We’re talking about the big shift, from the general use of incandescent globes to energy saving globes, which use only 25% as much energy as their old style cousins, and save us enormous amounts of both money and greenhouse gases over their lifetime. Who knew that a light bulb could create such an involved conversation (except maybe Thomas Edison!). But there is a lot of talk being thrown around currently about how great energy saving bulbs are. Truth is, that they are going to be an absolutely necessary weapon in our arsenal against climate change – but there are two sides to every story. Why do we love them and want to marry them … and why hasn’t everyone immediately replaced every single bulb in their home?

Firstly, some statistics, from green.yahoo.com. The 18 seconds campaign on this site is sponsored by Energy Star bulbs, and shows how many energy saving bulbs have been bought from their company and installed across America, and how many tones of carbon dioxide that has saved going into the atmosphere. Roughly 27 million bulbs have been purchased (not even one per 10% of the population), however this equates in terms of greenhouse savings to 193,000 cars off the road, or 12 billion pounds of CO2. For a little thing, they sure pack a wallop! Middle America is the best at using these, with Oklahoma and its neighbors ranking best. Energy Star says it takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb – so why hasn’t the Earth recovered already?…

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Lyman (usually just ‘L.’) Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz, one of my personal all-time favourite movies and one to which I know all of the lyrics, including whether the high voiced Munchkins or low-voiced Munchkins sing the lines! It is an absolute classic, as well as the first movie to be made in color, and the classical style of the movie is reflected in the design of this chandelier in the lobby of the Hotel del Coronado, which Mr. Baum also designed. With a total of 25 lamps to make the crystal chains underneath absolutely glow, and elegant styling which is all the more beautiful for being understated, it is just what you’d expect from the writer of such a gorgeous kids movie.

The Hotel del Coronado is two hours south of LA City, and has a view of Coronado island – the hotel takes its name from the island, not the other way round! It was built in 1888, so doubtless would be a lovely place to visit for those of you who, like us, get all jumpy and excited about antiques and classic architecture. It was updated in 2003, a refurbishment which cost $55 million and put considerable effort in to retaining the original style and charm of the place. The floral carpeting is said to be somewhat iridescent, changing hues as you move around the hallway, and the armoires and coffee tables in the lobby are all hand carved. (more…)

Hey, when your grandparents (or parents … or sister, as the case may be) said that the internet was just crazy fandangled new technology, I bet they didn’t realize that there’d be an easy link to a great place to buy all the household implements, decorations and fixtures they had in their home as a kid, right on the first page that opens!

“What are you rambling about?”, I can hear you thinking… Actually, Architectural Classics has just acquired their own button that you can add to your Google toolbar… so that you have links to the most popular AC pages, actually on every page that you open, just as handy as your Google search.

Google and AC also team up to provide a thorough search through our website, to save you time when you’re looking for something specific. All you need to do is type your search term into the normal Google field on your Google toolbar, then click our little doorknob icon rather than the Google ‘Go’.

Teamwork!

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Now, cats may not be as easy to train as dogs – but these videos of cats opening doors prove that this is not necessarily because they are less intelligent than dogs. It is only because they’ll only do things that benefit themselves, and don’t necessarily give a rat’s behind what you want them to do!

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The Ice Hotel is located in Jukkasjärvi in Sweden – a shivering 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle! All of the ice in the hotel, including the gorgeous clear columns, the intricate chandelier, and the impressive walls comes from the River Torne. This river apparently produces the clearest ice possible, because of the water’s purity and the steady movement of the river. It has an eerie, solemn, alien look to most of it, and the ice chandelier that you see at the start of the movie is one of the touches that makes it seem a bit more accessible and human. You could otherwise believe that you had stepped into a Martian palace, or even the ice world that Clark Kent was trapped in for a time between Supermans 1 and 2!

Ice is one of the easier materials to carve, once you have practiced the technique a bit, because of the regularity of the molecular structure of the sculpting material, its softness and availability. However, temperature is obviously a major challenge to overcome! When large sculptures are being made, machines are used nowadays, but the chandelier shown in the ice hotel could be made with only hand tools, patience and a love of ice and chandeliers. Unfortunately it is not possible to find antique ice chandeliers!You could try making something like this yourself – ice sculptors use block ice, drills, soldering irons and ice picks, as well as chainsaws for larger pieces, and there are also plenty of courses available on the web. Here is a beautiful chandelier which you can make yourself, at little cost, and have fun doing it – and best of all, it will live on only in your memory, where it can become as great as you want it to be! (more…)