The Ruban Youth Center and Sports Facility has recently created a rainbow in Saint-Cloud. Its very colorful concept has been created by Paris-based KOZ Architects. With no lack of self-confidence, the imposing odd-looking building is also childishly simple and flashy.

The 17,000-square-foot recreation center was KOZ’s first project in prefab concrete. On the main facade, large cut-outs funnel daylight into the box thanks to an aluminum frame bolted to the concrete structure and holding the tinted glass panels, with colors ranging from red to green.

The project is mainly made of prefabricated concrete load-bearing panels. This system, an alternative to a steel-frame structure, was a first for the KOZ team, who brought on site the 8-inches thick panels prefabricated in Normandy.

This technique allows the building to look like a rainbow of vibrating color fields wrapped in a ribbon of concrete. Also, the molded and tinted reinforced concrete was the natural choice to highlight the external appearance, creating nice contrasts with the colored surfaces of the laminated panels, while satisfying spaces requirements.

Inside, the three-story fun palace is colorful in the extreme: red for the main gym and studio, yellow for circulation and skylights, and green for the climbing wall…

Aside of that omnipresent use of colors, the design is highly rational: interlocking spaces are superimposed without separation, configured to maximize usable area. Circulation spaces are designed as play areas with wide corridors inviting for spontaneous activity. On passage leading to an open roof deck.

[KOZ Architects]
Via [ArchitectureDesign] & [Modredes] & [ArchitectMagazine]

Created by Berlin architect and carpenter Lutz Hüning, these sliding-shelves are made of boxes with variable dimensions, hanging onto a wooden board fixed on the wall.

The boxes slide freely or can be removed, always changing the layout of the shelf. Also, their back match the board so that a plane surface is created which combines colours and materials.

Exclusively available at Karena Schuessler Gallery.

[Lutz Hüning]
Via [PicoCool]

The renovation of this apartment is the work of the Greek company .27 Architects. It is made with custom built-in furniture, for several recesses and extrusions, facilitating storage, entertainment and living.

Quite original, the unique raised wooden floor allows storage with different functions taking place above it. At the same time, it is capable of covering secondary functional elements underneath it (lighting, speakers, video projector, storage).

The presence of wood and built-in concept makes me think of a boat interior…with space.

[.27 Architects]
Via [Mocoloco]

The designers kept the idea that traditionally, the connection between the body and the conversation must not be restricted to “universal seat height and conventional definition of the sofa.”

The design is basically a backrest supporting the body in many comfortable positions, while that person is either sitting up or leaning back. Its steel structure is covered by reinforced polyester resin and eco-friendly flame-retardant polyurethane foam.

[Cheungvogl]
Via [YankoDesign]

Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson presents his work called ‘Your Chance Encounter’ in a large solo exhibition held at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan.

Eliasson explores and plays with the architecture and functionality of the museum walls, bringing the institution to life, changing its rooms and corridors through his use of light, mirrors, shadow, color, wind and fog.

‘…To emphasize that it can be important to blur the boundaries between the traditional art object and space.’

The artist’s idea is to dematerialize the traditional objecthood in art. Also, in his way, he wants to open a dialogue and relationship between his work and the viewer, making his art accessible and interactive. The creation of a space in which to question our presence within this world.

The exhibition is on show until march 22nd, 2010.

[Olafur Eliasson] & [21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art]
Via [DesignBoom]

IgenDesign
Via [Trendsnow]

CasimirMeubelen

“Like a crystal growing from rock, a dramatic structure emerges from the ground.”

The Villa is Daniel Libeskind’s first signature series home. Part of what is called twisted architecture, its unexpected angles and creative approaches meet with the highest standards in design and sustainability.

For example, the elegant standing-seam zinc façade enables the use of green technologies such as a solar thermal system and a rain water harvesting system. Also, the Villa is largely constructed of wood, offering a maximized thermal insulation.

German-made, the company has offices in USA as well as in Europe, and proposes its designs worldwide.

[Studio Daniel Libeskind]
Via [Uptodatedesign]

The “O” Kitchen is practical: it includes a dishwasher, microwave, sink, refrigerator and even a smell and steam exhaust.

Alongside the abundant storage, garbage disposal and fire alert system, the control panel tunes in online access, MP3 functions and a digital cookbook system.

Click on the remote control, watch both sides sliding onto underneath structures and open together smoothly. 210 cm high, 460 cm wide when open, half when closed.

And it all works with just one socket!

Via [Übergizmo] & [Designboom]

Hotel Missoni Edinburgh is the city’s most exciting new hotel development designed by famous Italian fashion house Missoni.With their characteristic Missoni décor, boasting ’70s inspired furniture, vivid contrasts of black and white, geometrical patterns and multicoloured stripes, the luxury guestrooms at the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh offer an elegant yet welcoming setting for your stay in the Old Town.

In room amenities include LCD flat screen, 150 on demand movies to choose from, free wireless Internet access, complimentary local calls, coffee machine, free mini bar, as well as modern bathrooms with rain shower, signature toiletries by Missoni and deluxe bathrobes.

Hotel Missoni Edinburgh

Star Wars fans with a cable clutter problem will love this original Cable Management System from Geekcook. The All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) model looks almost like the real one. In addition to organizing cables and hiding power strips,it offers storage and gadget drawers.

The DIY kit comes with attached sandpaper, screws and butterfly nuts. Throw in a few coats of paint and a little detail and you could get it looking pretty close to the real thing. And with a price around $8 what is there left to say?

[Geekcook]
Via [Übergizmo]

A significant portion of the work was carried out in an enormous wood-processing factory on the outskirts of Hangzhou. It was the only place that offered a large heated metal bed needed to partially melt plastic pipe to form smooth flat surfaces. The machine, normally used to bond melamine to wooden boards, is heated to about 230°C, which, when combined with the 40° mid-summer heat outside, created an ambient indoor temperature of around 50°C. Fine for Saunas and Bikram Yoga but pretty challenging conditions for furniture making.”

Tom Price

Via [Trendsnow]

Situated in vibrant and trendy East London, David Carter’s home is a historic and elegant four storey Queen Anne townhouse built in 1717. With two used guest bedrooms, 4 0 W i N K S is being launched to help give photographers, stylists, art directors, designers, buyers, models and anyone in the creative and fashion industries somewhere fun and different to stay when they are in London for work or pleasure.


An intoxicating mix of old and new, of the seriously grand peppered with a sprinkling of shabby chic, his home exudes glamour, wit and charm.For many years the property has been one of London’s most popular and successful location houses, providing a playful and luxurious backdrop for countless fashion and celebrity shoots.

David Carter

Let your creative skills play with this real-life Tetris furniture, building out coffee table, side table, working desk designs with optional small storage slots.

[Johan Lindstén Form]
Via [Dornob]

Margaret Elman has desigened this fabulous collection of original designs called “Green Collection.” She recovers Italian and French antique chairs and sofas with contemporary fabrics. Her whimsical yet sophisticated sense of color and style is apparent in her modern interpretation of classic chair silhouettes.

Chair Couture

Graça Correia and Roberto Ragazzi architects have created a stunning minimalist box house with sustainable material. The house called “Casa no Geres,” is based in the middle of a National Park in Portugal.

Correia and Ragazzi were given a qualified carte blanche: they were allowed to do anything, providing they didn’t cut down any of the trees on site and managed the tricky balancing act of building the house in concrete while not isolating its inhabitants from their surroundings. The structure also had to house the couple and their grown-up child, although the planning permission allowed for a maximum size of just 60 sq m.


The villa also has a cute kitchen overlooking the river, a stylish living room and two bedrooms, each with own suite bathroom.

The warmth and proper scale of the building become even clearer when the illuminated house is viewed at night.
Correia and Ragazzi

Via [Architecturelab] & [Wallpaper]

Inspired by nature, every creation is custom and hand blown. Their icy touch already decorates several renown places such as Beverly Hills Hotel in L.A. or the Las Vegas World Market Center Showroom. More intimate, light variations throughout the glass designs turn the magic on.

[Robert Kaindl]
Via [Design Milk]