Wales-based artists Heather and Ivan Morison clearly focus on spacial experiences - releationships between human beings and architectural human artefacts.
One of the Morison's latest works is 'The Black Cloud', a pavilion-like timber structure which was commissioned by Situations, a program of the Place Research Centre at the Univerity of the West of England in Bristol, and realised in collaboration with architect Sash Reading. The artists chose the shabono, a circular structure built by the Yanomamo Amer-Indians from the Amazon, as a starting point for the oval form of 'The Black Cloud'. The structure is composed of triangular planes of a deformed geodesic dome which results in an amorphous and vivid-looking topology. 'The Black Cloud' will be visitable until 6 December 2009 in Victoria Park in Bristol.
No doubt, Arbor South Architecture PC's Sage House is the greenest single family building west of the Rockies. With it 106.5 points in cool LEED Platinum certified points, it's almost off the charts. How?
At only 1447 sqft. (plenty for me) the home was built with:
If space were a premium (6 billion+ so far), then we may need to redefine our abodes. Jo Nagasaka and Schemata Architecture Office developed "Paco" - a box that measures 3m x 3m x 3m. It's just a concept for now so you won't see any popping up anytime soon. If you think it's impossible to get all the modern necessities into such a small space, think again. There's a toilet, shower, closet, and even a dining table and guest quarters underneath the flooring.
More pics after the jump
Hugh Ferriss (1889 - 1962) was an American delineator (one who creates perspective drawings of buildings) and architect. According to Daniel Okrent, Ferriss never designed a single noteworthy building, but after his death a colleague said he 'influenced my generation of architects' more than any other man. Ferriss also influenced popular culture, for example Gotham City (the setting for Batman) and Kerry Conran's "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". "Just Imagine" (movie from 1930), strongly influenced by Hugh Ferriss's book, Metropolis of Tomorrow (1929), takes the archetype vision of the future city as defined by a Manhattan-like skyline, and portrays it in all its beauty and majesty.
Interested? Pick up his book of illustrations at Amazon. More drawings after the jump.
I love what design studio LOT-EK have done with these left over cargo containers to build a one of a kind Puma store. The containers make up a 3-story building (11,000 sqft) complete with a bar and 2 decks.
The catch? The store moves around but you can find out where it'll be next by checking in on the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009. More pics after the jump.
via Arch Daily
RES4 is renting out their modern pre-fab located in West Virginia. There are a lot of misconceptions about prefabricated homes. They're no longer the cheap, poorly constructed, and boring designed boxes they used to be. You can have all the utility and warmth with today's design and construction technologies. What a great way to try before you buy.
The home is 2 hours west of D.C. nestled on a steeply wooded site. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a ginormous deck to appreciate the view.
via MocoLoco
I love love love this house presented in an exhibition alongside 5 other homes called "House of the Future" presented by Xenian Livinglight. Each home showcases sustainable design using clay, concrete, cardboard, glass, and steel. Even the gardens work as organic purification systems.
I chose this house in particular because I love how the roof drops to become a deck connecting the two wings of the home together. It almost makes the roof climbable; would make the perfect practice rock climbing wall.
More pics after the jump.
Dean Kamen may not be a household name but his Segway invention certainly is. The inventor turned his 3 acre property home into a net zero energy island. He lives totally off the grid. The entire island uses nothing but solar power. Every single light is LED based with mood enhancing schemes thanks to Philips Color Kinetics. All the appliances are energy efficient and water passes thru his own purification system.
As awesome as I think this is, there are a couple other things about this man I love. His backyard has a replica of Stonehenge. He calls his island North Dumping and at one time attempted to establish it as an independent country with its own "green" constitution and national anthem. Hey, I'm sure the economy there couldn't be any worse and for that view, I'd totally move if invited.
More pics after the jump.
via Slashgear
When we think of architecture, we usually think of it as human-people thing. When pets enter the picture, we augment a few things here and there to make it suitable for them but when architecture considers pets in the equation, the results are charming, whimsical, and just too 'effin cute. This Japanese firm is marketing homes with pet amenities any animal lover would love.
More pics after the jump. Via Neatorama
Pet Architecture