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Got 8 minutes to spare? Watch this cute little story with an even cuter ending. The best part of this video for me is how it was made with great emotion yet all the characters are absent faces. Check it out and see what I mean. Body language is a real thing.

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I grew up around classic automobiles. My uncle owned Antique Ford Supply in Phoenix, Arizona and I used to work with him in the long hot summers. A dedicated bunch those old car buffs. This video is a great example of the automobile as art. Check it out.

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Hilary Hahn performs Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst's Grand Caprice on Schubert's Der Erlkönig, Op. 26 "Le roi des aulnes". This is considered one of the most difficult violin pieces ever composed. Close your eyes and you will have a hard time believing it is one girl, one violin. Not everyone can put this type of effort into one thing in life, but if you can, you get results like this. I love studying people who are completely on top of their game.

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Considering only the curb appeal, the Hi Ho Lounge, located in the heart of the upper 9th ward in New Orleans (year-round badly hung holiday lights one of the only signs of life on the exterior of this non-descript pink and black building) is one of the last places you’d expect to find the warm and lively Bluegrass Pickin’ Party.  Yet it’s one of the only places I want to be on Monday nights.  Featured regularly on Treme, the Hi Ho Lounge is the sort of place where strangers become friends easily and quickly and life’s worries are readily dropped at the door.

  Smoking in bars is still legal in Louisiana, but (thankfully) is banned on Monday nights at the Hi Ho.  At the request of the regular musicians, the bar banned smoking on a trial basis.  Given the often standing-room only crowds, this hasn’t seemed to hurt business at all.  The real magic, though, comes from a circle of black metal and vinyl chairs in which established and practiced musicians team up with admitted beginners and traveling minstrels in a weekly impromptu jam session.  Each takes his or her turn calling and leading the group in a song.  “Jammable” tunes are crowd favorites, but a tricky, wandering ditty still finds its way in the mix to challenge the circle.

  So tonight, as I chow down on my bowl of red beans and rice, sip from my locally produced Abita Amber beer, and gaze around the room at smiling faces singing along to Bluegrass standards and contemporary songs, I can’t help but give thanks for the respite this place and this music has to offer.  It’s no wonder the producers from HBO keep coming back to film.

-Laura LeBon

Urban Architecture

New Orleans, LA

Editors Note: Laura is a regular contributor to ONE!-derful Things and her architectural firm is a Charter Affiliate of ONE! Laura is a life long resident of New Orleans and a Katrina survivor.

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“All material in nature, the mountains and the streams and the air and we, are made of Light which has been spent, and this crumpled mass called material casts a shadow, and the shadow belongs to Light."

-Louis Kahn

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A History of the Sky

Light has always played a huge role in great architecture, from the Oculus in the Pantheon in Rome to modern day fiber optics that can add interior lighting to places that would not normally get it.

This video is of the sky in San Francisco in a 360 tile mosaic. Each tile represents a single day and is played in a clip of pictures taken every 10 seconds throughout that day. It bored me at first, but about half way through I started seeing the patterns. The changes in the seasons, the foggy mornings, rain coming and going, moonlight. All are  visible when you study the film.

I found it to be a unique look at something we take for granted every day, and that is that the sun will rise, the seasons change, time marches on. Architecture and all of art are about this very thing; presenting us with a unique view so we can be reminded of the real beauty in everything that surrounds us.

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Earth, Wind and Fire - Fantasy (live version)

Time for another song. Earth, Wind and Fire was a popular R&B band in the 1970s. They are still together today and still tour. Their shows are spectacular and one of the best parts is how their lead singer Philip Bailey, now 60 years old, can still use falsetto like nobody else. If you were around in the 70s you will instantly recognize this song when they get past the intro. But make sure to stick with it until the very end and we guarantee you will be playing this for your friends just to see the looks on their faces.

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Which Wich Superior Sandwiches is a fast growing, fast food client of ours that serves one out of this world sandwich. Like I just said, the food is spectacular, but how you finally get to this food is unique and clever as well.

Ordering revolves around a paper sack and a red Sharpie. The same sack becomes your food container which you can then use to create some Sharpie art that they will hang on the wall. I'd say the whole process is a little bit environmentally green.

And every time I've eaten at a Which Wich it has seemed such a happy place - lots of families, kids coloring, a little bit noisy. Even their furniture is happy, although you have to stand on your head to really know that.

-Dustin Curtis

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A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.

Frank Lloyd Wright

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We are an affiliation of many architects, engineers, designers and support teams that meld the knowledge of a multitude of minds into ONE!  Collectively we are all over America and experienced in every part of the United States. From the mountains, to the prairie to the oceans white....well, you get the idea.

In St. Louis, Missouri for instance, we have 5 different affiliations including Dermoty and Associates, a Landscape Architecture firm, and RAN Design, a support firm for our national roll out clients such as Burger King and Hardees. We will introduce you to the head honchos of each of these organizations as we progress through our story.

In St. Louis there is also an iconic monument known as the Gateway Arch.  It was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. Construction began on February 12, 1963, and ended on October 28, 1965. You can ride to the top of this thing in the craziest elevators you have ever ridden in and once there, if you catch the sun just right, you can take a picture of the arch like I did on a clear November day in 2007.

-Dustin Curtis

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HI-FOG: A Way to Put Out Fires That Makes a Lot of Sense

Sometimes we need to be serious at ONE! Why? Because a lot of grown ups just want it that way. More than you'd think. And we need to be believable to the public at large. Even media stars get serious sometimes, like when they are adopting babies in Africa or fighting against some horrible disease. So, here is to serious.

As it goes with all architects, we do not get paid for endorsement of materials or products we use. It's generally frowned upon and downright illegal in some states. But we think it is important to point out to the public those things that are out there that we think will help make the world a better, safer or more aesthetic place to be in.

So, our first product that we would like to show you is one that makes buildings safe and at the same time keeps damage down should there ever be a need to use it. We think the product speaks for its self, so just watch the video then visit them here.

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Luhrs Building - Part 2: The Film

More about this storied building can be found here. Now this building in New York or Boston or even some place like Cleveland would not necessarily stand out. But Phoenix has so little history as it went from quiet western town of 10,000 around 1900 to an epic city of over 4 million today. So, most everything is new.

The restoration is pretty much completed now and the building looks great. We will post a few pictures of specific details later, but we thought we would share a video we found on line. A couple of students apparently sneaked in at midnight while the building was being restored and filmed it in a Blair Witch-esque style. We kinda like it. Kudos to iphxxx at You Tube.

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Luhrs Building Part 1 - Historic Preservation the Cool Way

Curtis Architecture, a ONE! affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona undertook a massive project that earned their client the largest single grant for historic preservation ever awarded by the City of Phoenix. But let us entertain you first before we go into any more detail.

During demolition we decided that the gutted shell of the building would make for a fantastic photo opp. We wanted to capture something dainty and fragile exploring, then being comfortable with and finally taking command of the gritty under belly of old Phoenix.  So we found a young model, a few really great outfits and had some fun. The model is Sabrina and she is a fitness trainer and is currently working with those coming back from severe injury. Good for you, Sabrina, and thanks for playing along.

-Photography by Dustin Curtis

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WOW! To be clear, ONE! had nothing to do with this project. But we were so impressed with what it took to film this from beginning to end we just had to share with the world. The video from 1:40 to 2:00 is the most impressive.

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ONE! is "nationally local". Our clients like that they can work with us anywhere they go.

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Tinderbox Annex - Flagstaff, Arizona - Part 2

As promised, the final results; beautiful, imaginative, warm, inviting and probably many more superlatives we haven't thought of. Now, we personally think these images would look a whole lot better with some people in them. But the norm is that most architects show their buildings empty, lifeless and cold. But why? We've thought about it and frankly, we're really not sure, but we are taking steps to correct this huge error in judgment that has led to our work being represented in a way that feels unapproachable and aloof at times. People use our buildings in many ways and it is our goal here to show you how. Stay tuned for part 3...we will bring you people!

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Tinderbox Annex - Flagstaff, Arizona - Part 1

Located in the Southside district of historic downtown Flagstaff, Arizona is a small but quite popular joint known as the Tinderbox Kitchen. Our team was brought in to see what we could do about adding an annex in the space next door, a place to stop by after a long day and have a specialty drink at a warm and friendly, but definitely chic lounge. With a little help from a local photographer who created some very special art work, a fabulously creative interior designer who did a whole bunch with very little, and a lot of sweat equity from the ambitious owners, voila! The Tinderbox Annex. But before we get to the results, this video is what we started with. A 50 year old space vacant for over four years looks something like this.