the official grace & cello blog

read an interesting article yesterday about how difficult it has become to design innovative buildings at harvard these days. seems to be a case of residents feeling they were left with eyesores and bad planning in the past, and in consequence they refuse to allow anything that seems to be headed in a similiar direction.

the most recent curfuffels came with proposed plans for two art museums to be built by renzo piano, one of the world’s greatest living architects. one museum was to house contemporary art, and the other ancient, Islamic, and Asian art. the design concept called for two-story wooden buildings virtually hidden by a screen of trees.

still habouring feelings of distrust from the past, and worried about increased traffic to the neighbourhood, the community managed to oppose and veto the proposed plans and now seem to face the prospect of having the site developed as 3 to 6 story student housing with a small public park and 40 units of affordable community housing. 

so who wins in this situation? on the one hand, some sort of justice seems to have been served since a democratic process allowed residents to voice their concern and distrust at community development projects led by harvard. however, what they seem to have succeeded in doing is thwarting plans by a world-class designer who was proposing a bucolic and tactful public institution and space from appearing in their community. and instead, they will now receive more of the same urban infill, which is almost always thoughtless and without artistic merit, and seldom adds anything important to a place.

the reason this story strikes me is because i have some contact with this world of citizen democracy, in a number of settings, but also with the world of architecture. and the frustrating part is … communities sometimes make horrible decisions!

but of course, it’s their right. but that right will compromise that community for at least the medium-term, and maybe the long-term. in such an equation, what weight should be granted to someone familiar with ideas of design, community and place, and what weight should be granted to those who already live there but might not have the faintest clue as to what makes their place (or any place) liveable?

i am certainly not saying community groups should be ignored in community planning, but i do think we have to acknowledge that sometimes it’s the boldest move (at first unpopular) that has the biggest and most profound impact.

c.

ya … one of those nights. more than a week of family visits, seeing friends from childhood, being in a place that you come from and can always go back to …. does something to a soul, no? it definitely isn’t a bad feeling i come away with when i go home, but certainly a mix of wonderfully important, complex, beautiful and slightly troubling feelings!

and for whatever reason, bedouin soundclash comes to mind, perhaps this song in particular … well, or this one!

i am not sure why, or how, but his voice almost does something … almost reaches some point of success; almost … and that just seems incredibly familiar to me. that sort of sloppy forward momentum full of sincere belief, innocent promise and simple beauty. i don’t think it’s important that he gets there or not … i just find it absolutely wonderful that he is looking that way, and throwing his voice with so much intent!

oh, the hope!

looking back on summer i think: how quickly it passes. looking ahead to the cosiest season of the year (autumn), i sigh with tired anticipation: oh, how perfect; just what i needed …

speaking of which, thanks for the photo by druppelgewijs, reminding me that putting one’s feet up is always in order.

c.

have you read this book? it is by hal niedzviecki, and it definitely warrants a read.

the general premise is that individuality is the new conformity: everyone trained from youth to do their best, believe in themselves, and focus on what they want, … the doctrine of believing in one’s specialness … and what awaits us all is some form of pop culture celebrity. we’ll become rockstars, movie stars, celebrity psychologists, celebrity horse-trainers, celebrity biologists saving much-loved animals on the brink of extinction, or if none of those work out we might even become criminals who have surpassed all expectations and pushed the boundaries of the unthinkable just a little bit further … 

hal argues a good case when he suggests that our infatuation with ‘the individual’ has dramatically changed how our societies are structured, and how they function … how our traditional institutions work, and the way we view and support them … and, by encouraging us all to focus on ‘me,’ our pop culture sensibilities have managed to trivialize even sincere forms of dissent and rebellion.

the book is good read, and at least does the job of encouraging us to sit and ponder why we are the way we are … it forces us to question the motives behind our ‘personal’ convictions (hal’s argument being that many of our personal convictions are really fancy ways of achieving some sort of pop culture credibility).

according to hal, the most troubling part of this tendency to be swept along in pop culture is that it lessens our ability to make real change, to suggest meaningful alternatives, and to speak in a voice and with content truly unique, different and challenging. what hal is really getting at is that we are losing our ability to think, imagine and create and the consequence is our societies are the lesser for it.

for another take on this book, check out this review …. or, just go buy the book (or visit your local library)! 

c.

i don’t know if you like museums, but if you do you might have heard talk about how their future is uncertain. the questions revolve around what form they will take to meet changing consumer trends … how they will respond to society’s increasing *need* to be entertained at every moment … how they can re-brand and re-create themselves to remain relevant to new generations that increasingly don’t even think about museums, let alone think highly or poorly of them.

anyway, among all this worrying that is going on with museums, there is also a lot of innovation. my bet is they won’t disappear at all, but they will change …

the dresden museum was supposedly the first modern museum, dating back to the 1500s … how fitting then that this should be the first museum to fully re-create itself in ‘second life‘. sure, there is already a ’second louvre’ but the actual louvre had nothing to do with that …

check out some glimpses of how even high art is trying infiltrate our virtual imaginations ….

c.

hey all,

if you live in the united states, read this article and see if there is a way for you to get involved with a group in your area. bill mckibben is continuing on the success achieved by an earlier rally held in april of this year, where more americans assembled across the nation at geogrphical places of importance (glaciers, coral reefs, etc.) than had gathered for the first Earth Day in 1970 …

this “step it up part 2″ will focus on highlighting america’s visionary leaders of the past, to remind americans that there is always possibility for change, when there is a need, and when there are people willing to fight for what is right …

these are the sorts of movements that define generations, and i am always impressed with how the united states is often there leading the way. read the article, follow the links and see how you can get involved in helping curb the impacts of a changing world climate …

c.

i am so excited about some of the leads i have stumbled across the last few days.

as i mentioned last week, grace & cello has always been as concerned with social responsibility as it has been with being environmentally friendly, but it isn’t always easy to find third-party verified fabrics and contractors … not in north america anyway.

well it seems things are starting to change. the other day we were in 10,000 villages on st.denis, and we came across a couple of really neat companies. the first one is lilidom, which makes a few t-shirts and onesies for babies. they are simple, but really cute, and everything has a good message (to impress all the other 12 month old babies who can read your kids shirt!). the best part is the cotton used to make the pieces is certified fair-trade, and organic! this is definitely a pretty new development, because we’ve been looking and never managed to find such a thing.

right next to the baby clothes was some information about fibrethik, which is the distributor that sources and sells the cotton. anyway, very cool and exciting to say the least.

another lead i had the other day was from a friend who is currently in senegal with the united nations, doing some work for his doctorate. he is right now at this rural outpost where the local community is looking to fair-trade and organic production as a means to foster sustainable development in the area and create meaningful livelihoods for locals. 

all this to say that with more and more opportunities out there to make commerce more humane and neighbourly, grace & cello will have an easier time bringing you beautiful clothes 100% free of shame.

c.

…i feel soOo sorry for them!

 :)

hey all, we made the grist yesterday! that’s fun!

c.

i mentioned the other day about how grace & cello is not just an organic clothing line, but also a line that is made in our neighbourhood in montreal. we care about the fact that most clothes are made in sweatshops in third world locations … and this includes many of the new eco-lines that have come out in the past few years. organics made in china don’t impress us at all, unless the factories used have been shown to be healthy and fair working environments …

organics might be more available then ever, but looking at the care label shows that the majority of lines still come from china, india and vietnam.

anyway, we are trying to ensure that our clothes are made in a way that allows people here in canada to earn their livelihoods … because, seriously, making clothes takes skill, and we are impressed with the people we do business with. it is not our goal to pay them as little as possible.

it is our goal to provide our customers with the highest quality, fashion forward, clothing they can find … all the while ensuring that the processes we use minimize harm to the environment, and treat our workers with the respect they deserve. because fair-trade certification for clothing has been lagging behind some other goods (like coffee and chocolate), we have been frustrated by the fact that there does not exist a clear third-party verification for ‘fair-trade’ clothing made in canada (or north america, for that matter).

so, we have been focusing on the fact that we make our clothes in our neighbourhood, and that we have been personally working to ensure the people we do business with are those who we know, trust and can access for more information regarding working conditions. besides all this, we visit the sites where our clothes are being made regularly, and we can do this since we are a small company dealing with other small companies … in other words, we are confident about our system of production, but we haven’t found a great way for translating that into proof for you.

the reason i am going into all this here is that on the weekend i found this article about the garment industry in toronto, and how it is nothing to be that proud about. although this article focuses on toronto, you can rest assured that these criticisms could be raised against the garment industry in montreal, as well.

i am sharing this with you because this is exactly the sort of challenge that we are up against. as a company that is dedicated to doing business ethically, we are constantly up against on-the-ground challenges that pit getting the job done on time, and well, with making sure that everyone involved is being treated fairly (including, of course, the environment). this is complicated by the fact that we are small, and it isn’t always easy to make your voice heard when you are small.

i am sharing this article with you because i found it very educational, and we will use this to help us verify that those we are working with are legit … i am sharing this with you, because i am confident that you care about these issues as much as we do (in fact, we are banking on that), and so would find this interesting too.

in the next couple of weeks i will be posting some photos of those we do business with. these photos will show where they work, who they are, and will include some text about where they come from, and what they like and think about. (we can do this now because i just got a nice little digital camera (i know … i’m behind the times!)).

anyway, keep posted, and rested assured … we are doing everything we can to give you clothes you’ll look fabulous in, and can feel beautiful (on so many levels) wearing … 

(photos of mile end: christopher dewolf)

 : )

c.

montreal is great for supporting culture. at parc lafontaine there are outdoor performances all summer; music, dance, film, animation, you name it. saturday night we went to see the ballet being performed by les grands ballets canadiens de montreal … it was absolutely stunning.

there were two pieces: the first one was called polyphonia, and was a more classical collection of choreographies. there were 6 dancers, and they would perform pieces together or in pairs. very sweet, and lovely. many of the movements seemed to be coming straight from nature, which i thought was fitting since we were in an amphitheatre surrounded by a forest of trees, a lake, the night stars and a sky full of chimney swifts and american black ducks. 

the second major piece was definitely less traditional, and seemed in fact to be rooted in some sort of basque or southern spain-induced islamic /catholic melange … in fact, it was catalan! this was by far my favourite part of the show, despite the fact that i loved the first half! the music was hypnotising, and rhythmic. the ways in which the dancers were moving themselves was enough to make anyone marvel at the beauty of movement for expressing strong, powerful emotions.

any talk of creating sustainable societies has to include outdoor ballet, in parc de lafontaine, with nighttime crickets and chimney swifts in attendence … my heart was full with joy, and hope. and it is for just this reason that grace & cello owes an enormous debt of gratitude to all those who strive to bring art into our world…

c.