If you find there is any copyright abuse, contact us as soon as possible, thanks.
PREFAB FRIDAY: The Spoorhouse
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Inhabitat
We often see new home designs at Inhabitat that incorporate advanced technologies, reduce energy use and provide a healthy and safe living environment, but we really enjoy seeing home designs that have been vetted in competitions such as the Lifecycle Building Challenge. This annual competition, in its 2nd year and sponsored by well-known organizations such as the EPA, AIA, Building Reuse Association, Southface, and West Coast Green, is a challenge to design buildings with several points in mind: incorporate local building materials, consider the whole lifecycle of building materials, reduce the overall embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions from materials, use innovative and creative strategies, and reduce environmental and economic costs. The 2008 winner of this contest for Best Residential Design was the Spoorhouse, by Benno van Noort of Van Noort Designs, LLC.
obama almost breaks the internet
11/05/2008, 15:23 | InfluxinsightsObama beat out a mix of celebrity deaths and sporting events to claim the number one spot.
Posted by Ed Cotton
New Website: www.earthbagbuilding.com!
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Green Home Building and Sustainable ArchitectureAs 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!
tokyo design week 08: 'cellular automation' by ross lovegrove
00/00/0000, 00:00 | designboom weblog, design related news, reviews and previews
'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
Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Urban Spa
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Urban Spa - Shubin + Donaldson Architects have remodelled this house to soak up its Malibu shore front location. Sliding doors and windows allow the residence to be open plan or sectioned off at will. The site elements of the highway and beach challenged, and dispatched with charming results.
Program
The initial task was to renovate the original 1976 dwelling into a contemporary urban retreat, whilst adding some structural reinforcement. Bought in 2001 for it's location, the owners, together with the architects, went on to extensively remodel the house into an urban oasis. Concious efforts to negate the road behind and emphasise the beach in front are evident throughout.
Design
The overall concept for this 2,900-square-foot beach-side modern house was to transform it into an urban spa-like retreat. The house is perched along Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway, and features access to the beach at the back. Sheltering the house and providing a hard façade is the garage to the rear. As an area of transition between the street and beach, an interior entry courtyard behind the garage, laid with rectangular cement pavers and bordered by smooth river rock and tufted grasses, introduces the primary design element of the home — a seamless union between interior and exterior spaces. Through crisp linear architecture, a split level plan, and visual access throughout the house brings in the beach.
From the entry courtyard, a line of sight straight through the living room takes in the sea views. Dragging your attention away, to the left is a bay window type dining room, accented by a white grid of window panes and shadowed from the noon sun. This window grid is echoed by the geometric pattern of the cabinets and shelves that lead into the minimal kitchen. True to the open plan, the kitchen seamlessly overlooks the main living space, allowing distractions whilst cooking. 
The interior design palette of natural woods and limestone, white walls and fabrics, frosted and clear plate-glass creates a crisp and airy environment to appreciate the Pacific Ocean setting. A true Urban Spa,the elements were hand picked to portray the theme of air, light, and water.
Ground-floor living room and adjacent sitting room offer shadowed relief from the sunlit terraces beyond, with cooling white and dark wood tones in the furniture and materials. Double-paned windows, which open onto the first-level terrace, offer several ways for freedom, permitting unrestricted views onto the ocean while buffering sound (from the highway). 
The upstairs rooms continue the overall theme of air, light, and water with repeating materials and colours. The well-dressed master suite faces onto a second large terrace with pocket-glass doors that fold away, converting the stepped upper terrace into a sleeping porch reminiscent of designs by Schindler and Neutra (and last weeks post - David Hertz! [Image]).
For reclining on the teak chaises, billowing fabrics can be drawn above and alongside the terrace to shield the sun and wind.
With the clients goal being a boutique like retreat to entertain guests rather than as a reclusive beach getaway, opulent bright-white materials: Limestone and high gloss surfaces were used to give that crisp light filled feel. In fact, the owners found it too 'bling'. The house was cool crisp and far too full of light, with the white being overwhelming sometimes. Aware of this, Shubin + Donaldson had already incorporated exterior shutters and shades, which compensate in the southern facing rooms. Then in terms of layout, a simple North facing Media room was added with minimal windows at the rear, providing a further space to retreat in summer, and a little getaway for all. 
Openness and transformation are themes throughout and are most expressive in the master bath. Cool, ocean-blue frosted glass lines the walls and windows (that face another house on these sought-after lots). Behind the glass swing doors are the toilet and shower. Three layers of floor-to-ceiling glass form a translucent door that closes the space off from the bedroom, or opens it up to the master suite, porch, and Pacific Ocean beyond. Dark wenge wood - used throughout the house as an accent - encases the tub, vanity, and spacious closets. The rich brown colour gently contrasts with the limestone counters and floors. Double mirrors are placed on poles in front of the frosted glass, rather than set into a wall. To name-drop, the tub is designed by Philippe Starck.
![[Image]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/modresdesnick/SEbDmpgh_aI/AAAAAAAACP0/vKWwFnNv9cU/3.jpg){kind=link}
Layout
First level: living room, dining room, den area, terrace with beach access, powder room. Upper level: home office, guest room and bath, powder room, media room, and master suite with bathroom/walk-in closet, closet office, outdoor sleeping porch.
Plans
Architect: Shubin + Donaldson Architects - Robin Donaldson, AIA, Principal and Russell Shubin, AIA, Principal
Interiors: Audrey Alberts, interior design consultant
Commenced: 2001
Photos: Tom Bonner Photography
Article & Imagery: Courtesy - Taylor & Company (many thanks)
via: Taylor & Company
the problem with silos
11/05/2008, 14:08 | InfluxinsightsGillian Tett- Assistant Editor- Financial Times
Posted by Ed Cotton
sneak peek: dolan geiman
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Design*Sponge
it won’t take you long to figure out that dolan geiman’s chicago place isn’t what we typically feature in our sneak peeks. but looking through his images and reading through his descriptions felt like i was unlocking a treasure chest full of great stories and memories into the world of dolan geiman. it’s funny to think about where everything we own comes from and the stories behind it. and it’s very clear from dolan’s work how his surroundings inspire him. be sure to click here for more full-sized images, with complete descriptions, and you can find more of his work here (psst…there’s a sale!) and his blog here with all sorts of fun stuff he has in the works. [thanks dolan and ali!] -anne
[Above: This is the area I refer to as “the waiting room”. This is where my pal Chris Nightengale, fashion photographer extraordinaire, does some of his shoots. The mint colored chest of drawers is entirely metal and was a gift from my friend Denny, who always has been a wonderful inspiration in my life. He lugged this heavy thing to me when I was down on my luck and living in an unheated rat-hole apartment in Virginia. Now it looks a little better, as does my luck. I found the globe in a dumpster in Charleston, South Caroline, and the artwork, Jazz Atlas (2008), is one of my collage constructions made from magazines I found in old farm houses. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
Yours truly at work. . . This is the Art Machine. There is a long story behind the Art Machine, but essentially I made this out of old doors and found objects from a soon-to-be-demolished house I was living in when I first moved to Chicago. Hockshop refers to the name of my previous studio and gallery in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Under the moniker Hockshop, the Art Machine debuted in Chicago during a yacht-based art show organized by Bridge Magazine (now called Bridge Art Fair, they produce expositions in London, Miami, New York, and elsewhere). The top of the Art Machine is an old canvas tent that my granddad used when hunting in Canada and which I screenprinted with various images. The little squares of metal on the front are hand-cut signs I grabbed in a scrap yard in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. The little Panel Paintings, on the wall behind the Art Machine, are the staple of my art business. I make about 1000 of these things a year, out of recycled wood, recycled paint, and water-based silkscreen ink. This is my carnival area, I like to say, because the combination of the Art Machine and the Panel Paintings presents a nice sideshow feel. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
This is a cabin-like installation just inside the front entrance of my studio. I created this out of salvaged wood, found billboards, and old signs I’ve found along the road driving to and from art fairs. The raw wood slats were given to me by my pals over at Circa Ceramics who were using them as shelving. I found the deer head while exploring an abandoned barn in Ohio. I saw one of the antlers sticking out of the floorboards. The rusted milk can was used by my dad when he milked cows as a kid. The old glass bottles adorning my bottle tree surfaced outside my warehouse building when the City dug up the cobblestone street in preparation for resurfacing the road. The green bucket is full of shotgun shells I gathered from a shooting range in southern Illinois. The buoys have been collected from various coastal towns including Key West, Cape Cod, and New Orleans. I grabbed the screen door from an abandoned general store in Virginia, and I bought the lentil above the door at a yard sale here in Chicago for only five dollars. I’ve started collecting green and greenish-blue boxes from abandoned warehouses here in Chicago. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
This is the back side of the entryway installation. This is where I feel most like a mad scientist. And yes, in case you’re wondering, there is a whiskey flask in the bottom drawer. I found the chair in an old farm house in North Carolina and screenprinted the back and seat myself. The desk was left in the basement of my last apartment and could kill an elephant if it fell on it. I had to use a truck jack and three retired football players to transport the desk when we moved into this space. The framed oil painting on the floor was hanging in my grandma’s den when I was a kid. She was trying to throw it out when I intercepted it. The red dolly in the corner I bartered from an old (semi) drunk barber for two six-packs of Old Style beer. I think he got the better deal, but at least it looks cool. I snagged the green metal hanging light from a warehouse here in Chicago. Above my desk is one of my inspiration clotheslines. I’ve found this is the best way for me to display various ideas and my notes to myself. The little white paintbrush holder sitting on my desk with the face on it is a ceramic mug made by my pal Ed Brownlee. Ed is about two pints away from being mistaken for a criminal, but he’s a damn good artist and has an enormous heart. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
Our building has a green roof, which Ali helped plant, and this is where the plants were stored before they were given the outdoor penthouse suite. The equipment featured in the photo is one of our landlord’s lathes; he collects old, industrial machinery amongst other things.
This is my little shrine to Johnny Cash. On the day Johnny Cash passed away, I was getting ready for an opening at Unit B Gallery, formerly in Chicago and now in Austin. The work I was showing was loaded with connotations of death and resurrection and was called the Tombsigns of St Emmeline. The synchronicity of the event was really overwhelming and would have seemed spooky, except that I seem to attract energy like that and I am open to it. The week before I was eating pizza in St Louis and some kid was skateboarding nearby with a boom box and he was playing Johnny Cash’s last recording. When I asked him about it, he said he didn’t know it was Johnny Cash, and that he had just found the tape under a tree and liked the sound. I found the whiskey jug on the bottle tree in the dirt behind the warehouse. The butterflies are screenprinted on wood and were part of a spring window display for a local shoe store . . . I use one corner of the studio for staging photos, both for Etsy and for print brochures. The mantel was a gift from a T-shirt printer (48 Industries) in the building, a fellow scavenger. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
Stuff I love: plastic dice, old painted nail, orange train ticket to California (1898), list of numbers in Spanish, green feed tag, hand-drawn family album for collage, Virginia text from a high school Math book cover. [Photo credit: David Schalliol]
In this entryway installation close-up, the fresh eggs (fresh eyes) sign was a studio warming gift passed on to me from my buddy, artist Michael Merck, who grabbed it from a little Mexican street cart. I found the paintbrush hanging on a hook in a bathroom of a warehouse I was occupying while living in Virginia. It’s the only paintbrush I own that’s never been used for painting. Below the brush is a catfish sinker I bought when I went fishing in Kentucky last year. The rooster painting, Dirt Road Series IX, is one of my own, silkscreen and acrylic on recycled wood available here. He’s a good pet and doesn’t eat food or make any noise. He just sits there lookin’ pretty. The books to the left of the rooster are my sketchbooks. I use old books for my sketchbooks, pasting ideas and collage materials into the existing pages, instead of buying new white-paged, sterile sketchbooks. I think it’s important to be surrounded by many different textures, so I started collecting the softballs over the past four or five years. Almost every time I make a trip down to a river, I find softballs stuck in leftover flood debris and so I started saving them in this locker room bin. If you like metal baskets like this one, you can find some here. The blue oar is a mystery. I found it one night in the middle of the road while I was driving through West Virginia. The strange part was that one end of the oar was tied to a tennis shoe. I kept the oar; the shoe didn’t fit, so I left it. Above the fresh eggs (fresh eyes) sign is a wooden gun I made from a piece of billboard I found in Indiana and then adorned with little metal objects from an old trade school parking lot. Finally, the rooster painting is sitting on an old hen crate, used by my granddad to take chickens to market. Ali won’t let me get chickens yet, but I’m working on it. [Photo credit: Kara Elliott-Ortega]
Included in this shot are an Ed Brownlee mug (paintbrush holder), comic book collage materials, old picture frames found in a barn in Kentucky, a bluebird collage in progress, and a couple print proofs. Used paint cans, thrift store mugs, and Quaker Oats bins are used to hold brushes, pens, and markers.[Photo credit: Kara Elliott-Ortega]
Nicholas Burns - Johanna Beach House
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential Design
Thinking Globally | Acting Locally - Nicholas Burns has taken this "green" addage and designed a modern residential retreat that: incorporates international ideas, templates low impact construction, has relatively minimal impact on the environment and embraces this spectacular plot.
The Johanna residence sits a few kilometres off the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, up a bush track leading to a gravel turnaround. This porous parking area is the first step into Nicholas's realm of environmentally concious design, allowing the water to soak through in a semi un-constructed area, combats erosion far better than a concrete slab.
Constructed of rammed earth taken in part from the surrounding area the house self regulates in temperature for all but the coldest of days. A super insulated wood burning fire in the centre of the living area tops up on the few days that it is required, whilst for most of the year the 300mm walls and thick floor store daytime heat for night time release. Carefully judged overhangs and windows, shade the rooms from peak summer heat, and allow cooling air to pass.
Arriving at the house you play out a mini script that depicts the notion of a holiday home. A getaway, a release from the constrictive day-to-day life we lead in the city.
Leaving your car you head towards a strong rear wall. From this angle the house appears a small bank or cliff, solid and permanent, with stripes of layers in the rammed earth walls creating cliff like strata. Nearing the house, a courtyard leads you in to a "Burns" play on space and dimensions.
As if entering a cinema through the back corridor, the short courtyard, with its imposing 300mm thick rammed earth walls, contracts to a single passageway and heads to the front door.
The constricting nature of the entrance has you prepared to duck your head and don a helmet and caving lamp. Yet as you pass the front door and round the partitioning wall, you're released into a panorama of views out across Johanna beach and along the coastline. About ten minutes later, you'll realise you're in a wonderful open plan living / dining room.
Nicholas Burns has an affinity for the architecture of Tadao Ando, which he studied for years, admiring as I do, his self taught designs.
Hidden in full view throughout the design of this residence are homages to Ando. Tadao's designs, based of the Tatami mat, 900mm x 1800mm, are all divisible by this measure, leading to a hidden, calming simplicity. Nicholas's dimension is 600mm "so everything has an inherent logic in the space, making it unobtrusive.” Simply furnished, the house allows you to focus on it's surrounds.
Layout
A slight twist on a single plane design, the two bedroom wings are set back from the living area to allow 180 degree views. This also allows a raised courtyard to be placed behind the living area. A sheltered area from winds heading up hillside, it also provides an area for BBQs and outdoor dining.
All but one of the four bedrooms soak in the views and sunsets, the fourth, a more reserved room, is windowed to the rear and surrounding bush, an ideal room for private contemplation.
Plan
About Nicholas Burns
In the 1990s, Burns left his architecture studies in South Australia to pursue a self-education in philosophy and building crafts, a la Tadao Ando. In 2000, he moved to Singapore, where he is still based, travelling from there through Europe, India, China, South-East Asia and Japan. I think Nicholas's practice really focuses on balancing the three way split, design, clients desires and the environment in which the build sits.
As part of all initial concepts and drafts, Nicholas's practice now encourages all of their clients to offset the carbon footprint of the build with United Nations-Certified carbon credits.
The environment is a strong stakeholder. But as you can see, in no way at the expense of fantastic design.
via: Nicholas Burns
Related Articles: http://materialicio.us/2008/01/15/johana-beach-house-nicholas-burns/
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums//showthread.php?t=5990
Bernardes + Jacobsen - Vila Nova Da Conceiçao Residence
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential DesignVila Nova Da Conceiçao Residence
Smoke and Mirrors - once past the solid industrial façade of this residence, light, shade and reflections open up this hemmed in residence by Thiago Bernardes and Paulo Jacobsen.
Architect/Designer: Bernardes + Jacobsen Information courtesy of: Bernardes + Jacobsen
Overview & Plot
In dealing with a narrow conical plot near Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, stretching the layout and smart use of structural steel, has rewarded Thiago Bernardes and Paul Jacobsen.
The sloped plot, required them to play with the layout of the house, spreading out and reordering the location of the office, five bedrooms with en suites, and the gym into a plot of just 760m2.
At the narrow entrance end of the plot sit the service area, laundry and garage, just below ground level. Half a level above street height and just a little further down the plot are the entrance, kitchen and dining room. From here, an impressive atrium carries you either: down a long set of short depth stairs the living room, home theatre and gym; or upstairs to the five bedrooms. This atrium is an amazing planted area with bamboo and foliage abound. Through glass openings above; it appears light and airy, despite being in the centre of the narrow plot.
Key to the project is this area of vertical circulation. It is composed of a set of stairs and bridge, illuminated by openings above, which give the residence spatiality that is unusual. Through this atrium, emphasis was also placed on the secondary entrance, access between the house and garage, used every day, but often ignored in design. 
Layout
On the ground floor, at the widest area of the plot, the living rooms all open out to the pool and BBQ area receiving light through sliding doors that rise the height of their extended stud.
Above, the bedrooms are one and a half storeys off the ground. The extra high stud, affording them light and views above the surrounding residences.
The Result
The project also takes full advantage of the external area at the bottom of the plot.
This is done through: high studs; open plan; minimal interference in the indoor outdoor flow; and where support was needed the upper levels, svelte steel poles were used, and even then, polished to a mirror, to minimise their impact.
The garden is then in effect doubled through the use of a reflective sheathing on the rear party wall (intriguing, as we often see this in narrow restaurants to double the depth of perception). 
Plans
Completed: December 2005.
Materials: Steel structure, stone, wood, glass and Ceramic tiles
Built area: 900m2
Top 10 ish - Modern Residential Design - 1 year old
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Modern Residential DesignAs Modern residential Design celebrates its belated birthday, I thought I bring you couple of Top 5s whilst preparing for the arrival of my second son.
Top 5 Posts on Modern Residential Design
And here's the traffic / commented / linked list of what you guys thought was coolist!
Arthur Casas - House in Iporanga
A true Tropical Jungle residential retreat. Minimalist, contrasting, yet befitting it's location.
Marcio Kogan - Laranjeiras House
My ideal beachside mansion, open plan, indoors and outdoors blurred, simple palette and spashes of colour.
Marcio Kogan - Mirindiba House
Amazing spans that defy gravity, cavity hidden doors, texture, colour and ahhh.
Melling:Morse Architects Ltd - Split Box
Hometown favourites from my university days, Melling:Morse are the masters of timber in New Zealand.
Arkhefield - Balaam House
Flow, privacy, segmentation of rest and action areas, scaled to fit with its neighbours and what links to exterior spaces.
Jonathan Segal - The Prospect
From the Paladin of affordable Modern Residential Design, I love seeing Jonathan mentoring others to create stylish buildings you can actually live in.Top 5 Online Architecture Compatriots
Some of the guys that give me drive & motivation to keep hunting out cool modern design.
Many thanks for the links / diggs / stumbles / emails and support guys!!
Materialicio.us
www.materialicio.us
Contemporist
www.contemporist.com
Plataforma Arquitectura
www.plataformaarquitectura.cl 
Arch Daily
www.archdaily.com
Arkinetia
www.arkinetia.com
Noticias Arquitectura
www.noticiasarquitectura.infoOK, 6, it was hard to make it so short.
Hope you enjoy - new residences coming soon!
Hong Kong Design Centre Workshops [del.icio.us]
00/00/0000, 00:00 | :: Vol. 2: the design management weblog | by ralf beuker :weekly wrap up
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Design*Sponge
it’s been a great week here at d*s and i’m super excited for next week…because it’s the premier of the d*s and new york public library project! so please tune in on monday at 1pm for the launch of the first episode of our series! i’m so pleased with the results and can’t wait to share it all here. i’m filming the second episode on monday and we have a bonafide design celebrity joining us so stick around on monday to find out who that is! until then, here is a roundup of this week’s highlights. have a wonderful weekend! [above is a beautiful paper cut out from heather moore of skinny laminx. click here for more info]
- must read post(s) of the week: ugliest pillow contest- finalists and voting! and alyson fox’s gorgeous wedding
- regional roundups: austin regional roundup part 1, 2, and 3
- new sneak peeks: ruth shively, melissa mcclure’s LA loft, matte stephens’ portland home, dolan geiman’s studio
- new guide: doorstop roundup
- new diy projects: custom house of cards, kate’s ceramic planters, candy control
- new before & afters: andrea’s outdoor seating, barb’s wooden table, whitney’s ottoman, summer’s dresser
- furniture: schindlersalmeron stools
- paper: new morris & essex stationery, linda and harriett calendar
- artwork: john murphy collages, alexander girard prints
- textiles: japanese tea towels, fabric covered boxes
- misc: new coe and waito ceramics, things i’m loving- metallics, modern pet houses, crystal kluge monogram font, new jocelyn warner wallpaper, pattern show at olio united, gorgeous green interiors
- gift guides: we’re launching ours after thanksgiving but better living through design just launched a great gift guide. click here to check it out.
- new d*s guest blog: click here to check out sarah fox’s fantastic guest blog posts (including 4 diy projects!)
- recipes: in the kitchen with ditte isager (fruit meringue cake), sarah fox’s goat cheese pear tarts
Letters from Sweden - the foundation
00/00/0000, 00:00 | LamiDesign Modern House Plan BlogOne issue we have not examined as we looked at the fabrication of houses in the factory is the foundation work that goes on in advance of the arrival of the house. The Swedes are using some innovative products for foundations as well, products that make there status quo houses much more energy efficient than ours here in the States.
New houses in Sweden are primarily built on slabs, partly because its expedient, but also because its naturally the best way to have in floor radiant heating. In a cold climate this is the only way to use a slab otherwise your slab will feel cold and uncomfortable. But a slab in a cold climate must be insulated from the elements or it will throw heat out its edges. There are typically two strategies to isolate your slab from the cold.
The first strategy is to make an insulation break between the slab and the foundation wall. This is typically done with a narrow insulation layer. In order to place this between the slab and wall the two structures have to be built in separate operations. First the wall, insulation break, and then the slab is poured inside the walls. Two steps.
The second strategy is to insulate the outside edge of the slab. This allows you to pour the slab and foundation wall in a single step, but you have to return and install insulation around the perimeter. Thats not the end of it though. This insulation is of course very vulnerable to damage. Its a soft material and it is right at grade, so it must be protected by something tough, usually the best choice is a cement board product. The insulation and protection board creates at best a second step.
Ok, what are the Swedes doing. First of all they are not building deep foundations. All buildings in cold climates should be founded on soils below the frost line. How do the Swedes avoid this then. I''ve not seen photos of their entire site prep sequence but they appear to be setting slabs on stone beds which may reach below frost, and prevent soil expansion if frozen. Furthermore they are building on slabs insulated at the perimeter which allows the radiant slab heating system to warm the earth below the center of the slab which prevents soils below the foundation from freezing and heaving. So suddenly they have eliminated the foundation wall and only need to build the slab on grade. A great savings in time, effort, and expense. Ok, but they still end up with the slab insulation issues described above. No. They use a foam formwork that forms the perimeter of the slab, and insulates it at the same time. And this foam formwork is coated with a tough cement finish coating that protects the foam and prevents it from being damaged. Even more important, its one step.
Laying out the slab - corner pieces are place first.
Ready for the pour, edge forms, wire mesh, plumbing, and heating loops all in place.
The slab poured. Once cured its ready to receive the prefab house.
Here is an example of a Swedish manufacturer of these foam forms:
Previously:
Letters from Sweden - deliver and set
Letters from Sweden - plumbing the prefab
Letters from Sweden - wiring zen
Letters from Sweden - a windows tale
Letters from Sweden - panel building in Sweden vs the USA
Letters from Sweden - Europe is different, Sweden is not, sort of..
Letters from Sweden - land of modern, land of prefab
Letters from Sweden - conversations with an expatriate builder
Technorati Tags: modern design, modern house, prefab house
Frank's on the move... [Clipping]
11/07/2008, 15:16 | Land+Living: Modern Lifestyle + DesignDesignboost 2008 magazine
00/00/0000, 00:00 | David ReportJust click the magazine to open it.
These Designers Have a Hard Time!
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Design SojournP&G’s Innovation Culture [del.icio.us]
00/00/0000, 00:00 | :: Vol. 2: the design management weblog | by ralf beuker :Is there a Designer in the (Mo)House?
00/00/0000, 00:00 | :: Vol. 2: the design management weblog | by ralf beuker :I should share some snippets from last Friday when I’ve joined several of my peers in The Hague, NL. However please allow for some digesting of my impressions and thoughts! I will write a follow up for sure ;-)
After all what we’ve touched in our panel discussion as well as during the ‘after show’ talks has been (amongst others) the question how to best enter the ‘Design Management Sphere’. From regular email conversations as well as face2face talks this seems to be an urgent question in particular for fresh (design) graduates.
What I usually respond (and this is not meant as ‘fobbing off’) is that independent from their focus of study (let it be design or business administration just to name the two most dominant ones) graduates should try to gain as many and rich experiences in their field of profession as possible. This enables them to comprehensively explore the pros and cons of the field and will help them to render more precisely which domain of the Design Management sphere they are most interested in: Digital, Brand, Corporate, Industrial, Consumer, Services, just to name a few.
Ultimately and this is what I truly believe in: Design Management to a large degree is to a large degree nurtured by the application of (for sure!) cross-disciplinary experiences and skills that tend to rather grow over time. This does however not mean that undergraduate BA & MA programmes in Design Management are not useful. This is however a different discussion to be discussed at another time.
So, for those of you who are seeking for these cross-disciplinary experiences delivered in a highly condensed format you might want to have a look at the MoHo Website. Here’s a snippet from their vision statement:
“Innovation is hampered by a myriad of factors in today’s globalised world. The lack of communication between knowledge centers such as engineering, marketing and design in companies, creates distortions and miscomprehensions between people that heavily penalize the innovation process.
These problems are further amplified if economic reality is brought into the picture. Too many products have been ‘invented’ in the past with little or no potential for economic success. ‘Inventors’ very easily forget the importance of market reality.”
Unfortunately I haven’t been aware of this initiative and hopefully they will share some of the findings publicly soon!
Side note:
These are the facts & figures of the event I do miss more designers here for sure:
# 7 days in Palo Alto
# June 1 - June 8
# 1 house
# 16 partners
# 15 endorsements
# 15 engineering students
# 3 design students
# 15 business students
# 10 social entrepreneurs
# 10 artists
# 5 venture capitalists
# 2 design professors
# 3 business professors
karim rashid at instituto tomie ohtake, sao paulo
00/00/0000, 00:00 | designboom weblog, design related news, reviews and previews
on now at the instituto tomie ohtake, sao paulo is the first solo exhibition of designer karim rashid in brazil.
it is the institute's hope that by showcasing rashid's work, they will generate a discussion about the aspects
of contemporary design and its impact on daily life. upon entrance into the exhibition you are greeted by a large
painting-like, computer graphic, 300 square metres in size which acts as a backdrop to the furniture on display.
this virtual component within the exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to encounter the designer as a
life-size avatar, playing between reality and the artificial, something which is prominent in rashid's work.
the exhibition is an international cooperation with munich's design museum, die neue sammlung. it is curated by
german art historian and critic dr. albrecht bangert in collaboration with brazilian-born designer and architect
camila tariki of karim rashid's new york studio and organized by instituto tomie ohtake. most of the pieces on
show are from the munich collection.
karim rashid
karim rashid at milan design week 2008
karim rashid: http://www.karimrashid.com
instituto tomie ohtake: http://www.institutotomieohtake.org.br
die neue sammlung: http://www.die-neue-sammlung.de
“Flatshare” wins Electrolux Design Lab 2008
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Design SojournMODERN HOMES - THE RANCHER
00/00/0000, 00:00 | GAILE GUEVARA
duras ambient fukuoka store by sinato
00/00/0000, 00:00 | designboom weblog, design related news, reviews and previews
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
Change can happen - Barack Obama
00/00/0000, 00:00 | David ReportCongratulation World! Change CAN actually happen. Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American to win the US presidency. Above is his speech from last night in Grant Park in his home city of Chicago. I would like to bring forward the following sentence from the speech; “…our stories are singular but our destiny is shared!”.
Let’s hope for change and a possible new world order.
Andra bloggar om: usa-valet, obama, barack obama, politik, presidentval, usa
Hus1 - moving towards design prints
00/00/0000, 00:00 | LamiDesign Modern House Plan Blog
Technorati Tags: house plans, Hus1, modern design, modern house
Sketch your NURBS Model with ILOVESKETCH!
00/00/0000, 00:00 | Design SojournNatural Building Network
00/00/0000, 00:00 | 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.
3030 House - light framing has begun
00/00/0000, 00:00 | LamiDesign Modern House Plan Blog
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