Skateback by Grove

Every week, we're told, one skateboard factory produces enough waste material to fill a city bus. With Skateback, a stylish iPhone case made from skateboard wood waste, Portland-based design companies Grove and MapleXO are doing their part to put a dent in it. And the collaborative effort is no run-of-the-mill design. Available in three colorways--vibrant, calm, and neutral--the striped......read more

A Year on the Road: Singh Farms

If you thought no food ever grows in the desert, then allow me to share with you a place that will change your mind. You wouldn't know if from the freeway, but just off the 101 in Phoenix, Arizona there lies one of the most extraordinary farms the desert has ever seen. After I heard someone say it was the farm of their dreams, I knew I had to see it for myself.  A bustling farmer's market......read more

Tea Houses by Swatt Miers Architects

When the owner of a Silicon Valley property decided to renovate his family home, he also decided to make good on an idea he and his daughter shared: building treehouses in an oak grove on the edge of the property. While not exactly treehouses per se, these three tea houses nestled among the stands of oak should do the trick. Designed by Swatt Miers Architects, the glass-paneled tea houses......read more