They’re calling it “the greenest neighbourhood in the world.†Built on an abandoned brownfield site, the 1.5 million square foot 2010 Vancouver Olympic athlete's village is the crown jewel in the City's sustainability plan. The list of green features at the eight-block site runs long: rainwater harvesting, green roofs, upgraded insulation, and interiors containing......read more
How do you break the world record for largest sculpture made of recycled materials? Get a bunch of kids to do the work for you! Inhabitat reports on 5,000 Spanish elementary kids collecting 50,000 containers to make a record-breaking castle of milk cartons. You've seen Simon Christen's stunningly epic time-lapse portrait of San Francisco. Now check out a similarly amazing video that......read more
This futuristic home concept, developed by Polifactory for British Columbia's 100 Mile House design competition, makes use of every sustainable technology imaginable to produce food and energy for its inhabitants. Dubbed HOUS.E+, the residence is constructed from rammed earth walls (using soil excavated on-site) that act like breathing structures that allow air exchange without significant......read more
We recently spotted these photos on The Cleanest Line, the excellent blog published by outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. The pictures, shot by Patagonia friend and product tester Trevor Gordon, document his travels along the west coast of Vancouver Island on a quest for waves. "There is a beauty to the unpredictable," said Gordon. "Whenever I go on a trip I won't let my trustworthy......read more
As food issues go, they don't come more divisive than fish farming. Even within the environmentalist community, there are people on both sides of the argument. Advocates argue that aquaculture reduces stress on wild seafood stocks, while opponents point to viruses and sea lice that spread from farms to wild fish. Nowhere is this fish farm debate more lively than on British Columbia's west......read more
Here's the ultimate photo series to get you lusting after your next road adventure. With some help from Patagonia, surf comrades Trevor Gordon, Foster Huntington, and Jeremy Koreski packed up Huntington's 1987 4WD Vanagon in search of waves along the west coast, from Gordon's hometown of Santa Barbara, California to Koreski's hometown of Tofino, British Columbia. As with all the best road trips,......read more
Several people have asked me if the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be the greenest games yet. The answer may be yes—if we’re talking about the abundance of greenery and lack of snow brought on by record high temperatures during one of the earliest spring seasons the city has experienced. With respect to environmental impact, all Olympic Games leave a very large footprint.......read more
As a Masters candidate in English with a degree in Classics, Nich Hance McElroy [previously] knows plenty about myths involving intrepid heroes. Whether intentional or not, the literary vibrations shine through in his pictures, as you can see from these selections from his How to be Alone series. Like scenes from a movie about a mythical vision quest, the photos depict strange encounters and......read more
With a client list that includes brands like Brixton, HUF, and Poler, Vancouver photographer Alana Paterson has carved out a well-defined commercial niche for herself. Once you have a look at her personal work, you can see why. She lives the lifestyle that those brands represent: skateboarding, camping, riding motorbikes, etc. These photos from Alana's most recent personal series, That Was Then,......read more
With much of the country caught in the midst of a summer heat wave, it's a good time to post this snowy, year-old video for "Gently Gently," a winsome track from Vancouver singer-songwriter Christopher Smith. The snow globe-esque animation was made by Salazar, a film collective with a bunch of stunning videos under its belt. Check out these making-of pics too. Cool. ...read more