Design & Innovation

An update to my post includes photos at flickr. Also I wanted to respond to professor Yoo’s comment about the craftmanship of winemaking. Winemaking or vinification is truely an art with so many different tastes and qualities. The design of the wine  itself relies on quality grapes, the weather, the soil, they way they are harvested and prunned. Before the wine is actually crushed, vinters know what they quality of the wine will be. Reds, whites, and sparkling wines all have a different process, however to make it just right, the process must be followed like a science. Because getting the wine just right is not an easy task, vinters must be trained not only on harvesting the grapes but the taste and quality of the wine.

I was lucky enough to stay for a few extra days and experience some of the other wonders that the Bay area has to offer.  Sunday, my mom and I went to Napa Valley to several wineries. What really struck me was how much the element of design comes into play with each of these wineries. Behind every wine are a vineyard and a winemaker. We take for granted that the goodness that we sip has so much involved and each has its unique story and design.When planning our trip we decided that we wanted a different experience from each stop. 

The first stop was Artesa Winery, which according to our Fodor’s book is known more for the architecture than its wine. Although, that might not be exactly what they had in mind, it was pretty true to form. The tasting room/visitors center was designed to look like a bunker on top of a hill. As you arrive beautiful sculptures and fountains greet you. The building is very modern inside, which wasn’t what I expected but later realized that Artesa means craftsman and it was built only in 1991. In my mind, wine is associated with age, so thinking that I am actually older than this wine, is quite a new concept. The wine was good, but the experience of drinking it, is really what was important in this stop.

Next we went to the Hess Collection, which according to the guide upon entrance, “is a winery of two passions, art and wine”. Donald Hess has a world renowned art collection. The building is very different from Artesa, but has an interesting way of combining a modern look with an ancient touch. The art is very modern, but the original structure of the building has the feel of an old cottage. Again, the wine was not the only thing this winery was known for. The staff, the gardens outside and the art paired with the wine really make it about the experience. I did purchase a Pinot Noir from this winery to remind myself of the story of the Hess Family and their love of art. (It tasted pretty good too). 

We made a few other stops along the way at Copia(The center for food, wine and art), where we could learn about the winemakers, how to taste and enjoy it, and experience world class food pairings at Julia’s kitchen, Julia Childs kitchen that features her original recipes and is made with fresh produce and herbs from their onsite garden. I have slowly but surely become a wine snob as I rarely drink anything else, and after learning about its history and the passion of wine making, i have a new found understanding of the craftsmanship and design of winemaking.We made another stop at a boutique wine cellar called Vintners Collective that from the outside looked like an old pub. Inside were two bars that featured around 75 wines from smaller vineyards in the Napa and Sonoma Valley that because of their size cannot accommodate tours and tasting and rather showcase their wines through this venue. The sommeliers were very knowledgeable not only about what we might like according to our tastes but also the stories of each of the wineries and where they come from. Because i hadn’t heard of many of the wineries, I found myself focusing on the label of the bottle. I realized how important that is to those that are not familiar with wines. In fact, the name or design of the bottle could really be what sells the wine and not the taste at all.

Our last stop was at Domaine Caneros, a sparkling wine vineyard, whose tasting room looked like a grand chateau. This was the most crowded stop by far, as it was recently named a favorite by Oprah. The taste was much different than anything we had throughout the day, and found it more enjoyable with the paired cheese, fruit and chocolate plate. Again, the staff was very knowledgeable about the wine and the storytelling really helped to shape our experience.To sum up the day, we felt very cultured…and somehow still sober.

We experienced great wine, food, architecture, art, storytelling, history, horticulture, and scenery. Design could be seen throughout everything that I did, and although the experience was near perfect, I still found myself thinking of other ways to experience the fine fruit. 

I came across this article about the Prada store in Tokyo. The interesting aspect about this store beyond the curiously constructed exterior design is the fact that the architect intended to find ways to “reinvent” the shopping experience. In this case the goal was not to specifically innovate on the product end, but rather alter the space in which the purchase activity was taking place. It is also suggested in a Business Week article that the design of the building itself is also a tool through which the brand’s image is enhanced – commissioning a world-renowned architect is symbolic of a company’s intense focus on innovative design in its products.

It’s fascinating how the design of the window panels forces and interplay between the actual items for sale and world that’s on the other side of the glass. There are sprawling ceilings, stark yet striking staircases, and much more. Not only are consumers paying for the high end product and couture designs, but they’re also consumers of a unique shopping experience that has few rivals. Check it out – pretty interesting

More pictures can also be found here …
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/pradatokyo/index.htm

I actually think it kind of resembles the Cira Centre!

First of all, let me preface my words with a few facts:

1. The Cira Centre was completed in late 2005 and is a 434-foot tall skyscraper in University City (30th and Arch, to be exact)
2. I lived directly across from the Cira Centre for almost three years, and both of my windows faced directly toward it.
3. All night long until about 4:30 AM, the Cira Center lights up with either a solid color or a pattern of colors. Sometimes the patterns undulate and wave, inducing nausea and sometimes triggering epileptic seizures.
4. Despite this, I actually like it…

I imagine the Cira Centre (henceforth referred to as “CC”) represents a significant building design for Philadelphia, often evoking strong reactions for its asymmetrical shape and over-the-top light show. Its design, however, isn’t its most remarkable aspect. I was thinking a lot about Maya Lin’s emphasis on the natural landscape as a provider of context for her work. It seems to me that a similar force may have come into play as plans for the CC took shape. Virtually marooned on an island of mid- to low-rise buildings, the CC dominates the West Philadelphia skyline, and perhaps needed to be an all-out attention-getter rather than a stately granite tower.

But that led me to wonder - does an urban landscape affect architectural design in the same way a natural one does? Urban landscapes represent the design of countless individuals over hundreds of years, each of which helps to create the context for a given structure. Nature, on the other hand, is distinctly not designed, and therefore represents only natural forces. This is probably a question for my architect friends, but I thought I’d pose it here anyway.

I’m continually intrigued by cities’ ever changing skylines. Before One Liberty Place opened in 1987, Philadelphia had an unremarkable skyline topped off with an aging William Penn. With the addition of the Cira Center, the Comcast Center (dubbed the “Memory Stick” by the Philadelphia media), and eventually, the American Commerce Center, Philadelphia finally has a skyline worthy of a worldclass metropolis. However, are the architects of Philadelphia’s future skyline simply following status quo? In comparison to other major urban structures, Philadelphia’s skyline is kind of…blah.

Take Chicago, for example. Although Chicago has always had an enviable urban landscape, its architecture and outdoor art has gotten exponentially cooler in recent years, and subsequently, so has the city itself. One of my favorite urban outdoor artworks is Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate in Grant Park. What makes this piece so accessible and iconic is the fact that it is a familiar shape; as I call it, “the bean.” Cloud Gate is similar to Frank Gehry’s fish designs in that it is undeniably modern yet takes its shape from the most basic, organic forms.

The trap that Philadelphia architects have fallen into is assuming that “modern” means “Jetson-esque.” Just because a skyscraper is modern doesn’t mean that it must be metallic, angular, space-like.

In addition to being cliche, Philadelphia’s skyscrapers are also recycled ideas. Take a look at Shanghai’s World Financial Center and New York’s Freedom Tower. Look familiar? Like I said, blah.

Philadelphia should take a page from Chicago’s and Taipei’s books and design architecture that is both modern and timeless. Chicago’s Spire is futuristic, yes, but it doesn’t feel trite, because nothing like the spiral skyscraper has been done before. Taipei’s Taipei 101 is also wonderfully designed because it is a modern twist on ancient structures like Incan and Mayan temples.