What We’re Reading on the Web: Special Edition

Today’s reading of the internet comes to us courtesy of guest web surfer Colby Dearman, AIA. He’s sharing his favorite links from his daily reads, and swears that he followed the rules and read the internet cover to cover. Enjoy!

As an architect, we were always taught in school to describe our designs as if we were speaking to our grandmother. Well, the book How Big Is Big? How Far Is Far? does a great job describing scale and distance, if only for a slightly younger audience.

In home automation has just taken one step past the Nest thermostat. How many times have you just gotten home from the store only to realize you forgot the very thing you went after? Fret no more because with Amazon’s new Dash Button those goods are only a press away. I am amazed!

Speaking of great technology, we interior gurus love it when technology finally catches up to our aesthetic eye. These amazing LED Edison bulbs from Buster+Punch work great in any style interior!

I am always looking for cool cartography, and Michael Pecirno is a London-based designer whose work is not too dissimilar from my own preferred design philosophy – storytelling through visual and built experiences. He is crafting some awesome maps of America.

Being involved with the Jackson Zoo and with its upcoming fundraiser, Zoo Brew, has me thinking about animals a lot these days. Since I’m always thinking about architecture, too, I’ve recently run across a couple of reads that combine both of these passions. The Paris Zoo recently got a major face lift that’s definitely worth a look. And, as an added bonus, Architects & Animals is a hilarious set of illustrations combining architects and their buildings as if they were animals!