(via Poppytalk: Dispatches from Austin: Texas Typography)
I used to live across the street from this place!
Writing inForeign Policy, James Manyika, Jaana Remes, and Javier Orellana of the McKinsey Global Institute argue that cities in general and particularly smaller cities will power the new U.S. economy.
Examples of “smaller cities” include Austin and Raleigh.
Only the mediocre are always at their best, someone said, which could be why Austin is so damn proud of itself. Welcome to Mediocre, Texas, the home of Harry Knowles, the bats, Bright Light Social Hour, Jeffrey’s, dog-friendly patios, KGSR, the weekly 10K fun run and street closer, “country legend” Ray Benson, the pot luck architecture of E. 11th St. and bands playing at the restaurant when you just want to fucking eat in peace.
Thx: Brian Z.
In.gredients will be the first “package-free” supermarket in the United States. Much like London’s Unpackaged, In.gredients will be an exercise in the “sustainable micro-grocer business model.”
Focusing on the concept of “pre-cycling,” the store will encourage shoppers to bring their own containers from home, filling them up with and purchasing only the amounts of food that they need. With its zero-waste philosophy, the market will also provide compostable containers for those shoppers who are less enthusiastic about toting their own.
via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/conscious-consumption-the-package-free-grocery-store.html#ixzz1RkfAPDa8
As if Austin weren’t cool enough:
Coming soon: Austin’s first bar built from recycled metal shipping containers.
Container Bar, located on Rainey Street on downtown’s southeastern edge, will feature 10 containers — each 40 feet long and 10 feet high — stacked on top of each other and arranged around a courtyard.
The interiors will be new, but the exteriors will retain their industrial look.
Austin architect Jay Knowles designed Container Bar, which will feature stacked containers at its 30-foot entrance. Each four-ton container will include bathrooms, air conditioning and LED lighting, and is big enough to hold 24 bar stools.
With construction starting next month, Container Bar is scheduled to open in January.
It will be the fourth and last Rainey Street project for nightclub entrepreneur Bridget Dunlap . Her other bars on the street — Lustre Pearl, Clive Bar and Bar 96 — have served as a cornerstone for the burgeoning entertainment district on downtown’s eastern edge.
Read the rest: Next Rainey Street bar will be built from shipping containers.
(Spotted on Twitter via Jeremiah Russell, @ronestudioarch.)
Austin container-based businesses mentioned previously on Contained include sushiBox restaurant and La Boite cafe.
SXSW started in 1987 as a response to showcases in New York and elsewhere that were excluding small indie bands. Austin had received some national recognition from MTV and other media outlets due to its thriving music scene, so a few fans at nascent alternative weekly The Austin Chronicle scraped together a few thousand dollars and started SXSW. The first instance of the festival featured mostly local bands and was a huge hit with Austin residents. Now many Austinites, including Berg and his family, leave town while the chaos rages back at home.
Videos | State of the Re:Union, Austin Trailer Eateries.
In downtown Austin, designSTUDIO — the team behind La Boite (“The Box”), a retired-cargo-container-turned-coffee-and-pastry-shop — has transformed another old shipping container into a new sushi restaurant called sushiBOX.
(Rendering via Austinfoodcarts.com)
