M M M H: architecture

Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts

ARTEK AT THE VENICE BIENNALE

Artek was honored to be the sponsor of La Biennale di Venezia and realized part of the furniture and furnishing for the premises of Palazzo delle Exposizioni della Biennale.

The assignment included a bookshop, a cafeteria and additional furniture elements for an educational area, that were submitted respectively by three artists, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tobias Rehberger and Massimo Bartolini, all selected for the 53rd International Art Exhibition.

Tobias Rehberger was awarded with the Golden Lion for the cafeteria, for which he collaborated closely with Artek using customized Artek furniture in an ingenious way.

HABODE

From New Zealand comes a steel-framed cocoon on the back of a truck that morphs into a self-sufficient, ruggedly humble Habode--in less than two days.

This bach--that's New Zealander for 'cabin'--was designed for extreme conditions of Australasia, including severe heat, winds, and torrential downpours. Built with strong Cor-Ten steel in lieu of galvanized mild steel, it is not a temporary structure by any means—the Habode was even rated for a grade 5 storm (cyclone) by New Zealand engineers.

Like other prefab homes, the Habode boasts dramatic reductions in both building costs and waiting times. Manufactured by International Housing Solutions, it uses a patented 'fold-out' system that packages a home, ships it, and can be positioned on its 20-timber-pile foundation within eight hours. Its customizable features include extra decking, sunshades, roof racks, a chimney flu, solar water heating, and a wind turbine.

At only 80-square-feet, the Habode loudly touts its environmentally-sustainable bells and whistles: a water saver cistern, double glazing, low-energy fluorescent lights, and I am guessing that its distinctive wing-roofed shape helps to capture rainwater runoff. Its copious use of steel makes for a rather heavy skeleton, but all of it can be recycled—the Cor-Ten steel weathers to a rust-color finish and can be melted. However, being based in New Zealand, shipping the Habode to anywhere else in the world will probably leave behind a significant carbon footprint.

ROLLING HUTS

Responding to a need for guest housing, OSKA Architects devised the Rolling Huts for a client in Washington State. These structures are built of a steel clad box on a steel and wood base.
They sit lightly on the landscape and include 200 square feet of living space.
The interiors are finished with cork and plywood, for both simplicity and cost effectiveness. Additionally, each Hut has 240 square feet of deck space. (via Arch Daily)

YASUHIRO YMASHITA

"Mini & Cute"
Downtown Tokyo Steez.

NOT JUST DOORS THAT GO UP

MODERNIST MODULAR HOMES

Rob put me up. Peep modernistmodularhomes.com. They specialize in building ill custom homes across the U.S.

THE "O" HOUSE

Located in Lucerne, Switzerland. Design by Phillipe Stuebi.

TROJAN HOUSE

DO I HEAR $70 MILLION?

The St. Regis Penthouse in San Francisco is up for auction at BillionaireXchange.com

CASE STUDY HOUSES

I talked about The Eames House in an earlier post, which is actually one of many Case Study Houses built between the 1940's and the 1960's. Based in California, The Case Study Houses were American architectural expirements focused on creating inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States housing boom caused by the end of World War II. In my opinion, they are works of art. I would love to live in a Case Study House. If not then at least a house inspired by this design.

According to Wikipedia, there were 36 houses planned for production but only 28 were built, along with 2 apartments. Some projects were assigned twice for unknown reasons.