Interior Design Sense

Architects: Sou Fujimoto Architects
Location: Oita, Japan
Project Team: Yumiko Nogiri
Structural Consultant: Jun Sato Structural Engineers
Design Year: 2006-2007
Construction Year: 2007-2008
Site Area: 236,57 sqm
Constructed Area: 150,57 sqm
Photographer: Iwan Baan

A home for two plus a dog. The house itself is comprised of three shells of progressive size nested inside one another. The outermost shell covers the entire premises, creating a covered, semi-indoor garden. Second shell encloses a limited space inside the covered outdoor space. Third shell creates a smaller interior space. Residents build their life inside this gradation of domain.

I have always had doubts about streets and houses being separated by a single wall, and wondered that a gradation of rich domain accompanied by various senses of distance between streets and houses might be a possibility, such as: a place inside the house that is fairly near the street; a place that is a bit far from the street, and a place far off the street, in secure privacy.

That is why life in this house resembles to living among the clouds. A distinct boundary is nowhere to be found, except for a gradual change in the domain. One might say that an ideal architecture is an outdoor space that feels like the indoors and an indoor space that feels like the outdoors. In a nested structure, the inside is invariably the outside, and vice versa. My intention was to make an architecture that is not about space nor about form, but simply about expressing the riches of what are `between` houses and streets.

Three nested shells eventually mean infinite nesting because the whole world is made up of infinite nesting. And here are only three of them that are given barely visible shape. I imagined that the city and the house are no different from one another in the essence, but are just different approaches to a continuum of a single subject, or different expressions of the same thing- an undulation of a primordial space where humans dwell. This is a presentation of an ultimate house in which everything from the origins of the world to a specific house is conceived together under a single method.

Architects: ARAD – Bahram Kalantari, Kourosh Dabbagh
Location: Tehran, Iran
Design Team: Majid Pazhuhi, Niloofar Niksar
Technical Team: Anoushiravan Kharrazi, Mehdi Holakouie, Mona haddadi
Project Manager: Eskandar Hadjizadeh
Structural consultant: Behrang Baniadam (Afarinesh consulting co.)
Site Area: 10,500 sqm
Constructed Area: 4,200 sqm
Project year: 2006
Photographer: Kamran Adl, Ali Daghigh

The project: is a factory that contains a prefabricated building system production plant plus an office & ancillary building.

Site: The site location is an industrial city for non-pollution factories, 35 kilometer away from Tehran/ Iran.

The Client Goal: is to change the traditional construction system to an industrial building system which can fulfill the enormous demand of construction in Iran. The client, therefore, wanted the factory to be indicative of this goal in terms of architectural quality in industrial building system with no resemblance to traditional factories in Iran.

The program: is a 3700 sqm production plant with a 350 sqm mezzanine for settlement of technical management team and 500 sqm for technical office and showrooms and mechanical room that must be close to and with a good access to the production plant. There is also a 500 sqm management building with a VIP suit and receptions that is connected to the main bldg with a bridge.

The ancillary building with 200 sqm area is in a separate building in the site.

Building Morphology: These types of buildings always possess some characteristics such as large span, modular structure and homogeneous space.

Architectural Concept: (everything happens @ once) Architect’s approach towards designing a distinctive building is to bear in mind the above-mentioned characteristics.

As regards this project, not only the characteristic aspects have been regarded but also we have been able to get the maximum use of a kind of architecture which provides for all quantitative and qualitative architectural demands.

Geometry of space: (The geometry can make us either murderers or lovers)The emphasis was to apply a simple geometry of space to be able to meet all the prospects foreseen in the project such as the program and the required connectivity and moreover be able to create a new atmosphere which makes turn a globe either in section or in plan as well as the project façade ( interior and exterior) into a homogeneous object.

The building is located North-South lengthwise and the main administration building which overlooks Alborz mountain has a uniform glass view.

UPDATE: We wrongly credited the whole project to AS+GG, but they were only comissioned to design the three main towers, on a master plan designed by SOM Chicago.

It seems no one told Dubai about the financial crisis, as new projects keep being unveiled. This time, our green friends over Inhabitat tipped us on a mega development, owned by Maraas Holding: The Jumeirah Gardens. The master plan for this project was designed by SOM Chicago, and consists of  a mixed-use development that incorporates low, medium, and high-density zones for business, residences, retail, leisure, and recreation – a city within a city, with an estimated cost of US$95 billion.

The three main towers were comissioned to Chicago based architects AS+GG (Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill), The most impressive one -and the third tallest tower in the UAE- is 1 Dubai, pictured above. The tri-partite skyscraper will be 3218 ft (981m) tall, and the towers will be connected by a series of glass suspension sky-bridges. This bridges are so big, they even grow palms on them as you can see on the further renderings. At the base of the buildings, grand arched entrances allow boats to travel underneath the building and into a central atrium space. The mixed-use development includes a hotel, residential, commercial retail and entertainment space totaling 800,000-900,000 square meters.

Next, we have Park Gate, a complex of 6 mid-rise towers facing each other to form a grand garden space and create a shaded micro climate – ad-hoc for the desert climate.

The shade is accomplished by linking the towers with a vaulted canopy structure. The space beneath the canopies is transformed into a verdant grotto. Vegetation is enmeshed with the canopies and exterior balconies of the towers, creating a highly sustainable 360 degree garden.

The result is an impressive urban hall. Each of the six towers is 30-40 stories. The development includes residential, commercial, retail, hospitality and entertainment spaces.

1 Park Avenue is a 1968ft (600m) with a fluid shape, that “[...] symbolizes Dubai’s historic relationship to water- drawing parallels to the movement of the Gulf around which the city was built and the waterways that will transport newcomers and travelers throughout the city in the future”. The mixed-use tower will have a total built-up area of 350,000 square meters.

Excavations have started, and project should be completed by 2020.

I gotta say that I´m really looking forward to visit Dubai. I need to see how this turns up with my own eyes.

Architect Jacques Rougerie -an expert when it comes to space and underwater structures- has designed the soon-to-be first underwater museum. It will be located off the coast of Egypt, near the new Library of Alexandria, where Cleopatra once had a palace on an island in one of the largest human-made bays in the world back in the day, submerged by earthquakes in the 4th century.

The ruins were discovered years ago, and include several sphinxes, statues, roman and greek shipwrecks and pieces believed to be from the Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse (one of the seven ancient wonders of the world).

This ruins haven’t been moved, since it would be a tremendous effort that could damage the ruins in the process. Also,  it follows the 2001 UNESCO convention for the preservation of underwater heritage.

With that in mind, the museum is designed as both inland and submarine. The building will have four tall structures shaped like the sails of fellucas, the traditional sailboats used in the Nile. From the inland building, underwater fiberglass tunnels will take visitors to structures where they can view antiquities still lying on the seabed.

Sounds like a big challenge, but since the bay is only about 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) deep, the museum will not face strong water pressure on its walls, something that makes this idea more feasible. And with construction expected to take only three years, we could have this new concept of building ready pretty soon. But first, they need to secure funding.

Seen at National Geographic.

Actual ruins on the seabed:

Even when you strive for the most minimalistic look for your decor, there are rather necessary items that trip you up – like toilet paper and garbage. Usually a bathroom cabinet becomes essential to hide them. But what if you didn’t have the space, for example if your powder room was too small or if you just don’t like the look of cabinets or can’t find one to your liking then you might find Bin It the perfect solution. It is both a waste bin and a storage unit for a couple of spare rolls of paper.

The space-saving Bin It is made from injection molded ABS is the creation of industrial designer, Steve Vondra (Canada). – Via

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Bin It solves awkward bathroom storage problems

This contemporary vanity from Roca called Stratum has a beautiful look that is easy to add to any contemporary interior, as the linear aspects keep the design so simple whilst effortlessly enhancing its strong design presence. The stylish wooden vanity unit has plenty of storage space for towels and other things that you might want to keep in your bathroom. The doors will hide clutter away behind their smooth exterior surfaces, uninterrupted by obtrusive handles.

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Wooden Bathroom Vanity for a Contemporary Bathroom Interior

Do you remember the 1964 House For Sale in London that we scooped last week? Today we have another one. It’s much cheaper and I can say has a higher dose of both modernism and minimalist design. Designed and built in 1967 by architect Colin Huntley, this beautiful three-bedroom terrace house has been highlighted in the famous Buildings of England series.

The house has been under intensive remodeling by STUDIO Blueboat who had the mission to make the living-room/dining-room larger and to move the kitchen into a specially designed zinc, steel and oak extension. Featuring a small courtyard garden at the front and a larger enclosed garden at the rear, the house makes it easy for those that want to live “close to nature”.

On the inside, everything looks perfect, lined up, with the right colors and large glasses to allow the sun rays inside. The best of them all, I think it’s the open-up living-room, with the large couch and the white walls. What do you like the most? Oh and I forgot. That house is for sale, for £325,000.

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1967 Modern House For Sale in Tewin

No, the Japanese are not only good with Sushi and electronics. Apparently they also have great designers and architects or at least that’s how I jump to conclusions after seeing thie modern white sea house. It was put up by Takao Shiotsuka Atelier in Japan and is a 237 sq m two-floors white buildng with a shape that  spreads gently towards the sea. Painted in white, with extremely large windows that allow sun-rays inside and a modern but minimalist interior, it’s a stunning piece of design. If I were to change something, that would be a little bit of contrast … it’s too whitey, don’t you think? How about some black and red shapes? – Source

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Modern White Sea House