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Poor man's La-z-boy
Last month, we learned about Adriean Koleric's Edith Mailbox and liked its style. We decided to check back in and see what was up with the site and went looking for any new product updates/info. The site is still under construction but the background image caught our attention. Being the curious blokes that we are, we fired off an email to Adrien to get the scoop on the new design. Here's what we heard back:
"The piece you're asking about is called 'SUGAR'. It's an adjustable lounger that's upholstered in vinyl over 3" foam. The yellow/orange band in the middle has a textured finish like scales on a fish, the white is a typical smooth texture. The pipe in the back acts as a support which fits into either of the 2 openings to create a laid back setting or more of an upright. I sometimes refer to it as a 'poor mans la-z-boy'. The pipe itself is pvc wrapped in vinyl as well. I also use it as a magazine holder."
Along with the updated website, Adriean will be adding a few more pieces to I T E M's product lineup in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for them. We certainly will.
Link: I T E M
Related: Edit Mailbox (L+L)
Engineering simplicity in faucet design
When designing a kitchen every decision can be agonizing and time consuming, so why complicate things? Sometimes simplicity rules, and in this regard Newform faucets stand out. Newform pares down the faucet to its most basic form, and then exploits the angles with details that are conspicuously constructivist. Handles that operate left to right instead of back to front, and spouts that jut out at 90 degrees are just some of the differences between Newform and the competition.
Keep in mind that this is not your hardware store variety faucet, but then again the price-point isn't either and may be a little difficult to track down in some areas. Newform is a manufacturer that does not rely on embellishment to sell their products, but rather focuses on the engineering, a process that produces simple and elegant designs.
Link: Newform
"An urban strip extending use over time"
Located in the South London suburb of Tulse Hill, Brixton, the school acts as a community hub both visually and physically. The original project brief called for a building of high quality to house a complex program of multiple educational needs.
The building employs sustainable design features including natural ventilation via wind chimneys, natural lighting, a green roof planted with sedum and an insulation material made from recycled newspaper.
The school was created with a total design approach pairing architects AHMM with Martin Richman (an artist known for his work with light manipulation), furniture designer Andrew Stafford, and graphic designer Morag Myerscough.
Link: Better Public Buildings
Link: School Works Lessons From Jubilee School (pdf)
Article: BBC - Lessons of a well-designed school
Photo Gallery: BBC In Pictures: Jubilee school
Architecture Firm: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM)
Furniture Design: Andrew Stafford
Artist: Martin Richman
Graphic Design: Studio Myerscough
Stainless steel bathtubs
Looking for a bathtub that is sustainable, easy to maintain and drop dead gorgeous? Stainless steel might be just what you are looking for. Stainless steel tubs come in a variety of shapes and styles that can be paired with other materials like enamel and wood. They are a good conductor of heat, and will keep the water warmer for an extended period of time. They are also corrosion resistant and should not rust. Stainless steel tubs are not mass produced, so they can be expensive and many people opt for having them custom made to suit their needs. Stainless tubs are generally in the $7,000 to $17,000+ (US) range, which is not exactly pocket change, but if you are looking for something sustainable, durable and different it might just be worth the investment.
Link: Agape
Link: Diamond Spas
Link: Neo-Metro
Our quick summary of the last day
The last day of CA Boom 3 brought back the sunshine to our deprived LA architourists. The focus of the day was prefab and other alternative building methods, and we were not disappointed.
From a butler structure that will house a single family dwelling (and is supposed to be finished at a cost of $130 a foot), to an elevated, very clean "Swiss" abode, to a beautifully restored ranch house with an ecologically-sound terraced garden behind it... then a huge loft, above the architects' office, in the architects' building, and, last but not least, two very interesting variations of a prefab building solution.
The last day was a worthy epilogue to a great overall event, with the organizers focusing on innovative and future oriented technologies, building techniques and ideas about architecture as a whole.
Thanks, do stay tuned for more in depth product features etc. in the next few days, and we look forward to next year's event!
HGTV brings the sweat !
Design Interns is the latest reality based design program hitting airwaves this season on HGTV. The show features 12 'brilliant' young talents competing against one another to win a job at renowned Toronto design outfit Cecconi Simone inc.
Design tasks thus far have included condo planning, retail fixture prototyping, company identity and a multi-use shopping bag. All of which has resulted in 4 of the contestants being eliminated so far.
All in all I have to say I get abit queesy watching the show due to the fact that i've worked in similar environments and to be honest, hated it. The emotionless stares and cold interaction from Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone are all too familiar to most up and comers in the design world. Just watching these two pros dismantle young egos in their standard issue black attire is enough to make me wake in the middle of the night crying. Brother, these gals mean business and are not afraid to draw Intern blood to get the job done !
As for the Interns themselves, it's pretty well what you'd expect. Most consider themselves accomplished designers looking for that "chance to shine and prove you all wrong" route which is actually quite funny when you know that Cecconi and Simone are in the boardroom waiting to feast upon these wide eyed souls. Pure Shakespeare !
Bottom line it really is a great show that gives the viewer a taste of what it's like to work for a high tempo design outfit. The hours are long, deadlines are unrealistic and you swear your boss is a practicing Sith Lord. Though I myself couldn't hack the pace, I have to give my props to those in the grind who are hopefully still in it for the love of design.
Link: Design Interns / HGTV
Link: Cecconi Simone inc.
Morphosis wins 2012 NYC Olympic Village design competition
We have been looking at these images for some time, but it didn't click until yesterday when we came across a photo tour of Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. The Morphosis design seems to us to take many cues from Corbu; the plan for Algiers also came to mind. Thus we decided to post an entry about Corbu's Marseille project, and to follow up today with a feature on the Morphosis Olympic Village.
Our design for the Village establishes an iconic landmark and proposes an innovative vision for a 21st century urban environment that will redefine contemporary urban living through its commitment to sustainability, connectivity and interdependence. It is our intent to transform Hunters Point into a revitalized “new territory” that will leave an important legacy, or gift, to the city, while also providing the new generative tissue, or architectural DNA, that will continue to stimulate and inspire the development of the Queens area.
With 43 acres of open space reserved for both urban and natural parkland, this development’s greens will create the largest urban waterfront park in New York City. By working carefully and deliberately to sculpt land and building forms into a coherent relationship with the existing urban fabric and naturally advantageous site conditions, we will create a vibrant new neighborhood that will become an important stimulus for creative and optimistic development of the adjacent urban areas for years to come.
Link: NYC 2012 press release (Morphosis announced competition winner)
Link: NYC 2012 (finalists)
Link: New Yorkled (images of Morphosis design)
Firm: Morphosis
Modern housing "community without comformity" in Southampton, New York
The first group of houses is under construction and "Sagaponac House-43" by Hariri & Hariri has just been completed.
The Houses at Sagaponac is a residential development in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York. It is a sort of who's who gallery of starchitects all building in the same neighborhood. The idea is to create something in contrast to the recent proliferation of shingle style "McMansions" inspired by another starchitect with a more historicist bent, Robert A. M. Stern.
The houses themselves are all designed to create modest, functional, single-family living spaces from 2,000 to 4,500 square feet that are environmentally conscious without compromising artistic vision.
Apparently $1.4 - 2.9 million for a house is modest in the Hamptons... anyway, there are some cool designs to be built and we applaud the landscape plan for the development which emphasizes indigenous vegetation and eschews planting of vast ornamental lawns.
Via: Architectural Record
Link: Houses at Sagaponac
Firm: Hariri and Hariri Architecture
1960's California stucco box house updated on a budget
Updated and refreshed on a budget, this house in San Gabriel, California is an example of significant cosmetic transformation on a budget... specifically my budget.
Building on the simple stucco box form, the design is clean, modern and simple. Throughout the house and property, the key was to get the most bang for the buck by using a minimal palette of materials and to reuse much of the existing material on site.
Design: Studio J2L
Crocker Park, another faux town is born outside of Cleveland, Ohio
It's a mall. Another mall. It isn't even an old town center that has been revitalized and has mall-like characteristics. It's another mall themed as a town. And yes... it's another post about lifestyle centers. Sheesh, why don't we give it a rest already?!
Because the "lifestyle center" continues to spawn and spread across the country... and the more that open, the more alarmed the we are by the trend. The Plain Dealer features a critical look at the good and the bad of Crocker Park in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. The article touches on many of the same issues that we have been stewing over in recent commentary posts.
Article: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland.com - Westlake's new center, half-done, feels hollow
Link: Crocker Park
Firm: Bialosky + Partners Architects
Via: Archinect
Reference: Reality bites (Land+Living)
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part I (Land+Living)
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part I (Land+Living)
Design / build remodel of industrial space into loft apartments in Tel Aviv
Designed and built by Tel Aviv, Israel based partnership U-I, Avi Laiser and Amir Shwarz, the lofts were built in an old diamond polishing factory that was vacant for more than 10 years. The project is aimed at a young population who look for contemporary rental spaces in the center of Tel Aviv’s business/industrial district, and desire a creative lifestyle.
The lofts were built on a very low budget in a speed time of 4 months using a flexible wall construction method that allows joining two spaces or more to create larger spaces in the future. The polished concrete floors are continuous and each unit got a colored wall or box that defines the usages of the open space. Right now the project is fully occupied with happy tenants.
UPDATE (7-29-09): Avi Laiser now has his own firm AR/Arch. We're not sure what Amir is up to these days.
Eminent landscape architect Robert Murase, FASLA, passes away
The positioning of stone in the landscape is an ancient and sacred tradition and has always interested me - from the stone walls and megaliths in Europe - to stone gardens in Japan.
• Robert Murase
We would like to pay tribute to the life of distinguished landscape architect Robert Murase who passed away suddenly this week. An article by Randy Gragg in The Oregonian chronicles Mr. Murase's life and career.
Article: The Oregonian - Robert Murase dies at age 66
Firm: Murase Associates, Inc.
Via: The Dirt [Thank you, Dave]
Ready-made living units from South Africa
OK prefab junkies, here is your exotic South African prefab fix. Though we saw a bunch of prefab at CA Boom, it was basically stuff we had seen before, but this wasn't there, and it is new to us.
Designed by architect Eric Bigot, the concept behind the company is to make building a house as simple as buying a car. The concept behind the design is simplified minimal mode of living in a space 3.4 meters wide. The design is expandable from a studio unit at 6 meters in length up to a 2 bed/2 bath sized home at 23.6 meters long as well as variations in between. Conceivably a double-wide configuration of units is possible as well.
Link: ZenKaya [Thanks, Dave!]
Prefab site installation
As Clipped earlier, the prefab home designed by Ray Kappe for Living Homes is being installed in Santa Monica, California today, and we have lots of pictures (after the jump).
If there ever was a cool, day-time non-planned architecture party, then this was it! A bunch of SCI-Arc and UCLA alumni standing around in the sun, "oooing" and "awwwing" over witnessing the structural frame and panels being hoisted over our heads into place by a huge crane, and placed onto a slab with more level changes than the Villa Malaparte! The possibilities are great for this, and once economies of scale are allowed to take place, man could this change the industry and the profession as a whole! Will it? Who knows, but congratulations, Ray, for again pointing us in a new and exciting direction! The design is beautiful, and it will surely give prefab a whole new image in the future.
Link: Living Homes Webcam
Previously: Prefab According to Kappe (L+L)
Stand-up job from the UK
You know Marcel Duchamp would love to get his signature on this bad boy.
UK based Philip Watts Design breathes life into the 'loo' with a new urinal design entitled SPOON.
Finished using stove enamelling, this solid cast aluminum piece is just that...solid.
Link: Philip Watts Design
In Appreciation of the Stylists of America
"A Tribute to the Men and Women, Who Design" from 1958. Awesome.
Land+Living in the New York Times
We've hit the big time now. Will you still love us when we're in our "carbohydrate, sequined-jumpsuit, young-girls-in-white-cotton-panties, waking-up-in-a-pool-of-your-own-vomit, bloated-purple-dead-on-a-toilet phase?" Because, you know, it's all just a matter of time now.
Land+Living gets a quick mention in an article by Lockhart Steele about design blogs in the New York Times Home & Garden section. And it has already gone to our heads. So, what are you waiting for? Go read it already!
EDIT - Oh, and we should mention, while the article implies that our focus is landscape design, you can see that we cover a wide range of topics. That said, we are dedicated to covering landscape design, objects and ideas.
Article: NY Times - Hot Off the Web: Gossip and Guidance (alternate link)
Not your dad's firepit
Ever wonder what happens to old decommissioned propane tanks? We always did (well, not really, but we wish we could say we did). On that note, John T. Unger did and he did something we could only dream of doing: He cuts them up and makes one very cool fire pit out of them. With flames no less. Flames, so hot right now. We're diggin' it John!
"The Great Bowl of Fire is cut from quarter inch thick steel— you could hit it with a car and it wouldn't notice. Your car would though, so I don't really recommend such extreme product testing. A better idea might be to chuck it off the roof, but please be careful getting it up there, it's very heavy."
Link: Artbuzz [Thanks, John!]
A bed that goes out to catch some sun
I've always thought of a day bed as a piece of furniture that is a lounge seat by day and a bed by night. José Gandia takes the term a little more literally. This is a bed for high noon on the beach or in the backyard. The 80" cubic canopy is a picture of luxurious simplicity, surrounded on all sides but completely open to light and air. The frame is made of anodized aluminum, with removable panel upholstery and a polyuretane foam mattress. (We hope pieces like these will soon meet their "eco" alter ego.) This is the item you were imagining all those times you tried to make a tent with tapestries and giant umbrellas. Now if only it came with the Spanish coastal backdrop.
Link: Gandia Blasco
Via: LifestyleNavigator
Engineering storage
The Sinimet Collection from Cortex Design is designed to provide attractive, functional and durable storage. The Sinimet storage cart is ideal for office and studio use. It has an automotive coating on the top and bottom that provides a unique finish and quality detailing. The ample storage and strength of drawers can handle everyday items, but it is also suitable for bulkier pieces like power tools. The Sinimet credenza and filing cabinet are a nice companion with beautifully engineered details and corners that are currently available in three retro colours. Cortex Design is a an industrial design company located in Toronto that provides functional prototypes and new products for the consumer, industrial and contract furniture markets.
Link: Cortex Design
Topographic sculptures and installations
London based artist Joanna Sands bridges the realms of art and architecture by creating contextual sculptures which challenge and inform the perception of space. She began making large temporary sculptural installations in abandoned buildings in 1993, often using found materials. The use of dilapidated structures as a canvas brings to mind the work of Gordon Matta-Clark - the appropriation and investigation of cast off places. By making visually simple alterations to found spaces, Joanna subverts the spatial expectations of the viewer. These early pieces were ephemeral: constructed, documented, experienced as the venue for a "viewing" party, and then dismantled.
More recently, Sands has begun to undertake commissions for permanent installations and has displayed some of the research models developed in the course of designing her site-specific work. The piece shown at right is located in Joanna's own studio.
Sands' work will be on exhibition 20th May to 10th June at the Optician Gallery in London.
Link: Joanna Sands
Norway Kicks Ass!
Take a moment and check out Norway's Ida Maria and her brilliant single 'Oh My God'.
Trust me on this one. It'll change your life.
Link: Ida Maria Myspace
Another budget bullseye from Target
"Taking an outdoor shower can be so refreshing––and with this shower, it’s so easy! Just attach a garden hose to enjoy open-air bathing. Perfect for spa lovers or for cleaning up the kids after playing outdoors, the shower is made of striking yet sturdy nyatoh wood, a fine-textured Indonesian redwood. Its sleek, simple design features a large wood base, handy soap tray, easy-to-turn knob, adjustable pole and showerhead in brushed chrome finish."
Link: Target.com
Via: Dwell Magazine (print edition)
Reference: Outdoor Shower, Part II
Mobil garden for a Venice rental
"Sure, it seems crazy dropping cash to spruce up a place you rent, especially when you plan to move, well, one of these years, after you've saved enough dough for a down payment. But where is it written that just because you live lease to lease, you have to put up with peeling paint, closet doors that don't close, refrigerators that reek -- or even a dusty, desolate, debris-strewn excuse for a yard?"
Via: Budget Living
Designer: Russ Cletta - Estate Gardens
All Photos © Deborah Jaffe
Updated 03/28/07
Tote bags made from recycled plastic milk crates
Two size are available (basic and laptop) in a range of milk crate colors. We dig it.
Link: Thingsmatter
Via: Archinect
A great home with an unfortunate name by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
We really like this cabin... despite its name... and we are not alone as it was granted with an honor award by the American Institute of Architects this year. This resembles no "cabin" we have ever seen, but with the elemental form and use of simple materials, the moniker seems very appropriate. The design is certainly bold, but we think that it fits nicely within its surroundings. And check out that view... we can conceive of no finer picture frame. Plus, we just want to play with that door.
Firm: Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
Link: 2004 AIA Honor Award
Designer/fabricators of custom enviro-friendly furnishings/objects
We like the work and playful spirit of this New York based design-build firm.
Brave Space is a triad of independent minded designer/fabricators with the goal of bringing you modular, multi-functional, and durable objects. We design custom furniture for the home and office setting. Our form follows function and our pricing follows integrity.
Link: Brave Space
Seriously sexy supermarkets
We've mentioned our penchant for modern alpine architecture before, and this just gets us going on a Monday morning. It is always nice to see good design applied to common places of experience like grocery stores, and Austrian supermarket chain MPreis has set he bar very high.
MPries is a regional chain in Austria's Tyrol valley, and many of the 30 different architecture firms they have worked with are Tyrolean natives. MPries does not have set corporate design guidelines allowing each store to be site specific and unique.... and sexy.
Link: MPreis
Via: Guardian Unlimited - Happy shopper
Update 10/31/05: Seeing MPreis (L+L)
Bold moves, bold colours, bold design.
The new Pop Series guitars from RKS take guitar lust to a whole new level. These brightly coloured electric beauties carry the names Rockwork Orange, Pink Lipstick and Fine Lime are hand-crafted from maple and alder, and have CNC machine aircraft aluminum alloy ribs with chrome hardware finishes.
Founded by industrial designer Ravi Sawhney and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dave Mason this young company takes design, quality and sustainability seriously. In a recent move driven by the concern surrounding the use of non-renewable materials for their guitars, RKS tried to reduce the total amount of tone wood typically used in guitar production, and then sought domestic woods instead of opting for the more traditional rain forest varieties. The result is as good for the environment, as it is music to the ears.
Link: RKS Guitars
Via: BusinessWeek Online
Rachel brings us the funk
Over in the comment section of our Dwell post, L+L reader Rachel challenged Dwell to "bring on the funk." We got in touch with her and sure enough, the funk be brought. Here's Rachel's take on Chair Couture:
While it's great to have a cool, crisp, carefully delineated living space, full of machined surfaces, clad in the colors of nature,
sometimes even the most ardent minimalist craves a shock. Margaret Elman's Chair Couture takes vintage chair frames (more Louie, Louie than Louis XVI) and dolls them up with paint, gilding, and gaudy fabrics.
The result--seating that calls for cocktails One blast of an aqua bergère will turn even the most Zen space into a lava lounge.
If Elman's creations are too much for those with major taste but minimal funds, a brisk tour of 2nd-hand shops might turn up a chair that just needs a jolt of color. Try an auto painting shop, (Candy Apple Red), and grab a staple gun. And then--relax and mix a Tequila Sunrise to match your settee. If you spill--trust me, no will notice.
I think Rachel's going to fit in rather nicely around here.
Link: Chair Couture [Thanks, Rachel!]
