VALERI IS AN ARCHITECT​​

These people have pegged me. I am good at ignoring commercials. I don't watch TV. At this point in my life I don't splurge on glossy...

I knew my designs were weak, or at least my drawing skills, when I turned in my project a few weeks before I left New Zealand. But...

When I joined this project I sort of saw four murky ideas that needed to be honed. I look for these rules/concepts that help me design...

My girlfriend came and pushed us to get up and go for a hike. It was the impetus to finally go out and experience the subtleness of the...

For me the fashion equivalent to an interior designer is lining and preferably Ambiance Bemberg*. It takes the garment to another level...

In architecture an interior designer is a real luxury. A good one is worth their weight in gold and once you've been touched it is hard...

It just so happened that shortly after I arrived was the Memorial Day Weekend I Madonnari Street Festival. With it just being down the...

Ssshhhh! For the record this fashion design thing for me has never been about the skinny tall twenty something (or younger). Don't get...

Ideally you go out to the site early on to take a read of it, get some clues about the client, and see what inspires them and you. As I...

In Santa Barbara Chinatown is really "China Building" and if you blink you will miss it. I happened upon this article called "New...

I had a vague plan before leaving New Zealand. It made sense. But my last meeting with the director shook me and left self doubt and an...

Now every project has limitations and this one is no exception. These are kind of severe, but I think they only increase the challenge...

The second weekend I was here I lucked into a free ticket to the sold out Pearl Chase 15th annual Historic Homes tour featuring five of...

Now as part of her climb she ended up in fashion design school in an attempt to re-tap her creativity and boost her self-confidence. This...

This all starts with “THE HOUSE”. (Nice bach* in New Zealand, a little underwhelming in Santa Barbara) Ideally you: visit “the house”...

BLUE SKY. It is everywhere. It peeks out at you when you least expect it. It blankets everything in its ever-expanding reach to the...

This is a story about a house, a site, a client and an architect. The architect is struggling to get her head around this project. She is...