SYMPOSIUM STYLE





While we were at our symposium over the weekend, my lovely friend Victoria (who went with us) took far too many photos of me when I was not paying attention. Most of them were pretty horrendous. Some of them are okay, like the ones above.

So when it came to attending a conference/symposium like where we were at - filled to the brim with architects, artists, and students - we knew we should be presentable, but there was no need for a suit and tie like the professionals that attended. I brought my go-to light blue shirt that basically matched with everything and paired it with my new favorite pair of pants, which are maroon. They work so well with the rest of the blue and grey clothing I have. They also matched Jessica's cardigan which is why we have this fierce photo of us above!  I thought I would channel some east coast prep with a pair of blue oxfords, and then had some fun with the nautical themed anchor socks.

If you know me, you know I love fun socks.

WEARING: JCREW SHIRT //   // LEVI 511 JEANS // 1901 BLUE SUEDE OXFORDS // UO SOCKS // OLD NAVY BELT // SUNGLASSES JCREW // BAG JCREW //

CAMBRIDGE






A few weeks ago, the professor for my "In Sensory Culture" class (it's an architectural professional elective) recommended we attend a Symposium at MIT. Friday, Jessica, Victoria, Jackson and myself drove down to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to attend Seeing/Sounding/Sensing, and not only did we hear from some very knowledgeable and interesting speakers but we also got to explore.

After Friday's speakers on Seeing, we hopped on a train into Boston, which is basically just across the river from Cambridge. We were able to meet up with some of our other friends for dinner who had decided to spontaneously hang out in Boston as well. None of us had eaten all day, so we met up near Copley Square and ate at Globe Bar and Cafe. Since we were in Boston -a city great for seafood- I didn't pass up the opportunity to have a salmon burger. We got a hotel north of the city (because it was significantly cheaper) so we headed out of the city right after our meal. When we got to the hotel, we enjoyed drinks and the kinds of discussions only architects get into.

Saturday we got up early to make sure we could get into Cambridge in time to have breakfast and to make it to the (far too early) beginning of the conference at 9:30. Well we were definitely late to the conference, but had a delicious breakfast at The Friendly Toast  (I got Kate's Tofu Scramble). We sat through the remaining 3 hours of Sounding and after a quick lunch, decided we were going to skip the rest of the symposium to see all of MIT and then to see Harvard's campus and that's exactly what we did!

Being the architecture students we are, we visted all of the iconic buildings on each campus; Simmons Hall by Steven Holl, Frank Gehry's Stata Center, Saarinen's Chapel, and Le Corbusier's Carpenter Center. Basically we just geeked out and took way too many pictures a reasonable amount of pictures of pretty buildings. The weather was beautiful, and it was just amazing to not be on our own campus for a while.

Boston is the first east coast city that has made me re-think my plan of moving back to the west coast after graduation, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

TAKE ME TO CHURCH




Earlier on in the summer, I wrote about a freelancing architectural graphics gig that basically fell into my lap. After months of contacting firms for a summer internship, one just kind of showed up and I took it. And now that I'm back at school I was asked by two different professors to be their teaching assistants. I'm definitely not counting on this being a reoccurring thing, but I'm going to enjoy these, and all the other spontaneous moments as they show up!

This photoshoot was one of those impromptu adventures in which a couple of friends and I were waiting for a ride to the grocery store (yay for not having a car) and I asked for a hand in photographing my new jacket, a quilted blazer from Topman, We ended up wandering around and finding this church (right next to a fraternity...) and chose it for pictures.

Thanks to Emily and Victoria for their help with this!

WEARING: JCREW SHIRT //  TOPMAN BLAZER // LEVI 511 JEANS // CLARKS DESERT BOOTS // UNIQLO SOCKS // SUNGLASSES POLAROID //

SINK OR SWIM



Today in Upstate New York it finally feels like fall. I'm beyond ready for pumpkin flavored everything, getting to wear scarves again and to watch the leaves turn magnificent shades of red. However, I do feel like I basically missed the entire "summer" season because I was working inside full time, rather than outside like in summers past.

Moving to new places for significant amounts has really revealed the elements that make me happy in an area. One of the two biggest things I missed while I lived in Colorado this summer was water (the other being cities). Being landlocked for the first time in my life, the tiny, man made lakes did not come close to anything I have in either Washington or New York. So, flashing back to my first full day home, I made a point to go to the waterfront and breathe in the salty air and on a day as nice as it was I had to dip my feet

Also, sometimes you never know what might wash up. I mean that literally and metaphorically.

WEARING: GAP SHIRT //  JCPENNY SHORTS // BOAT SHOES SPERRY // SUNGLASSES POLAROID //

SANS FORM

I must confess. The "graphic" tee was one of the many pieces I have purged from my wardrobe over the years. Growing up the only "graphics" I was able to find on tee's were terrible attempts at branding or tacky bits of humor, both of which (unfortunately) appeal to the carelessly dressed male. Recently bored with the contents of my limited collection of tee shirts, I increasingly find myself looking through the tee shirt section of whatever store I'm in. Obviously, no luck there.

Fortunately I ran across SANS FORM, where actual graphic designs are on tee shirts. (And bags, sweatshirts, etc.) Someone buy me all of them.





Here's a short description of the brand from their website: 

Sans Form delivers modern and timeless art in the form of quality handcrafted goods.

"Sans Form is a modernist label specializing in reductive and modernist design culture. Founded in Italy by Andrea and Cristina, husband and wife, with a common goal of building a brand that reflects and develops their own creative interests and lifestyle. We find and foster unique artistic talents by providing a platform to create fine art and high quality consumer goods. Based both in Italy and the US, our design and production process allows us to experiment with a wide variety of creative styles and ideas. The result of this experimentation are themed collections of art, apparel and accessories whose aim is to communicate compelling ideas and the cultural value of reductive and modernist design"


Here I've shared some of my favorite designs from their site, but there are so many more great minimalist designs - they even sell prints. 

PEACH GALETTE



I'm sure it's not a normal thing to grow up with a peach tree in your front yard, but then again my life isn't that normal. Every August of my childhood involved running outside and collecting all of the ripe peaches, and biting into a fresh peach is heavenly. Since this past year I completely missed peach season, I had to grab a few from the local farmers market this past weekend. SomehowI ran across this recipe for plum galettes from a 1994 issue of Food and Wine and they sounded so good I had to make them, so I modified them to fit a single peach. 

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup flour
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cold water

1/8 cups sugar
1.5 tablespoons ground almonds
1.5 tablespoons flour
1 peach (per galette) 
Apricot preserves

DIRECTIONS
(The amount for the dough makes one small galette as seen above)
1. Make the "pate brisee" (crust). Put the flour, butter, water and salt in a food processor for approximately 10 seconds, or until just coming together. Remove the dough from processor and gather into a ball. On a floured surface, roll the dough until it's 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick. 
Place onto a baking sheet and chill until firm - about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. 

2. Make the filling. Ground almonds in a food processor. Add sugar and flower and pulse until mixed. Spread evenly over dough, within an inch or so of the edge. Arrange the peaches on top. Sprinkle sugar over the fruit. Fold the edges of the dough over the peaches to create a 2 inch border. (Optional: bruch dough with egg yolk for shine.) Sprinkle border with sugar.

3. Bake the galette for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned. Brush preserves on the hot fruit, and the crust if you'd like to. Cool before eating! 

I definitely didn't roll the dough thin enough but everything else about it was delicious. Also I ate the entire thing by myself in one sitting. Yeah.

FEELING BLUE




I've hit a point in my life where seeing my family, and spending time in the home where I grew up is limited. It's true, independence is one of my strong suits but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the time I do have with my parents and my little sister. On the last day before both Rachel and I headed back to our respective colleges, the family managed to get together for one final dinner in which we enjoyed a variety of thai food from a restaurant not far from home. Rachel was recently given an aquatic themed picture frame that she wanted to fill with a sibling photo taken near a body of water, so this is our solution.

In the short period of time that I was home before I left for New York, Rachel had me on an exercise binge where each morning I was running 4 miles to a hot yoga studio where we did a short -but extremely intensive- workout. Some of the mothers of kids we had gone to school with were there, asking us about what we were doing but clearly not listening and just wanted to talk about what their kids were doing. First of all, you are grown women and should know how to at least pretend to care when you ask a question and secondly, I don't care that your daughter got bids to all of the sororities she wanted to join. I hope that my parents brag about my sister and I, and metaphorically curb-stomp them with all we've achieved. 

Maybe it's a sibling thing or maybe it's just the two of us, but we can almost never take a "normal" picture. And I think that's really what makes us, us

WEARING: 
(HIM) COLOR BLOCK J.CREW SHIRT// GAP TROUSERS //  J.CREW STRIPED SOCKS // J.D. FISK SHOES // POLAROID SUNGLASSES //
(HER) H&M MAXI DRESS //  NECKLACE FROM SAN DIEGO // NORDSTROM HEART SUNGLASSES

A GRAND RE-OPENING

Welcome back to An Integral Design!

The first thing you will inevitably notice is the fact that the domain that I have wanted since I named this page is now updated to anintegraldesign.blogspot.com. The second this you might notice is that the page is spruced up a bit. The final thing you will notice is a slight shift in content. There are changes I have been wanting to make for a long time now and I'm finally determined to do them, which will include more posts regarding menswear, recipes, architecture and, the occasional design tip as well as maintaining a spot to update my life.

Enjoy!



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