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While this house in San Francisco looks completely modern on this side, on the other, it’s a restored Victorian facade that blends into the neighborhood’s more formal frontage. The Janus House sits on a through-block lot, meaning both the front and the back are street facing, and Kennerly Architecture & Planning took on the task of maintaining the front portion’s historic exterior while extending the back towards the alley.

The front!

Despite the dichotomy of styles, they managed to blend the interior perfectly so that you’d never know you were in a home with two faces.

The home opens up in the rear with walls of glass to flood the space with light.

The modern exterior is clad in a screen of white recyclable plastic giving it a neat ridged texture.

The ground floor has a partial double-height ceiling over the stairwell that opens up to the living room above.

What would be the attic space is now a gabled loft space for the children.

The master bedroom has the same roofline which is highlighted by the orange painted wall behind the bed.

Interior Designer: Meg Hart Interior Design
Structural Engineer: Strandberg Engineering
Photographer: Bruce Damonte

hi guys. i’m sorry we’re a bit short on posts this week thus far, but i’ve come down with some kind of very unpleasant virus — food poisoning, i suspect. but anyway you don’t need to hear about that nasty bit of business. the domino galleries are back, and i’ve really missed them, so yesterday with one eye open i went in search of some calming rooms — pretty, pale neutrals. something to make me feel better and wouldn’t make the room spin. there’s some ‘best in shows’ there — rooms from domino magazine i’ll not easily forget and that always inspire — like that lovely living room with the for like ever print that went on to make decor history. enjoy, and i hope to be up and running much better tomorrow. xo

• all images via domino galleries.

Damon Hunter plays tricks on our eye with a vibrant and graphic series he calls The Colour of Glass. Shot in and around Melbourne where the photographer is based, Hunter captures unique perspectives of the glass facades of various types of buildings—apartments, universities, hospitals and corporate offices—all along “looking for buildings that make interesting use of glass, whether it be for something as seemingly simple as windows in an apartment building, to complex designs worked into the structure itself.” His renderings are electric, showcasing color at optimum heights. Keeping in line with his credo of not adding anything to a scene, Hunter notes that the colors of these facades were not added, but rather enhanced with “what was already there.”

In addition to color, Hunter’s locations must present a few other elements to be considered—straight lines, angles, and symmetry. Once met, these four criteria create just the magic combo, and Hunter is ready to shoot, finding beauty in everyday locations we might otherwise miss.

The first collection in Hunter’s Colour series, A Wall of Colour, was completed in 2012 and exhibited widely. The Colour of Glass is the follow-up, and is currently on view at Three Bags Full Cafe Gallery in Melbourne.

“Spotlight” is a sponsored post and a new initiative where we highlight a series of work from a photographer. To be considered, please contact alison@featureshoot.com for more information.

The post Vibrant, Graphic Photos of Glass Building Facades by Damon Hunter (Spotlight) appeared first on Feature Shoot.

Robert Duncan tells his story hours before he begins his 2-year prison sentence.

CREDIT: Screenshot from HuffPost Live

When Robert Duncan was laid off from his job in the television industry, he got a call from some family friends offering him a job. He was hesitant of their offer: they were starting a medical marijuana dispensary. He consulted a lawyer at a fee of $800 to advise him on whether to even accept the job. At the time, the wisdom was that prosecutors would not target state-compliant dispensaries, and that they certainly wouldn’t target employees.

So he moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area and started working an estimated 80 hours a week in what he called a challenging and rewarding job managing grow houses.

“I honestly had some stereotypes of what I expected to see when I got into the business — people who probably really didn’t need marijuana for medicinal purposes,” he said in a Huffington Post synposis of his story. “But I was actually quite surprised to see people who were battling cancer, in wheelchairs, suffering from chronic pain from car accidents. It was quite justified. We had thousands and thousands of members of our cooperatives.”

He said he was particularly gratified that some of the strains he grew were able to help his own family members suffering from cancer. By all accounts, the business was operating in compliance with state law. The dispensary had interacted with state police when reporting robberies to the facility without consequence. Owner Matthew Davies showed a New York Times reporter a “sheaf” of legal documents demonstrating he had complied with California law.

But in October 2011, the grow house where Duncan worked in Stockton, Calif., was raided by the federal government while Duncan was working at the facility. For reasons that have not been disclosed to Duncan, federal prosecutors ultimately indicted Davies, his co-owner, and Duncan — an hourly employee. There were an estimated 50 employees.

Duncan was lobbed with marijuana manufacture charges that carried up to ten years in jail. He will serve two, plus several more on probation. On Monday, HuffPost Live will broadcast Duncan’s entry to prison. Davies and co-owner Lynn Smith will also begin their five-year sentences Monday.

The raid of the Stockton grow house and the subsequent arrests came during a period when the federal government had rolled back its pot prosecution policy, and then ramped it up again again. When he joined the dispensary as an employee, the Justice Department had advised prosecutors in what is known as the “Ogden Memo” not to target dispensaries complying with state law. Less than two years later, the feds backtracked in a second 2011 “Cole memo” that instead advised prosecutors not to target “users” complying with state law, and left growers and sellers more susceptible.

“None of us would have taken this risk if we thought we were at any serious legal risk,” Duncan said Monday, hours before he was scheduled to report to prison. “Basically we just wanted to be compliant and kinda set an example of kind of a model business in this line of work and obviously it didn’t pan out that way.”

The Stockton grow house is one of several businesses that aimed to become models for state compliance, and in doing so, became federal targets. A raid of a Montana marijuana dispensary run by a state lobbyist who helped design the laws also saw several prosecutions, and one defendant died in jail.

The start of these prison sentences comes in the months after Attorney General Eric Holder once again directed prosecutors to roll back crackdowns on state-compliant pot businesses. This time, he has issued several subsequent memos as part of a “Smart on Crime” initiative that aims to focus resources on serious, violent offenders. He added another piece of guidance that could have helped the Stockton grow house: the mere size or commercial nature of a business is not sufficient grounds for prosecution.

Duncan called it “frustrating” to watch President Obama dismiss marijuana as nothing more than a “vice” and less dangerous than alcohol, as his Justice Department is sending him to jail for helping sick patients. “You don’t really know what to believe,” he said.

This is in part because U.S. attorneys retain their prosecutorial discretion, and nothing short of a change in the law can fully insulate anyone from a legal action. In fact, even after Holder’s directive, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, in the Northern District of California, has made good on her pledge to continue her targeting of large medical marijuana dispensaries.

Watch Duncan’s entry to federal prison here.

The post Meet The Former Marijuana Dispensary Employee Going To Prison Today For Complying With State Law appeared first on ThinkProgress.

NYC-based artist Kim Keever makes photographs that double as lush, dreamy landscape paintings, and we bet you’ll be surprised about how he creates them. Each unique landscape is the product of a handcrafted diorama and a 200-gallon fish tank. Keever starts out by building a set from found and sourced materials, placing it either in front of or behind the tank. He then fills the tank with water and gingerly injects paint into the water to create cloud formations. These variant swirls of paint seem emerged from the unknown depths of a primordial swamp, calling to mind some fantastical, post-apocalyptic landscape after Mother Nature has finally taken back the planet. Says Keever, “In terms of environmental degradation, I have always had that in mind with the landscape images. Wherever I travel, I always imagine what it would have been like before the area was populated.”

Keever’s next solo show opens in April at Waterhouse & Dodd in NYC.

Keever’s set-up:

The post Magical Landscapes Created Inside a 200-Gallon Fish Tank appeared first on Feature Shoot.

san francisco-based interior designer Senalee Kapelevich of SVK Interior Design sent me images of one of her latest client makeovers and i was thrilled to share it. Senalee’s done a wonderful job on this 1890′s Victorian home of a single dad who lives in the mission district with his daughter. Even though he works in the tech industry, he is extremely passionate about music and There are about ten guitars that live in the house with them, along with several pieces of recording equipment. it’s a bottom unit in a four-apartment building, so one of Senalee’s challenges was about bringing in as much light and color as possible without going too feminine. The client’s directive was to balance each room with a mix of new and vintage pieces, with a mid-century modern inspired look.

The front room with the black leather couch and pink walls is his “jam room”. So the room is about hanging out with friends and jamming along with His daughter who also plays bass. Senalee knew this room was going to have a lot of black in it, and be filled with a lot of music equipment, so she convinced her client to paint the walls pale pink to add some lightness to the space. The credenza and the pendant are both vintage pieces (from one of my favorite shops, Stuff on Valencia), and the sofa, and small table are new.

The living room is where the client likes to relax with his daughter and play video games so Senalee warmed up the room with a comfy Paul Smith rug from the Rug Company — the client’s favorite thing in the whole house. The sofa is custom, the coffee table is vintage from L.A., and the chair is a vintage Z Chair from Past Perfect — another great vintage shop in san francisco on lombard street.

The hallway was really long in this apartment, so Senalee wanted to add some interest to it. The carpet tiles are from FLOR, and the frames are from a mix of sources framing a collection of black and white photography. That gorgeous pendant lamp is from schoolhouse electric.

The master bedroom needed to remain a masculine space, but have some fun too. The dresser is a vintage Henredon dresser, and the lamps are vintage as well — also from Past Perfect. The bed, and side tables are new. Senalee loves to do great lighting in spaces with high ceilings and one of her favorite elements in the room is the Spider Lamp from Matter Matters in New York City — It’s like its own little floating sculpture. her client is also into raw denim, so the coat rack actually gets used to hang the jeans that are not supposed to be washed or folded — I just love that idea, since my jeans are usually thrown over the back of a chair. this looks a whole lot better, but also leaves them so accessible!

thanks so much to Senalee for walking us through this great makeover. she’s done an amazing job at infusing the space with light, style and comfort. for more of her beautiful design work visit SVK Interior Design, where Senalee has an office San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood and has projects underway all over the bay area including Noe Valley, the Mission, and Potrero Hill.

• all photos by MICHELE LEE WILLSON PHOTOGRAPHY.

If I were to open a restaurant, I’d make the joint a place that focuses on a single perfect dish and then serves tons of variations on the theme. Grilled cheese a thousand ways, grain bowls in a million iterations, chicken wings tossed with any sauce you can imagine.

This is nothing original. We’ve got specialized restaurants all around New York, and a lot of them aren’t even gimmicky (burrito places, banh mi stores, sushi restaurants). But, it would be fun to sit around menu planning and taste testing for my hypothetical french fry joint (there will be chili fries, cheese fries, poutine, and nacho fries, I can tell you that).

At home, we all get to be the head chefs in our small kitchens, and in our domains, this whole variation-on-a-theme tactic happens naturally. Once you master the flavors and process of one dish, you’re likely to want to make it again, yet without being boring. So while people don’t think me as the queen of baked pasta, if you come for dinner and there are more than four people present, you’ll probably be eating some riff on lasagna or mac ‘n cheese. Sorry in advance.

Not every recipe is as blank a canvas as a baked potato, but mac is. That’s why, today, I’m sharing a recipe for completely classic, absolutely perfect mac ‘n cheese. Yes, you can follow the ingredients and instructions exactly: you will come out with a rich, gooey, orange casserole. But I’m really hoping you take this as a formula. Keep the proportions of pasta, cheese, and sauce, but vary type of cheese and mix-ins, and you can create the mac of your cheffy dreams. Some ideas:

• Pesto, Peas, Proscuitto & Mozz
• Spinach & Blue Cheese
• Butternut Squash with Cheddar & Sage
• Bacon & Aged Gouda
• Broccoli & Parmesan
• Pickled Jalapeño, Black Bean & Monterey Jack
• Basil, Tomato & Smoked Mozzarella

What will you make? I’m off to the kitchen to throw different things in my mac and cheese. Hope you do the same.

**Recipe**

Blank Canvas Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese
Serves 6

You can make the mac in advance up to the point when you sprinkle on the panko. Then store in the fridge until ready to bake.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus a little more for the pan
1 pound penne rigate
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart whole milk, preferably at room temperature (you can warm it in the microwave)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp orange cheddar cheese, grated (4 cups; use any combo of cheese you’d like, though some of it should be one that melts well)
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set it aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, following the package directions, until 3 minutes shy of al dente. The pasta should still have a bite to it. Drain, and shake out all the water.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until it is fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the milk and whisk gently over medium heat until the mixture has bubbled and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the salt, pepper, and most of the grated cheese, reserving about 1/2 a cup. Add the pasta and toss to combine.

Distribute the mixture in the prepared pan. Top with the rest of the cheese mixture, then sprinkle on the panko. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and brown. Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

From an inch away, the sculptures of Li Hongbo look like plaster. They are not. These large reproductions of classical busts are 100% paper. And I’m not talking about papier-mâché, or cast paper pulp, or painted paper – just a stack of raw white paper, impossibly carved by hand.

Bust of Marseilles, 2012

Bust of Marseilles, 2012 (detail)

Bust of Marseilles, 2012

The “block” from which each sculpture is carved is composed of thousands of sheets of paper, each glued (one at a time!) in a precise and delicate pattern of stripes. When lifted or manipulated by gallery staff, the pattern relieves itself, effortlessly expanding like a delicate accordion or alien honeycomb.

Bust of Marseilles, 2012 (detail)

The smooth surface is not painted or coated in any way. Hongbo lightly sands the finished sculptures to create a fuzzed edge that visually dissolves into its neighbor under pressure of gravity. The yellowish interior is a result of the filtered light.

Roman Youth, 2013

Roman Youth, 2013 (detail)

Bust of Young English Girl, 2013

Bust of Young English Girl, 2013

If you can’t make it to the gallery in person, I encourage you to search the internet or numerous iPhone videos of these in action. The movement is insane. My favorite video however is below. It’s an incredible peek at the process itself, from the meticulous gluing to the final sanding.

Bust of David, 2012 (detail)

What: Li Hongbo: Tools of Study
Where: Klein Sun Gallery, 525 West 22nd St, New York, NY
When: January 9, 2014 – March 2, 2014

All images courtesy Klein Sun Gallery, New York. Photographed by David Behringer.

Desiring to cross the boundary between man and beast, Anne Berry‘s Behind Glass is an intimate portrait of primates living in captivity. From Belgium to South Africa, the Atlanta-based photographer traveled the world to shoot in various small zoos, taking time to truly reflect and capture the creatures on the other side of the barrier. The painterly black and white images feel both aged and emotional, each photo possessed with the solitude of the animal beyond. Here we are arrested with their subtle expressions and quiet curiosity. With each extended paw and unwavering gaze, their lives feel burdened with a melancholy of our making. Suspended between our world and theirs, the glass acts as a window to a soul, one that we discover is not so different from our own.

via LensCulture

The post Moving Portraits of Primates Living In Captivity appeared first on Feature Shoot.

This New Orleans home comes to us from Logan Killen Interiors, a New Orleans design firm founded in 2012 by Katie Logan and Jensen Killen. In addition to working on residential and small commercial projects, Katie also owns See Scout Sleep, a line of pet products made in Louisiana. This home belongs to Amber and Jacob Donnes, a couple who purchased the home just one year ago, but needed some help in transforming the house filled with furniture from college into a relaxed and happy home. Amber has a love for fun, bohemian pieces while Jacob leans toward a more modern aesthetic. In order to achieve a compromise between the two looks, Katie and Logan decided to go traditional with the larger pieces like the dining room set and the sofa. Then they brought in Amber’s personality with accessories, art and plants and then went more modern with the lighting and some of the accent furniture pieces. They had to work some magic in the kitchen. Neither Amber nor Jacob liked the cabinets or the contractor grade granite counter tops, but they weren’t ready to move forward with a total renovation. Instead, they updated the kitchen with charcoal paint, new lighting and simple subway tile. It was the perfect solution and the house is now an elegant and eclectic home that can grow with the couple.  -Amy

Image above: Vintage dining table set. Jonathan Adler chandelier. Vintage rug. Plant hangers sourced on Etsy.

See more of this New Orleans home after the jump!

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Louisa Parris resides in this South London home with her husband, Chris Duggan and their 11-month-old son, Art. Though they moved into the space in 2012, this is not Louisa’s first time living here. She actually spent half her childhood in this Grade II listed flat. (In the UK, a Grade II flat is a building that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, meaning that it must not be altered or demolished without special permission from the local planning authority). Louisa and Chris had just come back home after living in San Francisco for over six years, where Chris worked at Apple as an associate creative director and Louisa worked as a fashion designer and taught at The Academy of Art University. Upon moving back to London, they bought this flat from Louisa’s father. They have made the space their own by keeping it simple with lots of white gloss and minimal decor, allowing their art, books and furniture to imbue the space with color. Louisa has been running her own fashion label for the last 3 years, focusing on evening wear and accessories while also working with her sister Georgia Parris on fashion films. Thank you Louisa and Chris and special thanks to Elaine Perks for the photos! -Shannon

Image above: The fireplace got stolen the day my parents bought the place 20 years ago, they had to have a copy made. The painting above is my by my mother Cherrill Parris-Fox, she is a painter and fashion illustrator.

Image above: Yellow Tolix stools are from my studio which we bought in San Francisco. My parents put the kitchen floor down – it’s from an old gymnasium. We recently just took off all the varnish and sanded it right back to match the parquet flooring in the sitting room.

See more of this London home after this jump…

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Move over Hells Angels, Moroccan-born, UK-based artist Hassan Hajjaj brings us Kesh Angels, a series of electric portraits of the biker culture among young women in Marrakesh. Borrowing from the tradition of African studio photography and with a fashiony edge, Hajjaj is clearly playing with stereotypes of Arab women, seen through the juxtaposition of their modest, traditional garb and their defiant and dynamic poses. Hajjaj’s portraits aren’t the only star here—the colorful frames are handcrafted by the artist with inlaid wood and filled with everyday consumer goods, further providing commentary on the struggle to maintain individuality among culture and branding.

Kesh Angels is on view at NYC’s Taymour Grahne Gallery through March 7, 2014.

The post All Female Biker Gangs of Marrakesh Photographed by Hassan Hajjaj appeared first on Feature Shoot.

Whether lounging in city parks or snapping photos at a popular tourist trap, the subjects of Japanese photographer Nobuto Osakabe‘s series Holiday Making appear as miniature caricatures bustling across the sprawling scenery. Examining the art of leisure time, Osakabe indirectly highlights key characteristics of Japanese culture and tradition. Each human pinprick roams ant-like across the frame, participating in identical mundane vacation activities. It is Japan’s population density that allows for larger considerations of contemporary freedom and identity. Despite the daily grind and our desire to ‘just be ourselves,’ Holiday Making hints that, even at play, we are all creatures of a predictable assembly.

The post Leisure Time in Japan Photographed by Nobuto Osakabe appeared first on Feature Shoot.

don’t these kitchens with their kelly green cabinets just want to make you toss up a salad? they’re so fresh and bright looking! i doubt i’d have ever imagined painting my kitchen cabinets green, but in these modern spaces it really looks fantastic! they’re both the brilliant work of bestor architecture — two homes they remodeled in silverlake, california. paired with those copper pendant lights (they are everywhere these days) this design is just so spot on.

* all images via bestor architecture.