"Share the Promise" TONIGHT with Family Promise of Las Vegas!

Tonight is Family Promise of Las Vegas' "Share the Promise" Facebook Live event! Come learn more about the mission of Family Promise of Las Vegas from 4 - 6 PM; at showtime, follow the link here.

Family Promise of Las Vegas has been empowering homeless families to achieve sustainable independence for over 30 years. They do this through support, education, and providing a safe place to land while a family re-stabilizes.  Their families experience a 70%+ success rate with establishing a permanent residence.  As more families are on the brink of homelessness following layoffs and shut-downs from the pandemic, Family Promise’s successful model is especially relevant—and needed.

We’ve been fortunate to partner with them for about 3 years while developing a new 12,300 square feet Family Navigation Center where families receive residential and support services all in one site.  Family Promise has received a significant grant from the County and gifted land.  And now, they have additional funding needs due to recent increases in construction cost.  

Tonight’s event will “Share the Promise” by introducing the new center, and will debut a video our office prepared to help tell Family Promise of Las Vegas’ story.  Please enjoy the event and get acquainted with this phenomenal local non-profit! 

Earth Day 2021 - #MoveTheDate

A country’s overshoot day is the date on which Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in this country. 

Humans use as much ecological resources as if we lived on 1.6 Earths. The Ecological Footprint is the only metric that compares the resource demand of individuals, governments, and businesses against Earth's capacity for biological regeneration.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2020, Earth Overshoot Day lands on August 22. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international research organization that provides decision-makers with a menu of tools to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits. More information may be found, here.

Landscape of the Vernal Equinox

 

Landscape of the Vernal Equinox (III), Paul Nash. National Galleries Scotland.

In honor of the transition to spring...

This painting depicts Wittenham Clumps, an ancient British camp in Berkshire. The Clumps can be seen in the background; they are two dome-shaped hills with a thick clump of trees on top. Nash had been familiar with the area for many years, since spending family holidays nearby from 1909. He painted the Clumps in a series of dream-like works, three of which present the vernal (or spring) equinox, with the sun and moon depicted simultaneously in the sky. These paintings were intended as poetic metaphors, referring to the mystery and magic of the perpetual cycles of nature.

See our recent snow collage on Instagram here.

Sparkflight's Virtual Tools

Although we wish to again be with one another in the same physical space, we have learned to adapt and rethink our approach to gathering virtually. As architects and problem-solvers, we look to our toolkit to provide means for visualizing and analyzing three-dimensional space with real-time feedback for our clients. In this post, we'll introduce a few of our tools illustrating how Sparkflight Studios is navigating architectural practice in a virtual environment.

Zoom

This video conferencing platform is well known, and for good reason. We use Zoom on a daily basis, both internally and with our consultants and clients. It's a reliable tool with features that allow for productive and engaging meetings. We find that the annotate and whiteboard options are especially useful when communicating ideas graphically. Often, we screen-share our 3D BIM model and annotate over floor plans to work through problems, and imagine new solutions.

BIMx

BIMx is a unique tool to interactively present 3D models and 2D documentation created within our ArchiCAD software. It can be used on desktop or mobile, and displays compelling visuals of the building with simple pinch and pan navigation. It also has a cut-away feature that easily allows for visuals of interior spaces. A handy tool in the field, BIMx is linked to construction documents for real-time feedback and coordination with the General Contractor and the trades.

Twinmotion

A product of Unreal Engine, Twinmotion is a real-time immersive 3D architectural visualization platform that is directly linked to our ArchiCAD modeling software. Intuitive and powerful, Twinmotion is able to produce stunning visual stills and videos with drag-and-drop features. Pre-programmed "smart assets", such as people, motorways, and trees, automatically adjust to the parameters you define, such as time of day, and atmospheric settings (weather, season, etc.). It's powerful enough to show blades of grass blowing in the wind!

Hockey Puck Art Installation - Lifeguard Arena in Henderson

The mission of the Henderson Arts and Cultural Council is to enrich the quality of life for those who live, work, and play in Henderson through the advancement of arts and culture. 

Under the direction of the City of Henderson, Evolution Art in collaboration with Sparkflight Studios, designed, fabricated, and installed five life-sized hockey puck benches at the new Lifeguard Arena in Henderson, Nevada. Find these fun public art pieces at the south building entrance adjacent to the pair of 25-foot tall chromed hockey sticks!

The hockey sticks also seen in the video are designed by TSK Architects and fabricated and installed by Evolution Art and Blaque Metal Works in collaboration with Sparkflight Studios.

Evolution Art - https://www.evoartnv.com/​

TSK Architects -  https://www.tska.com/​

Sparkflight Studios - https://sparkflightstudios.com/​

Blaque Metal Works - https://blaquemetalworks.com/