What happens when a model work of furniture design gets turned into a model miniature? Kevin Spencer applies modern technology to a classic form in presenting a 3D Printed Eames Lounge Chair. The 1:20 version stands at about two inches tall, and though it wouldn’t be appropriate for sitting, the figure can inspire and entertain in real proportions. The detailed coloring and gentle curve of the cushions recreates everything a savvy designer loves about Eames. The model is also available at other scales through Shapeways. Considering the amount of enthusiasm that has already been shown for the 3D Printed Eames Lounge Chair, perhaps we can expect a whole collection with which to play “interior designer.” Available for purchase at Shapeways

Wet suit on, board tucked under your arm, just a short walk out the back door and the cresting waves are waiting for you. What a life!  A surf enthusiastic family built the Plinth home by LAND Arquitectos in Chile right along the water.  Wide open rooms are enhanced with woodwork, the center of the home surrounds a stone hearth.  The flagstone floor extends throughout the home and even outside into the patio areas.  Limited fresh water resources inspired controlled green areas.  The design goes against natures fierce elements.  Walls and angles protect from whipping winds.  Porch and patio trellis blankets the outdoor living spaces with shade from the blistering sun rays.  The calm of the ocean enters the home with every view from any room.

via [Archdaily] – photographs © Sergio Pirrone

Introducing softer, lighter, a nebulous cabinetry slightly invisible, however continuously serene in presentation named Meccanica from designer Gabriele Centazzo. Created by Démodé, engineered by Valcucine, Italian kitchen station experts that have elevated our work spaces to a precise, modern, enjoyable experience. The cloth doors give to touch from their elastic blend material. They are 100% recyclable and clever as stain resistant, removable, even machine washable!  Dressed in modern colors representing fresh culinary style they inspire market dishes full of clean ingredients also long family reunions around the island with bottles of vino. Their minimalist personality calms storage anxiety in a snap with everything in its place. Elegant and pleasing with an aesthetic profile each room graced like the other, as this greatly versatile modular system works for bookshelves and media centers too.

Comparing the aesthetic of GROWLER City Bike to the typical lightweight, thin-frame city bike is like describing the differences between Kandinsky’s line drawings and Dürer’s precision prints. There is freedom and boldness in the form of GROWLER, from the fat 29-inch wheels to the devil-may-care curve in the middle of the frame. Even the beverage holder is an audacious statement: a hefty gallon of fuel for long rides. Designed by Joey Ruiter, the bike makes a statement with its presence, which is all the more formidable with its all-black appearance. Other features include a monarch springer front end and a two-speed internal kickback hub, but rest assured that the visual impact of GROWLER is the most noteworthy of them all.

The notion that architecture is a built environment implies that there ought to be some relationship between the natural environment and that which is constructed. Mediterrani 32, built in Sant Pol de Mar, Barcelona, embodies this principle through the building’s footprint and form. Designed by Isern Architects, the home sits upon a steep plot of land and the surrounding trees further constrain the spread of the plan. Instead of the brute force method of clearing the site, the architects designed the home to reflect a vertical branching out of program, similar to how trees natural grow. The system of cantilevers and rooftop terraces are a slight nod to the iconic Fallingwater, though the heavier volumes tend to create a stronger comparison of solid and void. The amalgam of concrete, iron, and timber incorporated throughout the home complete the visual portrait of Mediterrani 32 as the intersection of the constructed and the natural form.

via [Dezeen]

Make me a pattern. On a toothpick: green olive, black olive, green olive, black olive. Hiking the trail: toad, rock, toad, rock. After a long day at work: salt, shot, lime, salt, shot, lime.
In the case of bringing together the soft and hard, a natural element with one constructed we are pleased to find the Litos modular system. Designed by Alberto Villarreal of San Francisco these bow tie sized storage links stack to create a one of a kind pattern to your preference. Use your creativity to purpose them in many different possibilities. The wooden block is made of gorgeous walnut hardwood, the stone blocks are made of concrete.  Their unity is a choice arrangement to display wine, succulents, or the like.

For misbehaving children, the quiet chair might be an unbearable punishment but TILT’s Quiet Chair is an appreciated haven from the rest of the world. The London-based studio’s recent workshops with staff and patients at London’s Whittington Hospital inspired the cocoon-like design of Quiet Chair. The pentagonal wood frame features a lipped overhand that helps create a sense of protected and personal space, one that is surrounded by soft blue cushions. The intimate cove is small enough for an individual to curl up in repose, but also spacious enough to accommodate an upright reading position. It is easy to imagine falling asleep and entering a utopian landscape of dreams in this chair.

The fragile egg, vulnerable to the world around it holds on for dear life with only a thin oblong shell to protect its contents. A life generated project expects nature to cling to the vessel as days weeks and months pass with artist Stephen Turner working inside.  His thoughts on the matter, “I intend to track, trace and record all the goings-on within an agreed grid on the inter-tidal area of ‘my parish’, using GPS to accurately transpose stories, events and material finds to a scale chart of the river; making maps that go beyond the physical to chart a more emotional geography.​
The Egg will be my own home beside the burrows of rabbits, the webs of spiders, the nests of birds and the aqueous habitat of fish and molluscs and I will reflect upon how such space is shared and indeed who or what should own it. In an age of hubris and self promotion, I want to provide a voice for mute nature, to be amanuensis to the tides, the terns and the turnstones.”

Acting as a boat, temporarily docked, the Exbury Egg will rise and fall with the tide bobbing on the moving Beaulieu River in the south end of the United Kingdom. This energy efficient studio is self sufficient, embracing the charges of “Reduce Reuse Recycle” and furthermore, “Lean Green and Clean”. It is a graceful wonder combining the earth and its life giving properties with a slight interruption to induce creativity.

The artist has strong convictions about these ideas, ” Climate change is already creating new shorelines and habitats. Established salt marsh is being eroded by a combination of rising sea levels and falling landmass and the entire littoral environment is in a state of flux. The implications for wildlife and for the flora as well as for people are challenging. Raising awareness of the past and the unfolding present of a very special location will be the task, whist living ethical relationship with nature and treading as lightly as possible upon the land. ”

via [designboom]

Recognizing comfort as the primary criterion for armchairs, designers at architecture firm Claesson Koivisto Rune have devised a new form for the ordinary chair. HUG armchair, designed for the Italian furniture company Arflex, visually opens up for a hug for its arms extend at detached angle from the seat. The invitation is met with the fulfillment of the promise with its generous cushion and colorful demeanor. Friendliness finds its equivalent with physical comfort, and usability a close second with the different varieties in chair sizes offered. The HUG collection will be featured at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair, and also includes wing chairs and club chairs for an even warmer embrace.

via [contemporist]

Velour’s Summer 2013 Collection is a capsule collection in the fashion sense, with easy-to-coordinate pieces that permute to a number of outfits, but the collection is a time capsule in its aesthetic dimension. The Swedish brand turns time backward with its Miami art deco-inspired look featuring strong, linear patterns with an undercurrent of light pink that ties the entire collection of shirts, jackets, and chinos together. Summer is evoked through the combination of rich green and navy, as well as a chest embroidered parrot that sits on the shirts. The look carries a paradoxical timelessness with its noticeable period feel, which is accentuated by the collection’s photo shoot within Blå Tåget’s coach cars. The warmth of the wooden interiors preserved in their 1960’s form, and the sunlight streaming in from the windows create the perfect backdrop for the nostalgic collection.

Photos © Malin Johansson