Why I started Pocono Modern

<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you have ever read this blog, I suppose you have come to know alot about what I think about the current states of things.  Like most Architects, I have quite alot of opinions about how things run and I do my best to try and affect change where I can. I think that's all you can really do.  </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I worked for other companies I found that clients were seldom interested in my opinion about things.  In most cases they had already made up their minds about what size workstations they wanted to use or how best to layout a space.  I was merely a facilitator.  I was the one who put it all on paper and validated their theories about how many people could fit on a floor.  That kind of work makes you money but doesn't give you much else.  </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When I would drive to meetings, I would think about the kind of job I REALLY wanted.  It would be the kind of job where you could create things that matter to people.  And when I say 'matter' I mean things that were important in the context of a person's life.  </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">A number of years ago there was this documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright that I saw on PBS.  One of the stories that was recounted was about a couple who had commissioned Wright to design a home and were very pleased with the result.  Unfortunately for this couple though, they could not agree on much else and so it was decided that they would get a divorce.  The only problem was that neither one of them wanted to leave the house.  Apparently, the only thing they could agree on was how magnificent the house was.  And so they both stayed, one on one side and one on the other.  I hope to design anything that matters that much to someone.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Four years ago I decided I was going to try and do something that mattered to me.  I bought a piece of land. I designed a home.  I managed to find a way to build it without getting a loan.  I was really proud of it.  </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I believe that anyone can have a great place to live.  It doesn't take alot of money. It doesn't take a big piece of land.  The only thing it takes is a person to pay attention to how they live and then to create the kinds of spaces that serve those needs.  I believe that we are doing that at Pocono Modern.  I am thankful that we have found a group of clients that believe many of the same things that we do about what a home is.  I will end the year with a quote from cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">'"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">She was from Northeast PA after all.  See you all in 2012.</span><br /><br /><br />

Why I started Pocono Modern

If you have ever read this blog, I suppose you have come to know alot about what I think about the current states of things.  Like most Architects, I have quite alot of opinions about how things run and I do my best to try and affect change where I can. I think that's all you can really do.  When I …

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Our new look

<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Those of you who haven't picked up our latest issue yet may not know that we've undergone a bit of a redesign, courtesy of the lovely team at Inhouse Design. We've put some of the opening spreads from the features in this issue below as a tease. The first is a story about the artist Andrew Barber, with photography taken at his Auckland studio by Jeremy Toth.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbVhRcTC8i_yd8YQGvNN3RVds4vS4L1H_8aXHSj8rB1mUleDERvwTOVP4LFUOyRxMYIAA9tI4gonnXiDixMzMAHf7AEFHkHR4mS_pn3XHFeykoVrk_fLFRatqvuqe-c3fyf5c2LhFsVjdA/s1600/HNZ1211_AndrewBarber_Zarko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbVhRcTC8i_yd8YQGvNN3RVds4vS4L1H_8aXHSj8rB1mUleDERvwTOVP4LFUOyRxMYIAA9tI4gonnXiDixMzMAHf7AEFHkHR4mS_pn3XHFeykoVrk_fLFRatqvuqe-c3fyf5c2LhFsVjdA/s400/HNZ1211_AndrewBarber_Zarko.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On the western shores of Lake Taupo is this bach, a former dental clinic sensitively adapted by architects Rick Pearson and Briar Green, and photographed by Simon Wilson</span>. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2AkRUal3EcDvUAoY_IK7bbm1cfeTxzoVROX3rJLXF0ZAQga2MojIXNMVo7pb1HGD9rGPKzFS94kIH8LXh9ug-DIjH_Fxx102INDzeAi7kieZZACFV07LymP-Pq0fzI7XnEMliGkPTlMg/s1600/Pearson+opener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2AkRUal3EcDvUAoY_IK7bbm1cfeTxzoVROX3rJLXF0ZAQga2MojIXNMVo7pb1HGD9rGPKzFS94kIH8LXh9ug-DIjH_Fxx102INDzeAi7kieZZACFV07LymP-Pq0fzI7XnEMliGkPTlMg/s400/Pearson+opener.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Some people have been asking, what's the difference? Good point, as we have opened stories with two full-page images many times in the past. The difference on these pages is our new fonts, but in the body of the magazine we also have a new five-column grid (the underlying organisational structure for the layout), as well as different treatments of small devices like bylines and picture captions. Not enormous changes, and the intention was for it to be evolutionary, rather than revolutionary - so if you haven't noticed, that's OK!</span></div>

Our new look

Those of you who haven't picked up our latest issue yet may not know that we've undergone a bit of a redesign, courtesy of the lovely team at Inhouse Design. We've put some of the opening spreads from the features in this issue below as a tease. The first is a story about the artist Andrew Barber, w…

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Brian MacKay-Lyons: Tickets on sale now!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The international member of our Home of the Year jury, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, will visit New Zealand in February to help choose the winner of the Home of the Year award (the award results will be published in our April/May 2012 issue). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">He'll be giving talks in Auckland (on February 8) and Wellington (on February 9) when he's here, and tickets are now on sale at the link </span><a href="http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=BRIANMAC12"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. Brian is a leading proponent of regionalist architecture, as well as being a sheep farmer and sea kayaker, so his talks promise to be fascinating (Architects get 10 CPD points for attending.) Thanks to our Home of the Year partner Altherm Window Systems for making Brian's visit possible. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">That's Brian below, and a shot of one of his buildings by Greg Richardson. For more information about Brian and his work, you can visit his website <a href="http://www.mlsarchitects.ca/">here</a>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRH4rDbfRG9IgNu_xuM0PVVZ7p726_luEkVPEVaEEtalA9040fH8dqXmd9PdYGLD5Ov4r6D9yozubmMC8njyMG6-4K3t75amID7YW_IXRFJn9lP9ah_WZ4819O0VO5tWkXMYt9Y_Wk4nJd/s1600/Brian+MacKay-Lyons+Headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRH4rDbfRG9IgNu_xuM0PVVZ7p726_luEkVPEVaEEtalA9040fH8dqXmd9PdYGLD5Ov4r6D9yozubmMC8njyMG6-4K3t75amID7YW_IXRFJn9lP9ah_WZ4819O0VO5tWkXMYt9Y_Wk4nJd/s400/Brian+MacKay-Lyons+Headshot.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJdDqJz1eyEPRQy3xpP0f7PtH2esUndvhekpDOaPVrI0CmSmFEv8o__ewThciZRJJxrjINbqndtM0vXncyOMw5Q-VjZCH7y5hstDlB1glbtn6PKST35qlUhDDr6cSEBkbtwq28wMGcj6p/s1600/GRPhoto_111030_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJdDqJz1eyEPRQy3xpP0f7PtH2esUndvhekpDOaPVrI0CmSmFEv8o__ewThciZRJJxrjINbqndtM0vXncyOMw5Q-VjZCH7y5hstDlB1glbtn6PKST35qlUhDDr6cSEBkbtwq28wMGcj6p/s400/GRPhoto_111030_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>

Brian MacKay-Lyons: Tickets on sale now!

The international member of our Home of the Year jury, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, will visit New Zealand in February to help choose the winner of the Home of the Year award (the award results will be published in our April/May 2012 issue). He'll be giving talks in Auckland (on February 8…

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Our new cover

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our new cover features an outdoor room on Great Barrier Island, designed by Lance and Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects and photographed by Jackie Meiring. We really like it and hope you do too - subscribers should receive their copies today, and the magazine will be on newsstands on Monday December 5. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9s-TUwOdcSW-e_vc82GHz-AHBHIHjraLbi0YNR29XbX2DJXaz13aKipIoTCrh6ko11lKMLYlwLdxlxFY9fBpCf_lAnTIOOi1fbZFd37j-K93nEPQoGRCkuSJpCdapV6mgQpeYS7q_Kb6/s1600/HOME+New+Zealand+Dec+Jan+2012+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis9s-TUwOdcSW-e_vc82GHz-AHBHIHjraLbi0YNR29XbX2DJXaz13aKipIoTCrh6ko11lKMLYlwLdxlxFY9fBpCf_lAnTIOOi1fbZFd37j-K93nEPQoGRCkuSJpCdapV6mgQpeYS7q_Kb6/s400/HOME+New+Zealand+Dec+Jan+2012+cover.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our new issue also features a slick black cottage by Fearon Hay Architects on Great Barrier Island, a colourful, 50s-inspired bach on the Kapiti Coast by Parsonson Architects, New Zealand-born architect David Howell's glamorous New York apartment, a former dental clinic reinvented as a bach at Lake Taupo by Rick Pearson and Briar Green, and lots more. The graphic design boffins among you will also be interested to know that this issue features a redesign led by Arch MacDonnell at Inhouse Design. Let us know your thoughts on it...</span>

Our new cover

Our new cover features an outdoor room on Great Barrier Island, designed by Lance and Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects and photographed by Jackie Meiring. We really like it and hope you do too - subscribers should receive their copies today, and the magazine will be on newsstands on Monday Decembe…

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