Real Arizona Blog

More people means more ideas. More ideas mean more opinions. More media options mean more access to these ideas and opinions.

When it comes to our homes and communities more people means more homes are contemplated, dreamed about and built. Where are we getting our inspiration from when it comes to considering the kinds of homes we would like to live in? Well, local magazine articles like those found in Tucson Lifestyle Home & Garden are a good source of inspiration and tend to bias our exposure to current trends and styles. Of course we have all purchased books on homes and kitchen & bath designs if we have been thinking about remodeling our home like those from Taunton Press. But there are now soooo many options as to where to derive inspiration from on the internet it is truely amazing.

I have been thinking about regional architecture and how now, it is becoming so influenced by important styles, designs and building techniques from all over, that the term regional is getting complicated. Arrol Gellner who writes for Inman News writes in a recent article Bugged by today's architecture  "There's only one cardinal sin in architecture, and that is not thinking."

There are lots of people with thoughts on home building but here is a blog post from the Inman News blog that is quite eye opening... and it has to do with building homes from recycled material.... Sounds interesting but...

With in this post by Todd Carpenter Guest post: Shipping containers as building material is a link to this CBS video which is surely going to make the point that Regional Architecture is changing along with Globalised markets. So, is this considered "thinking"? as Arrol Gellner discusses...?

Lawrence W. Cheek has an article linked to in the post above titled On Architecture: Transforming cargo containers into a weekend studio that ends with this "There isn't a lot of what we normally think of as architecture in this prototype. It isn't picturesque, refined or sensual, and its cultural associations are all about sweaty cargo ports and Chinese industrialization -- not exactly the stuff of home-sweet-home dreams. But it's a stunning reminder of what architecture ought to be about: solving some of civilization's thorniest problems by radically reconsidering the built environment."

Addis Containers in New Zealand has a portfolio of Container designed homes at the following url http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/index.html 

Arizona Regional Architecture is certainly changing to a more global perspective as our needs, styles and influences expand.