Adriean Koleric's Herd of AT-ATs is a salute to the designers of a toy that was truly a piece of art.

The lost city of Atlantis could well be at the bottom of any body of water, if it is really made out of plastic containers, the way Gayle Chong Kwan sees it.

Madrid's Spy lightens the urban panorama with his signature interventions.

Antlers are certainly not over. Not when they are on Alessandra Exposito's horses, at any rate.

Si Scott's intricate pen and pencil drawings cover a wide range of themes. Shown above is part of a piece called Babel, in answer to a project on God.

More at Art MoCo.

Charlie Lazor is the founder of FlatPak, the system of prefab building components that are configured to meet the client's needs. The client works with the design team to create the best house for the site and can have as much creative input as he or she wishes. Or simply leave it up to the design team. (The excellent FlatPak website features a revealing case study about this process.) The system is based on one component: an 8' wall that is one storey high. The design comes into being eight feet at a time, so the possibilities are almost endless. Or are they, now that the housing market is a mess?



FlatPak House in the Catskills

How are things going now that the real estate business is suffering? Is this a golden opportunity or the beginning of the end?
We sell a product that is a good value. We don't sell silver bullets. So like all good values, your market might shift in a severe downturn and you would expect to do less, but frankly, it's too early to tell. I can say we have clients looking to capitalize on hungry builders; savvy homeowners, university and resort property people. Worst case scenario, we can ride this out because we have low capital inputs and overhead and we'll be ready to rock when things getting moving again.

Craig Alun Smith's WANK chair is a metaphor of the interdependent relationship between the first and third world and speaks to the war for oil in Iraq. You may have noticed the white chair is missing a leg (possibly due to a roadside bomb) and is bleeding oil....

Craig's summary of this work: "In reality WANK is a joke, a commentary on the current state of design and the trend of designers to create pointless 'one line' design objects and pass them off as art". WANK is also currently on display at the Winnipeg Art Gallery as part of the 2 Chairs exhibition.

+ othergallery.com

Franco Marino Cagnina's Livebox router design for Saudi Telecom looks like vase and acts like a router. Says Franco, "STC was in need of a unique router design that would provoke a positive emotional response. The STC Router successfully bridges the gap between lifestyle and technology with it's flower vase functionality. Wireless internet, Voice over IP, land line telephone and wired DSL are all incorporated into this elegant device.". A quick look at Franco's portfolio revealed a few more innovative designs.

+ cagninadesign.com

Matthias Demacker of demackerdesign sent us some pictures of his newest projects; takeOff.series (above) is a seating collection for Ferlea featuring a geometrically shaped compact seat, lounge chair and sofa. "The frontal cuts give the seats a light, dynamic look and offer place for your feet while swiveling in the seat.". The extensible curvex.table after the jump is for Italy's Varaschin.

+ demacker-design.de

Dutch Design Week is a faint memory by now, but we had some images left to show you. Our thanks go out to Huibert van Muilwijk for his coverage. A few more designs that merit mention are the Bye-Bye Bulb by Studio Mango, Corona by Frans Schrofer and new work from by Krejci. Along with some examples of 3D rendering, there was also some Ikea hacking by Platform 21. There was furniture from Werner Neumann and Onze Studio and the handy Toss game table by Luc van Hoeckel and Teun Fleskens. Bloomming showed their rings, as well as the Clock Delay, so now we must be patient again for time to pass until next year's show.

+ dutchdesignweek.nl

CITIZEN:Citizen has added another object from their growing design-art collection to the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Ballistic Rose, created and designed by Tobias Wong, is a bullet proof corsage, "a handmade ribbon rose constructed from a single strip of ballistic nylon. This floral hybrid protects your heart in an uncertain world. Wong's bloom is both a high-tech talisman for the tender-hearted and wry fashion statement.". Good timing, we could all use a little protection right now.

In fact Philip Wood, the owner of CITIZEN:Citizen, would like to add the Ballistic Rose to your permanent collection. CITIZEN:Citizen's website just underwent a major overhaul, and to mark the event one creative MoCo Loco reader will add a Ballistic Rose to his or her collection by writing a clever, uncertain-times appropriate "quote" for the Rose's CITIZEN:Citizen page. Leave your quote in the comments section here and next Wednesday Philip Wood will choose the winning quote. Enter as often as you want.

The winner will get the now classic Ballistic Rose with certificate of provenance and archival collectors box shipped to their door and their winning quote up on the CITIZEN:Citizen website.

Plushdepartment's PURE line of handcrafted ceramic computers and amplifiers is a sleek collection of timeless design that is available in different colours or artists' limited editions. The cubic ceramic base with rounded edges lends itself well to metal coatings, such as the gold above, but look out for Piet Boon's concrete edition some time soon. After the jump, a Delft blue edition from the Porcelijne Fles, one of Holland's oldest ceramics factories, and an urban art offering from Amsterdam artist, Zender.

+ plushdepartment.com

This week's picks:

+ Matali Crasset's interactive chandelier at matandme, "the light changes colour to the colour of the food [underneath]".

+ Studio Job's Industry collection at designboom, "a cabinet, a screen, a dresser, a table and a pedestal all inlayed with white dyed bird's eye maple and black dyed tulip tree veneer. The studio adapted this traditional woodworking technique using modern laser cutting technology. The pieces all feature intricate and thin patterns, achieving something not possible before.".

+ Asobi design studio's Plye Lamp for Intra Lighting at DesignEast, "The restrained use of bundles of lights offers the possibility of creating different spatial effects.".

+ Igor Pinigin's ANEMONA lamp at Behance, weighted at the bottom the "lamp can be freely rotated and tilted. Several lamps can be assembled into dynamic figures.".

+ Amélie Lachance, Alexandrine Lemaire, Christine Mongeau and Jackie Richardson Allume-moi lamp (light me up), a simple wooden block that transforms into an ambient lamp. Via TrendsNow and AEDII.

+ Patricia Urquiola launches the colorful polycarbonate Frilly chair for Kartell at designboom, "Urquiola wanted to create a fabric effect and incorporated pleats for her final design.". .

+ We Make Money Not Art interviews designers El Ultimo Grito, curators of the Nowhere/Now/Here show at LABoral on now until April 20, 2009.

+ Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec narrate a video of their design portfolio with insights on some of their best known works. The video is in French with English subtitles, click on the Quicktime icon on the lower left side. Via Dezain.

More lights that brightened 100% Design Tokyo for us were the Boschetto Table Lamp from Di Classe, Wonderful Tonight by Masanori Kadokura and the Liquid Lamp by Kyouei Design. As well, there was cosy lighting from Sungmin Kim, the Bony B by Ryuichi Sato and the nifty Lighting Package by Sdesignunit. The Curved Desk Light by &Design was a sleek design, but the Orchid by Hiroki Takada was a real showstopper.

+ 100percentdesign.jp

Pentagram's work on the new Quantum of Solace is a stunning example of design as key differentiator. The design is pure restraint and understatement, but is so clearly "on brand". The designers have resisted the temptation to draw on spy category cliches and instead have created something fresh and new. Kudos to the client for supporting a brave design.




Posted by Ed Cotton

The office work of today demands that people sit for hours in front of computer screens, which often has a negative impact on mind and body.

Herman Miller took a long hard look at these problems and designed a chair with a positive impact on health. It's amazing to see a company take such an ambitious and rigorous approach to understanding and solving the needs of its users.

"Embody lets your body move and keeps you well supported, because your mind works best when you move freely and stress is minimized on your muscles, bones, and tissues. Blood circulates better, heart rate goes down, more oxygen flows to the brain, and there is no distracting discomfort or physical constraint. That's critical in our idea economy where innovation drives success and people get paid for their thoughts and creativity."

Better health= Better ideas- Very smart and it makes a nice pitch to CEOs and CFOs.

To get there, Herman-Miller talked and involved dozens of experts in fields of vision, biomechanics, physical therapy and ergonomics. These experts shared insights and helped develop prototypes.



Of course, the Embody is ahead of the curve environmentally, containing 45% recycled materials, no PVC and is 95% recylable.




Posted by Ed Cotton

Good is now available as a lifestyle hotel choice.

"What does “good” mean to you? For some, the word may inspire visions of helping a homeless person find shelter for a night. Others may think of global warming and chant the mantra, “reduce, re-use, recycle.” Or, maybe your mission isn’t to save the world, and it simply connotes a positive fun attitude.

Joie de Vivre Hotels’ identity as a socially-conscious company inspired us to design this SOMA hotel with all these good intentions. From beds and headboards made from locally reclaimed wood to glow in the dark messages, our guests will discover that we are good with a lighthearted twist."

Is it smart to lead with Good or to build Good into everything you do?

Should Good be half-hearted?

Should Good by light-hearted?

Answers please on a postcard or in the comments section.

Posted by Ed Cotton

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

I've admired rammed earth homes for a long time, even though they're not really appropriate for the climate I live in. It's just that rammed earth walls are mesmerizing to look at. I get lost staring at the different layers of soil, in varying subtle shades of earth tone, flowing gracefully along along a wall. To my eye, rammed earth walls epitomize the very essence of natural beauty.

I can't think of any rammed earth builder that does it better than Terra Firma Builders Ltd. They have a way of crafting the most gracefully curved walls. Their designs blend with the surrounding landscape. Inside, massive earthen walls and sturdy timbers comfortably intertwine with delicate, artistic finishing. It's a totally unique aesthetic.










Terra Firma's website is fantastic. There's a wealth of images of their work in their portfolio. There's also a great explanation of why rammed earth is an effective, sustainable building solution.

Probably the most interesting thing I found on their site is that they use an unusual insulated rammed earth wall approach called SIREWALL (SIRE = Stabilized Insulated Rammed Earth). SIREWALL was developed by Meyer Krayenhoff, an environmental builder of over thirty years, who also founded Terra Firma. Here's an explanation from the SIREWALL site:

Stabilized, Insulated, Rammed Earth (SIRE) walls are made using rebar and insulation enveloped with the mass of 14 – 20 inches of rammed earth. This combination, along with SIREWALL®’s system for quality control and soil blending, builds walls that exceed current standards for energy efficiency and compressive strength. SIREWALL’s customizable forms refined over the last fifteen years by SIREWALL’s expert builders, work seamlessly with unique designs and modern finishes that have timeless appeal.

I always thought that would work. We've seen that concept applied to concrete walls, so why not rammed earth too? Actually, reading their FAQ, and noting that they're in Canada and do their building in British Columbia, I've learned that rammed earth can be a solution for climates other than hot, arid deserts, especially with the SIREWALL approach in place.

Note that Terra Firma builds complete homes only on their home turf. But they will build walls elsewhere, and let your builder finish the house. They also train and certify builders in the SIREWALL system, and offer design and consulting services. Wherever you are, whatever type of rammed earth project you might be considering, I think these would be the people to talk to.

I have new hope of living in a rammed earth house yet!

Image credits - Terra Firma site

Here's something I saw on Inhabitat today that looks extremely interesting - the World House Project:

"The Evolution of Home

The WHP is a multi-year, collaborative initiative led by the Institute without Boundaries (IwB) that will explore the evolution of shelter and plan for the next generation of holistic housing design. The project will build on the research concepts of IwB’s inaugural project, Massive Change, using the same method of interdisciplinary design innovation.

The home is the intersection between the individual and society. On one end of the spectrum, urban sprawl and monster houses consume huge amounts of energy and pollute the atmosphere. On the other, over a billion people live in urban slums or in the streets without shelter.

The ambition of the World House Project (WHP) is to generate a system that achieves a balance between these extremes, and operates on the principles of sustainability, universality, technological responsiveness and balance, so that we may create dwellings that promote the long-term health of nature and human cultures."

They're benchmarking homes from around the world, old and new, studying them to gain an understanding of important implications of "climate, culture and terrain." The team, international and interdisciplinary in nature, will examine housing in the framework of twelve core elements of housing design and work to "create dwellings that are grounded in the principles of ecological design and that promote the long-term health of natural and human economies." The twelve core elements are: identity, social, communication, spatial, constructional, air handling, energy, water, waste, food, mobility, and finance. That's a very compelling list, indeed.

Here are a few images from the World House Project scrapbook on Flickr that I really like:






I've always imagined that homes could (and should) be built in this way!

It will be very interesting to see what comes out of this project. I'll be looking forward to watching it.

Image credits - World House Project Flickr photo album

Several of my favorite blogs posted interesting homes yesterday.

On the ever-cool BLDGBLOG Geoff Manaugh points out the compact Single Hauz from front architects. They remind him of the billboards outside his LA home. You can put them practically anywhere, even in the middle of a lake, which is what Manaugh says he'd go for. Personally, I've always wanted to live in a meadow.






Jetson Green brings us a sleek Cape Cod beach house by Independence Energy Homes. At 7,000 square feet it's probably not quite in my price range. I also usually frown on very large homes, but this one uses geothermal heating and photovoltaics to meet all its energy needs. It also has an air exchange system and low or no VOC materials for good indoor air quality, a permeable driveway, water conserving fixtures, and is built from "rapidly renewable materials." Very nice. Still, give me a 2,000 square foot, $200,000 home with all these features. Now that would be an accomplishment.






Finally, on the LamiDesign blog, Greg La Vardera shows off a final pic of the completed Vermont Plat House. You can follow the entire process of building this house, from start to finish, on Greg's blog. I think it turned out really well.





Image credits - architects sites

'blinds'

analia segal

argentinean artist analia segal winner of designboom's 100% tiles competition in 2004,
is currently holding her first solo exhibition at the dpm gallery, ecuador. with all her work
segal creates objects and interiors that are often taken for granted and transforms
them into art. featured in the exhibition are blinds, wallpaper, tiles and doormats that
blur the line between architecture and art.


'w.c. tile project'

more:
http://www.analiasegal.com
http://www.dpmgallery.com

'celluar automation origin of species 2'
image © designboom

as animals grow, their bone structures increase in size. they develop into the ultimate shaped forms,
being able to support the entire structure with just one fifth the mass of the whole. this is a study
of ross lovegrove's organic essentialism. in his work he analyzes the composition and structure of bones
and finds ways through modeling and structuring. for 'cellular automation' he created complex structures
experimenting with 3d software to create pieces that imitate nature. his work is on display as part of
the second nature exhibition at 21_21, tokyo, japan.


image © designboom


image © designboom


image © designboom


image © designboom


detail

more:
http://www.rosslovegrove.com

designboom article on ross lovegrove's organic essentialism

thin L-shaped walls are used to divide up the interior of the store

duras ambient fukuoka is an apparel shop designed by sinato. located in fukuoka, japan, the store is situated
in a corner lot of a building. the interior is made up of five L-shaped walls which nest within one another.
these dividing structures are used as displays and are randomly distanced, forming both wide and narrow
two-way paths within the store.


entrance to the store which is situated in the corner of a building


the distances between the walls are done at random, various sized pathways


a view inbetween the walls




a model of the L-shaped wall formations

sinato: http://www.sinato.jp

the interactive design group sounds butter wanted to create a new way to make sound visible. while things
like equalizers and sub-titles already visualize sound, they sought to find a way to make sound physical.
using an old sewing machine as a basis, they conceptualized a prototype, which would take sound input
and convert it into a sound wave of thread on textile. the sewing machine is synonymous with producing
products in industry and thus served as a fitting analogy for the project.

http://www.soundsbutter.com





via infosthetics

There has been a lot of reaction in the blogoshpere concerning our latest report called “5 Key Design Trends“. That’s fun, we like the discussion to continue and evolve. Below I’m posting a few of them. Check them out, they are all an interesting read.

Apartment therapy, Psfk, Home rejuvenation, Dexigner, Hi-id, Design Milk, Designophy, Mocoloco, Martin Koser, Trendbites, Desire to inspire, Live modern, Trendbird, Gems Sty, bwl zwei null, Frizzifrizzi, A ghost of daisies, Will it brand, Das Kulturmanagement blog, Addidea, Daidesignblog, Moneyfoxs, Foxerus, Yourtail, Daymoon design, Heyho, polymerclay daily, Docstoc, Design Latvia, Change the thought, Ffffound, Designcentre, Fav.or.it.

Andra bloggar om: design, trender, inspiration, kultur, framtid

A snapshot of the latest trends of Location-based Service (LBS) in Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong and Tokyo.

Trend Description:

Many people would agree that Location Based Services are becoming more and more popular worldwide and are opening a host of opportunities for business, but few would agree on the business model that will best monetize the service. Nokia, the mobile market leader, expects to ship 35 million GPS-phones in 2008 and the latest  ABI report blueprinted a $ 3.3 billion market value for LBS, but still the way to whip up revenues from existing technology and infrastructure remains unclear. Here we filtered some promising, if not profitable, practices of LBS in Asia to summarize new trends for industrial practitioners and those who may be concerned.

Cases:

GyPSii is a social networking platform headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherland. It has partnered with Shanghai Rannuo and China Unicom to launch its GyPSii service during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and has opened a China Data Center to enhance local user experience. What GyPSii is doing in China is encouraging its network users to send back location information via mobile devices and integrate it into the digital map. Other users (who are also content creators) then, can experience a seamless mobile lifestyle, connecting with friends and communities, searching UGC and viewing maps and directions to points of interest.

Naviblog X is Japan’s first location-based moblog/mobsearch website. With this service, usrs can easily create their mobile diary sites within 60 seconds even if they know little about programming.  After the sites are created, they point their mobile phones to the QR Code auto-generated with the sites and transfer them to the mobile phones of their friends or clients to log on the sites. It is also designed to geo-tag users’ information by one-click. Naviblog is said to be used on non-Japan phones soon.

LV Soundwalk

Fashion makers lag behind to none in creativity if not in high-tech. With thousands of foreigners entering China this Olympic year, Louis Vuitton, the French luxury fashion brand entered the mobile space with a unique location-based audio guide, available in six languages, to three major cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The voice is coming from three locally born actresses: Gong Li for Beijing, Joan Chen for Shanghai and Shu Qi for Hong Kong. It directs visitors by mobile phones in real time through the cities and costs 17 USD for for each city in one of the six languages, English, French, Cantonese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

Trend Potential:

The convergence of social networking, user-created content and location is a big trend. Mobile-enabled LBS is important because it links up something missing on the internet. There are some major barriers for business related to mobile internet, such as licensing and sophisticated algorithms, but as some of the global players have discovered, a fast track to enter a local market is to line up with local mobile carriers, technological developers and last but not least the users, who know best what they want.

Read the original post at CScout China Blog.

Consumer packaged goods makers enhance product designs with practical twists.

Always on the lookout for new ways to interest customers, packaging designers have found ways to enhance the pack’s contents, by using it to chill or make its contents more flavorful. No longer competing on aesthetics along, the new designs give customers a practical reason to opt for the packaging.

Cases

Fruit Stickles

Trying to help customers find new ways of getting their five a day in a less monotonous way, Fruit Stickles are skewers infused with a cinnamon or tropical flavor. The company has refrained from adding sugar to its recipe to attract a health-conscious customer base.

Robero Cavalli for Coca Cola Light

Enhancing its contents in a fashion sense rather than a functional one, these limited edition Roberto Cavalli designs have been commissioned by Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke). 100,000 bottles of each animal print will be released, bringing a sense of exclusivity, fashion and collectability to a readily available commodity.

Burn Energy Drink

Coke’s Burn Energy Drink, currently available in Europe, offers a can with a unique re-sealable top. A plastic cover can be twisted into place, with a design that is based upon the packaging of salt and other spices. With new energy drinks being constantly introduced, Coca Cola is adding special packing features to separate themselves from competitors.

Kyo No Matcha
With “fresh” and “local” being key words for food products these days, manufacturers of pre-packaged items are seeking ways to change the image of their traditionally less than healthy goods. While bottled green tea might be one of the already acceptable convenience store products, CIC Co. goes the extra mile with its Kyo no Matcha. With a twist of the air-tight cap, 1.4 grams of traditional Kyoto matcha (high-grade green tea) is released into the mineral water below, creating a serving of fresh (yet instant) tea with no added chemicals or preservatives. At ¥5,280 ($52) for a case of 24, Kyo no Matcha is nearly twice the price of regular bottled teas, but certainly within the acceptable range for products billed as healthy and natural.

Trend Impact
These products may not revolutionize the food industry, but they could inspire new approaches to packaging, putting the customer in control of the final stage of preparation before the product is consumed. It’s also possible this trend could inspire food wraps infused with certain flavors or cling film that absorbs certain unpleasant odors or bacteria.

P.S. Doesn’t Michelle make the best model?!

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

The collaboration between BIG Architects of Copenhagen, Denmark, and NOD Landscape Architects of Stockholm, Sweden, provides not only a solution to Slussen, one of Scandinavia’s busiest intersections but most importantly privileges the pedestrian and cyclist.
When the Stockholm City Council invited BIG and NOD to act as design consultants on Slussen, the direction given was to create a proposal that reconnects the historic Gamla Stan with Södermalm. Understanding the long legacy of previous attempts to solve Slussen’s traffic chaos, the team set out to create a single form within which the different modes of traffic are layered. The proposal touches the waters surrounding Gamla Stan and slowly terrace up using ascending and descending ramps to create a new, coherent area focusing on providing an attractive and functional setting for both movement and rest.

Currently considered inaccessible to pedestrians and cyclists, Slussen is a black hole in the heart of Stockholm. It is no wonder then that Danish-Swedish collaboration has made sure to offer cyclists as well as pedestrians easy access to and through the area. The proposal turns Slussen into an urban recreational area assuring easy movement for the citizens and tourists of Stockholm. Slussen will gain a whole new kind of urban space unlike any other in the world, where artwork, a summer’s midnight stroll and outdoor theatre can cohabitate with the need to move cars, buses, trains, metro, and boats. The strength of Slussen lies in its continual and varied movement which the proposed ramped landscape only underscores. The heavy traffic of cars and buses is carefully immersed under the rising hillside. Suddenly due to the submersed traffic, large areas have been freed and are made attractive to the entire city to enjoy. As a result, new opportunities for urban life are created.

The basic traffic system has already been developed by Nyrens Arkitektkontor as part of an architectural competition, with soft traffic and a public program on the top and with heavy traffic at ground floor level, storing away boats, buses, metro, cars and trains. But instead of separating the different levels, connected only by stairs and elevators in a traditional way, we propose to integrate all public, accessible areas around Slussen by interweaving the levels using descending and ascending ramps as this will allow people to move freely between the levels.

Pedestrian zones are designed to connect the already existing promenades and road crossings, and all areas of the new Slussen are as such accessible to pedestrians. The bicycle lanes follow the road as well as the promenade along the waterfront, and are pulled away only where the curvy bays of the new Slussen are created to leave space for pedestrians to enjoy the waterfront.

Today Slussen does not take advantage of its rising topography. Seeking to utilize its unique setting the proposal uses the terraced hillside to house kiosks, shops, and tourist information stands accessible through the network of ramps. In this way, a new and active urban area is created. In addition to the landscaped contours and pathways characterising BIG and NOD’s proposal, the dispersion of light has been instrumental in developing the site and the various levels. By day, natural light will pierce through circle shaped skylights into the lower levels. By night, the skylights will be illuminated from below. The expression will thus vary from dusk till dawn, from season to season and depending on the weather. This dynamic process and the continual hum of traffic will serve as the backdrop to a new urban form and regenerate life into the surrounding neighbourhoods.

There is an animation showing the complete program as well. I will put it up in a separate post as well.

Ping Intressant.se

Andra bloggar om: slussen, stockholm, kultur, arkitektur landskapsarkitektur, bjarke ingels, stadsbyggnad

The work on the interior of the New Mexico EcoSteel House is progressing. Today we share more photos taken by the owner.



Click through the link below to see a photo browser with more images of the interior and the site.

Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

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

Its time to build the house. All the steel pieces for the Massachusetts EcoSteel House arrived on site this week.



We've watched these go up here before and they generally happen very fast. I'll be posting progress photos in the coming weeks as fast as I receive new photos so stay tuned!



Here is the slab layout ready to receive the steel framing. The garage is in the foreground and the house beyond with the home office at the far end of the photo. More pictures in a photo browser below the link.

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

It finally feels like the New Mexico EcoSteel House has crossed the line to being more finished than not. The latest round of photos show the painting almost done, finishing touches going in, light fixtures too.



Look below the fold for a photo browser with more interior shots.

Technorati Tags: 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

The assembly of the frame has begun in earnest at the Massachusetts EcoSteel Plat House.



More photos of the frame going up after the fold.



With good access all around the house the work can be done with the all terrain fork lift, saving the expense of a crane.