David Hertz is widely recognized as one of green design's leading innovators. At the Studio of Environmental Architecture, the LA-based design firm he founded, Hertz focuses primarily on custom residential projects with particular experience in climate responsive, environmentally sustainable homes. He is perhaps best known for the seminal Wing House, an imaginative Malibu residence constructed......read more
If we were to imagine the perfect imagery to go along with the deep ambient vibes of Hammock, it'd probably involve kids playing and things floating in the wind. Turns out David Altobelli agrees. The director's video for "Breathturn," from Hammock's 2010 record Chasing After Shadows... Living With the Ghosts, is a thing of beauty, nicely matching the Nashville post-rock......read more
"Light" is a beautifully realized from short film from David Parker that comments on our pervasive tendency to waste energy resources. In the video, animated light pours from signs and street lamps, offering a poetic metaphor on the way we squander energy without much thought. Shot over a couple nights in Los Angeles, Parker trained his camera on the city’s vacant......read more
Brooklyn's Big Sue, LLC is a veteran of New York City's sustainable building scene. In this episode of Brooklyn Informed, we talk to Big Sue partner Susan Boyle about one of the company's cooler projects: a Prospect Heights brewery icehouse they bought in 2004 and converted into a six-unit residential building. The structure is an excellent portrait of sustainable construction, with two green......read more
If you're a design nerd like us, you're probably familiar with Danish-American furniture designer Jens Risom. As the man who created the first-ever Knoll chair, Risom holds a prominent, if sometimes overlooked, position in the canon of mid-century design. At 96, he is “living comfortably doing nothing” with his wife, Henny, in Connecticut,......read more
For the design nerds out there who can name celebrated architects and buildings off the top of your dome, this may be old hat. But for the rest of us, "The ABC of Architects" is the perfect primer on contemporary architecture. Created by Vimeo user fedelpeye, the quirky animation runs through famous architects in alphabetical order, displaying their name and nationality alongside an......read more
London animator Maciek Janicki deftly renders an urban center paved with paper in Paper City, a short film he created in Cinema 4D. From the perspective of an unseen helicopter, we see a van travel through the paper streets, as buildings, trees, and infrastructure rise and collapse around it. The city "grows in one fluid take, with skyscrapers rising from the page – only to crumble,......read more
Because we love Tame Impala. Director: David Wilson Production Company: Colonel Blimp Executive Producer: Paul Weston Producer: Corin Taylor Head of Music Videos: Nathan James Tettey Production Manager: Sophie Dewey Co Production Company: The Directors Bureau Special Thanks to Roman Coppola Service Company: Radioaktive Line Producer: Kate Galytska Line Production Manager: Kristina......read more
It's hard to describe the intoxicating thrill that comes with a visit to Japan. Luckily we don't have to, thanks to Australian filmmaker David Parkinson, who recently visited the country with his girlfriend and put together this gorgeous, evocative video documenting their trip. Set to Message To Bears’ plodding remix of Bon Iver’s "Holocene," Parkinson takes us on an intimate......read more
If you've been hanging out on SHFT lately, you probably know that Prop 23 is a dirty bill that Texas oil companies and out of state special interests are funding to reverse California's environmental laws. These dirty enegy companies make the claim that due to the 12.5% unemployment rate in the state, that we should suspend AB 32 until unemployment drops to 5.5% for four quarters in a......read more