The Resident Architect

Play To Win - 5 Finalists Vie for #1 in Make Space for Play Design Contest

2011-10-18T18:08:23Z

article by Play Universal

Kids stuff, one may say, but play is the first encounter one has with the environment of the world out there. Beyond the world of one's parents lies an environment ready to be set upon, influenced to our liking. It is an expanding world that starts with the first toy, the first step, the first playmate, and the first playground, and the first playground lesson - whatever that may be.

In preparation for Play Pilipinas 2011, Play Universal held a competition to challenge designers, both professionals and students alike, to comeup with their vision foraconceptual space that will immerse children, teens, and even adults in the wonder and delights of active play. On this landmark Philippine conference on play, Play Universal will unveil the winning design: a 100sqm indoor adventure playground.

There is no lack of inspiration for all 5 finalists, as visions of the new Filipino playground come together from three cities, and five design groups, vieing for the top prize of P50,000 - and the one chance to see their vision come to reality.

Most finalists incorporated Filipino elements into their submission, including Team DVD Design's "Fiesta Playground," a most vibrant interpretation of this most traditional of activities. This group of former classmates from the UP College of Architecture in Diliman turn to the use of sustainable materials in what judges deem a "beautiful presentation."

Team DVD

Apart from the attention shown towards Filipino culture, what makes the smartly-titled "Palarojuan" from Encore exceptional is its excellent use of small space - perhaps influenced by the constraints of public space in Manila. Taking inspiration from three traditional games, one feels a sense of Filipino community from the design's embodiment of Pinoy play.

Team Encore

"Lihok: Tinalak Dulaan" by Davao's Building Blox is centered around movement. It uses vernacular ideas of play and material, to turn a child's "dream" playspaceinto an ergonomic reality. Judges described their work as "a good use of color and variety of play experiences".

Team Building Blox

The Cebuanos make a bid for greatest reinvention, in EDS+ADL's "RePLAY", with their ingenious use of shading. This group of Cebu and Samar-based architects create a space best described as revolutionary in its effort to crearte a new sense of play.

Team EDS+ADL

Walls do not only define, but also redirect movement, as Manila's M Cubed used the flexibility of partitions for the aptly-titled "Choose Your Own Adventure: Wall Playscapes." The design is capable ofreconfiguration into different lay-outs, to incorporate different playthings for a new experience each time.

The finalists will be judged by an international panel of designers including renowned Cebu-based designer, Kenneth Cobonpue, International Play Association's Hitoshi Shimamura, Australian Marcus Veerman of Playground Ideas, and Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Isabel Berenguer-Asuncion. The winning team will take home a cash prize of P50,000.

For more information about the Play Pilipinas 2011 Festival, you may visit the website at www.playpilipinas.org.

"Guardian Angel" - An Interestingly Vibrant Book Written by an Architect

2011-06-09T09:34:40Z

Architects are well known to be visionaries, artists and creators who are able to articulate their ideas and wild imagination through drawings and figures on paper. Some of them, including me, though able to translate their thoughts into drawings on paper, does not have the talent to translate them into words. I honestly can say that I wanted to write a story I had once in my mind but was not able to do so because of the lack of skill. And so I envy those who are able to articulate their crazy imagination in their heads into colorful and animated words and sentences.

Rarely that I hear about architects writing a non-architectural book. Although architects who are also writers is not something new, it's hard to find one who creates and writes a fictional story that may indirectly or not really be connected with architecture. This is why this book caught my attention when I found out that the author is also a practicing architect.
The book entitled "Guardian Angel" is written by Kurt Sivilich, a practicing architect in Indianapolis, Indiana in USA. Practicing for more than 10 years as an architect, he got involved with several big projects including the Indianapolis International Airport and the Lucas Oil Stadium. And so, not only is he an author of a book, he is also a really dedicated architect. Kurt also infuses his life as an architect in Indianapolis in this book as he also includes some architectural elements found in Indianapolis. This tends to make the story more real to the readers.

Being an architect myself, I find it really amazing that he is able to give time to write as our profession comes with unpredictable schedules and workloads. I was told that one of his dreams was to become a published author which I think that he will certainly fulfill. Knowing how an architect's mind work, you can be sure that his book would be as vibrant, animated and creative as the drawings and designs he produces on paper.

His book "Guardian Angel" tells about a man who unexpectedly was given the responsibility of becoming a guardian angel as a last chance at redemption when he was denied entry into heaven.

Below is the book's synopsis:

"For Michael, death comes calling unexpectedly one afternoon with a sudden squeezing sensation in his chest. But he soon learns that death is only the beginning of his troubles as he reaps the unpleasant reward of living a lukewarm life and finds himself denied entrance into Heaven. The life Michael once knew is gone. Just when Michael thinks he is headed to the fiery gates of hell, he is offered one last chance at redemption--but at a terrible cost. After he reluctantly forfeits everything from his old life, he is recreated into a guardian angel who must abide by strict rules. Homelessness, hunger, danger, and despair become his world until the kindness of a minister in a homeless shelter provides him with a much-needed purpose. But the danger only increases as he halfheartedly immerses himself in his Guardian Angel duties. Ordered to protect jealous lovers, burned-out police officers, delusional street people, and delinquent youth, Michael only wants one thing--to go home. Michael is about to realize that his path to redemption will be more difficult than he ever imagined."

If you want to learn more about Kurt Sivilich and his works, you can visit his blog at kurtsivilich.com.

Get the book "Guardian Angel" in Amazon now by clicking the link below.

Guardian Angel: Book I of the Guardian Angel Series

Free AutoCAD Online!

2011-04-13T11:06:34Z

Here's a nice treat to all architects, interior designers, industrial designers, engineers and other professional and technical persons who uses AutoCAD frequently in their line of work. It's a free AutoCAD application you can use for free!

Yep, you heard it right, it's really free. Those professionals who have purchased AutoCAD know that the offline product is very expensive and not all people you coordinate your drawings with have access to this costly software. So Autodesk, the company who is responsible for spreading the use of AutoCAD in the construction world, has made a solution. They created an online AutoCAD application which anyone can easily access using a computer and an internet connection.

They call it AutoCAD WS. With this online application, you can open, edit, save, and share AutoCAD files easily without even owning an offline AutoCAD application yourself. And since this is accessed through your web browser, you can use any electronic device with an internet connection. It's already being used widely with IPad and other touch screen tablets, and it works perfectly fine on those units. I don't really know what the WS stands for, may be work station or something else, but the idea of being able to access an AutoCAD file from anywhere without an AutoCAD application is very convenient. This is especially helpful when dealing with other professionals that don't have access to an offline AutoCAD software but has access to a PC and an internet connection.

Below is a screen shot of the free AutoCAD WS' workscreen.

Although it's possible to create a technical drawing from start to finish using this application, AutoCAD WS is considerably slower to use than its original offline counterpart. The use of this, in my opinion, is greatly focused on coordination of drawings with other technical persons. This is especially useful to professionals who are always on the go, and with just a tablet or mobile phone in hand.

Check out Autodesk's video presentation of AutoCAD WS below.

Go to www.autocadws.com and try it today. I'm sure you'll be impressed as I was.

Thanks to Toti for sharing this.

Kitchen You Can Hide

2011-04-12T03:22:05Z

Here's an innovative idea for a kitchen. This system conceptualized by Theodore Thonga has sliding panels that hides or reveals the kitchen counter as you please.

As I know a lot of homeowners, especially old-fashioned mothers that doesn't want the kitchen to be seen from the public areas of the house because they say it's usually a mess, this system may impress them. Although, as they are already old-fashioned, it may not impress them at all. But who knows, when they see how this system can instantly hide the mess on their kitchen counter and create a cleaner look, maybe they'd love it and might even create an opening on the kitchen wall to the living areas.

More pictures and a video of it working after the jump...

Kitchen Hide System from Theodore Thonga on Vimeo.

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The Online Database for Philippine Architecture

2011-02-11T01:15:32Z

To all Filipino Architects, Architecture Students and Philippine Architecture Enthusiasts, here's a promising site that will be a consolidation of free, web-based information and exhibition of notable Philippine Architecture and Architects.

Check their site by clicking this link - www.arkitektura.ph

Neat Office Table Design Tidies Up Things

2011-02-11T00:23:23Z

Office table tops are bombarded with a lot of paper work, personal things, laptops and all the other stuff people like to place on top. These things usually seem to stay there forever which really reduces the working surface of the table predominately.

Here's a neat looking office table design that promises to tidy up a messy table top that is a usual occurrence on most offices nowadays.

Called the "Kuubo", it was designed by Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa for the Swiss Furniture Manufacturer Vitra.

As it can store things inside its compartments located at the top, this table design becomes very versatile in its use. Once cleared of the clutter, the work surface is greatly increased which maximizes the functions of this table greatly.

This can be used for internal office meetings, work stations or conference meetings with clients. And with the storage compartments easily accessible on top of the table, things like laptops, projectors and other things essential to the meeting is made readily available to the users of the table.

The compartments closes very neatly flush to the table surface and adds those clean lines that gives the table an added appeal.

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Partitions that Naturally Cool Your Room

2011-02-10T00:56:18Z

Now here's another design inspired from old traditional practices frankly saying - 'who says old concepts doesn't have any more room in this modern world'.

Designed by Mey Kahn and Boaz Kahn, this screen and cooling system is a fusion of two Arabic design and concept, permitting air to pass through while cooling the room at the same time. They named this the ECOoler. Its main design was inspired from the traditional Mid-Eastern screen and partitioning design called the Mashrabiya, that not only divides a space and prevents people from going inside the room, it also permits the passage of air.

Combining this elaborate design with another Mid-Eastern concept, the Jara, it then not only permits the passage of air but cools it further at the same time. Like the Jara that holds water which seeps out through its clay body and cools the air around it through evaporation, the ECOoler also holds water in its molded clay body and works the same way.

It's a very smart concept of combining to old traditional design. Just thinking about it is making me feel a lot cooler. I do believe that this is a very workable design concept and if further developed would really help promote natural and passive cooling methods in a structure. They should change the material of the nozzles and connections though because it's a bit of an eye sore, just my opinion.

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Bridging Solar and Wind Energy to the People

2011-02-09T00:32:56Z

The ongoing quest of using alternative energy sources for electricity has already made it through the design, architecture and engineering community. A lot of architectural and engineering designs nowadays are integrating the use of solar panelling and wind power in to the structure. The bridge above is one of those. Designed by Italian designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino, this bridge promises to help power approximately 15,000 homes.

Named it as Solar Wind Bridge, it was an entry to the Solar Highway competition by the Solar Park Works asking the entrants to modernize sections of the decommissioned bridge between Bagnera and Scilla in Italy.

Replacing the 20km (12.4 miles) of asphalt road surface with solar cells coated with durable and dense plastic coating, the roadway will be able to produce around 11.2 million kwh of electricity per year. Then using the space underneath the bridge and installing 26 wind turbines will add another 36 million kwh per year. The total energy produced will approximately help power 15,000 homes in the area.

This entry was awarded the second prize and it has all the right and amazing reasons to be one of the top. Let's hope we see this bridge or any variants of it in the near future.

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Amazing Paper Cutout Art!

2010-11-20T02:12:39Z

This is Karen Bit Vejles and her amazing paper cut-out art which she holds in her hands. Psaligraphy, unknown to others like me, is the art of paper cutting. Karen is the only one I have seen so far that can create marvelous paper cut-outs with so much intricacy and complex designs.

Her paper cut-out designs are really beautiful which she has been doing for more than 35 years now. Psaligraphy takes planning, time and patience. One mistake can literally damage the whole piece. Her skillful hands and with a vast experience in paper cutting, she does magic with just a piece of paper and a pair of scissors.

If you want to learn more about her works, you can visit her site at this link.

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Print Out Brick Roads Like Magic!

2010-11-17T01:19:57Z

A Dutch-made paving machine has been created to lay out brick roads like magic. Using it is like printing out stone roads or brick roads like paper. The machine is called the Tiger-Stone.

The operators and workers would just have to feed the machine with bricks or the stones to be used for the road and it will automatically pack together by gravity. The machine is adjustable in width and can lay out a path as narrow as a bike lane or walkway or as wide as a road up to six meters wide. It is also capable of laying 300 square meters of road a day or up to 400 yards long.

Watch the videos below to see it in action. If you can't see the videos click this link - Print Out Brick Roads Like Magic!

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Reinventing the Nail Clipper

2010-11-15T01:28:34Z

Often times, the simplest objects that we frequently use in our day to day lives are left behind by modernization. Take for example the standard nail cutters or nail clippers. Their design has hardly changed ever since their inception.

"Why redesign so mundane?" - This is the question that the creators of Klhip answered when they reinvented the nail clipper.

Though the average nail clippers have done a fairly good job in clipping nails, it has come to a point wherein its design and its look no longer fit the modern times.

So what's so great about this nail clipper by Klhip? It defines the word efficiency, which is already becoming a common word nowadays and comparing this reinvented nail clipper with your average nail clipper, you'll definitely agree with me that it definitely is efficient in a lot of ways.

They use a single blade that cuts your nails neatly which will not need any filing after wards. And because of its unique blade design, the nails don't just fly across the room, it stays on board and gathering the clippings is just a breeze.

The cutting action has also been redesigned to be more ergonomic. Pressure is applied directly on top of the nail which makes cutting easier.

Using a matte stainless steel finish for its overall body will make this nail clipper definitely last for a very long time.

Klhip has claimed to be the ultimate nail clipper and it definitely is because of its efficiency and sleek design.

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Amazing Photo Manipulation Bends Reality

2010-11-15T00:23:58Z

It's amazing how one can somehow bend reality through pictures with the technology of today. Spanish photographer Manu Pombrol created self-photographs which seems to transcend the laws of science and reality.

He actually bought his first camera about 3 years ago where he found a passion for photography and started shooting and creating amazing works ever since. He mainly uses Lightroom and Photoshop as his photo editing and manipulation softwares to create these surreal and out of the ordinary looking images.

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Losing Things in Your Sofa?

2010-11-08T08:40:02Z

Most people that has sofas at home usually experience losing things like keys, coins, money, remote controllers and some important stuff when they leave them there. It seems like they get sucked in inside the folds and crevices of their sofas. Japanese designer firm Daisuke Motogi Architecture have turned this unnatural characteristic of a sofa for hiding and storing things into one of its predictable functions.

They've presented this sofa in the DesignTide Tokyo 2010. It is made up of what seems to be groups of small upholstered cubes to form the main shape of the sofa.

To store, hide or hold something in the sofa, perhaps a book, flower or a remote controller, one would just simple wedge it in between any of the small upholstered cubes of the sofa.

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Turn Ordinary Faucets into Drinking Fountains Instantly!

2010-11-08T08:02:38Z

When I was a kid, my classmates and I usually drink water from the faucets in our school after running around during recess and breaks. Although there are available drinking fountains around, it's more convenient to drink from the faucets since there are more of them than the former. And so, when I saw this product, I instantly like it. It turns your ordinary faucets into drinking fountains by changing the flow of water from a downward flow to an upward flow instantly.

Its called the Tapi, by the company Dreamfarm from Australia. You just simply pinch or press the buttom to redirect water flow upwards.

Now you don't need to cup your hands to get water into your mouth, which I usually do when I brush my teeth. And I bet it will create a really fun experience with the kids. Just make sure that the water from your faucets are clean to drink.

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Need Butter Knife?

2010-11-08T06:37:31Z

It's always fun to see new ideas and new designs for some of the simple objects we see everyday. One fun idea I found was from Yeongkeun, from South Korea. His idea was to repackage small packets of butter with a disposable butter knife for its lid.

Now you don't need a separate butter knife when you have disposable butter knives on top of each packets of butter like these ones.

The disposable butter knife/butter lids are made of wood which are also colored to indicate the flavor of butter it contains.

The butter knife/lid, a very fresh idea for a simple everyday object.

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