The word "casa" or home seems like a funny name for the website of a Japanese architectural firm. However, the clean lines, simple palette of colors and materials makes these some of the most peaceful looking modern homes that I have seen in recent years. You can see more great shots of Sakamoto's work here. There are some stunning pictures of the minimalist interiors that really showcase the beautiful use of materials.
I recently stumbled upon the site of architect Andrew Maynard, and my eye was caught by one particular projects name—Tatoo House. I remember seeing this house a year or so back but couldn't help but revisited it one more time. The house was an extension of an exsiting home and was designed on a very tight budget. The simple box form was done for cost savings. The homes most noteable feature it's tree pattern "tattoo", was actually done in order to meet a council requirement for 75% opacity on second story spaces, and was generated from UV stable stickers, creating a stunning visual feature. One of my favorite examples of "modest modern" design.
Straight from the UK, Sono Design offers home grown designs and production. Everything is made from local artisans and designed by Grant Baker and Nick Jackson. No importing for Sono.
I found some of these products really interesting including the "bombshade" which looks exactly how it sounds. It is a hanging lamp shade in the shape of a bomb. Everything is flat packed so you know your shipping costs are not going to be through the roof. May be a bad time to purchase from the UK due to the low value of the dollar but one purchase won't hurt you.
If you wait long enough. This may become available in the US. Hint, Hint.
I spent the last week in the region of Stavanger, Norway visiting my wifes family. We spent a couple days downtown in Stavanger site seeing and were lucky enough to visit the Norwegian Petroleum Museum known to the locals as Norsk Oljemuseum. The unique contrast of the modern architecture of the museum, the water and the historical homes and shops in the area make this a must visit. Even if you can just drop in and take a look. I found the exhibits interesting as well. Did you know that "The hole opener" - the largets drill bit that is used for offshore drilling weighs 1,700 kg and is 36" in diameter! I bet not.
If you're looking for a way to make an accent wall in one of your rooms, but don't want to paint it hot pink, or rusty orange, then check out this incredible new modular wall pattern from ModularArts, called Go-Go™ . The panels are 100% mineral based, non off-gassing, no VOC, urea-formaldehyde free and features the trademarked Interlocking-Rock® system. Each 32"x32"panel is designed to utilize a perfectly repeated pattern, which means there is less on-site cutting and waste during installation. The new Go-Go line will be released come late July, so get ready to place your order or keep your eyes open for this great new pattern in one of your local hot new restaurants or clubs.
I found this great site about Mid-Century modern architecture from one of my designers, who was researching the period for another project. The entry that caught my eye was one featuring a Lake Forest, Ill 1960's home, by a relatively unknown architect, Jack Viks (apparently an understudy of Mies Van Der Rohe). The cantilevered designed and glass walls, is certainly reflected of Van Der Rohe's work, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. Anyhow, you can see more of the house at the original site MidCentury Architecture. I'm adding the site to my list of favorites, somthing you might want to do as well.
If you're into modern home design then it's highly unlikely that you are unfamiliar with the growing popularity of modular or prefabricated homes. The trend has resulted in a large number of architectural firms offering their take on the prefab design trend, all with varying levels of customization, cost and style. However, I recently stumbled on one that looked like nothing else I had see before. The Up!House A futuristic, high-performance prefab model, designed by Brooklyn based architectural firm Konyk. The design utilizes a steel "uni-body" frame, structural panels and lots of insulated glass, resulting a sleek, super modern, living space.
The homes are fabricated and delivered fully equipped with high-end appliances, fixtures and mechanicals and the website says it can all be shipped within 24hrs of delivery (not sure how they would do this but it sounds wonderful). The up!house can also be demounted and reassembled on a new site if the owner decides to move or new sections can be added to grow with owners family or lifestyle.
The Unwhite House by Dencity Design, one of the featured homes on this years Atlanta Modern Home Tour.
Check out this great collection of photos covering the 2008 Atlanta Modern Home Tour. I've been to Atlanta but never knew it had such an incredible collection of modern homes. This site gives just a sampling of what they had on their annual tour for 2008. I think I might have to plan a little vacation to Atlanta next May, to see next years event first hand.
I don't know if this is brilliant or ridiculous, but I love it either way. The Cima Ladder was designed as a way to showcase the capabilities and amazing properties of composites materials. The ladder is produced in a single piece, using a technique similar to that used in bicycle frames and constructed of carbon fiber composite .This combination of design and advanced material means it weighs a minuscule 1kg (or just slightly over 2 lbs) yet is incredibly strong. It's bright color and beautiful design mean that this normally utilitarian tool can now become a showpiece in almost anyones home, or at least a conversation piece.
I love simple, cool design solutions and this one fits right up there with some of the best I've seen. The Strida 5.0 foldable bike via wejetset.com is a convenient little tool, it's compact folding size allows you to store it in your car, tote it along on the train or toss in your office so you can scoot around town at lunch time. Whatever your plan to use it for, you're sure to draws some attention when you jump off it and fold it down to it's micro-sized storage mode or pop it back open to take another spin.
Recently found this project(the Cavehill Residence) by Seattle based Architectural Firm Eggleston Farkas Architects. The project was a small budget renovation project where the homeowners did much of the transformation themselves, with incredible results. This either gives the weekend warrior in all of us great hope or leaves us feeling largely inadequate as. If you want to read a little more detail about this project, check out the feature in the book Shoestring Modern, which covers this and several other low cost per sq. ft., modern design solutions.
If you grew up in rural Wisconsin (like I did) it's nothing to drive from town-to-town and see the countryside dotted with old wood framed barns. However, over the past 30 some odd years, as urban sprawl has pushed out, further and further into rural areas, farmers have been forced to either modernize their operations to keep pace or sell off their land. This has resulted in the American barn becoming a bit of an Architectural Dinosaur. These great historical structures have been left sagging and weathered and eventually replaced by a pole barn (low long buildings made of post and beam construction and wrapped in industrial steel siding) or raised for a new development of homogenized McMansions.
Over the past 6 months or so I have been following the journey of a great dinosaur revival. The project/house known as Bare Hill Barn or BHB, tracks the journey as a Massachusetts Teacher/Historian and his family as they work to convert a two-hundred year old barn into a modern green friendly home. Their is great deal of information on their green products and approach to the property so check it out. Additionally, the home will also be featured on the Discovery Channel Network, Planet Green on the show Renovation Nation, so look for that episode, if you'd like to see a little more of their great story.
