150 clients with operations around the world. Customers benefit from highly secure and compliant managed hosting solutions for their business critical applications, helping them to mitigate risk and lower costs.

Secure-24 will also be presenting a mini-session at the Partner Pavilion titled: Cooking With Your Infrastructure: 5-Star Quality, Fast Food Convenience. The session begins at 7:30 PM on June 27th, and will provide insight into IT outsourcing showcasing how companies can reduce costs and gain efficiencies in todays competitive market.

The Red Hat Summit brings together the worlds top open source and technology thought leaders to discuss global business solutions and technology challenges. The three-day event features keynote addresses, sessions, interactive discussions, product demonstrations and hands-on labs centered on how to deliver optimal results utilizing open source products and technologies.

Red Hat, the conference organizer, is the world’s leading provider of open source solutions. The company provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform together with cloud, virtualization, management, storage and service-oriented architecture (SOA) solutions.

About Secure-24, Inc.

Headquartered in Metro Detroit, Secure-24 delivers managed IT operations, hosting and cloud computing from its state-of-the-art data centers in Michigan and Arizona. The company manages complex IT landscapes and business critical applications for mid-market and large organizations that operate globally. Secure-24 is an SAP Certified Hosting and Cloud Provider with a broad SAP Basis Competency Center, and an Oracle Platinum Partner for hosting Oracle Enterprise Performing Management (EPM) solutions, such as Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Hyperion. Visit us at http://www.secure-24.com.







9/11 Memorial Nameplates Utilize Custom Bronze Extrusions

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Kearny, NJ (PRWEB) June 14, 2012

When the 9/11 Memorial emerged as a revitalizing symbol in Lower Manhattan last fall, one of the centerpieces of this noteworthy addition to American public architecture featured custom extrusions from MAC Metals. Two reflecting pools located on the footprints of the twin towers, boasting the countrys largest man-made waterfalls, are ringed with 152 solid bronze nameplates bearing the names of the victims. These backlit displays feature brass/bronze cutouts provided by MAC Metals.

All 2,998 names — those who died in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, as well as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — were stencil-cut into the 5-by-10 foot panels by Service Metal Fabricating of Rockaway, N.J. The process created hollow areas in the letters A, B, D, O, P, Q and R, which were filled with wafers cut and machined from a custom MAC Metals extrusion. MAC delivered 3,500 pounds of alloy C37000 free-cutting, leaded Muntz Metal in eight-foot bars for the project.

Bronze extrusions were the most economical way to complete this portion of the project, said Jim Moretti, owner of Service Metal Fabricating. It saved time and eliminated the machining costs of cutting each insert by other means. Even though each of the14 profiles required separate extrusion dies, it was still the most economical method.

The unique arrangement of the names on the panels — by the location of the victims on the day of the attacks — will help unite associated friends and families and provide what architect Michael Arad calls a meaningful adjacency. Heating and cooling systems integrated within the display will make sure visitors can always make a tactile connection, whether its running their finger across a loved ones name or making a rubbing. At night, light shining through the panels will further illuminate each name.

Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker conceived of the memorial design. Photos of the site and panels, as well as an interactive name finder, are located at: http://www.911memorial.org/names-memorial.

Service Metal Fabricating, located in Rockaway, N.J., is a family-owned machine shop known for component manufacturing, turnkey equipment and system. Co-owners Jim and Joe Moretti are third-generation engineering and manufacturing vendors. http://www.servicemetal.com/

Mac Metals is a fully integrated brass mills located in Kearny, NJ specializing in the production of architectural extrusions with casting, extrusion and fabrication facilities under one roof. Mac serves design/build contractors in commercial, public and residential structures as well as hardware, lighting, memorialization, elevator, handrail/stairs OEMs and fabricators. Visit the web site at http://www.macmetals.com or call 800.631.9510.