This is the first coffee table I've seen in ages that I actually like. Pretty cool, though not cheap at $3,500.

Via Inspire Me, Now!

I was checking back in on some of my favorite architects' sites and noticed that Building Studio has done a major update since my last visit. There are several projects on the new site that I don't remember seeing before. Here's a sampler of four different projects:







The works cover the full spectrum of residential building, from private homes to vacation cabins to urban infill. All of them have a serious sustainable bent. Click over to the Building Studio site for lots more images and full details on all their projects.

Image credits - Building Studio site

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

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

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

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

The Damn You rubber telephone by Mingyu Jeung is an excellent tool for venting anger and the usual telephone frustration, but the Peep Show bookshelf by Alice Naylor is a civilized way of hiding one's low (or high) brow taste from the wrong prying eyes. Or just good for plain old tidying up. Seongyong Lee 's Colour Space is certainly sleek, but might not hold quite as many books. A folio storage option, perhaps? The Tea Handkerchief by Miho Kaneko is just as dignified, and an elegant way to enjoy tea anywhere. Pixie Vases from Wik & Walsøe were faves from the 100% Norway section, and the Wine Bottle Speakers by Sante Kim were a hit with everyone.

+ designersblock.org.uk

'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

Awhile ago I was driving down one of our main local roads and noticed a house in the middle of it. I didn't remember a house being there and thought that I was seeing a strange mirage. The closer I got, the more real it appeared, until I was forced to slow down and drive around the thing, at which point there was no doubt about its authenticity.

A big truck tractor was towing this entire 1200 square foot house balanced on two huge steel I-beams and a bunch of wheeled dollies. Progress was slow but steady as it inexorably moved toward its next incarnation. Just that morning it had departed its original home where it had been seasonal housing for migrant workers.

The owners of this seeming mirage had searched for just the right orphaned house to adopt as their own, lovingly place it on a new foundation, and refurbish it. Many houses would not be suitable for such a trip; generally only well-built wooden structures can withstand the stress of such a move. This house had all the qualities they were looking for: charm, integrity, and affordability. The entire cost of the house and having it moved was $10,000.

By the time they have it completely fixed up with new plumbing and electric service, an insulated stucco exterior, new energy-efficient windows, a metal roof, a completely rebuilt front porch, all of the interior walls resurfaced, and miscellaneous repairs, they estimate that the total cost of the project will be about $50,000, including the land. Not bad for what in most regards will be as good as new!

Of course new is not what they wanted; they bought this early twentieth century house (it's actual date of construction is unknown) precisely because of its special vintage quality. It reminds one of the owners of the house his grandmother lived in, with 9 foot ceilings, three smallish bedrooms, tongue and grooved fir flooring, cast-iron radiators, built-in cabinets, drawers and even ironing board, and the intangible quality of a by-gone era. They plan to retain the original floor plan intact, only altering a walk-in closet to become the mechanical room and turning a room off the kitchen into a dining space.

The house made the entire trip with just a few places where the plaster cracked in one corner, which is easily repaired. This is one very solidly-built house, made from the sort of fir that no longer can be bought. There was only one place under the kitchen sink that had suffered leak-induced rot over many years; everything else is as straight and true as any carpenter would want.

Another late twentieth century vintage home of about 800 square feet came from property leased from the Federal government and the house needed to be moved. With local help, the buyer of this little home added an additional room onto the original to comply with the homeowners' association square foot minimum. She has thoroughly enjoyed the process of remaking this simple cabin into her charming home, imbued with the wonderful quirky qualities that spring from her fanciful mind.

Once a house is moved it must comply with current plumbing and electrical codes, so these elements were completely redone. Most of the windows were replaced with second hand units that gave her just the views that she wanted. The exterior was resurfaced with rough-sawn lap siding and a new metal roof was installed. The original interior plastic paneling was replaced with sheetrock, and decorated with lots of natural wood trim. The whole feeling of the place is one of lovingly crafted touches wherever the eye lands. The new owner says, “I would much rather live in something recycled than buying something brand new which has no character. I let this house come together…it just evolved!”

Creating new life for old or abandoned houses has got be one of the most sustainable ways of making habitation. This is the ultimate form of recycling, where most of the basic components of a house are utilized intact instead of being tossed into a landfill or burned. There is a tremendous savings in the embodied energy of the house (in both materials and labor), so that all that needs to be done is to repair and polish the original dwelling to create a whole new life for it. Hoorah for these people who have the vision and willingness to take on these projects!

“As real as it gets” by advertising firm, Bates 141 Jakarta. A very clever representation of, I dare say, one of our design software’s most recognizable user interface. Even the tag line is great. I love it! Check out their production process and the full size (obviously photoshopped) final print image on their [...]

‘punta della dogana’ renovation, venice, italy
image © tadao ando architect & associates

'challenges: faithful to the basis' is an exhibition that attempts to give an overview of ando's 30 years
as an architect, focusing on the various types of ‘places’ he has designed over the years. 10 or so projects
undertaken in osaka, kobe, tokyo, venice, abu dhabi, mexico and bahrain which were completed under
different conditions, project durations, scales and programs are all featured in this retrospective exhibition.

 
‘punta della dogana’ renovation, venice, italy
image © designboom

see the designboom article:


tadao ando retrospective exhibition

The Freewheelin story.

Bike sharing was a hit when launched in Paris in 2007. It was cheap, convenient and eco-friendly. End of story? Not so fast. A U.S. health insurer changed the game and wrote a new story. Humana promotes its business agenda - lower health care costs - through a state-of-the-art bike sharing program tested during the 2008 U.S. political party conventions in Denver and St. Paul.

Freewheelin promotes its social and business agenda through communication - made possible by wireless/mobile and social networking technology. When you ride a Feewheelin bike, wireless networks track your mileage and calories burned. Social networking tools help individuals track their personal successes and, by calculating reduced carbon emmisions, their contributions to the shared health and wellness of their community and the planet.

Andra bloggar om: cykla, motion, träning, miljö, hållbarhet

"Herzog & de Meuron's Tenerife Arts Space (TEA) has been inaugurated in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands." (via BD)

Nokia demonstrates how it's leveraging insights gleaned from the developing world into products. The mobile phone is made to work a lot hard in developing countries; it becomes the mobile office and primary computer for many of its users. In response, Nokia is launching Life Tools; software included in its phones that can help those involved in agriculture better understand market and weather conditions.


Posted by Ed Cotton

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

I received an email from Professor Sunny Cai, who teaches architectural design at a college in Beijing , China. He mentioned his interest in ancient Chinese architecture, especially the earthen buildings called “tulou,” and he sent me some pictures of these rammed earth buildings.

I had never seen anything quite like them, so I queried him further about how they were made and used. He replied, “The foundation was built with rocks, 2 feet high all around. The juice of glutinous rice and some lime is mixed into the earth for strength, and then sliced bamboo, reeds, and sometimes pieces of wood are also used.”

This picture was taken in front of a rammed earth building with Sunny Cai and his students.

I did some further internet research and found out more about these interesting structures. Tulou are traditional communal residences in the Fujian province of Southern China, often of a circular configuration surrounding a central shrine. Some of these vernacular structures were constructed of cut granite or had substantial walls of fired brick. The end result is a well lit, well-ventilated, windproof, earthquake resistant building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.

There are more than 20,000 tulou in southern Fujian, and these were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 as “exceptional examples of a building tradition and function exemplifying a particular type of communal living and defensive organization, and, in terms of their harmonious relationship with their environment".

Actually the Tulou were built by a minority called the Hakka, who were originally Han who fled south to escape war and famine during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). As they gradually moved they changed the local architecture by incorporating Han styles and that produced the tulou. Not only were the high walls built for defense but they were also the result of traditional Han architecture. Tulou were mostly built between the 12th to the 20th centuries. The oldest one was constructed over 1,200 years ago and is regarded as a “living fossil” of the construction style of central China.

There are three types of Tulou. The Wufeng has three halls and two side rooms and are said to be the result of a redesign of the Han courtyard. The oldest tulou are the rectangle ones, and the most emblematic ones are round. They are typically designed for defensive purposes and consist of one entrance and no windows at ground level. The biggest round one can have up to five stories with three interior rings. The largest houses cover over 40,000 m² and it is not unusual to find surviving houses of over 10,000 m². Most round tulous are three or four stories, with family kitchens and livestock on the ground floor. The next floor becomes a storage room for food and furniture (with no windows), and above that are the bedrooms.

These structures are exemplary of sustainable architecture in that they are built of local, natural materials with simple techniques. They have good thermal attributes, with the massive earthen walls to help buffer temperatures. They are obviously built to last, and house many of the necessities for life. And they embody a communal life style that conserves energy and resources; these represent a form of ancient co-housing.

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

Such legendary negativity. There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier. Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others who don’t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence [...]

A shot of the corner of the living room today from the owners of the OK Tray House. They are moved in, but not unpacked, and they promise more photos to come once they are settled.



So what do we have here. Well open up the catalog page so you can look at the floor plan. This photo is taken from the living room, looking into the study. We can see a stone wall which is flanking the fireplace, and above it we can see the gridded window wall which sits above the fireplace. I'm real excited about that since it looks like they did a really great job with that. Out the window we can see more of that nicely stained siding. To the left we can see the front door and the entry vestibule. In the study we see the side windows, and a couple of modern chairs? Man after my own heart! And upstairs some cable rail, and a glimpse of the bedroom ceiling. It looks awesome - can't wait to see the rest of the house!

And don't forget the flickr set of photos of this project from start to finish.

Technorati Tags: house plans, modern design, modern house, Tray House

• Egonomics and the 'Recognition Economy' | Conference Documentation
  In general I find the conferences organized by Trendbüro Hambug quite corporate and too often the same players (aka speakers) show off. However Tim Leberecht from frog design pointed me to a slideshare summary on the key findings of the German Trend Day 2008 conference. Have a mind on your own and browse the slides:

  "In May this year, frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger spoke at the German Trend Day in Hamburg. The Trend Day is an influential annual forum that gathers thought leaders from business, media, and academia to discuss emerging social and cultural trends. This year's theme was "Identity Management," and other speakers besides Hartmut included Richard Florida, Danny Choo, and David Bosshart."

  (tags: conference trends slides frogdesign)

After a few weeks of preliminary images the work is finally done and the 0860 Hus1 design is now live on the catalog site. Design Prints are done and available via the ordering buttons on the catalog page.



The Hus1 is also the first design of our new collection, called the Blueprints Collection which will focus on mid-century inspired home designs. You can read a little bit more about the new collection on the Plans page of our site, and on the new Blueprints Collection page.

Technorati Tags: Hus1, modern design, modern house

Hookaboo is a discreet wall hanger that you can have in the hallway, bathroom, bedroom or anywhere you wish. This wall hanger has 4 pieces of metal hanger that fold up when are not used. Designed by Matt Carr, this wall hook is made from bamboo and is 34 cm wide, 8,5 cm hight and about 2 cm deep. For those of you interested in this product, you can purchase it from Bluebox ( Sweedish shop ).

a

Hookaboo Wall Hanger by Matt Carr

This is it! There are only a few items left to complete and correct in the New Mexico EcoSteel House. The owner has their CO and is moving in. They sent along one last round of photos of the empty house taken with a very wide angle fish-eye lens.



More of the photos in a photo browser after the click-through.



So this is it. Perhaps we will see some photos of the place with furniture, but this project is coming to a close. Its been very exciting to see it come together, and the owner has been very generous with their photos. Our thanks to them for sharing their house with us, and you our readers.

Technorati Tags: 3030 House, 6030 House, 6040 House, ecosteel, modern design, modern house, prefab house

While I’m at it (see my previous posting on my recent activities) I’d thought you might also be interested in a recent conversation on the use of social media in European and US corporations (MP3 file ~ 48MB) I’ve had with Tom Guarriello from the “True Talk Blog” (iTunes here).

I’m following Tom’s blog for more than a year now and I’m intrigued by the breadth, but at the same time depth of his postings ranging from Politics, Business over Design & Fashion, to Social Media.

However what fascinates me most is his playful yet still professional use of social media like audio and video sharing. accordingly Tom is creating regular video and audio podcasts on various topics on a regular basis.

On Monday this week we’ve been able to realise a long planned podcast on ‘Social Media in European and US Companies’ based on our practical and theoretical expertise. And as hoped and expected it has been fun and inspirational.

As a side effect again I’ve recognised that listening to your own musings after the recording has been done is a ‘Point of Truth (POT) experience. From this particular recording and on a meta level I’ve learned that I can still improve the scope I usually frame my thoughts in. As a non native speaker (& writer) I always want to make sure that my ideas reach the audience in the right (not to say ‘perfect’) way ;-) Unfortunately this sometimes goes to the disadvantage of coming to the point in a concise fashion say ‘delayed’. So some way to go ;-)

Anyway while (for sure ;-) we did not fully answer the question why in particular organisations with strong brands and fashion brands in particular have difficulties to articulate themselves on the web beyond their brand image we’ve identified several strategic areas that are worth digging deeper into.

After all what surprised me indeed has been Tom’s feedback that US companies are far less ahead of using the social web compared to European companies as I’ve imagined. A question that popped up and that attracted my attention as well has been: How much do Social Technologies affect the corporate as well as brand culture once an organisation has ‘dared’ to enter this field of communication? Any insights from you readers are more than welcome!

In any case have fun listening to our conversation and drop me a comment or email on what you’ve thought while listening :-)

I complained the other day about not having seen anything really interesting in a while, and then my buddy Justin at Materialicio.us answers the call with this amazing find - the Stroh Haus by Swiss architect Felix Jerusalem. This home has several things going for it that really appeal to me. First, it has a simple, clean plan. Second, that green exterior is my favorite color. Third, I am fascinated with translucent panels, and the Stroh Haus uses them as exterior sheathing to groovy effect. Lastly, the house utilizes a really interesting type of construction material - straw pre-formed into structural elements. That's a slick approach that ought to have some legs.








Thanks Juzz!

Image credits - Stroh Haus site

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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



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