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Designers need to be 3 People at the Same Time!
08/01/2008, 08:39 | Design SojournTo be an industrial designers you have to be three people at the same time. You have to be the crazy person. Then you have to be the person who reviews those crazy ideas and says, "no, not that, and not that either". The third person has to be the observer who stands off to the side and managers that process. If you fall in love with what you're doing too soon in the process, you're eliminating all the chances to come up with a different variation of the idea. There has to be a disinterested observer of the process. You have to recognize your ego structure, and you have to be very humble and know that you should be sort of scared each time you start something new because it could go horribly awry. ~ Syd Mead, from a Concept Design interview in Axis Magazine, 6 June 2008, Vol. 133 (Note: I've broken down the original quote into paragraphs for a better read)This fantastic quote from, Futurist and Industrial Designer, Syd Mead describes the mental challenges Industrial Designers need to take when they work through a design. It's not easy having multiple personalties eh?
sneak peek: jean of eieio
07/28/2008, 18:00 | Design*Sponge
first up today we have a sneak peek into the oakland, ca “treehouse” of jean orlebeke, of obek design and the designer behind the fantastic wrapping papers by eiei-o studio (be sure to check out the awesome new digital prints too!). thanks so much to jean for opening up her home and garden for us (you can find more here). stay tuned for a second fabulous sneak peek at 2pm! - anne
The woven walnut lamp shade and the orange, white and black lacquer modular table bases are from Publique Living. I designed the fabric on the slipper chairs for Luna Textiles. I bought all of the other furniture, including the couch and table on ebay.
This is the main room of the house, the entry, living room and dining area. The house is built into a grade, so you enter on ground level, but the opposite wall is the height of a second story. Feels like a tree house!
This view is looking from the den into the kitchen. Behind the sunflowers is an Ikea wardrobe unit used as a pantry.
This is where I sit when I am feeling… overwhelmed. It’s a tiny room filled with both gifts from friends and souvenirs attached to good memories.
I am completely obsessed with collecting seeds — know exactly where each of these is from.
Mies, the A-cat…View to garden.
weekly wrap up + tina hakala
07/25/2008, 18:00 | Design*Sponge
it’s been a hot, sticky week and i’m so glad the weekend is finally here! next week we have some seriously awesome sneak peeks coming up, a new city guide and a special guide created by one of our interns, christy kolar. until then i hope you all have a wonderful weekend and i’ll see you monday. [above and below are new designs from finnish designer tina hakala and a summary of this week’s posts.]
- new sneak peeks: something’s hiding in here (must, must see), elana of rosebud design
- affordable design: d*s on domino under $10
- new city guide: san diego!
- new before and afters: tamera’s chairs, leona’s chair, lindsey’s chair
- diy wednesdays: stamped dish towels
- new: pillow and bag sneak peek from thomas paul, textiles from tikoli, porcelain candle gourds, 20-armed candelabra, faux bois doormat, napkins from skinny laminx, erwan frotin prints, funnel papers calling cards, lacquer storage boxes
- movies i love: mamma mia and josef frank fabrics!
- just for fun: john derian plate
- for the kids: fun diy shelving idea
- wedding ideas: hand-printed invites
- thank you to sarah at saipua for her fantastic guest blog posts!
influx insights presents an evening with dawn danby
06/30/2008, 01:06 | InfluxinsightsHere's how Dawn describes herself.
"Dawn Danby explores the intersection of design, sustainability and business. Which is a fancy way of saying that she wants the things we make to benefit both people and the world.
An industrial designer by training, she's a boundary-spanner and synthesist who has acted as a cross-disciplinary designer, strategist, art director, project manager, producer and artist."
Dawn is a sustainability expert and will talk to us about what's next for brands and companies as the start to face the issue head on.
We have very limited space for this event, but if you are interested please email ecotton@bssp.com and hopefully we can squeeze you in.
Posted by Ed Cotton
china-growth failed to meet ambition
06/19/2008, 14:09 | InfluxinsightsIt was planned to be the world's largest and it now sits under-used (planned to house 1,500 stores and currently has just 12), the victim of a dream that failed to materialize.
Many speculators had big plans for China and wanted to capitalize on the supposed massive growth of the new middle class. Sadly, this growth didn't happen fast enough to propel this new mall to greatness.
It's perhaps a lesson that shows just how easy it is to get carried away with projections of potential and suggests that China's amazing growth can continue for ever.
"On a recent Friday afternoon, an amusement-park employee, slouched in a forsaken ticket booth, tried to kill time by making origami. Another worker slept, with perfect impunity, on a table. In front of the haunted house attraction, one attendant was doing hand-stands while two others looked blankly on.
There was nothing else to do,
because the South China Mall, which opened with great fanfare in 2005,
is not just the world’s largest. With fewer than a dozen stores
scattered through a space designed to house 1,500, it is also the
world’s emptiest – a dusty, decrepit complex of buildings marked by
peeling paint, dead light bulbs, and dismembered mannequins.
“They
set out to be the biggest, and hoped that being the biggest would be
the attracting factor,” says David Hand, a retail analyst at Jones Lang
LaSalle in Beijing, who has followed the project. “It hasn’t delivered.”
The world has plenty of empty malls; there’s even an American website, deadmalls.com, where connoisseurs of desolation post photos and reminiscences of the once-great, now-gutted places where they spent the Saturday afternoons of their youth. What sets the South China Mall apart from the rest, besides its mind-numbing size, is that it never went into decline. The tenants didn’t jump ship; they never even came on board. The mall entered the world pre-ruined, as if its developers had deliberately created an attraction for people with a taste for abandonment and decay. It is a spectacular real-estate failure – but it is also, as I saw when I spent two days exploring the site in May, a strangely beautiful monument to the big dreams that China inspires."
It's a strange coincidence that the story appears in a Dubai based publication- a country that has pushed development to the limits in the hope of becoming THE new tourist destination.
This story came from the amazing BLDGB blog, who has its own post on this incredible story.Posted by Ed Cotton
F3 Arquitectos | House in Rupanco
05/14/2008, 09:35 | Modern Residential Design
Wooden Wonder - F3 Arquitectos - renowned for their timber architecture in Chile, have created this wonderful prefab retreat in 75 days! I question what more could be required of a modernistic cabin?
Many thanks to Plataforma Arquitectura for bringing us this fantastic residence in Southern Chile.
Translation / reword of original article by Carlos J Vial
Located in a remote area of Lake Rupanco, the commission responds to the request of a "summer house" or retreat, of sporadic use. Due to its complex, ever changing climate and geographical location, the plot made on site slow construction impossible.
The project consists of a single volume, with the layout distributed linearly, parallel to the lake views and shore. The site drops down a field to the shore below and northern sun.
A solid timber rear façade with a singular overlapped entrance, to the house, provides the necessary private secure barrier to the public road, becoming the main structural axis of the project. This wall in turn partially meets the requirements of security due to the prolonged periods when the house is uninhabited.
In contrast, once inside the interior, each room has a glazed wall facing the lake, creating a porous, and therefore vulnerable, façade. F3's solution being sliding wooden panels, clad in the same treated wood of the rear façade, that allow the owner to create a singular, completely airtight volume when leaving for the city.
As for the remote location and inclement weather that would hinder an on-site build - this was resolved by prefabricating many of the wall, floor and roof panels.
The Result
A beautiful, simple, elegant lakeside retreat. And to top it off, construction was completed in 75 days!!
Plans
Location: Lago Rupanco, X Region, Chile.
Arquitectos: F3 Arquitectos - Alejandro Dumay, Nicolás Fones, Francisco Vergara.
Size: 127 m2.
Materials: Treated wood, in prefab panels.
Completed: 2005.
via: Plataforma Arquitectura
& F3 Arquitectos
Drew Mandel Design - 83A Marlborough Ave
04/08/2008, 15:52 | Modern Residential Design
Infill house on a 13ft wide plot, becomes feature residence of the street - Drew Mandel has used every inch of this brownfield (ex 1 car garage & garden) site to create his ideal residence. Influences of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler eminent in the residence's façade lead to elegant use of wood detailing for the interior.
Overview
Drew, an up and coming Canadian architect snapped up an ?interesting? plot, that his colleague at MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects, David Miller had on offer. Setting out to create his debut "big time" design, Drew won a number of awards in Toronto and Canada. The house is an impressive example of modern infill, coming in at a modest $182 per ft2.
The Lot
Miller and his architect wife, Amy Falkner, had obtained a minor variance allowing them to build to the very edges of the property line without the usual margin of grass or ground cover. (It's only because the houses on each side are set back from the lot line that there is any space at all between the Mandel-Cooper house and its neighbours.) To support development, the municipality had allowed a substantial increase in the floor space, from 908 to more than 1,280 square feet above ground.
Their relatives labelled the plot a bowling lane, Mandel and his wife like to think of it as a lane each.
Design
Focusing on commercial design at work, Drew?s evening efforts on his own house pulled from his designs of multiplexes, community centres, libraries and banks. The main Achilles heel of the plot, the extended walls down either side of the property, led Drew to (as he sometimes reflects) to overcompensate with house glass panels at either end and a large light well at the centre of the build. I disagree; the house is fantastically bright and airy.
Breaking the house away from other designs out there and I believe linking it to his favoured FLW and Rudolf, is the use of patchwork glass rather than a large expanse of industrial like uniform façade. A cute modernist take on the Juliet balcony protrudes from the master bedroom, breaking the rear wall further and allows great views down to the meticulously landscaped garden, that complements the house so well. Adding to the functionality of the glass façade, a large central panel pivots to allow bigger pieces of furniture to be hoisted in.
Bringing in that industrial design know-how resolved the issue of construction methods too. Such a narrow tall design refused traditional frame design used in residential projects, meaning an industrial to balloon framing technique was adopted. Steel supports for the entire 38-foot length of the walls were put up first, and then the floors were locked in afterwards.
Further industrial features of the house include the two ramps from the entrance of the house to the living room and from the master bedroom to the second bedroom, a comfortable alternative to stairs.
Layout
From the semi-subterranean guest room at the front of the house you head south up the ramp to the living room, then north up five stairs to the dining room-kitchen floor, then south again up the house's only full flight of stairs to the master bedroom and bathroom. Finally, completing the layout you head north, up the second ramp to the second bedroom.
The Result
Drew and Denise have blown their relatives away. Despite the restricting plot they've created a house that through it's high ceilings, skylights and maximum glazing at both ends is a bright, spacious and airy home.
Plans
Architect/Designer: Drew Mandel Design
Client: Denise Cooper & Drew Mandel
Completed: 2007
Structural: Blackwell Engineering Ltd. (David Bowick)
Builder: T. Fijalkowski & Associates
Site Plan Approval: David Miller & Amy Falkner
Lot:13' x 115' or 1560 ft2
Costs: $182 per ft2
Information courtesy of: Drew Mandel Design
Frederico Zanelato - Casa Martins Siquiera
04/01/2008, 11:34 | Modern Residential Design
A True Weekend Retreat - Ferederico Zanelato's own house no doubt paved the way for the design of this marvellous family home near São Paulo. Maximising the slope of the plot, this house spreads living over three levels in three distinct zones.
Overview
The embracing the views of the Serra do Japi was the "be all" and "end all" of this build.
Frederico wanted a house that stimulates discussion, where spaces are integrated and connected to each other, as well as the surrounding plot. Conveniently the plot is well orientated to minimise the suns impact on the residence, and thus the requirements of air conditioning. Frederico's skills at minimising materials and specifying kept this build in economical proportions as well. Total construction cost $510US/m².
Lot
Located in a condominium between Jundiaí and Itupeva, 60km from São Paulo, 1000m², with a mild slope and a fantastic views of the Serra do Japi.
The client
A happy young couple with two children, a child and an adolescent and many friends. They wanted a home for the weekends, a place for unforgettable moments, for parties, to receive guests, relax and create. As an advertising director and businesswoman, respectively, the husband and wife team are usually based in São Paulo, and required a "retreat" from the hustle and bustle.
Following the topography of land and its geographical position, the house was designed in three blocks; intimate, social, and service, linked by an elongated circulation area of three distinct levels.
A single open plan wing for the living room, dining and kitchen is connected by a hallway to the rear block of two levels.
To the left of the hallway: two storeys and 4 bedrooms. To the right: the services/utility area and above, private office.
Access to the home is through a wooded avenue. The façade clearly indicates two blocks separated by a large panel of wood, the main door, which when opened, mimics the tree lined avenue. Up lighting is used to create sensations and justify the texture of materials in the entrance way.
Just inside the entrance are doors leading to two of the four bedrooms and stairs to the second level. Both levels overlooking the central courtyard or "birds square" as the owners refer to it. Wooden shutters afford shade and further privacy to these rooms, breaking the white façade nicely and distinguishing the two areas.
This courtyard receives morning sun and cross ventilation through strategic openings, making it a year round pleasant breakfast spot.
Passing the courtyard on your left as you head away from the entrance, you arrive at the social wing. Pleasantly shaded, overlooking the pool, a leisure area and further behind, views to the Sierra Japi.
Here, kitchen, dining and living room intertwine. It?s position between the "birds square" and the swimming pool area is strategic, for coexistence and as a buffer between the two zones: repose and action. The "birds square" works as a further filter between the social and private wings and creates an open intimate space.
The outdoor rooms, or BBQ area, is located in the largest free area of the plot. It too is open to those views that inspired the choice of the land: the Serra do Japi.
Half way to the second level bedrooms, the circulation area opens to a roof deck over the living area. Used as a mini-golf course, the deck is also the only access to the owners workshop and hidden office, which is above the service wing.
The choice of materials was defined according to the function of each area obeying the basic rules of environmental comfort and wishes of this family.
The Result
A house zoned into three distinct areas, each buffered from the other by the outdoors that allows for private retreat or very social entertaining.
Plans
Architect: Frederico Zanelato
Co-authors: Marcelo Miua and Fernanda Kano
Student: Regina Sesoko
Structures: Vagner Garcia de Oliveira
Photos: Bebete Viégas
Completed: 2007
Costs: $510 US/m²
Information courtesy of: Frederico Zanelato
Frederico Zanelato - Architect's Residence
04/01/2008, 10:36 | Modern Residential Design
Structured Strata - Layered up for optimum views, ventilation and privacy, Ferederico Zanelato's house in São Paulo is a quality residence at an economical price.
Overview
This architect?s house is what it should be, driven out of pure needs and the situation at hand, with clear intention. Frederico, with a Masters focus in economical design, is conscious about using materials wisely. Serving him well in the design of his own house, which apart from quality hard wearing flooring, uses well finished local materials to create a high class residence. Completed in 2005 and setting aside the cost of the plot, the house came in at under $400 US per square metre for construction! Far more impressive, considering that similar executions in São Paulo are quoted as $1200 US.
The plot is located in the Sierra Itapety, 54km from São Paulo, surrounded by a pool of Atlantic Forest, which drives the houses windows and openings, catching your eye from every corner.
The geographical position provided the strategic entry of light and ventilation. Large overhands and shading battens provide shelter from peak summer heat, and allow the air to cool in the shade before entering, traditional solutions within new design. The slope of the land also imposes on the distribution of the volumes, the zoning, the entrance and landscaping, thus completing the desired dialogue with the house?s surroundings.
Layout
The ground floor is occupied by the social area: living room, kitchen, guest bedroom and bathroom. With access to the front garden and full sun, this level is laid out by relative use of sunlight, with a bright and airy living area, and the guest bedroom snug at the rear.
The middle level: houses a covered car park and service area - come laundry and bathroom.
On top of the social area is a patio / garden, solarium with reflecting pond, and a wooden deck.
The intimate master bedroom and bath are housed in the final volume suspended above. Cloaked in shade providing battens, yet still with views out across the valley.
The materials chosen for the construction, simple and local to the region, establish a connection between the area and the owner?s way of life. The exterior, cleanly rendered in stucco, is livened up with a fantastic entrance way mural. The floor of white granite is broken by a carpet of pink sandstone that calls attention and directs to the main entry. Wet zones are covered with white granite chips and the ground floor exterior with large grade loose gravel. Useful for tropical storms and the winter floods common in São Paulo.
The views to the surrounding Atlantic forest, framed by white walls, form calming green curtains. Outside the master Bedroom, water, vital for life, reflects and intensified the surrounding green and the sky above. Features which embrace and justify Frederico?s choices of white, black, wood, stone and iron.
Plans
Architect: Frederico Zanelato
Completed: 2005
Costs: $400 US Per square metre
Images and information courtesy of: Frederico Zanelato
Natural Building Network
03/19/2008, 17:26 | Green Home Building and Sustainable ArchitectureThe Natural Building Network is a non-profit membership association, where the joining members can place listings for their services and talents and network world-wide. Towards this end, there are directories of natural builders by location, by specialty, and by their willingness to teach others their skills. This helps the members find suitable employment and helps the public find experienced builders who live in their area. Additionally there are classified listings of announcements about related matters. The Network website also features listings of workshops and events around the world, along with resources for further education.
This network and website offer a much-needed central facility for collecting information about natural builders around the world.
Rammed Earth Homes With SIREWALLs from Terra Firma Builders Ltd.
00/00/0000, 00:00 | FUTURE HOUSE NOWI 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
Ricolaaaaaa... on acid. [Clipping]
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Land+Living: Modern Lifestyle + DesignTotally Awesome 'Penguin House'
00/00/0000, 00:00 | FUTURE HOUSE NOWYou know I'm a huge fan of Japanese modernist houses. This one is genius.
'Penguin House' (aka Skin House Project #2) by Yasuhiro Yamashita of Atelier Tekuto.
Via the girl in the green dress
Happy Thanksgiving From Future House Now
00/00/0000, 00:00 | FUTURE HOUSE NOWThe extremely generous support of architect Greg La Vardera, Matt Olson of rolu|dsgn, Max Mead of Building Green, and Justin Anthony of materialicio.us - cool people I have come to know through this blog, and the many other people I have met via blogging. That's the best part, for sure.
My wife (who is too good to me) and my wonderful kids, Owen and Parker. Unfortunately, Owen broke his arm a little over a week ago. He was so brave. He never cried, not when it happened, not on the way to the emergency room, not when the doctors were poking him and putting in an IV, or when they set the bones. That little five year old has more guts and composure than almost any adult I've ever met. He's doing great, even with a heavy cast on up almost to his shoulder. I am sooo thankful that he is okay.
Modernist Japanese residential architecture - for challenging and inspiring me always. So much good stuff.
The Detroit Lions, my football team who I get to watch on Thanksgiving day. A really nice tradition for us Lions fans. Let's hope they win one for a change (doubtful).
Dwell and Pugh+Scarpa's entry to the Dwell Home II Competition, both of which inspired me to start this blog. My inaugural post is still the beacon.
Thanks everyone for visiting my site.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
SOLAR POWERED MOON JAR by Tobias Wong
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Inhabitat
Ever wish you could bottle moonlight to light up your room at night? Well, now you can with the Moon Jar. We’ve written about the Sun Jar on Inhabitat before - the cute and clever solar powered jar lamp which has been around for a couple of years garnering fans and design accolades. If you liked the concept but found the Sun Jar too yellow and sunny for your tastes, now there is a cool blue-hued version of the same design called the ‘Moon Jar’.
We think these would make ideal nightlights for a kid’s room, and have a review over on Inhabitots explaining our thoughts:
I want a Tris! If only I could spare £10,000...
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Land+Living: Modern Lifestyle + Design
Ideal Standard's new Tris Sauna-cum-Steam-cum-Shower Room is a dream come true. The only downside? The price tag!
While working on a private house for a client, I have been researching into steam/shower rooms and to my delight I have been coming across some fantastic work by product designers alike.
Tris by Ideal Standard in particular has caught my attention (and the client's too!)
Link: Tris