Landscape, as a design practice and as a research field, is a rich and complex discipline with the powerful potential to influence the human experience and its relationship with the surrounding environment. It can serve as a catalyst, inspiring innovative strategies and solutions to address social, economic, environmental, and health issues, where landscapes—urban, rural, coastal, wooded, and agrarian—are brought to…
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Refractory
For Refractory’s inaugural body of work and inception—forged at a moment of unprecedented change—its muse sings of a reverence for a frontier unbridled by time, when mountains were new, sandstone buttes clustered, continents drifted, and oceans receded. It speaks of mountain ranges, canyons, basins, and plateaus, shaped by deep-rooted geologic pressures and carved by powerful movements of rivers and wind.…
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Virginia Tile opens in Troy
Since 1928, Virginia Tile Company has become a leading tile distributor in the Midwest, serving 14 states with its two distribution hubs in Livonia, Michigan, and Kansas City, Kansas and network of showrooms. Fulfilling the needs of residential and commercial building industry customers, the company is a provider of porcelain, ceramic, stone, glass, metal, and mosaic design solutions, with select…
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Recycled Modern
Since the first drawing in prehistoric times, art and creating have been forms of self-expression and storytelling for people that cross multiple mediums and industries. Almost everything human-made has been designed with a purpose and tells a story—whether that story is the initial creator’s intention, or the history of the piece’s previous owners and travels. Shari Currie, owner of Recycled…
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Design Your World
In an industry-moving initiative, the International Interior Design Association, or IIDA, has completed the pilot program for its new Design Your World initiative, which will, eventually, engage nationwide groups of high school students with design interests in an inspiring design curriculum backed by a selection of industry leaders and professionals. Design Your World is a partnership between the IIDA and…
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The tile experience
Since its founding in 1928, Virginia Tile Company has become a leading distributor of domestic and imported tile in the Midwest, representing the finest manufacturers and suppliers in the industry. From its two distribution hubs, one in Livonia, Michigan and the other in Kansas City, Kansas, the company services 14 states with its premier selections of porcelain, stone, glass, ceramic,…
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Crafted legacy
Despite the rise of industrialization in the 19th century and the technological revolution of the late 20th century, craftsmanship has endured. It is an art and craft of making; bridging the gap of alienation between maker and material left in the wake of growing assembly lines, mass-scale production, consumer culture, and an age of digital landscapes. Even as machines replaced…
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Coastal contemporary
Gazing through a glass expanse in the dining area of a newly renovated home by Mathison | Mathison Architects of Michigan, one gets the sense of being perched in a bright, southern forest canopy, where vibrant green shades gently ricochet through a hot breeze, and somewhere nearby the ocean breathes. This image isn’t far off for the reconfigured residence in…
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L’atelier de mode
Silk. Lace. Glamour. For RC Caylan, fashion designer and studio founder of RC Caylan Atelier LLC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, fashion design is about timeless beauty, simple elegance, and meticulous detail. Silhouettes are well-tailored, fabrics are luxurious and intentionally meant to add texture or soften overall creations, and vintage glamour, bold statement, and dynamic movement bring each piece to couture…
