Paul Williams building may lose murals

Fascinating article in the LA Times. Murals from the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building designed by african american architect, Paul Williams, may be sold to the Smithsonian. The murals were painted by Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff and completed in 1949. Read the article here.  

Art Project by Google

Art Project, powered by Google is a fantastic website. Recently launched, the website uses the Street View technology to allow users to visit museums virtually. No crowds, no fees, just art. They have museums like the Uffizi in Florence and the National Gallery in London. I expect this is just the beginning.

Tonight

Heritage YP is holding it's monthly gathering at District (216 Townsend) tonight at 6:30. See you there.

Happy Hour Tonight

Tonight Heritage YP and APA Young Planners Group are having a meet and greet at Tosca Cafe in North Beach from 6:30pm to 8pm. See you there.

Today in history

On January 11th, 1787, William Herschel discovered two moons orbiting Uranus. He actually discovered the planet itself several years previously. After his death, his son named the two moons after the characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon and Titania. Herschel built his own telescopes, including the one pictured that was forty feet long.

Versailles rehabilitation project

Today NPR featured a short report on a rehabilitation project at the Palace of Versailles, in France. The project involves transforming the Hotel du Grand Controle, where the king's treasurer resided, into a luxury hotel. France is starting to rely more and more heavily on private investors to restore and maintain their national heritage. I am curious to see photos of the project when it is done. This is what it looks like now.

The One Percent

Soon after I founded my business I signed up to participate in the 1% program. The idea is that if all Architecture firms donated 1% of their time probono then good design would become less of a luxury. This morning I received in the mail a copy of The Power of Probono as a thank for being part of the program. I look forward to reading it.