Incredible Stairs

When it comes to architecture, I have a bit of an obsession with stairs. In my opinion, stairs can make or break the continuity of any architectural design. It either creates the moment in which two spaces connect or it works only as a functioning way to travel between levels. So when I saw this set on SmallProjects.com I new I had to share it. Faced with the design challenge of fitting a staircase into a narrow space between two walls and the desire to not block off light to the areas below. Small Projects came up with the ingenius idea of utilizing perforated steel sheeting to create treads and risers. The sheets of steel were bent into place and then pin mounted to the wall to supply the structural integrity for the stairs, while creating a surreal sense that the stairs float in the space.

Perfectly Imperfect—Sneak Peak

The "Perfectly Imperfect" Credenza stands 23" tall, 16" deep and is 48" wide and is made form reclaimed Douglas Fir Timbers from the Duluth Timber Company.


So often I hear people say "they don't build them like they used to" but that is no-longer the case. High-end, modern cabinet maker (Eastvold Custom) is now offering custom design/build furniture pieces to their line of products. On Friday, July 11th, from 4-9pm they will be having a gallery showing at the 9th Street Entry Gallery in the Rossmor Building, St. Paul, MN. However, they allowed me a sneak peak of some of the work that they will be showing and one piece in particular caught our eye. "Perfectly Imperfect" a reclaimed Douglas Fir timber credenza with exposed nail holes, a series of random planes making up the front and all of it nicely wrapped in a solid box of beautiful Doug Fir. I fell in love with it the moment I laid my eyes on it as I'm sure you will as well. The credenza along with other pieces will be for sale at the showing, so if you're interested in buying the next family heirloom, I suggest you arrive early.

Design Reality

Unlike many design competitions the C2C Home design and construction competition results in actual home construction. This years winner by Coates Design shows not only some really wonderful innovation in the building itself but also uses the landscaping as a key feature of the over-all design. As a huge fan of modern green friendly design, the integration of indoor and outdoor living in this years winner was particularly interesting to me. My favorite feature of the house is the use of a grid to create an almost pixel like pattern in the patio landscape. The entire design is really revolutionary in it's thinking both on a design and environmental level so check it out.

Fin House

There is something about Finnish design with it's stark beautiful simplicity that allows the rustic functional style, to blend almost seamlessly with the design aesthetics of modernists fans. SO when I stumbled on this incredible little rural residence via thecoolhunter.com I couldn't help but share it.



(clipped from thecoolhuner.net) Humlegård House is the stark-looking, year-round residence of a former Finnish TV documentary producer. He moved to this house, located in the town of Fiskars, 78 kilometers west of Helsinki, from a central-Helsinki heritage apartment. Many aspects of Humlegård, especially its placement to respond to the forces of nature, resemble the owner’s childhood home, a large country manor in central Finland.

Eames Stamps Available Today

In a previous post I wrote in anticipation of the Charles and Ray Eames commemorative stamps due out this summer. Wait no longer because today is the day you can officially go out and get yourself this well designed sheet of stamps featuring 16 designs. You can even save yourself the trip and order them directly from the USPS Postal Store.

modern retreat

If you've ever had the dream of building a modern retirement retreat, than you'll love these sketches of an in progress project that Michael Huber Architects is working on. The structure will sit on 10acres of heavily wooded landed, with steep inclines, overlooking a river and horse pasture. The owners are a semi-retired furniture designer (thus the large garage section) and a retired furniture buyer. The project is still in preliminary stages of concepting but they plan to look into using some alternative materials like Thermomass and Structurally Insulated Panels to form the structure. I can't wait to see how this project progresses over the next few months, so we'll keep our eyes on it.

Modern Design Deck Alphabet

Please do stop by the Please Be Still shop at Etsy and take a look at illustrator Jen Renninger's Modern Design Deck series of prints. This series includes 30 wonderful illustrations that showcase modern designers for every letter of the alphabet- highlighting the work of Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, and Hans Wegner to name a few. Available as individual prints if you’re keen on any design in particular or if you can't pick just one you can purchase the Modern Design Deck poster that features all 30 designs. Of course this would be great for a nursery, but I think they are suitable for any space.

Glass Mulch

It's hard to argue that there is anything more important than great curb appeal when it comes to your home. Often times this translates to making beautiful or bold statement with the surrounding landscaping through the use of plants and flowers. For most of us it proves to be a big challenge to keep that color lasting for more than a few weeks, before everything loses it's blooms and turns back into a world of green. So when I found this website for American Specialty Glass a few weeks ago promoting the idea of using glass as a "mulch" material, it really peaked my interest.

Made from tumbled glass the product won't cut and comes in a wide range of colors offering a unique and vibrant option to traditional earth colored rock and mulch. As an added bonus the product is made from 100% recycled content, which means you can feel good about using it as well.

From NeoCon - Gispen Leaves

While doing my marathon walk through of 2008 NeoCon in Chicago, I came across a really fun little product. I would say it was unbelievable that I came across it at all. While talking to a nice person from Gipsen about some of their interesting modern furniture pieces, he pointed up. I noticed a bunch of little plastic leaves. He explained that these magnetic mounting plastic(? i think, he wasn't really sure what the material was) were designed by Richard Hutten to "cover ugly things." Great for ceilings, ugly chairs or the file cabinet sitting next to my desk, the Gispen Leaves are a fun way brighten up any space.

Lead LEED

As the first LEED Platinum certified home in Minnesota designed by Shelter Architects the "5ive house", has been something of an inspiration to others looking to build something green and modern. As homeowner Jeff Gallo told me "We wanted to hopefully inspire people to build green in a modern way." "We would make certain choices in our development and then that created conversation of why. It didn't take long before we noticed a major ripple effect with our friends and family.

If you love the use of non-traditional material to green up a project like I do, then check out the reclaimed gym flooring material or the recycled stop light pendants and half dozen other great features of this house. Or if you're just in it for the design then you'll love the coin wall tile in the bathroom or the LED lighted back splash in the kitchen. Whatever it is that gets you going this house is really an true inspiration.

Incredible Concrete

To say I am a lover of concrete as a material would be an understatement. I am so fond of the raw, and tactile nature of it that I have made it a prominent feature of my own home in the form of a 40' long 14' tall wall. So when browsing through my subscription of Metropolis I stumbled on a one page story called The Rolls-Royce of Concete, my interest was more than peeked.

Paris based design Firm Emmanuel Combarel Dominique Marrec Architects utilized a material called Ductal on a rather uninteresting project (a central bus depot), developed by a French based company called Lafarge in the 1990's. Ductal is a cement-based composite material utilizing metallic or organic fibers. The Materials is exceptionally strength, moldability, durablity and ductility (possess the ability to defrom while continuing to carry loads). What exactly that means I don't know but the result is stunning.

The product's attributes allowed the architects to develop pre-cast slabs for the roof and walls with gracious curves and a raised dot texture which resembles Lego™ Blocks. The product is available through Lafarge North America, I'm not sure on the cost but one thing is for certain, it's certainly a revolutionary product that really makes a bold visual statement.

Sustainable Style - Grow

Exclusively Blog's main office is located in a 400,000+ square foot manufacturing facility outside Chicago. You may be asking yourself, why do I care about this? Well, you may not but I can tell you why it pertains to our Sustainable Style blog series. The facility has in the process of undergoing a major eco-transformation including new energy efficient lighting, more robust recycling effort, etc.. We are working hard to make this a eco-friendly facility. So, thinking outside the box we thought it might be interesting to cover the roof of our 400k square foot facility with solar panels. We are looking at a bunch of different options and this is how I came across Grow. (I will keep you updated on our progress)

Grow, from SMIT, is pretty much what we have all be waiting for when it comes to Sustainable Style. Integrating real attractive solutions to energy efficiency and solar energy. It is more of a museum piece right now featured at MoMA, but it is a taste of some of the great things to come. It was designed to simulate ivy that would grow on the side of a home. I am sure that an actual version that you can go to Home Depot and purchase is a long way out but it is fun to imagine.

Here is what Grow's site says about its first product plan:

SMIT's first product will be a solar-only version of GROW. The modular 'panel' will be approximately 4' X 8' and will be able to be installed on most residential building types. It will use standard grid-tie hardware that will allow easy integration with the typical building's existing electrical service provider. More information will be available soon, please contact us for further details.

Architecture for the Birds

If you're like me and you love being surround by nature but want to enjoy it with a little modern style—well then you'll love these great bird houses and feeders by J. Schatz. Could there be a more fitting shape for birds to live in and around than the egg?  Schatz had originally started out making egg shaped lamps a few years back but the progression into bird houses and feeders seems almost too obvious. Both the feeders and the houses are available in a variety of great colors (8 to be exact) made to fit any modern homes needs.

Book Club - Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House

Product Description
Cliff May’s modern homes epitomize the indoor-outdoor lifestyle characteristic of the American Dream, fusing the open plan/open living philosophy with the traditional ranch house. Starting in the 1930s, the modern ranch house took the country by storm, migrating from California to Arizona, and Cliff May was the chief proponent of this style. His long, low designs managed to be both modern and traditional, celebrating a casually elegant, indoor-outdoor lifestyle, and drawing inspiration from California’s Spanish Mexican ranchos while embracing the latest technological gadgetry. With their low profile, large carports and garages, patios, and expansive horizontality, May’s modern ranch houses became synonymous with the nascent California lifestyle and were enthusiastically promoted by the popular Sunset magazine throughout the U.S. He personally designed and built more than 1,000 homes and commercial buildings, and over 18,000 designs are attributed to his office, including the Robert Mondavi Winery and the offices of Sunset.Complete with new color photography, Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House celebrates the best of May’s work, from his start building homes during the Depression to how he evolved a brand of regional modernity that fulfilled the public’s desire for informal living in the 1950s and 1960s.