Visit the Laufen website – here.

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Project description from Autoban:

Lying between one of the chiquest streets in Beyolu and the lively heart of Tünel, the Ojeni flats boast stunning views over the whole of historic Istanbul and the Bosphorus. Completely restored and renovated, the flats are designed to suit the busy lifestyle of its residents, with compact features such as kitchens which fold away to present a more clean-cut living space. Oak flooring gives a feeling of warmth, whilst the black-painted bathrooms bring across a sleeker, more modern look. The flats are also furnished with some of Autoban’s newest designs including the luxurious Deco Sofa, the perfect lounging point before hitting the town…

Photography by Engin Aydeniz

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Full description after the photos….

Description of the Escher Coffee Table by Toby Howes:

As the name suggests, the design was inspired by one of Escher’s bird & fish tessellation sketches & proved every bit as difficult as it looks to perfect all the angles! I wanted to create a modern design piece that combined my usual simplicity of style with a real edge & this is the result. I’m a strong believer in William Morris’s design philosophy “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” & I hope the Escher table fits the bill on both counts.

Each of the three walnut inlaid arcs slide out to become side tables in their own right, leaving the central zebrano piece to become more & more sculptural as each arc is removed. The zebrano wraps around the inside of the funnels of each ‘arm’ of the central piece to form a funnel, rather like that of an old-fashioned gramapohone, that draws the eye in through the centre. This is especially effective if light is streaming through one of the funnels & I have been working on a version with a light actually built into the heart of the table to achieve exactly this effect. The flashes of red on the sides are completely hidden whilst the table is whole & are only revealed as the arcs are removed.

Dimensions 450mm high 800mm wide and deep
Materials Walnut and Zebrano

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From the designer:

A different type of physical engagement for the viewer: One as sculpture and chaise.

Traditionally, the Odalisque describes a sensual female form, lounging on a period chaise of the time. This contemporary piece unifies the beauty of the feminine curve with the functionality of a lounge, blurring the line between furniture and sculpture.

Limited Edition of 12.
Cast in white polyester resin with marble dust additive.
65″ x 20″ x 14″H.  Fabricated in 2009.

Some photos of the production process:

Full description after the photos….

Photography by Fernando Manosalvas

House in Dominican Republic by A-cero Architecture

The benign climate that prevails during the whole year in the Caribbean island, as well as the situation of the plot of 7.000 m2 first coast line, they determine in advance the project executed by A-cero Studio.

With a singular architectural idea and a certain level of risky, peculiar of the team that Joaquin Torres directs. There appear two blocks well separated from that there arises a game of curved volumes that look for the vertical position from the covering.

The housing is projected by demand of program of needs of the client, in only one plant. There is dressed the whole house of an indigenous stone of Coralline of clear tones (white – beige) that, to part of the proper quality of the material, a visual aspect that prospers with the abundant solar light, and the marine reference.

From the principal access, the house seems to hide behind an attainment of curved walls that believe a sculptural set. In the middle, a big door of two sheets in wood leads to the housing. The whole housing has crossed ventilation, this way to be able to make use of all the advantages of the Caribbean climate especially the sea breeze.

Interiors are proposed with furniture designed by A-cero and made to measurement, practically the whole production was realized in Spain. But very overloaded ambiences do not want to be created not of pronounced decoration, claiming a certain simplicity inside the big interior spaces. The stone of exterior Coralline interferes inside to offer visual continuity, in addition to there is this a material much adapted for the warm present climate the whole year. The whole housing one can say that it is opened on the outside in practically all his fronts, with big practicable large windows. The exterior sensation – interior ends up by getting lost putting the gardens inside the house.

Visit the A-cero Architecture website – here.

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Full description after the photos….

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From the designer:

Chinese manufacturing is usually famous for large quantity, low quality and very limited new material and technology. So for Chinese designers, creating low quantity products with high quality in both design and manufacturing has always been a tougher task than it is in most other places. I have been trying to create high specification products with typical Chinese industrial materials and basic technics, through unusual design and engineering, and these tables are the first prototypes in this direction – which I believe could be another route for “Chinese design” aside from reinterpreting  the traditional decorative elements.

The exposed sunken screws bolt together the table top with all the “branches” of table legs, forming dozens of stable triangles, which make the table top part of the frame to share the stress in the legs, thus material needed to make a table is minimized. the 2-metre dining table has a top with 6mm even thickness, from edge to centre, without any space technology or exotic material, just thin steel rods, aluminium sheet and a roadside workshop, and the randomnly spreaded fastening screws also become the decorative elements here. Cut, bent, welded and powder coated.

Some prototype production photos:

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From the designer:

The architectural forms and weight of this space reference the beautiful intricacies of the human body and healing process. Through the use of soft flowing walls and organic shapes a sense of comfort and security is immediately established. Framed by the sweeping curvature of the walls, a simple, yet powerful counter elegantly hovers above the ground plane. This form is symbolic of the journey medication takes through the body’s cellular framework. Beyond this emblematic expression, the organic counter is also the literal location that provides the medicinal means to recovery and relief.

Full description after the photos….

The Park BOX by PATH Architecture

Located directly across the street from Unthank Park in Portland Oregon, The Park Box is a two unit row house constructed on a standard 50’ x 100’ corner Portland lot. The developer and designer of the project is also the owner of the east unit.

The placement on the site provides each unit with a large private deck on opposite ends of the site, one with a large yard. This arrangement provides the most privacy while allowing for the main floor to feel like a large indoor / outdoor room with the deck perceived as an extension of the interior space.

The design balances access to natural light and views of the park with the need for privacy by offsetting floor to ceiling windows to the side of each room to wash light into the space while minimizing direct views into the space from outside. The repeating pattern of windows on the façade places windows in different locations on the interior of the mirrored floor plans. On the east unit the main floor window on the south side is located on large stair landing, providing for abundant light washing the interior demising wall between units. On the west unit, the same main floor window occurs at the corner of the unit, creating an opportunity for an oversized wrap around bay window seat.

The entire building was pushed to the west on the site to preserve a large Douglas fir tree, providing an opportunity to extend a portion of the east unit out beyond the main volume of the box. The master bedroom extends out over the deck below to create a large covered outdoor dining space. This extra floor area made room to remove some of the second floor to create a double height space at the corner of the unit as well, allowing for more light and views to the park and trees nearby. Looking from the main floor towards the park the arrangement of windows and solid wall provides views primarily of the trees, sky, and grass in the park. From here you can almost begin to think that the space lies in meadow, forgetting that you are in a vibrant urban neighborhood.

Visit the PATH Architecture website – here.

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Katzander says:

PNC really allowed me be very creative with the design of this wall. Inspirations from Verner Panton,Joan Miro and Alexander Calder were taken and used through my design process. Painting with living plants is a challenge met with great respect for the plant material used to grow vertically.

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Full description of the exhibition after the photos….

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Designed by Christina Strand:

Designed by Thomas E. Alken:

Designed by Torben Skov:

Designed by Peter Johansen & Ingeborg Stence Clausen:

Designed by Christina Liljenberg Halstrøm:

Designed by Torben Skov:

Designed by Troels Grum-Schwensen:

Designed by Jeremy Walton:

Designed by Komplot Design:

Designed by Henrik Sørig Thomsen:

Designed by Steen Dueholm Sehested:

Designed by Mogens Toft:

Designed by Mia Gammelgaard:

Designed by Søren Ulrik Petersen:

Designed by Lovorika Banovic:

Designed by Johannes Foersom & Peter Hiort-Lorenzen:

Designed by Hans Sandgren Jakobsen:

Designed by Karen Kjærgaard & Nanna Gram:

Designed by Sebastian Holmbäck and Ulrik Nordentoft:

Designed by Claus Bjerre:

Designed by Carlo Volf:

Designed by Erling Christoffersen & Hanne Vedel:

Designed by Andreas Lund:

Designed by Niels Hvass:

Designed by Søren Ulrik Petersen & Claus Mølgaard/Molgaard APS:

Designed by Jakob Jørgensen:

Designed by Henrik Ingemann Nielsen:

Designed by Niels Gammelgaard:

Designed by Ben Clement & Sebastian de la Cour:

Designed by Niels Jørgen Haugesen:

Designed by Eske Rex:

Designed by Line Depping:

Designed by Jakob Thau:

Designed by Hannes Stephensen:

Designed by Torben Bay:

Dialogue – A Chair That Is Up For Negotiation

Would Obama, Netanyahu or Hu Jintao all pick the same chair for negotiations during the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, COP15? Might the chair be a sandbox? Two chairs tied together by one length of fabric? Might it resemble a fountain with water jets indicating different points of view? Be a transparent wall? Or a chair with flexible legs? Does it even make sense to think that a chair can make a difference?

The Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition explore this question with the chair exhibition “DIALOGUE – a chair that is up for negotiation”, which takes its point of departure in the 2009 climate change summit, COP15, where the world leaders are tasked with achieving improvements on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. A summit that requires an open mind, determination and collaboration.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek forms the setting for the exhibition with its collection of seating furniture steeped in tradition and history, ranging from thrones, stools and rocks to actual chair types. 35 entirely new chair individuals created specifically for this exhibition address the question whether a piece of furniture might carry the capacity for communication. Whether a chair can condition the negotiation situation. Whether it might act as a mitigating circumstance. By providing comfort? By adding aesthetics? By breaking the ice? The questions are quirky, philosophical and diverse. As are the 35 innovative chair interpretations.

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]]> http://www.contemporist.com/2009/11/17/dialogue-a-chair-that-is-up-for-negotiation/feed/ 2 http://www.contemporist.com/2009/11/17/dialogue-a-chair-that-is-up-for-negotiation/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/contemporist/~3/53cMJ8VQfFc/ http://www.contemporist.com/2009/11/17/the-deepstone-house-by-simon-winstanley-architects/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:27:40 +0000 Dave http://www.contemporist.com/?p=6271 Simon Winstanley Architects have completed the Deepstone house in south west Scotland.

Full description after the photos….

The Deepstone House by Simon Winstanley Architects

The house is located on a spectacular site overlooking the Solway Firth in south west Scotland.
The site is a steeply sloping, former quarry in a National Scenic Area which slopes steeply in two directions from the quarry base which forms the only level ground access.

The house is conceived as a stone plinth which echos the exposed quarry face and houses the bedrooms with a garage & entrance under at the level of the quarry base. The principal living accommodation is expressed as a lightweight glazed ‘pavilion’ sitting on the solid plinth. It is set back to form an external terrace facing the sea and to reduce the apparent mass of the house.

The glazed pavilion is constructed with a steel frame and highly insulated timber infill panels clad in cedar and triple glazed windows. The roof, although thick internally to provide very high levels of insulation, is cantilevered on all sides with projecting expressed douglas fir rafters to give a thin, elegant leading edge.

The roof is finished in standing seem pre-fabricated grey zinc. The masonry base is finished in stone from re-cycled quarry waste.

The design uses the most energy efficient construction & technology where possible as part of a sustainable approach to building for the future:

• the external walls, floor and roof are insulated to a high standard and air infiltration is minimised.
• triple glazed windows with warm edge spacer bars, thermally broken frames and inert gas filled to achieve a whole window u-value of 0.7W/m2K.
• heat pump using a borehole as the ground source for the underfloor heating and hot water system with a closed combustion wood burning stove as back up.
• micro generation of renewable electricity using roof mounted Photovoltaic Panels.
• whole house heat recovery ventilation system.

The design met the client’s brief for a contemporary, energy efficient home which fully embraces the view and relates to the surrounding context and landscape.

Visit the website of Simon Winstanley Architects – here.

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From the designer:

RAW is a collection of objects that highlights the natural beauty of wood – its texture, color nuances, (im)perfections. Fabricated using a CNC-milling machine and completed by hand-cut leather. The combination of nature, craft, and industrial technology is inherent in my designs.

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Full description after the photos….

Photography by Nigel Young

The Langley Academy by Foster + Partners

With an enclosed full-height atrium at the heart of the three-storey building, the social life of the school revolves around this assembly space for 1,100 students. A recurrent element in several other of Foster + Partners’ academy buildings, the atrium is defined by a sense of transparency and openness – like a gallery of learning – which in this case also resonates with the museum theme. Inside the atrium there are three yellow drums raised above the floor on circular columns. These two-storey pods house the Academy’s ten science laboratories, reinforcing the importance of science teaching. A dedicated sports and culture block contains specialist facilities for music and drama including a fully equipped theatre, a TV and sound recording studio, soundproofed practice rooms and a rehearsal space, sports hall and lecture theatre. The academy’s two light and airy covered streets extend from the atrium and are lined with 38 classrooms.

The environmental features save 20% in water consumption and approximately 150 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to a traditional academy and are used in the teaching of science and environmental issues. Students can see the solar collectors on the roof and the workings of the exposed plant room, as well as the network of pipes that illustrate how energy is generated and carried through the building. Rain water is collected and stored and grey water filtered for reuse in sanitation and irrigation; a system of horizontal louvers provides shade; and the building has been configured to allow out-of-hours use by the wider community, ensuring its sustainability over time. Foster + Partners and Buro Happold collaborated on the environmental design.

Nigel Dancey, a senior partner and design director at Foster + Partners said:
“Environmental performance and appearance are indivisible at The Langley Academy. The school pioneers a revolutionary new educational concept which draws on the theme of museums and galleries, so that the school itself is like an exhibit, with its physical manifestation a showcase and educational tool for environmental design.”

Visit the Foster + Partners website – here.

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Joseph says:

In this new work I will create a series of pieces that, while continuing to possess many of the values of my work to date, go on to explore form in a sensitive way. Through this work, I am seeking to emulate nature’s forms with a timeless presence as though they have evolved like a formation or erosion. The resulting composition of form, material and colour creates a sense of wholeness in each complete work.

Formations Chair:

Formations Table:

Study Work:

Erosion (low table):

Visit Joseph Walsh’s website – here.

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Full description after the photos….

Condesa DF Hotel by Javier Sánchez and India Mahdavi

Tucked between historic façades on a tree-lined road, the Condesa df hotel fuses the name and spirit of its bohemian surroundings with architect Javier Sánchez and interior design guru India Mahdavi’s inventive, playful simplicity.

From rooms to rooftop, the hotel’s 1928 French neo-classical building encompasses functional originality and incorporates local elements like custommade furniture and stone tile flooring. Its most prominent interior characteristic is the inner courtyard – for Sánchez, the most important part of the hotel: “The patio is where people can see and be seen,” he says. Indeed, its restaurant has become one of Mexico City’s prime locations for people-watching.

The remainder of the hotel is imbued with Mahdavi’s fluid modernity. Her idea was to re-interpret the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán and design tranquil lodgings like “monks’ rooms”, some of which open onto the patio. Forty airy bedrooms in moss green, cream and chocolate brown tones are spiced up with retro
lamps and indigenous touches such as hand-woven rugs; suites open to a wooden terrace amidst treetops, standing in mild contrast to the pure white of the shutters, walls and curtains. In the charmingly titled Myself area, a hammam, wet areas and a gym invite guests to indulge in relaxation. A floral theme persists throughout the property from the cushion covers down to the chopstick wrappers accompanying sushi served at the rooftop La Terazza bar, which affords views over the adjacent Parque de España and the Castillo de Chapultepec. The basement bar features weightless furniture design and the ground-floor El Patio restaurant promotes a constant flux between in- and outdoors. Simple and glamorous, Condesa DF welcomes guests to a perfect representation of the city’s new hip culture.

Visit the Condesa DF website – here.

Full description after the photos….

Photos by Ferit Kuyas Wadenswil, Nick Brandli, and Camenzind Evolution

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Cocoon Building by Camenzind Evolution

Cocoon is located in Zurich’s Seefeld district on a beautiful hillside, which enjoys excellent lake and mountain views. The location’s distinctive flair stems from the exceptional park-like setting – a green oasis into which Cocoon snugly nestles. Flanked on three sides by mighty, age-old trees the elliptical structure reads as a freestanding sculptural volume that gracefully spirals up from the park. The stainless steel mesh enveloping the building combines visual privacy with restrained elegance, while establishing a strong and unmistakable presence.

The bold stand-alone building embodies an innovative conception of interior spatial organization and interaction with the surrounding environment. In doing so, it caters for a wide variety of workplace and occupancy concepts. With its spiral massing, Cocoon may be conceived as a sort of “communication landscape” that creates a unique spatial configuration and working environment in a matchless setting. The stepped, upward-winding sequence of segments also shapes the character of the building interior. All spaces are arranged along a gently rising ramp, which wraps around a central, light-flooded atrium. The space planning concept dispenses with the traditional division into horizontal storeys in favour of a seemingly endless sequence of elliptical floor segments. By eliminating the usual barriers to communication, this generates a unique spatial experience and working environment that unlocks a host of intriguing possibilities for interaction and co-operation. The floorspace design is occupancy-neutral and provides for fully flexible partitioning together with the adaptability necessary to meet the shifting needs of future users. Together, the various elements – lift, spiral ramp, segments and stairwell – constitute a clearly structured, versatile circulation system that provides for both the desired interaction and the necessary flexibility to accommodate alternative uses.

Internally, a light-flooded, upwardly widening atrium forms the centrepiece of Cocoon. Around this, the circulation and communication ramp winds its way upwards in gently curving contours, to provide a fluid link between all the internal spaces. Internally, as the ellipses expand with each turn of the spiral, the skylight void opens up in a stunning spectacle. Externally, the building adopts the guise of a dynamic, upward-reaching sculpture. The dramatic atrium, with its wealth of internal visual links, generates a natural ambience conducive to communication and a sense of community.

The facade assembly consciously adds a note of subtlety and sophistication to the overall composition. The building is wrapped in a fine, almost scaly veil of stainless steel wire mesh. This curtain curls elegantly upwards in soft lines along the expanding spiral, its junction with the roof terrace accentuated by an open facade frame.

The shrouded, sculptural stand-alone building, introverted during the daytime as it looks inwards towards the atrium, is recast in the evening hours as a transparent shining beacon. Cocoon uses a Air-source heat pump system for environmentally-friendly heating and cooling.

Visit the Camenzind Evolution website – here.

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From the architects:

This 6,500 SF addition to an existing community facility provides four new classrooms and new offices for an early childhood education center. The expansion serves as an enhancement to a stark existing building volume while creating a welcoming and bright face to the entire facility. The roof line floats above a perimeter porch area that also permits for the rectangular volume to benefit from a continuous natural light source, reducing reliance on artificial light.

The materials were specifically selected to limit maintenance needs in the educational environments while elegant details are present on the façade and roofline. The material choices were also based on their sustainability and projected lifetime creating a green system solution.

Photos by Ty Cole Photography

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Normally, you might expect a chair like this to be made from plastic or fiberglass, but Samuli Naamanka has instead designed the chairs to be made from a 100% biodegradable natural fibre. The seat doesn’t contain any inorganic materials, not even binding substances. There aren’t even any oil based materials used in the chair.

After the chair has been used for a long time, the seat material can be milled and used again for the production of a new product. At the end of the life cycle, the seat can also be demolished by composting it for about 80 days.