You have got to check out this new home design by Jo Nagasaka and Schemata Architecture. The "PACO house" offers complete self contained living in a 3 square meter cube.
The Paco House is available in four basic plans. Plan A features the kitchen, shower, bathroom, epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting at a total price of 6,300,000 yen. Plan B boasts a kitchen, epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting at a price of 5,250,000 yen. Plan C features the epoxy painted floor and ceiling lighting for 4,725,000 yen. Plan D is the home’s basic shell, which you can customize to your needs and interests, selling for 4,200 yen.
Clearly much time and money have been spent developing the prototype. Indeed this is one very well thought out box. But I have one question. Who is actually going to buy this thing?
Larson Brenner Architects (Stillwater, MN) is creating a new Cottage House Plan design for Kyle Hunt & Partners. The design is characterized by a dramatic steep front gable roof line and will feature a modern open floor plan.
Kyle Hunt & Partners is a builder that specializes in crafting Architect designed homes. They have created strategic partnerships with several Architects including Larson Brenner to provide services for their clients. This design will be featured at their Locust Hills neighborhood in Minnetonka, MN.
The two images below depict the design in two color studies.
I am not usually a fan of recliners. The traditional overstuffed giant recliners tend to be a white elephant in a room. So needless to say I was very happy while researching seating for a media room to come across these contemporary well designed recliners in the UK. They describe this recliner as: "One of their best selling recliners which reclines, swings, swivels and orbits to your desire"....and it claims to be "seriously comfortable".
Dakota Contemporary Designer Swivel Recliners
The mechanism for these contemporary designer recliners operates by leaning back on the chair and using your body weight to hold back.
What do you think? Would you have one of these seriously fun contemporary designer recliners in your home?
For those of you who haven't checked out the magazine LoftLife Magazine - The Loft Style Guide to Life in the City, it is a must read. And I don't say that only because I am on their 'Board of Experts' - the Editors and Creative Directors at LoftLife Magazine are top notch. Their style and editorials are fresh, relevant and timely. Last fall Kyra Shapurji, Managing Editor and Linden Hass, Photo Editor of LoftLife Magazine paid me a visit at my office in Vancouver to firm up a feature they were doing on favourite shopping spots of mine and a few other Design Professionals in Vancouver. Linden Hass shot a few pictures of me and the drawing below is what resulted.
I love the illustrations for LoftLife Magazine done by the talented Graham Smith from San Diego. He illustrates the masthead and the Panel of Experts for LoftLife Magazine. This month LoftLife Magazine is going to be on national newsstands: Borders, Barnes and Noble, as well as Hudson News. So pick-up your copy and read their articles. In the current Summer 2009 issue of LoftLife Magazine I particularly like:
LoftLife - Allure of Amsterdam: Dutch Design Beyond Droog. (I am lusting to visit Amsterdam)
LoftLife - Paper or Plastic? (really gets you thinking and hopefully acting)
LoftLife - Big Blank Wall: The mirrors on our minds. ( Love this round-up of mirrors) among others.......... LoftLife Magazine also has a great Blog.
Happy Reading! Please let me know if you have read a copy of LoftLife magazine and what you think of it by leaving a comment.
I recently returned from a road trip through the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. The Okanagan Valley is the home to a budding Wine Industry. I was pleasantly surprised with our stop in Osoyoss to visit The Nk'Mip Winery and Resort. NK’MIP Winery Resort is a four-season aboriginal tourism resort destination that features deluxe accommodation and visitor experiences including an award-winning winery, gourmet dining, desert golf, a cultural centre and full-service spa.
It was a feast for my eyes to view the walls of the Cultural Center from the parking lot at Nk'Mip Winery. I was struck by the beauty of this facade that looked like a giant slab of the most sumptuous marble. On closer inspection and inquiry I was informed it was built with "Rammed Earth Walls".
Rammed Earth Walls at Nk'Mip Winery and Resort also known as pisé de terre or simply pisé
(above left) Notice how thick these walls of rammed earth are - approximately 20% thicker than standard concrete walls. (above right) The rammed earth walls are formed in layers of approximately 6" thick , which gives the walls a beautiful horizontal variegation resembling quarried marble.
Rammed Earth, also known as pisé de terre or simply pisé, is a type of construction material. Pisé de terre (rammed earth) walls are an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek more sustainable building materials and more natural building methods. Traditionally, rammed earth walls or pisé de terre walls buildings are common in arid regions where wood is in scarce supply.
The basic recipe for rammed earth walls starts and ends with plain old dirt.
RECIPE FOR RAMMED EARTH WALLS - Soil about 5 litres Water - Water about half a litre - Cement 10 percent - Pigment 1 percent (about 1 tablespoon)
The mixture for rammed earth walls is compacted in layers between forms. Each layer of the rammed earth walls is approximately 6 inches deep. As each form is filled, another form is placed above it, and the process begins again. This is continued until the desired height of the rammed earth walls is achieved. Forms can be stripped off as soon as the form above is begun, as the compressed rammed earth walls are self-supporting immediately. Most builders of rammedearth walls use pneumatic rammers to compact the earth within the forms.
Deep inset Window detail in Rammed Earth Walls Nk'Mip Winery. My Dad and me.
Some interesting facts about Rammed Earth Walls and Rammed Earth Walls Construction:
Rammed earth walls are 20 percent thicker than most concrete walls so it is better insulating against heat and cold.
Rammed earth walls improve Indoor Air Quality because of the simple finish of exposed rammed earth walls have no toxic finishes.
Rammed earth walls are so solid that they boast superb acoustics and rank with the best in terms of fire resistance.
Because rammed earth walls don't rely on wood the structure will never rot, nor will it be host to carpenter ants or termites.
Rammed earth walls evolved in hot dry climates, where wood is too rare and precious to be used as a building material.
Rammed earth walls have been the standard in house construction in Southern Europe and the Middle East since biblical times.
None other than the Great Wall of China, or at least most of it was built of rammed earth wall construction.
Does anyone know why it is called Rammed Earth Walls?
Great Wall of China - Rammed Earth Walls construction
Rammed Earth Walls
Rammed Earth Walls Construction in Residential Bathroom with a Stump window which was made from the base of a tree that was growing on the house site.
Rammed Earth Walls
Iron oxide layers have been added to these rammed earth walls in sedimentary layers with inset of abalone. Above 2 photos or rammed earth walls Terra Firma
Additional Resources on Rammed Earth Walls Construction Wikipedia Rammed Earth Walls Construction Terra Firma Rammed Earth Walls Builder / Why Rammed Earth Walls in Construction? Walls of Rammed Earth Rammed Earth Walls DIY Rammed Earth Walls Construction Nk'Mip Winery and Resort, Rammed Earth Walls Cultural Center Rammed Earth Walls Construction DiagramYou Tube Rammed Earth Walls Video Images Rammed Earth Walls
Dwell, the design magazine, has unveiled the newest project in its own line of prefab homes: The Skyline series (as seen below), designed by Marmol Radziner.
This is one more example of the direction the prefab industry seems to be taking - the trend towards Modenism. But the market has been reluctant to embrace the concept of modern prefab. So on one hand you have the "trailer trash" image of a cheaply constructed mobile home, and on the other hand you have this modernist expression. And as much as I love modern design, I don't think it necessarily belongs on every infill lot in America.
There seriously must be an alternative architecture that works for prefab. An architecture that embraces the modesty and the economy of materials that the prefab industry has been known for; but packaged in a high quality, functional and sustainable design that can be compatible within most existing neighborhoods. An architecture that the people can actually see themselves living in. Come on prefab industry, let's give the people what they want!
This is one more example of the direction the prefab industry seems to be taking - the trend towards Modenism. But the market has been reluctant to embrace the concept of modern prefab. So on one hand you have the "trailer trash" image of a cheaply constructed mobile home, and on the other hand you have this modernist expression. And as much as I love modern design, I don't think it necessarily belongs on every infill lot in America.
