Blog designophile
By Michael DiTullo - December 19, 2010
As a Creative Director for a global innovation firm, I fly often. Having to get around the globe on short notice I sample a lot of airlines. All of us should be turning to the passenger next to us saying "can you believe this is really working" on every flight we take, but much of the majesty and magic has been sucked out of the flight experience. From the online booking process, the shoeless, beltless, TSA shuffle through security, to the ragged airplane interiors we are just trying to get through it, perhaps imagining we are in our "happy place".
Not on Virgin, where Sir Richard Branson, billionaire, innovator, adventurer (man crush) and Adam Wells, Virgin America's Design director, have created an immersive design based experience that brings back a touch of that wonder of flight.
Blog designophile
By Michael DiTullo - November 14, 2010
Kristina and I have always taken design excursions to meccas like the Philip Johnson Glass House , The Walter Gropius House, and Palm Springs. This weekend we took a long overdue trip outside of San Francisco to Marin County. We started our day at Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin County Civic Center. This 1957 masterpiece was almost demolished in the 1970s. It went on to be featured in such classic films as Lucas's THX 1138 and Gattaca. You can still grab lunch in the cafe on week days, and docent tours are offered on Wednesdays.
Next we popped up to Terra Linda Valley to sample some Eichler Homes. Marin County has the largest concentration of Eichler's. None are open to the public, but frequently there are some great examples for sale, and they have open houses on Sunday. Don't worry, they are used to design gawkers. Check out Marin Modern for listings.
