Archive for May, 2009
Eco buildings laid the foundation. Now eco villages are the new kids on the block. By Craille Maguire Gillies Published in the April 2007 issue of enRoute To see the future of the City, take bus number 68 from downtown Helsinki to a neighbourhood bordered by a nature reserve on one side and an expressway on the other. Through the multi storey windows of the mid-century modern townhouses and the shiny square condominiums, a typical suburban scene unfolds. Parents drop off children at a daycare near the town square, Kevättori, before walking to offices and shops nearby. Some head to work down the block at the University of Helsinki satellite campus. But while Viikki, a few kilometres from downtown, looks like any other Scandi-modern suburb, the technology behind it is anything but typical. This quiet community is a living laboratory for green design. The streets spread out like fingers, with surrounding small gardens and pathways – a design that lends itself to composting and water recycling. Solar panels top the roofs of rowhouses, which operate on 30 percent less water and 25 percent less fossil-fuel energy[ READ MORE ]
But will yours go for low-carb ‘snow cups?’ By Craille Maguire Gillies Published in the August 14, 2004 issue of the Globe and Mail I scream, you scream, the dog screams for ice cream. That’s right: Ice cream has gone to the dogs. Markham-based CoolBrands International, the parent company of Yogen Fruz and Eskimo Pie, [ READ MORE ]
Call it retro horticulture. Fifties favourites like philodendron and snake plant are becoming the houseplants of choice for millennial nesters. By Craille Maguire Gillies “It’s so barbershop that it’s actually in,” says garden writer Thomas Hobbs, owner of Vancouver’s Southlands Nursery, referring to the spiky plant that is also known as mother-in-law’s tongue. He cites [ READ MORE ]
We make like the locals on a village-hopping tour of this Atlantic outport. By Craille Maguire Gillies Once the most important harbour in Newfoundland, the village of Trinity is the solar plexus of Trinity Bight, 12 communities chiselled around an open bay just a few hours from St. John’s. The Bight’s best natural resource, however, [ READ MORE ]
The traditional tale gets a digital makeover in Wales, where techies – and grannies – are transforming the life story. By Craille Maguire Gillies Published in the March 2007 issue of enRoute Daniel Meadows, a lanky middle-aged man with a boyish face, greets me at the door of the Blaenavon Workmen’s Hall in this former [ READ MORE ]
enRoute gathered a group of maverick Canadian adventurers to discuss how exploration has changed and why it’s more important now than ever. By Craille Maguire Gillies Published in the June 2008 issue of enRoute The Explorers: Colin Angus, Julie Angus, Wade Davis, Bruce Kirkby, Jean Lemire, Meagan McGrath (see end of story for bios) The [ READ MORE ]
[ READ MORE ]
The art world could learn a thing or two from curator Scott Burnham as he takes the traditional gallery to the streets. By Craille Maguire Gillies Published in the October 2008 issue of enRoute On a sunny afternoon, a crew of artists parked their truck on a busy street in San Francisco and hauled their [ READ MORE ]
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.
