Still trying to find the perfect holiday present for your creative friends? Gift a signed book by San Francisco architect Anne Fougeron or the creators of New York’s beloved High Line. If you are in the mood to experience a true winter wonderland, reserve a space at Quebec’s ice hotel, Hôtel de Glace. If you’re looking for ways to become motivated or just enjoy getting out amid other design fans, this really is our shortlist of things to do around the world.
shopwhitney.org
BOOK SIGNING — Dec. 9, 2011
High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky
6:30 — 8 p.m.
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York, NY
Meet the folks behind New York’s beloved public area, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, also Buy a copy of their new book, High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky.
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and designed by Pentagram, the 352-page book tells the story of the project with more than 200 photos recording the High Line’s transformation in addition to the story of the way David and Hammond founded Friends of the High Line 12 years ago to advocate for its own preservation.
The book captures their story of how the two community residents with no relevant experience in planning, preservation, or development worked with the community to transform the raised freight rail line into what it is today.
Tickets aren’t required to attend this occasion. Refreshments will be served.
Princeton Architectural Press
LECTURE + BOOK SIGNING — Dec. 15, 2011
Fall/Winter Book Club:”Fougeron Architecture Opposition/Composition”: Anne Fougeron (1.5 Learning Units)
12 — 2 p.m.
AIA SF, 130 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA
Presented by AIA SF and Builder’s Booksource as part of their seasonal book club gathering, bring your lunch to a special brown-bag occasion with principle architect Anne Fougeron of Fougeron Architecture in San Francisco.
Hear about her hottest private and public-sector projects and exactly what she has to say about her wide selection of practice, including residential, institutional, and mixed-use projects.
No studying required, all you need to do is show up!
AIA Members: Free
General Admission: $10
Contact: AIA SF, [email protected]
xdachez.com
ICE HOTEL — Jan. 6 – Mar. 25, 2012
Hôtel p Glace
9530, rue de la Faune, Québec, G1G 5H9 Canada
Enjoy an overnight stay at North America’s only ice hotel, Hotel de Glace in Québec. Made up of 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of icehockey, ornately carved columns, archways and ornamental sculptures make an unforgettable ice castle experience. Pick from 36 rooms, each complete with furniture made of ice, including beds which are topped with mattresses and Arctic sleeping bags to help keep you toasty in rooms averaging between 23 and 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The hotel encourages you to come prepared with three layers of clothes, but you might also want to wear your fur-lined, wintry white wedding dress, as the hotel also will come with an Ice Café that can convert to a 150-person wedding chapel. Your freezing family and friends can toast you with cocktails served in glasses made of ice in the hotel’s Ice Bar, also thank you for a one-day winter lodging experience.
Amazon
WORKSHOP — Jan. 13, 2012
Prefab Education Workshop
8 a.m. — 3 p.m.
AIA SF, 130 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA
Price: $250, with textbook, $225 without. (6 Continuing Education Units)
Join Ryan E. Smith, professor of architectural technology and author of Prefab Architecture, in a workshop exploring the history of prefabricated architecture and the latest on these dwellings fabricated off-site. Smith will discuss the principals of construction, prefab’s connection to the environment and sustainability, specifics about modular construction, including cost and scheduling, and more.
Amazon
DISCUSSION — Jan. 18, 2012; Registration deadline: Dec. 21, 2011
A Private Paradise: Contemporary American Gardens
7 — 9 p.m.
UC Berkeley Extension SOMA Art and Design Center
95 Third St. Room 204, San Francisco, CA
Participate in a lively evening dialogue exploring the changing character of contemporary garden craft with notable California landscape architects and designers, moderated by editor and author Charlotte Frieze. Frieze’s recent book, Private Paradise: Contemporary American Gardens launches the dialogue, which will be predicted to explore the intersection of traditional garden design and indigenous plants, recyclable materials and drought tolerance.
More 2011 design events: Dec. 1 – 23, 2011
What is on your calendar this month? Let us know about your favorite forthcoming design events below!