J. Banks from New Ravenna, Inspired by East Africa

“Joni Vanderslice’s annual travels to Tanzania yielded two tangible rewards.

First, she and her husband were able to establish an orphanage for children aged three to five years. They’d lost their parents to diseases like malaria and AIDS. So the Vanderslices visit them once a year to see how they’re doing, and help with medical care.

“It took us four years to get it opened,” she says. “Now it’s been open for five years.”

And there were the visual patterns all around her – in trees, in palms and in concrete blocks. She translated them first into fabric designs for Kravet. Then came stone mosaics for New Ravenna.”

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Architects + Artisans documents the development of architecture, artisanship and sustainability for the 21^st century. It ‘s not just about designers – but about the people and products that make a well-designed place ring true.

It’s written and edited by J. Michael Welton, whose work on architecture, art and design has appeared in a number of national publications, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dwell, Interior Design, and New York magazine.  He is the architecture critic for the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and also publishes a design column in The Huffington Post.