i guess i could easily inflict upon you this morning a cool 5000 words attempting to explain to joy of having been in another place for the last month with theaptFAMILY, about how i went through just about every stated goal, about how the view from barcelona rooftops changes more than idle ...
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happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday the apartment... happy birthday to you!

that's right, as some of you who follow my tweets will already know, the apartment passed the award-worthy age of 10 this past weekend. i think that you already know from two posts down from this one, where we began, on july 3rd 2000 and where we now find ourselves; so i wanted to dedicate today's column to the aptly-named good people at the apartment without which no such adventure might have been possible. an enterprise as strong and entertaining as this one seems to be can only stand on the diverse foundation provided by the strangers one finds along the way. these are the strangers upon whose shoulders the apartment built its name:

alex levine
adam patrizia
aida villa
alain boublil
alex roberts
alexa kurneikis
alice cho
alison fonte
anching huang
andrew kenney
andrew kuo
andrew lim
anne mcclain
anthony castro
ariko
becka citron
belmont ...
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for those of you who have ever wondered what it is we do for a living and never quite bothered to click on the creative agency link to the left there, i would like to extend a helping hand. fact is, even colleagues in our own industry sometimes ask "no but really, what do you guys do?..." and so, i figured that after exactly 10 years of practice (we opened our doors in the summer of 2000,) perhaps i should, for once, utilize this forum for something useful and answer that most pertinent of questions. to start this conversation right, please find below, for your perusal, a smattering of our favorite things... (it may take a little bit of time to load, but once it does, you will smooth sail your way to knowledge and understanding, so-called, theaptWORKS.)

theaptARCHITECTURE shows how just another brick in the wall does not have to mean conformity.

theaptBRANDING displays ideas for which a visual solution, graphic or otherwise, was needed to accomplish the stated goal.

theaptEXPERIENTIAL details the projects for which we were asked, by a variety of clients, to invent and build experiences utilizing the tools of architecture, branding, marketing and event planning, all at once and never boring.

theaptPRESS is a few pages of our favorite published compliments by some of the most cajoled names in the business.

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ever since i entered this business back in the year 2000, we have been incredibly lucky for the hard work everyone has put into the apartment as a unique perspective on design and culture to pay off as well as it has. the work, the impact, the groupies have all been just incredible. but there was always something i missed, something extravagant and needless perhaps, but i always felt nonetheless that ...
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you might find this hard to believe but, sometimes, i get mad. mad that i'll never be as good as i think i am. sure, you'll say, but that's what always keeps you going back for more stefan, that's what keeps you on the edge, that what makes you talk about ...
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"it was impossible until he did it" is something i used to repeat ad-infinitum (and nauseum) to my designers in the days of sharing one office space. they were sick of it but how else do you answer someone who tells that "nobody can live in a black apartment!" sometimes, you have to rely on your skills in architecture design dreaming in order to get yourself ...
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sure, i love me some yves béhar when my masturbatory latino well dries up and i need to reach for something different to put in that scene with the m.i.t. lab assistant who needs to be punished but i am even more impressed when he introduces a concept as intensely needed and practical as the ...
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you often hear me bitch in these pages about the lack of ostensibly useful design. and i am guilty as presumed as i have grown weary, over this past decade spent leafing through chair catalogs, of designers attempting to make names for themselves exclusively on the backs of the design groupies who care little for a product's mission other than that of making them ...
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of all the delicious pictures of global breakfasts taken by oliver schwarzwald, i have to, for once, award my compatriots, the gold medal for still incorporating the nicotine stick as part of this complete breakfast. we are true pioneers...

i don't know if i ever called your attention to the work that theaptFRIENDS over at STACKD have been doing lately and i have no patience to look. you know what social networks do for you in that it allows you to get in virtual touch with people you know/would like to know/are scared of? well, STACKD claims this basic human behavior back where it ...
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i don't think that i have come across a better thing in the world since nutella than the effing typeface by the brilliant alex merto. note to prospective clients: i will be designing your next logo with it.