South Coast Collection - Shopping Experince in Environmentally Friendly Fashion

By Charity Hunter, Keshia Willet   The South Coast Collection, or SoCo as it has been nicknamed, is located off the 405 freeway in Costa Mesa, California. It features furniture showrooms, fabric stores, cafes, a wine bar, cheese shop and clothing boutiques. The development’s main goal was to be as environmentally friendly as possible while also being more than just a shopping destination but a place for community. The center features a weekly farmers market and has made huge efforts to redesign the entire foot print of the 300,000 square foot parcel to be efficient and sustainable.   The first thing that a visitor of the...

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Eat Chow, Newport Beach

By Catherine Hood I don’t know if I am about to coin a new phrase but I have never heard it before, I call it “cozy industrial.” A new restaurant has sprung up in west Newport Beach, CA called “Eat Chow” the décor is straight forward just like the name and the food.  The exterior of the building is a combination of stacked slate, moss green cement plaster and bronze warehouse lighting (insert photo 1 Eat Chow; photograph by Catherine Hood). The combination of colors and materials give the impression of an old school water front warehouse with new school modern ques. Upon entering the restaurant you are greeted by a hostess who is standing behind a chest high two toned knotty pine counter top and dangling above are three mid century modern inspired cracked dome glass pendant...

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The Godiva Home

By Nina Hoang & Tracy Huynh The Godiva Home was holistically built in Portugal, Europe in the year 2012. This particular home was built by a company called Empty Space Architecture.  Its exterior design is very unique because of its shape. The home basically looks like a white box when look at from afar. “The high energy requirements to which this building is exposed, led by the architect use of new construction technologies, associated with the application of the latest techniques of alternative energy production,” stated by View Pictures. This is also another reason why the home is a lot different than the typical home due its tremendous use of natural energy savings. Not only it will save homeowners a lot of money on electricity, but it is also sustainable for the environment....

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Red Table

By Tiffany Huang and Nicole Sandoval Did you know that there’s a restaurant in the Huntington Harbour Mall that embodies and embraces the community? That’s the Red Table gastropub. Red Table was opened in July of 2011 and was transformed from an old Ralph’s grocery store. The “Red” in Red Table stands for Relax, Eat, and Drink. Red Table is a partnership with three owners, Louie Jocson, Sandy Bauer, and Cozzette Dunlap. The restopub is a combination of sophistication and manliness – “ruggedly handsome”. From talking to one of the owners, Louie, who is also the chef and creator of the entire menu said that one of the main ideas for this...

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Cafeteria for Steelcase in Grand Rapids, Michigan

By Melissa Torres The Steelcase cafeteria in Grand Rapids, Michigan has been with the same design since 1968 with potted ferns and lights intact. It was said by the anthropologists that are employed by the manufacture that the cafeteria was in serious need for a renovation. The Steelcase design team took this as a time to shine, and not only show their work in their showrooms but also actually have their work displayed somewhere where it is in use. The Design manager Cherie Johnson worked together with Joey Shimoda from Shimodas Design group. They came up with the perfect idea of making the cafeteria not just a place to grab coffee or lunch,...

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Welcome to Toc Salon

By Vanessa Cheek and Thuyan Le Tuong Van, also known as Brian, hired his friend Quoc Anh to design his new “Toc Salon”, which in Vietnamese mean “Hair Salon.” This salon is located in the Little Saigon community in Westminster, CA. Brian started off at his own chair working for another salon and decide to branch out on his own. Taking a risk, he started with little to nothing for a total remodel and was successful with the help of his friend.   Quoc Anh did not go to school for design, but to save on costs he did everything himself. He got his inspiration from magazines and his environment. He looked at all things modern and natural...

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Sushi Tango Restaurant

By Lynda Pham and Janet Frausto Sushi Tango is a restaurant currently located in Uptown, Minneapolis, Minnesota that serves a wide variety of Japanese sushi and hibachi on their menu. They first moved to this space for a larger area to accommodate more space for customers and a new interior in the summer of 2009. According to Sean Moore Designs, who was contracted to do the interiors, Sushi Tango's concept was a wonderful fusion of contemporary sushi and hibachi restaurant with a warm contemporary urban feel. Walls Black Granite Countertops with Metal Vine Sculptures (Photo from Sean Moore Design’s website) The use of red ceramic...

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The Getty Villa

By Heather Orman        Modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, an ancient Roman house that was originally located in Herculaneum, Italy, The Getty Villa will leave you in amazement of beautiful architecture, landscape, and art.  Driving up the coast of Malibu, The Getty Villa is located right off of Pacific Coast Highway, giving the museum a gorgeous background to its already apparent beauty.  Originally built in 1970 by architects Langdon and Wilson, it was then renovated from 1997-2006 by   Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti.  These new architects brought to life a more modern feel that still coincided with the Getty historic features.  Because the Villa dei Papiri was covered by Mount Vesuvius, they had to use models from other...

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Whole Foods Market @ The District (Tustin)

By Man Hin Chow and Miriam Horowitz Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market has become America’s premier natural and organic food retailer. The company’s motto of “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet” sums up the Whole Foods mission of providing healthy food in an atmosphere that promotes sustainability by utilizing architectural and design elements that do not harm the environment.  The mission statement of Whole Foods Market is spelled out in the large art piece in the back of the store. The globe of the world is painted in the same warm earthy colors that are repeated throughout the store.  Whole FoodsMarket...

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