Chad Kohalyk made a stressful move to Japan this spring which means we now get some cool insights into the Canadian experience with Japanese daily life. Recently he wrote about his children’s school and how they establish ownership of the school environment among both the students and the student’s parents. He also links to this short video on the subject.
Unity Homes has posted a new video tour of their Zum model home. It’s more of a sales pitch than a detailed discussion of design and construction elements, but it’s still a nice video for those of us who aren’t in the Northeast and can’t make a visit. The audio on the interior shots has a lot of echo despite all rooms being completely furnished – I hope that’s just a recording artifact.
Painted bicycle lanes always seemed like a municipal sisyphean task – the rate of wear is just so high that it never stays in good condition. I was really impressed by this look at colored concrete color stability, almost a decade and it still looks great.
When I was planning to install an area of fenced yard for the dogs to run around in, I had to decide whether to put it in the backyard or front yard of my home – both areas being similar in size. I ended up putting it in the front yard, since I figured that would give me an excuse to be out front where I can interact with neighbors and people-watch. I see a lot of like-minded spirits in this Curbed article on ‘porch culture’.
Stones of the Week: The Dinnie Stones are two lifting stones that live in Potarch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Originally installed in the 1830’s as counterweights for bridge maintenance with a combined weight of more than 700 pounds. Looking at the official website, attempts to lift them really took off starting in the 1970’s. They are featured in the documentary Stoneland.
TYPD 