The Cowboy is certainly a likable personality so it is no surprise that we find it rubbing shoulders with fellow members of the 2009 Canadian Architect Annual Awards of Excellence .  Congratulations to D’Arcy Jones Design and their meticulous attention to detail that earned them the prestigious Award of Merit for everybody’s small scale favorite, the Cowboy.  So it’s now official when you escape to the Cowboy for a weekend you are indeed spending your time in very esteemed company.  Click through for more details on the award and the renderings D’Arcy submitted for the competition.  (more…)

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Is the cabin an essential component to refining one’s genius? An especially strong argument for this opens in London today as part of the Royal Institute of British Architects Le Corbusier - The Art of Architecture survey. The RIBA is exhibiting a full scale model of Le Corbusier’s Cabanon . The micro cabin he built in Cap - Martin on the French Riviera in 1952. Designed in less than an hour and coming in at a mere 16 square meteres (about 172 square feet) the Cabanon was the only building this master architect of the 20th century built for himself. Corbusier referred to it as both "my castle on the Riviera" and " my smallest machine for living in"…"where not a square cm of space was wasted". The contrast of these statements one from another is equally matched by the contrast of the surprisingly modest shed like appearance of the outside with the extensively detailed interior. An interior that is both laboratory for Le Corbusier’s thesis of buildings as machines for living, and as a sensible place for a man and his wife to spend their summers. (more…)

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Build a Cabin and Put an End to the Cabin Fever Epidemic

Every year about this time we are faced with an epidemic of Cabin Fever. In the cold winter months people seem to lose focus and get restless. New research has uncovered a potential cure for the midwinter blahs that has no known side effects, and makes you smarter, happier, and more effective. Better still, the therapy is readily available and doesn’t cost a dime.

For years now people have been attempting to quell the onset of winter boredom and restlessness by heading out to see a movie or going shopping. According to a recently published study led by Marc Berman from the University of Michigan, heading to the mall or cinema may be exactly the wrong thing to do.

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