modern living: Powerhouse’s villa1

Not for the shy of heart, Powerhouse’s award-winning modern marvel of transparency, clean minimalist lines, and excruciatingly beautiful details is enough to make even Philip Johnson proud.

+ More pictures here.

Foster’s humble boat

Wait, Foster + Partners are now designing boats?!?  It appears that they are, for YachtPlus “fractional yacht ownership made easy”.  Ahhhh, time share for a boat!  Plus you won’t have to worry all the troubles that come at sea.  Instead you can enjoy the corporate luxury interiors:

Very Foster-ish indeed.  My favorite are the construction photos.  Since when did boats need so many wires?

Finally a boat for those who hate everything about boating.  Actually this is a nice boat that I would love to spend a day on. I think the exterior has the interior beat, by far! more.

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artist census

Interesting read on artists in America: (link)

concrete art

I love doing more with less; and, when done correctly, I love bare concrete floors. And that’s why I’m drawn to Concrete Art by Transparent House, a 3D Visualization studio. It’s a way to add interest to an otherwise stoic and cold surface.

The flowing floral is concept only; the etching process can accommodate just about any design.

I’m a big proponent of finished concrete floors (when appropriate). Conceptually, I relish the raw nature of it; sustainably it eliminates the use of materials, adhesives, and labor to lay down flooring material.

+ via: TrendsNow

skyline change-up

Hooray!!!! I am in love with the Brooklyn Bridge but have never EVER liked the big Verizon billboard in the background messing up my view and my photos. It looks as though change is brewing with a new all glass “iconic downtown office building”.

Cook + Fox can be credited with the glass make over. Although the diagrid structure and the mullion system appears a little heavy to me, the new building (skin) is warmly welcome in my eyes. Goodbye, Verizon sign!

+more from curbed and the NYpost

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transforming windows to balconies

With the Bloomframe, the push of a button can transform your living space from interior to exterior.

The winner of a 2008 Red Dot Design Award, Bloomframe, by designers Hofman Dujardin Architects, will be available to buy sometime early this year. Designs can be customized and made to order.

Flexibility is a buzzword in modern and sustainable design and Bloomframe provides an excellent design option for architects in high-density residential design. Architects will be interested in the ever changing nature of a facade. Owners will enjoy the fresh air and light without the cost of a balcony.

+More about Bloomframe
+via Dexigner
+Red Dot Design Awards

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record houses 2008

So after perusing Record houses 2008, here are my favorites:

Dairy House by Skene Catling de la Pena:

Palmyra House by Studio Mumbai Architects:

VH r-10 House designed by Darren Petrucci:

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new MG H2O store

Richard Hutten has designed a new MG H2O store in Rotterdam. It caught our eye because it almost appears as though the store is an installation. It kind of reminds me of shopping in an attic, it would be great for vintage wear. The upper loft looks a little un-sturdy which adds to the character of the store. You could never get away with a store like this in the states as there are no railings.

It seems as if we are seeing a lot of storage stairs lately and MG H2O has another great one. Using the stairs as a storage display rather than creating a dead space to jam a closet into is a much better response to the problem of unoccupiable space.

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{via: designnws}

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shigeru ban @ auction

The Paper Tea House by architect Shigeru Ban is at auction today in London. It’s made of square paper tubes and cardboard.

{read more}

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passive in the round

Introducing one of Sweden’s first pre-fabricated passive homes, designed by Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture. Clearly derived from traditional courtyard houses, Villa Atrium uses time-tested concepts to allow for lots of cross-ventilation and natural light.

Cross ventilation becomes possible because of the narrow band of space between exterior walls. Sunlight is also allowed in both sides, greatly reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day.

The exterior walls are thick, providing thermal mass for greater insulation and temperature lag. The atrium is kept small to reduce the inefficiency of the circle. In other words, walking from one side to the other is kept to a minimum distance. The flip side of this is that the atrium probably doesn’t get direct light for much of the day. During the summer this can be beneficial.

As an approach to passive design, there isn’t any new advancements here. But it is a novel design punctuated by the fact it is a donut. But the donut/courtyard concept has one major flaw that isn’t conducive to cold climates (Sweden is in one). That flaw is that it creates much more exterior wall which means during the winter there is more heat loss. It will also cost more money for insulation.

All in all, it’s an advancement to a growing trend – prefab homes. And I look forward to learning more about its development.

+ via: Dezeen