Subscribe To Our RSS Feed
Like Us
Watch Us
Follow Us
Thurston
Get Blog Posts As EmailsOur architectural design team has been researching and learning about many exotic woods of South and Central America. One of the woods that caught our attention is known as BALSAMO wood (Myroxylon balsamum). In the scientific description from the Agroforestry Database you will find some interesting uses of this particular hardwood. I find it especially [...]
Materials Study: Balsamo Wood
August 23rd, 2010 by ManyaAirplane Paint Jobs
August 13th, 2010 by TimHuffington Post had a slide show of the worst paint jobs on airplanes today. I must admit some of them are pretty incredible and some are pretty awful. While planes might be a different advertising medium, I think a more subtle approach is necessary for the skies. Like a beautiful sunset on an Isla Palenque [...]
Vertical Green 2: A Fantasy or Our Future?
August 12th, 2010 by FrancesLast year I wrote a blog post about vertical farming and its futuristic promises of cities peppered with green-sided skyscrapers. It’s an intoxicating idea. You can see that post here. Last week, The Guardian published an article on the same subject. Here’s a quote: “So it’s easy to see the appeal of a system which, [...]
Panama Graphic Design Exhibiton in MAC
August 4th, 2010 by ManyaThe first exhibition of local Panamanian Graphic Design was held at Panama’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in 2009. The exhibition set out to shed a light on the creative process that lay behind creations of identities and the creation of “universal language”; and to call our attention to the graphic designers of the region [...]
12,500 Re-Purposed Plastic Bottles.
July 27th, 2010 by ManyaWhen I was a little girl, I found it a little strange to watch my father rinse the ziplock bag and reuse it for the next day’s lunch bag. Times change quickly and you learn fast! Years later I find it that “re-purposing the ziplock bag” idea not only serves as a good “eco” and [...]
Infinite Possibilities
July 22nd, 2010 by JoeAs you may already know, one of many featured amenities being developed in all Isla Palenque Villa Estates and hotels will be infinity edged pools. Infinity pools create a seamless line between you and the ocean beyond. Recently opened, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore stands 650ft tall. Atop it sits the largest pool [...]
Chacara Bags from the Ngobe-Bugle of Panama
July 20th, 2010 by ManyaChacara bags are woven from the fiber of the wild pineapple plant (Aechmea magdalenae). The Ngobe-Bugle use these bags for transporting everything from babies to market goods on the mountainous trails of their tribal homeland in western Panama. Residents of Isla Palenque can visit a Ngobe Bugle village less than an hour’s drive from our [...]
The Red Devils
July 13th, 2010 by ManyaSurely the “academia” version of art education provides students with a good base of art appreciation. But what I really missed was a “real life” art appreciation class on graffiti. At a number of occasions I have heard about the graffiti buses in Panama City, but never took a closer look until today. AMAZING! In [...]
From Hi-Tech to Isla Palenque Sunshade
June 15th, 2010 by ManyaIsla Palenque will probably never have a lack of sun (in my book –man’s next best friend). The past few days in Chicago we have missed the sun and are looking forward to the return of the sunny days, but the time will certainly come when we will also be looking for sunshade. Following this [...]
Knowing Your Neighbors
June 14th, 2010 by JoeColombia, Panama’s neighbors to the south, is as full of incredible resources as Panama is. We all know Colombia for its incredible coffee, but its supply of Guadua bamboo seems to be endless. I recently traveled to Armenia in the Quindío Region where it grows almost everywhere. The Colombians have become extremely resourceful using Guadua [...]