Monday, October 11, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Can the office of a finance firm ever be cooler than this?: Interior Design Ideas
Can the office of a finance firm ever be cooler than this? Posted: 05 Jun 2010 10:42 AM PDT If you would go by the views, you might mistake Artis Capital Management’s San Francisco based office for a luxury hotel. The scenery the office offers is staggering and I doubt if we have ever come across an office in this kind of a setting before. Rottet Studio architects were involved with the design and here is what they have to say about it:
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Friday, February 12, 2010
A Fantastic Residential Project : Gama Issa House
Posted: 12 Feb 2010 07:56 AM PST
From architect Marcio Kogan, in collaboration with a few others talented artists, comes this amazing design, a project called Gama Issa House and located in São Paulo, Brasil. Here is an excerpt of Marcio’s journal, of how the idea for creating this home took off in the first place: ” I think of a single enormous volume wrapping everything: a white box. In São Paulo, we don’t need to be concerned about environmental coherence; it is total chaos, the most absolute chaos. In this city, the world’s ugliest, which overflows energy, vibrant like no other, loved and hated, anything that is projected will be totally integrated into the city. Ah, yes, don’t let me forget an enormous wall protecting the house, covered in natural wood (maybe from the last tree of the Amazon), and which, certainly, will be completely covered by graffiti, giving the final touch in perfect harmony with the environment.”
Even though this place was inspired by the environment’s incoherence, Gama Issa House turned out to have a very harmonious look and proportions. The beautiful white house is shaped as a parallelogram and has giant windows for a more intense effect. It has two levels and four symmetric storage spaces. A large wooden gliding wall opens and then closes for protection. We hope you will enjoy this as much as we did.-via Yatzer
Unusual Tropical House Design - Leaf House in Brazil
Unusual Tropical House Design – Leaf House in Brazil
Posted: 12 Feb 2010 05:34 AM PST
Leaf house is designed by Mareines and Patalano Arquitetura and located near Rio de Janeiro on a beautiful little beach with amazing blue water. Its design is inspired by Brazil’s Indian architecture which is perfectely suited for the hot and humid climate. The roof that reminds a flower acts as a big leaf that protects from the sun all the enclosed spaces of the house. The house is perfect for social gatherings and parties because of its comfortable verandas and open spaces in between rooms. The open layout also takes advantage of trade winds that blow in from the sea, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling. There are no corridors and inside and outside are almost fused. Rain water is harvested from the roof for re-use. With its natural finishes, organic aesthetics and richness of details, the house is in harmony with the exuberant brazilian nature. It’s an cool example of how tropical beach house could be connected to nature. [Mareines and Patalano Arquitetura | Photos by Leonardo Finotti & Pedro Lobo]
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Emmegi - Elle on Interior Design
Emmegi - Elle
Elle die-cast aluminum chair in white powdercoat by Emmegi. 39-429-782-587; emmegiseating.com. circle 354
posted on: 1/13/2010
http://www.interiordesign.net/newproductdetail/2140484344.html?nid=2068
Maharam - Echo, Wow, and Flutter; Sideways, Flopped, and Mirrored on Interior Design
Maharam - Echo, Wow, and Flutter; Sideways, Flopped, and Mirrored
Echo, Wow, and Flutter; Sideways, Flopped, and Mirrored cellulose, latex, and nylon wall covering by Maharam. 800-645-3943; maharam.com. circle 449
http://www.interiordesign.net/newproductdetail/2140484311.html?nid=2068
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tafoni Floating Home | Joanna Borek-Clement
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Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement San Francisco-based designer Joanna Borek-Clement has designed the Tafoni Floating Home located in Sausalito, California. This is a conceptual house designed to promote a new type of residential design, living and lifestyle. It is also a multi-purpose living pavilion that serves as a permanent house, a weekend retreat, a relaxing summer destination or a place to entertain friends and hold business parties. + Project description courtesy of Joanna Borek-ClementPromoting a New Attitude in Residential Design and Living The primary goal of this conceptual project is to change the attitude towards living on a houseboat and promote a lifestyle that limits disruption of the environment. Tafoni is spacious, yet compact. Typical houseboats have low ceilings and often feel cramped, which can detract from comfort many residents desire of their homes. In contrast, even though Tafoni has a relatively small floor plate, it is spacious because of the high ceiling and the minimal amount of full-height interior partitions. The partial-height sculptural walls divide the space visually and increase the interaction between people without limiting views. Tafoni is a multi-purpose living pavilion that serves as a permanent house, a weekend retreat, a relaxing summer destination or a place to entertain friends and hold business parties. In the current era of overpopulation and decreasing greenfields, building houseboats is a solution we should consider. The exemplary location of this project is the houseboat district in Sausalito, California, which features the beautiful views of San Francisco Bay overlooking neighboring Tiburon. This area serves as a permanent residence for many and is an example of peaceful coexistence between humans and nature. Every respectful and creative design, both modern and traditional, is accepted here; the residents pride themselves in the diversity of this floating enclave, which inspires everyone who comes to visit. Living close to unspoiled nature means being surrounded by beauty that enriches life in a way that apartments and on-land houses do not. Floating homes respond to low and high tide and more intimately connect with the environment than suburban houses with manicured backyards. Tafoni helps one discover the possibilities available with realizing that a living space can be very different than the one we grew up in and are used to.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Sustainable Features and Environmental Design Goals The substantial damage to the environment in traditional on-land construction happens immediately at the start of the project; plants must be removed from greenfields that, in turn, impacts the natural nesting habitat of wildlife. In urban sites the construction debris associated with demolition and remodel of an existing building typically adds to the global refuse problem. Houseboats, as opposed to traditional homes, have no foundations that permanently impact the land. They can be moved from one dock to another to allow the shaded land underneath them to recover. Houseboats can be disassembled and transported to another location in a different city. The environmental goal of this project is to give Tafoni owners the flexibility and options that are invaluable in an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Local Inspiration from the California Coast The natural flora and fauna of the California coast provided inspirations for the project. First among them is a tafoni rock formation. Tafoni Tafoni are beautiful naturally occurring sculptures of stone, commonly sandstones. These extraordinary rock formations are hypothesized to be results of salt weathering. It is a unique phenomenon that is common along the Northern California shore in such locations as Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County. Their diversity and simple geometric beauty is astounding, shaping the design of the houseboat.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Pebble & Wave Other important inspirations are the simplicity of coastal pebbles and the beauty of ocean waves. The furniture and casework in the Tafoni project are entirely inspired by smooth, oval-like pebbles polished by the water. Also, the sleeping area features an ocean wave wrapping around the bed formed by the additional curved interior wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom area. The floor pattern references the linear graphics found on California coastal pebbles.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Circulation & Space The basic spatial concept is simple and minimal; in plan view the sculptural tafoni-inspired exterior and interior feature walls divide the space into three major parts: kitchen, living area and bedroom/ bathroom/closet area. The middle part consists of a fully glazed sunroom that contains the kitchen, dining area and the main entrance to the boat. The front part of the houseboat is occupied by a living room and the back part contains a bedroom. Both of these areas feature views of the Bay framed by tafoni-shaped windows. There are no full-height interior walls with the exception of the bathroom and walk-in closet.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Sustainable Structure The house The framing of the houseboat consists of the modular repetitive ellipsoidal wooden trusses that can be mass-produced to conserve resources and energy. The ellipsoidal shape of these structural elements allows for a large spanning capacity, thus eliminating the need for additional walls and columns that would cram the space inside affecting the quality of the interior space.
Tafoni Floating Home, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement Floating pontoon The floating pontoon for this houseboat can be made out of variety of materials, including fiberglass or concrete, depending on a specific location of the houseboat. In the exemplary location in Sausalito, the preferred option is a prefabricated concrete pontoon that has a high strength, durability and carrying capacity while requiring little maintenance. One of the characteristics of the San Francisco Bay is a constant change in the water level caused by high and low tide. The pontoon needs to have a sturdy structure and an ability to take the ground. Concrete is a durable and inexpensive construction material utilizing aggregate that can be harvested locally additionally contributing to the sustainability of this project.
Tafoni Floating Home - Floor plan, rendering courtesy of Joanna Borek-Clement + Project credits / dataProject: Tafoni Floating Home
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"Fake Hills", an Imposing Residential Project by Mad Architects
More and more Eco projects are built lately, but we rarely see homes or giant structures that resemble elements of nature. Today we have a residential “delight” for you: a huge project that involves hundreds of apartments and that somehow imitates the shape of natural hills. “Fake Hills” comes from MAD architects and is located on the coast of Beihai, a city in- you probably guessed it by now- China. The construction will probably soon become the landmark of the city, due to its impressive dimensions and original shape. Its location near the water is also a strong feature. Momentarily under construction, the building site has 492,369sqm, a striking figure. Even though there is a large need for living space in China, the idea of a man-made concrete hill is a little extreme, as it takes away some of the beauty and magic of the real thing. -via
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