Unfolding apartment

I love discovering beautiful, thoughtful design for small spaces. Michael Chen and Kari Anderson of Normal Projects have created some very inspiring projects:



These places are tinier still, providing food for thought about the choices we have regarding consumption and accumulation of stuff.

Standing alone

Apparently there are more than 12,000 abandoned houses in Detroit at the moment, 100 of which have been photographed in wistful portrait form by Kevin Baumann, over here.

How I'd love to rescue them! (and their crumbling communities ...)

A mountain shell

Some time ago I lived in the Japanese Alps, not very far from the mountain resort town of Karuizawa. The landscape in this region is particularly beautiful, comprising snow-capped mountains, vibrant larch and maple forests, and in some areas many lovely examples of traditional timber architecture.

One example of a fabulous new design aesthetic in Karuizawa is Kotaro Ide's Shell Residence, which nestles into its picturesque setting and seems to coccoon its inhabitants, all the while balancing cosy, organic qualities with an understated modern edge ....

Not a bad little holiday retreat, methinks!

More details here.

People in glass houses ....

While the impracticalities of glass houses (as homes) are quite apparent, particularly for people familiar with the extreme heat of a Melbourne summer, my heart still skips at the idea of building such a home in a glorious wild and natural setting. It could be in a deciduous forest somewhere, near a river, overlooking a prairie, in the mountains, or near the sea perhaps ....

Phillip Johnson's acclaimed glass house and Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House are two beauties that continue to inspire, although I wouldn't choose to surround my glass home with manicured lawns and gravel paths...

I rather prefer the forest setting of this Swedish tree hotel complex, and particularly the stunning glass Mirrorcube unit* 

* (found via Jo)

Santambrogio's concept house certainly fires the imagination - glass walls, floors and furniture would challenge the senses and any desire for privacy.

Would you like a glass house?

What were they thinking?

Demolished!  Beautiful train stations lost to the wrecking ball (and the crappy stuff built in thir place):

 

 

 

 

 
It happens in our neighbourhood too ...

Details, and more examples, here.

Coast Modern architecture

Today I found out (via Grain Edit) that filmmakers Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome are soon to release their new documentary, exploring three generations of modern architecture on the West Coast of North America.

Looks like a must-see flick for fans of modern architecture!

(Pics from here).

Today's archi-fix - a bee haven!

A lovely beehive building, found on Inhabitat ....

I quote:

"University of Sheffield’s new £4.4 million Arthur Willis Environmental Centre will allow researchers to study future climate scenarios and their effects on local biology, including plants and social insects such as ants and bees .... The facility has been built to not only blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands and sit upon on WWII rubble infill, but also to allow bees to fly in and out!

With the bees traveling freely between the facility and the outdoors, scientists will be able to study their behavioral patterns as they travel to their nearby hives."

I love the building and I love bees!

Escape

Wouldn't you love to retreat to one of these little units for some quiet time?




Schwimmhaus with green roof from Confused-Direction




Simple little Tree Huts, currently installed in Madison Square Park, by Tadashi Kawamata.

Both found here.