This past Saturday, May 18, I went to view Richard Hallmarq’s ready-to-wear collection at The Park Ultra Lounge. It was exciting to see someone who’s from Sacramento (he attended John F. Kennedy High School) flourish in the fashion world. Before we viewed his collection, he made an inspiring speech showing that hard work really does pay off. I could see that all the love and time he put in was definitely reflected in his sexy collection of evening wear for women. Hallmarq also talked about his experience on “Project Runway” and how it helped him develop as a designer. He realized men’s wear was not his specialty and he laughed about it. I really admired that. Most of the time when I fail i

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. held “Fads From the Past to Present: The Delta Runway Report,” showcasing decade-inspired looks styled by the Sacramento Art Institute of California this past Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel. The grand finale stole the show with Hilda Klam’s spring-inspired mermaid dress, based off the mint fabric with a minimal flower print she purchased from the Galt Flea Market. Klam has always designed her own special-occasion dresses, so naturally, fashion design became her passion and dream career. She slaved away on her gown, with a hand-sewn lily-pad design going around the hips of the bodice and cascading down through the train, with a mint stripe down the middle.

"Curious about the design process? Ever want to know what an architect does, but didn't have the opportunity to chat with one? Here is your chance. The diverse member firms of the American Institute of Architects are opening their doors to the general public for a casual open house night. Review the list of participating firms and stop by anytime between 5 and 8 pm, no fee and registration required. Meet and talk with architects, see their work spaces, models current work and past projects." Architects throughout the region are opening their doors for YOU!! When: Friday, October 26th  5:00pm to 8:00pm Where: Architecture firms throughout the region.  Click here for a list of participati

Join us this Wednesday for the next Soul of the City: How to Balance Old with the New as part of the AIACV Architecture Festival happening now.  Facilitators for this dialogue will be Bruce Monighan, AIA and Craig Hausman, AIA. As we look for ways to make out cities more sustainable we have many tools available and one of the best of those is to use infill of existing lots and to increase unit density and/or site coverage. Infill brings with it new challenges as higher densities, increased square foot per square foot of site, the use of sustainable materials and sustainable design theories are often expressed differently than in older buildings. Existing neighborhoods are typically a mi

The Central Valley Region Architecture Festival is going on now, and there are three film nights that will be packed with architects and designers. This is your chance to spend the evening watching a movie with an architect. Everyone likes movies. The architects don’t bite, and some of them are quite interesting. Who knows- your brain may be swelling by the end of the night! How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? is your first chance to sit with an architect, on Monday, October 22. Mr. Foster follows the story of Sir Norman Foster, a British architect known for his iconic modern skyscrapers with a sustainable approach to structural systems. Mr. Foster’s unending quest to improve t

Please join us for the next Soul of the City diagloue on Urban Agriculture, which is a part of the AIACV Region Architecture Festival going on now! As we all know, the best restaurants in town have long preferred local source food, and the public appetite for it has increased steadily. This program will address the full spectrum of urban agriculture, from edible front yards to urban farming community gardens. Bill Maynard, Community Garden Program Coordinator for the City of Sacramento; Claire Napawan, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architect at UC Davis; and Marq Truscott, FASLA a local landscape architect will facilitate the discussion. The discussion is part of the AIACV Chapter's

Soul of the City is back for another great community discussion. The next dialogue is Wednesday, June 27th and focuses on “Street Food in the City”--- an engaging dialogue on food trucks and their impact on the Sacramento Area. Where are the food deserts in the area? Can food pods revitalize a community and if so, where should they be? What are the current city codes on food trucks and how are food trucks affected by them? Where should food trucks park or not park? What are other cities doing with food trucks and pods that make them successful? These are just a few of the questions that will be discussed and mapped in an interactive environment. This dialogue will be a little different

The Good: street food + design market got off to a roaring, fun and funky start Sunday in a warehouse at 1409 Del Paso Blvd. The marketing firm behind the event, Unseen Heroes, released this "Quick Wrap Up" time lapse video from the event on Monday afternoon: More than 2,500 people came out for the festivities, which will occur every first Sunday of the month through November, according to event organizers. There were food trucks in the back and a wide spectrum of vendors inside, from brewers and baristas to artists and clothing and jewelry designers. A DJ spun, giving the crowd full of families and young couples a beat to step (and eat and shop) to on a warm late spring afternoon.

Soul of the City is back! If you missed the kickoff event in February, then Wednesday April 25th is your next opportunity to participate in this engaging community dialogue series. This installment will follow the same interactive 'live-audience-questionnaire' format and will focus specifically on identifying special urban open spaces in our region. What do you think makes a good place to visit in our urban environment? Where are the most successful examples? Join us for this lively discussion that seeks to define where they are and what makes them great. This is the second of five planned dialogues this year which seek to bring designers and community members together to identify what qu

Sacramento City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday to discuss a proposed drive-through McDonald’s on the corner of Stockton Boulevard and 2nd Avenue in Oak Park. “This is unique site,” said Lindsey Alagozian, senior planner for the city. “It’s an infill lot that has been vacant for some time and both the city and the community want it revitalized.” The proposed McDonald’s is a long-running debate as community groups including Healthy Development for Oak Park, WALK Sacramento and Oak Park Neighborhood Association express concerns about safety, pedestrian and bike access, appropriate land use, proposed hours and quality of life. More than 1,700 residents signed a petiti

AugustineIdeas was awarded two ADDY’s® at the Sacramento Ad Club’s annual awards event held March 8, 2012, at the Woodlake Hotel in Sacramento. The agency earned the awards for the concept, design, development and launch of DoNapa.com, a website for its client: the Napa Tourism Improvement District and the Napa Downtown Association. The state-of-the-art, interactive website was part of a new branding campaign to encourage tourists and residents to “Do Napa.” DoNapa.com and AugustineIdeas received the Judges Award for the website and a Gold ADDY® in the “Interactive Media Campaign: Websites, Consumer HTML/Other” category. "This award not only recognizes the exceptional talent of our staff

Where: The Crest Theater, 1013 K Street, Sacramento When: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 Time: 6:00 p.m. Tickets: $10.00 General Admission                  $5.00 for AIACV / ULI Members and Students buy tickets now Advance tickets may also be purchased at The Crest Theater. This American independent documentary frames a global discussion on the future of cities. Who is allowed to shape our cities? How do they do it? And how does the design of our cities affect our lives? The movie explores a diverse range of urban design projects in dozens of cities around the world, from massive infrastructure to temporary interventions. Featuring some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policy

Charles and Ray Eames: Designers of more than just chairs That’s not the title of the documentary being shown on Tuesday at the Crest Theatre, but it very well could be. “Eames: The architect and the painter” will be screened at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm) in a special event to benefit the Eames exhibit at the California Museum. The director of the film, Jason Cohn, will attend the screening and the evening is sponsored by Hot Italian, Sactown Magazine, Lumens, and The Bridge District. I think it’s probably fair to say that for most people who are familiar with the work of Charles and Ray Eames, the primary examples of the prolific partnership that come to mind are their iconic chair d

The Soul of Sacramento, “What is it? Where is it? Let’s find it and celebrate it”. Facilitators: Kim Alexander of California Voter Foundation, Saxon Sigerson, AIA, Jason Silva, AIA and David Sarti, AIA. Sacramento is a place where people enjoy a unique quality of life – our goal is to create a resource to help people find what it is about our city that makes it such an enjoyable place to live? In an effort to create this resource we will be engaging event participants in a lively, interactive discussion, asking for your thoughts and feelings around a series of questions. Sample questions: • Where are the lovely courtyards? • Where is your favorite alley? • Which street might you walk do

New for 2012!!  Soul of the City is an engaging dialogue series between the public and the design profession on issues of importance to the community and the region with focus on improving communication, understanding and collaboration (formerly known as the 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue series).  Organized by the AIA Central Valley Chapter and the ASLA California Sierra Chapter, the dialogues are listed below for the year and the topics have come directly from the public and the profession from one of our dialogues last year.  We look forward to seeing everyone again this year for some engaging conversation!  See you at the first dialogue on February 29th, where we will kick-off the serie

Growing up, sometimes we forget to exercise our creative activities. For some, our creative drive dies right along with the hand-me-down car from Grandma senior year in high school. Sometimes our creative energy is put on the backburner as stresses and responsibilities of being an adult such as finding a job, keeping a job, paying bills, the mortgage and providing for our families take over… or our creative energy fades away completely. Here in Sacramento, we love each other. We support each other. Seriously, we do. Just stop for a moment and think back on how many creative projects, ideas and businesses that have thrived in the last decade or so. Regardless if the doors of any of these i

An array of designs submitted as part of the Catalyst Capitol Mall Design Competition in an effort to spark a “big idea” for future enhancement of the corridor from Tower Bridge to 10th Street were reviewed by a jury Oct. 7, and winners will be announced Nov. 9. While the winner can’t yet be revealed, Kris Barkley, competition adviser to the city on behalf of the American Institute of Architects, described some key assets of the winning proposal. “The first-place winner, I think, is really, really focused on what I think the people of Sacramento are feeling will work there,” he said. “It’s a tree-centered development that improves the urban canopy we have in Sacramento and brings it more

After studying for hours learning the computer language of electrical engineering, coding and programming during his freshman year at UC Davis, Benson Chou traded in his seat in the computer lab of Kemper Hall to turn his passion for art and graphic design into a growing business and clothing brand known as The Imaginary Zebra. Chou has created more than 50 T-shirt designs, and he said he has sold about 2,000 T-shirts since his freshman year when he and a few of his friends personally designed, screen-printed, packaged and shipped hundreds of T-shirts. As the demand rose, Chou moved to selling all of his T-shirts online exclusively through his website, which he designed and created. He g

Please join us on Wednesday evening, September 28th at 5:45pm at the AIA Central Valley Chapter office for this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (4WDD). Encouraging community design excellence through the recognition of projects that exhibit Smart Growth principles in planning design and development actions. The Smart Growth Leadership Recognition Program seeks to encourage and promote those projects. How can this program be a benefit to your community and city? Find out at this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue presented by Bruce Monighan, AIA. For more information on the Smart Growth Leadership Program follow the link below. http://www.aiacv.org/resources/smart-growth/ Click he

Designs for an outdoor amphitheater, an open-air plaza and a walk of fame were announced Tuesday as the top three contenders in the Think Big Sacramento Citizen Architect competition – a contest to design a portion of the planned entertainment sports complex. The contest, which began in July, has been touted by the Think Big Sacramento committee as a way for the public to “leave its legacy” on the new complex, according to a press release. Ideas submitted by Troy Bedal, a sporting goods store manager from Roseville, Shaun Baland, a state worker from Lincoln, and Gary Bladen, a recent UC Davis graduate working on sustainable development, were chosen as the top three out of more than 20 su