Sure it costs more, but is it really that much better?
Earlier this month, we featured an outdoor shower that is being sold at Target. Today, we came across a similiar item being sold at Restoration Hardware.
"After a dip in the ocean, lake or pool, a rinse-off in this outdoor shower will wash away salt, silt or chlorine, and keep bare feet from transferring half the beach into the house. Constructed of durable, water-loving teak.
Features include:
Solid brass plumbing
Hardware has a satin-nickel finish
Built-in shelf holds soap and shampoo
Slatted platform provides a comfortable, puddle-free place to stand
Hooks up to an existing outdoor tap with a hose connector (not included)"
Link: Restoration Hardware
Link: Industrial Strength Woodworking
Reference: Outdoor Shower
Between Architecture and Landscape
Inside/Outside (By Anita Berrizbeitia, Linda Pollak) constructs frameworks of interpretation for architecture and landscape architecture, and discloses relations between them which are normally overlooked.
Five intriguing "operations"-- reciprocity, materiality, threshold, insertion, and infrastructure-each initiate an alternative way of looking at the construction and representation of relationships between architecture, landscape, city, and individuals. Twenty-four projects each contribute in a unique way to the definition of an operation.
Included in this book are an exciting mix of well- and lesser-known late modern and contemporary projects from such noted talents as Frank O. Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Carmen Pinos and Enric Miralles, Louis Kahn, Maarten Struijs and Joop Schilperoord, and more.
Link: Barnes and Noble
Architecture community launches new version of website
The architecture community website started in 1997 by Paul Petrunia lanched a redesigned site today."Welcome to Archinect v2.0. The "2" stands for the 2nd version, the long overdue redesign of the original Archinect from 1997. The ".0" stands for the first iteration of this new version. There still a lot of details that needs be worked out but I'll let you all play around for a while before I start the tweaking process. Comments and feedback are alway appreciated - they can be sent to us from the "contact us" link at the top of the page, or the "about us" section. I will provide much more information about this redesign in the coming days."
From what we've seen so far, they've done an outstanding job. Now, if they'd only get their RSS feed fixed.....
Link: Archinect
Innovative bath fixtures from Dornbracht
"META means “right in the center” and META is right in the center of a metamorphosis thanks to its innovative modular system. It formulates a progressive statement in its objective formal language. A geometric order of long-lasting value."
Link: Dornbracht
Designer: Sieger-Design
Modern aesthetics with true sustainability.
"True Sustainability - We believe that true sustainability strikes a balance between process and materials to make a minimal impact on the environment. To achieve this, we take
painstaking care in our choice of materials, the process by which fabrics are made, and even how our interior furnishings go to market. We also use water-based inks, recycled paper stock and FSC (forestry stuardship council) approved paper products for our printed material."
Link: Looolo Textiles
Outdoor/indoor furniture by Belgian designer Mathias Claerhout
We like the simple materials and delicate lines of the Deckhopper, an adjustable lounge chair for use indoors or out. Claerhout has also designed several accessory pieces which vary from the practical (Side Table) to the whimsical (Lightsprinkler).
Link: Mathias Claerhout
Cool your water the natural way.
"This innovative product cools water to twelve to fifteen degrees below room temperature, or retains the chill in previously refridgerated water, through the natural evaporative process of terra cotta. For centuries terra cotta has been used for decorative pottery as well as to create utilitarian vessels for food and water. Made of all natural materials, the terra cotta carafe leaches no harmful chemicals into your drinking water. Comes complete with a matching, non-porous plastic, drip tray and cap. 4"dx9"h,2.5 lbs. There is a plastic stopper and there is a plastic tray. Since it is Terra Cotta it will leach."
Link: Green Home
Public gardens in northwest Ohio.
So... you're going to Cleveland... we don't need to know why (family, wedding, business... pleasure?!, whatever). Instead of sending our sympathies, we decided to pass along this list of gardens to visit while doing your time.
Link: Cleveland.com
Disclaimer: We really don't have a problem with Cleveland. We are just poking fun lightheartedly for some cheap amusement. Viva Cleveland!
Modular Kitchens
"Chef is Driade's kitchen project. Started in 1978, it has been constantly updated by Antonia Astori. The number of possible combinations and variety of fittings provide a full range of possible solutions from kitchenettes, through solutions integral with living spaces, to large professional kitchens. Although Chef divides into 2 programmes of differing aesthetic and structural characteristics, the two can be readily combined: Kucina has developed from a virtually infinite modular system. It consists of bases, wall and tall units, with matching hanging bar and other wallfittings. Fuoko is a collection of bases, wall and free standing units which, as definitive furniture can also be employed as individual pieces in their own right. These can be used freely grouped between them, individually or in blocks. They have aluminium structures, standing on levelling feet or on wheels."
Link: Driade Chef
Bentwood and more
We stumbled across this website tonight. There isn't much info on the site describing the products, but some of the pieces look fantastic. Among the collections are tables, seating, storage, and sofas.
Link: Simon James Design
Online sustainable design tool
"Knock, knock. The Green Matrix has you, Neo." Sorry... bad, bad, bad.
Bay Area architecture firm, Ratcliff, has developed a web based green design tool. Developed as a professional resource for the firm, the Green Matrix cross-references "topics of sustainability with the standard phases of project design" and provides informative links and references.
Ratcliff is currently sharing this information generously as a public service.
Link: Green Matrix
Link: Ratcliff Architecture, Planning, Interiors
Reinventing Outdoor Space
"Landscape architecture today is one of the most active and revolutionary areas of design. With environmental awareness at an all-time high, landscape designers are reshaping our surroundings, from small-scale private gardens to large-scale public squares. Drawing on a broad palette of ideas and concepts, and presenting entirely new ways of seeing, interpreting, and designing a "landscape," the book is organized into seven themes that comprise today's most important issues and techniques: light and color, movement, order and objects, interaction, new contexts, urban interventions, and narrative. Each chapter is illustrated with works by such internationally known designers and architects as Fernando Caruncho, Adriaan Geuze, Janis Hall, Reiser + Umemoto, Peter Walker, and Makoto Sei Watanabe."
Link: Barnes & Noble
The Simon Wiesenthal Center unveils plans for the Center for Human Dignity, Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.
Are you suffering from Frank Gehry withdrawals? Not to fear, his projects are still sprouting up everywhere these days.
The commanding campus will include the Museum of Tolerance, a Theater complex, an International Conference Center, a Grand Hall and an Education Center and Library. The Center is forecast to become a stimulant for the economic, cultural, and educational growth, as well as a boost to tourism resources of the city and is expected to be completed in 2006/7.
Link: Museum of Tolerance
Link: PDF Brochure (large file)
Integrated washbasins.
"Agape was formed in 1973 with a specific mission: the design of fittings for the bathroom. The proved to be a far-sighted decision, as the bathroom was at the time relegated to minor status within the home, a space characterised by the presence of utilitarian sanitary fixtures, only occasionally lightened by decorative touches in the design of ceramic tiles.
Agape immediately focused on the washbasin, conceived with unprecedented versatility and flexibility of use. Designs for integrated cabinets and continuous worktops enabled the wash-place to become more flexible and efficient, whereas the basin as a single isolated object is re-valued so that it acquires a specific role within the bathroom."
Link: Agape Design
Stainless steel and teak garden furniture.
"Gargantua is a multifunctional piece of garden furniture, made of durable materials: galvanised metal, stainless steel and teak.
Gargantua offers 4 benches and place for 8 persons. Each bench can be placed on 4 different heights: normal sitting height, teenagers height, children’s height or all benches at the top (then it is turned into a giant table offering place for 12 persons). The benches can be taken away to make place for wheelchair or a highchair. Now also available as option: cushions & backrests. The backrest can also easily fitted to the existing model."
Link: Extremis
Designer: Dirk Wynants
Do-it-yourself outdoor chair - "a modernist update of the Adirondack chair"
Here's a little project for you to tackle this weekend: The Sunset Chair. Not too sure about the little decorative diamond shaped cutouts on the chair back... we're thinking of just skipping that step. Designed by architect Stephen Kanner for Sunset Magazine.
Via: Sunset Magazine
Plans: The Sunset Chair
Designer: Stephen Kanner: Kanner Architects
Jackie Terrell fell into interior design out of necessity. The former painter reinvented her life and living space with a fuss-free chic that relies on creativity, not cash.
Los Angeles interior designer Jackie Terrell and her Park La Brea apartment featured in the Home section of the LA Times.
In the earnest, too often self-important world of interior design, Jackie Terrell's irreverent take has helped her stand out.
Her three-bedroom apartment works as an airy artist's statement against excess, and as a ringing endorsement for cleverness over cash.
Link: Los Angeles Times
See also: Doing more with less
Beautifully simple and functional glass teapot and cups
"The tea lantern by Todd MacAllen and Stephanie Forsythe is clearly a model of product design in the great tradition of Mies and Jacobsen. The Canadian designers have used latest glass technology to create a transparent teapot with an integral vacuum jacket, which conserves heat and allows the simple cylinder to be picked up by hand."
The Architectural Review, ar+d awards 2002 - highly commended
Link: Molo
Via: A Daily Dose of Architecture
Designers: Forsythe + MacAllen Design
Plywood and steel. What more could you ask for?
Lounge chair with matte chromed steel frame. Curved seat and arms in plywood, blanched oak or oak stained dark walnut.
Link: LAAKA
Designer: Karri Monni
The Original Prefab?
"From 1908–1940, Sears, Roebuck and Company sold more than 100,000 homes through their mail-order Modern Homes program. Over that time Sears designed 447 different housing styles, from the elaborate multistory Ivanhoe, with its elegant French doors and art glass windows, to the simpler Goldenrod, which served as a quaint, three-room and no-bath cottage for summer vacationers. (An outhouse could be purchased separately for Goldenrod and similar cottage dwellers.) Customers could choose a house to suit their individual tastes and budgets."
"Sears was not an innovative home designer. Sears was instead a very able follower of popular home designs but with the added advantage of modifying houses and hardware according to buyer tastes. Individuals could even design their own homes and submit the blueprints to Sears, which would then ship off the appropriate precut and fitted materials, putting the home owner in full creative control. Modern Home customers had the freedom to build their own dream houses, and Sears helped realize these dreams through quality custom design and favorable financing."
Via: Things Magazine
Link: Sears Archive
The Kitchen: Their Specialty
"We come from two generations of kitchen manufacturing. and have designed thousands of these spaces. We can provide cabinetry to meet any material specification; woods, lacquers, and laminates- anything imaginable- as well as any countertop material available on the market."
Kitchen designs come in three styles:
Moderno Design
New Classic
Classico
Link: NY Loft
"High speed Milky Way 21"
"I really can't believe that we ever survived before this device was invented, but here it is:
Toshiba's Bluetooth Clothes Washer/Dryer.
To quote the Bluetooth SIG:
"This washer-dryer can download the washer/dryer software for new clothes from the home terminal and it can be carried out. When this washer-dryer breaks down, an error code is transmitted to the home terminal, and the correspondence method is expressed in the home terminal."
Let's hope that was a translation from Japanese by some automated system, because I have no idea what the heck they are talking about. But I still want one. I certainly need to know that the machine that is cleaning the clothes I depend on every day can express the proper correspondence method, and so far I have yet to see another machine that claims to be able to do it....
The device is only going to be made available in Asia for now. You can try your luck at finding more information on Toshiba Japan's website."
Via: MobileBurn.com
Link: Toshiba Japan
Link: Babelfish Translation
Modernist quilts by San Francisco Bay Area artist and graphic designer Sushma Patel-Bould
"Modernist quilting," who knew there was such a thing? "Traditional craft meets minimalist design."
The geometric, bold colored and handcrafted inaugural collection is called Bauhaus. Wall hanging, napping, and bed quilt sizes are available. Dare we call it a modern heirloom?!
Link: Sushma Quilts
Ecosmart Materials
"The Rematerialise vision is to compile and maintain a versatile collection of 'Eco-Smart' materials, which by their very
nature provide a range of environmentally responsible alternatives to other resource hungry materials. By tapping into
both post-consumer and post-industrial waste streams, scrap and refuse otherwise destined for landfill is recycled and
reused which reduces waste and maybe more importantly saves natural resources. It is unfortunate that many of
these often-exciting new materials never make it into the wider market place and are tragically discontinued. Due to
a lack of demand they just disappear!"
Link: Rematerialise
Best practice examples of a high-performance, sustainable design approach.
"The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected 10 examples of architectural and "green" design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The selected projects address significant environmental challenges with designs that integrate architecture, technology, and natural systems. The top ten projects make a positive contribution to their community, improve comfort for building occupants, and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as: reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact site development, energy and water conservation, use of "green" construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality."
Link: AIA Top Ten
We go to Dwell to find the answer.
Over at Dwell, the user, "Junkyard", asks the question, "I'm just curious what everyone's definition of "sustainable" is.""It seems to me most things in life end up being sustainable if economics are a consideration. Things get used until it's too expensive to use them then something else gets used. That doesn't mean that the first thing neccessarily got used to extinction, just that it's not economically viable to use so it gets passed on or passed up. I'm starting to think that people are using the word sustainable as a purely asthetic reference, i.e. "I wish those old WalMart buildings were more sustainable, then they wouldn't be so ugly."
Link: Dwell
Chair and workspace, all in one.
"For the Carte Blanche collection, Venlet created a mobile desk-seat, a place of retreat where users can withdraw to with their laptop, mobile phone, etc …
The injection moulded frame in EPS (Expanded Polystyren) is covered with 3D knitted fabrics, available in 5 different colours: black, red, gold, green and grey. The legs are available on castors or on glides.
Easy Rider was the official chair of the Interieur Biennial 2002 and won the Red Dot Design Award 2003 and the Henry van de Velde Award for Best Product 2003!"
Link: Bulo
Designer: Danny Venlet
Live in LA? Cool your home with free shade.
Do you live in LA? Do you want to cut down on cooling costs? Did you know the the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has a program where they will give you free shade trees?
"As part of its ongoing commitment to environmental initiatives that reduce energy use, improve air quality, and beautify local communities, LADWP offers Trees for a Green LA, which is adding thousands of shade trees to Los Angeles’ neighborhoods and communities just like yours. LADWP is providing residential customers with free shade trees and the knowledge to plan for, plant and protect them."
Cool.
Link: L.A. Dept. of Water & Power
Dwell magazine featured home up for sale.
Yeah, so it's obvious we read Dwell. Often. Both print and online. So I'm not sure how I missed this from the Dwell forum, but here ya go.
"Awarded "Home of the Year" by Architecture Magazine and never before available for purchase, this sophisticated modern live/work property is perfectly sited in sought after Little Italy. Designed c.2002 by Sebastian Mariscal of MS-31, this stunning residence was recently profiled in the ultra hip urban shelter magazine Dwell. Form follows function with meticulously planned space, volume and light. Clad in sheets of stainless steel and clear heart redwood there are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a screening room and a legal office with separate entrance."
Via: Dwell
Link: Architectural Home Sales
Firm: MS-31 (warning: annoying browser resize)
First purchasers describe the process.
"For several years, we have been interested in modern prefab architecture. Barry gave me a copy of Arieff & Burkhart's book PREFAB for Christmas, 2002. When I saw Rocio Romero's LV Home, I knew if we ever built a prefab house, it would be the LV Home. I had also just finished documenting a 1960's house designed by Richard Neutra...I became enthralled by modernity."
Link: Article
Link: LV Home Kit
