Breathing life into antiques.

The design week activities just came to a close in Tokyo and amidst the background blur of networking, parties and the traipsing back and forth to venues, what stood out as a highlight? For me it was the Lloyd’s Antiques store in Aoyama, who in collaboration with Ito Masaru took the theme of trompe l’oeil to design forms of the Union Jack for their installation.

While not a new concept, it was the execution that was so special. Mr. Uichi Yamamoto, well known for his work with famous cafes, catered the event with baskets of fish and chips and other ‘UK’ foods. For dessert, red, white and blue macaroons were used to form the Union Jack on a tray, and once one had been taken and devoured, there was a hostess on hand to replace the missing macaroon. The Union Jack was never eaten out of existence! UK rock songs filled the air – from The Kinks to Bloc Party – as the precious stuffiness of an antiques showroom went out the window. Rather, the antiques became the perfect backdrop for a thoroughly modern Tokyo style party.

This is a post by David Report contributor Kristina Dryza.

Ping Intressant.se

Andra bloggar om: design, tokyo, japan, antikviteter

Modern farmhouse sounds like an oxymoron, but I've seen more than a few great looking modernist takes on the American homestead. One of my favorites is Farmhouse One, by the architecture firm of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros and Werenfels. It's a simple, traditionally inspired Rhode Island farmhouse with modern twists. Take a look.




And if you're in to modern farmhouses you'll also be pleased to know there's a great blog dedicated to the genre - the appropriately named Farmhouse Modern. It's definitely worth a look (I found it on the LiveModern Blog Directory, where Future House Now is also listed).

If you want to completely overdose on cool modern farmhouses, pick up the book Farm Houses: The New Style by Neill Heath. It features the houses I mentioned above, and many more, in 185 full color pages. Great book.



Image credits - Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels site, Amazon.com Listing

The first of a new collection of house plans on the lamidesign.com/plans site. The new collection is to be modest in size, large on livability, family friendly, eminently build-able, with a contemporary modern presence and a bit of retro mid-century dash as well. The first in a series, introducing the Hus 1.



The result of my year long study of the Swedish housing industry, and my love of mid-century modernism, the Hus1 puts these influences together with practicality and livability of the many small 50s and 60s homes in my own neighborhood. The basic two bedroom house will start out at modest 1,350 sqft, or the larger 1,750 sqft 3 bedroom plan shown below. Both have the option of an additional 500 sqft master bedroom upstairs which in the larger plan allows the downstairs master to serve as a family room.



A very livable home, the L shape creates privacy for its rear terrace where family life can flow out from the living areas. Conventional construction makes this house easy to build, and the iconic traditional form won't scare the average home builder.



Look for Design Prints to come available on the site soon. Well, you will hear about it here when it happens! And yes, this is the house for which we have been experimenting with new drawing styles. Not quite sorted out yet, but when its done the new collection will have a distinct graphic look apart from the original collection of designs.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Hus1

Still playing around with trying to make the drawings for the Hus1 appear like they came out of a magazine from 1957.



which is a halftone filter run over a black and white image of the model. More variations below the fold.



maybe sunset yellow?



or working with an image that approximates an old blueprint

Technorati Tags: house plans, Hus1, modern design, modern house

‘sleep’, 2008 (source imagery: jean-bernard restout)

deitch projects, new york
november 1 - december 20, 2008

‘down’ is an exhibit of new paintings by kehinde wiley which opened earlier this month at new york’s
deith projects. a wide selection of wiley’s large-scale works will be on show including four new works
each referencing images of fallen warriors, saints, and classical mythology. using source imagery
from classical paintings, wiley contemporizes them with elements of other painting styles including
graffiti. wiley also examines the notion of ‘the master painter’, while also casting young black males
in the role of the subject.

http://www.deitch.com
http://www.kehindewiley.com

all photography by max yawney


‘morpheus’, 2008 (source imagery: jean-antoine houdon)


‘christian martyr tarcisius’, 2008 (source imagery: auguste falguiere)


‘the virgin martyr st. cecilia’, 2008(source imagery: stefano maderno)


‘femme piquee par un serpent’, 2008 (source imagery: auguste clesinger)


‘lamentation over the dead christ’, 2008 (source imagery: mantegna)


‘a dead soldier’, 2008 (source imagery: velasquez)


‘down’ by kehinde wiley, installation view at deitch projects

Good case on how the idea of a 'Blue Ocean Strategy' can be applied: "The heart of a company’s business model should be game-changing innovation. This is not just the invention of new products and services, but the ability to systematically convert ideas into new offerings that alter the very context of the business."

Another Japanese wonder, HOUSE kn by Kochi Architect's Studio. Beautiful [sigh]. The floor plan is very nice and the outdoor space is wonderful.


Nice treatment of parking space too. My pet peeve is nice homes ruined by ugly attached garages and bad driveways. HOUSE kn gets it right.

Via the girl in the green dress. It's a wonderful design blog, so please do click over and take a look. You'll be delighted.

Image credit - Kochi Architect's Studio site.

Dr. Owen Geiger and I have just found that a book published in 1990 in Germany, Building with Pumice, written by Klaus Grasser and Gernot Minke, describes experiments done in the 1970’s at the Research Laboratory for Experimental Building at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany that have considerable bearing on the history of earthbag building.

Most of the book is about the physical properties of pumice, how to obtain and process it, and how to make blocks or walls with pumice/cement, but the fifth and final chapter, titled “Building with Unbonded Pumice,” describes how they began to investigate the question of how natural building materials like sand and gravel could be used for building houses without the necessity of using binders. The use of fabric-packed bulk material was found to be a cost-efficient approach. They used pumice to pack in the bags, because it weighs less and has better thermal insulating properties than ordinary sand and gravel. Their first successful experiments were with corbeled dome shapes (an inverted catenary) which was obtained with the aid of a rotating vertical template mounted at the center of the structure.

1978, a prototype house using an earthquake-proof stacked-bag type of construction was built in Guatemala. They used cotton bags soaked in lime-wash to protect the material from rot and insects. When flattened, the bags measured roughly 8 X 10 cm. Vertical bamboo poles placed on both sides of the bags and interconnected with wire loops gave the stacked bags stability. The bamboo rods were fixed to the foundation and to the horizontal tie beam at the top.

Obviously the concept of constructing homes with fabric bags of mineral material predates Nader Khalili’s earliest experiments by many years, and I was certainly not the first to experiment with filling earthbags with pumice! The entire chapter is reproduced as an article at www.greenhomebuilding.com.

I was really delighted this afternoon to find a new rolu post waiting for me in my feed reader. I clicked on over (because rolu posts are best enjoyed on their own page) and was absolutely blown away. With all due respect to the many other fine blogs I enjoy reading, to me rolu|dsgn has the most original, interesting, and brilliantly told architecture and design related posts on the web. This latest piece is something special, and I cannot recommend strongly enough that you give it a look.

The post describes an almost daydream of a vision, one of Minneapolis skyways converted to chic modern cabins, that was actually turned into reality by the firm CITYDESKSTUDIO. It's a great story of people connecting through common love of design, of seeing interesting things in unusual objects, and turning inspiration into reality.

Here's a quick look at the project. Read the rolu post for the details.





First sea container homes, now this. Wonderful!

I enjoyed browsing CITYDESKSTUDIO's work on their site. They've done a lot of nice projects. For some reason their kitchens really appeal to me. They're bright and cheerful and clean. I'm a morning person, and kitchens are morning person places. I can easily see myself in any one of them, having banana pancakes and hot tea, and reading rolu posts on my laptop (though I very seriously caution you against mixing maple syrup with keyboards). Take a look at a couple of examples:






Did you see the blue Eames chair? It's like they're reading my mind.

By the way, Matt was incredibly kind to mention Future House Now in his post. I'm not writing this gushing praise as a reciprocal gesture, but I must admit it pleases me endlessly to be included in such a good story in any way.

The rolu blog is my favorite site on the web. I say that in all honesty. If you haven't given it a look yet click on over and say hi. You will not be disappointed.

Image credits - CITYDESKSTUDIO site

The title of this quick post came up in a recent discussion I had with a business partner. After further reflection, I find this very true. It is applicable to all forms of strategy including design. So let me reword this: A good design strategy is like a good movie. A beautiful [...]

It’s confirmed! CScout Japan will be taking part in the PSFK Conference Asia in Singapore on October 10th. We’ll be on a forum on “Asian Youth Trends” moderated by Ian Stewart of MTV along with other Asian trend professionals from around Asia, and trying our best to tie together what is indeed a highly variable geographic and cultural area.

Read an interview with CScout’s Michael Keferl in preparation for the conference: PSFK Conference Asia Speaker Michael Keferl

Also representing the Tokyo beat will be architect Mark Dytham of Klein-Dytham and PechaKucha fame, and Daryl Arnold of Profero.

If you’re in Singapore, or are able to come, contact us and we’ll meet up.

Images provided by SHOOTFACTORY
View the complete inspiration library of images as a slideshow

MAJORCA - "Modern lifestyle studio in SE Mallorca (Majorca). Superb daylight. Open plan. Internal and external studio spaces. Props and lighting."

I am very pleased to announce the launch of my new website, www.earthbagbuilding.com. Actually this is a cooperative project between myself and Dr. Owen Geiger of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building (www.grisb.org). Owen and I have known each other for several years and have much respect for each other's work and for the potential of building sustainably with earthbags. To find out more About Us, see this page.

As the banner proclaims, our main attitude is that of sharing information and promoting earthbag building. We expect this to become the premeir site for learning about how to build with earthbags. While the site will be expanding over time, it already has a wealth of information.

Under the heading of Projects and Pictures we have already featured 17 earthbag projects from around the world, and we have plans to show many more. These pages are quite rich with photos and text that explain the nature of the projects, which range from residences to studios to walls to public buildings.

We have already posted 11 Articles about earthbag building, some we have written and some by other authorities on the topic. I have written a short History of earthbag building as well. So far we have 3 articles about Testing earthbag technology.

We have posted 4 pages devoted to the use of earthbags for Emergency Dwellings, and feature several other Plans that are available for more lasting structures.

There is a lengthy section with FAQs gleaned from my years of answering questions from the public at www.greenhomebuilding.com.

Our page of Resources features links to other related sites, books and DVDs that might be purchased, and where to buy supplies for building with earthbags. If you are looking for ways to get involved through Workshops, this page might help you find one.

If you are seeking specific information about this technology, we have provided a couple of Search engines to fascilitate this. One of these is set to search a selection of content-rich resources.

And finally, we are launching a Blog that is specifically about building with earthbags, where both Owen and I will be posting more information and provide a way for you to share information with us through your comments.

I hope you enjoy browsing and benefit from this new resource!

An idea whose time seems to have arrived is the use of stockpiled shipping containers as modular units for building homes. Because of the balance of trade in the United States, these hefty steel boxes are piling up in ports around the country and posing a storage problem. Several architects and builders are taking advantage of this surplus to recycle the containers.

According to David Cross of www.sgblocks.com, "a container has 8000 lbs of steel which takes 8000 kwh of energy to melt down and make new beams etc... Our process of modifying that entire 8000 lbs of steel into a "higher and better use" only takes 400 kwh of electrical energy (or 5%). Granted it takes a bit more "muscle" but we call this Value-Cycling which we feel is that next step up from Re-cycling."

Each container measures 8 feet wide by 40 feet long by 9 feet tall. SG Blocks sells the finished structural systems (also called SG Blocks) for $9,000 to $11,000 per unit. The finished units have one or two walls removed and include the necessary support columns and beam enhancements.

According to KPFF Consulting, a structural engineering firm in St. Louis with extensive experience working with shipping containers, the units are stronger than conventional house framing because of their resistance to "lateral loads" -- those seen in hurricanes and earthquakes -- and because steel is basically welded to steel. The roof is strong enough to support the extra weight of a green roof — which has vegetation growing on it — if the owner should want it.

As for their energy efficiency, they claim that when the appropriate coatings are installed, the envelope reflects about 95 percent of outside radiation, resists the loss of interior heat, provides an excellent air infiltration barrier and does not allow water to migrate in.

One idea that has occurred to me is that this system might benefit from the use of SIP's (Structural Insulated Panels) for the roofs, rather that standard truss framing. SIP's are very well insulated, install quickly, and use much less wood than convention roofs.

Shipping containers are self-supporting with beams and stout, marine-grade plywood flooring already in place, thereby eliminating time and labor during the home-building process. Cross said construction costs are comparable to those in conventional building. Four to seven units are used in a typical home, he said.

Instead of nailing the siding they use "Super Therm", a ceramic paint made by Superior Products of Minnesota; it can be used as a paint, an adhesive, an insulator, a fireproofing material and an acoustic barrier. With this ceramic paint, they claim the insulation capacity is equal to a conventional house.

Adam Kalkin, of www.architectureandhygiene.com , has also become enamored with shipping containers as an architectural solution. The idea to do something with shipping containers came to Kalkin, a New Jersey resident, when driving to New York City, where he saw sky-high stacks of the unused cargo containers in the shipyards he passed.

"The cargo containers, with a life span of about 20 years when used for their original purpose, have an “infinite life span” when stationary and properly maintained," Kalkin says. “To me they are like a treasured antique: they may not be inherently valuable, but the history and the storytelling add value.”

Environmentalists have embraced the design, applauding the recycling inherent to Kalkin's designs. And advocates for affordable-housing like the design, since according to Kalkin, "the total cost of a house—between $150,000 and $175,000 after the buyer settles upon the various options—works out to be between $73 and $90 per square foot, about half the cost of the conventional $200 per square foot for reasonable quality, new construction in the Northeast.”

Kalkin has recently opened a factory—“a hangar at a little airport in New Jersey”—to manufacture Quik Houses. “There are a lot of elbows flying in this process, and this is the best way to protect the quality of the house, to keep the accounting transparent, and to make sure I am not unwittingly responsible for heinous crimes to the built environment.” Once the factory is fully functional, Kalkin plans to export many of his products, commenting that “the possibilities of working on a world scale are exciting.”

Twenty-one thousand containers hit American shores every day of the year. Containers can be shipped to the interior of the country via trains and trucks. Shipping containers are like Lego toys and the modules can be assembled in thousands of ways.

In general it is a good thing to recycle materials that otherwise have no further use for their intended purpose, and this is true here. As for whether one can make a comfortable house out of these metal boxes, the biggest question is: insulation...it is essential, but there are many ways to insulate these containers, so this is not a big concern. Another concern that many people would have is whether a metal box would have adverse health effects because of EMF (electro-magnetic frequencies) generation or propagation. Some people are sensitive to these while others are not.

There is no doubt that these containers can be used to fabricate very strong shells that would withstand substantial abuse from the ravages of nature.

Concrete "Firebowl" - $4,200.00 CAD with fire

The light gage framing for the exterior walls has begun, and a fresh coat of primer is going on the steel, good progress on the 3030 EcoSteel House.



Just a quick update with new photos in a browser after the link below.




Visit the 3030 House flickr group to see all of the photos forwarded by the owner.

Technorati Tags: 3030 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

On Saturday I was hanging around the architecture section of my local Barnes & Noble, looking for something new. I found a nice book on houses by Tom Kundig of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects. I also just caught this post on Shedworking covering several of the firm's brilliant cabin-like houses.


I resisted buying the book, though I'd really like to have it. It's very nice and Kundig's work is amazing. The house on the cover, Chicken Point Cabin, has been shown everywhere, and for good reason. It's pretty spectacular, and that giant, tilting window and the unusual mechanical folly for opening it are sublime.


Visiting the OSKA site, I found that the house I liked most wasn't one of the groovy cabins I'd spotted in a lot of the blogs and architecture mags. I was taken by the "The Brain," a fascinating concrete monolith built for a filmmaker.

"The form is essentially a cast-in-place concrete box, intended to be a strong yet neutral background that provides complete flexibility to adapt the space at will." - OSKA site

That's wonderful. I love the way the house rests on its site, half hidden, with creeping vines growing all over it. I hate big ugly garages hanging off the side of a house, parasitic, distorting proportions, so I was delighted to see this house with the garages tucked neatly underneath, buried into the slope of the landscape. No yard either - excellent!



The austere concrete exterior belies a more playful space inside: wonderful bookshelves (just look at 'em!), interesting lighting, a fireman's pole, and an amusing custom staircase.




Yes, this is a house I can see myself living in. The only exception I take with it, and with most Kundig houses frankly, is that they all look like bachelor pads. I'm married with children. But I think the wife and kids could adapt. Who wouldn't want to live in a house with a fireman's pole?

_____________________________________________________
Addendum:

I should have pointed out this very good Seattle Times article about "The Brain." I've realized since writing this post that "The Brain" is a garage/studio, not intended to be a residence. Thanks to those who left comments pointing that out. It is also worth noting that Kundig received an AIA award for "The Brain" in 2004.

Oh well, even though it's not technically a house I'm still very inspired by it!

Image credits - Amazon listing (book), OSKA Architects site

Wow! That was quick, according to the program, I should be now into my 6th and final week. The last week before the big 100 push-ups attempt! The reps in week 3 and 4 were getting really tough. I was having a lot of trouble getting through all the sets. [...]

For those of you who would like to create a modern and high-quality living environment in their bathroom, here is something you might want to take a look. Called “Oasis of Balance” this bathroom vanity design by Joerger is characterized by three dimensions that create the perfect balance : function, form and fascination. The most interesting part of this design is the black washing area that gives you a sense of quality and style. For those of you who are interested in this piece you can find it here.

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Oasis of Balance, a Beautiful Bathroom Vanity from Joerger

Image Source: Listen to ME! One of the key skills I noticed great designers have is the ability to engage in Active Listening. I was lucky. I managed to pick up this skill 6-7 years ago in a training seminar and it has been vital in helping my access situations quickly, make good decisions, [...]