Twin Cities Tuesday

LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL!

Every drive by a modern house in Minneapolis/St. Paul with AMAZING landspace design and wonder who created such beauty? Well the answer is probably rosenlof/lucas.

Matt Olson and Mike Brady, two minneapolis artist/designers who were losing touch with day jobs in the advertising industry founded rosenlof/lucas five years ago. they were interested in using their creativity to enrich peoples lives and they made landscaping their medium. they now spend their time helping people express themselves, teaching, learning and beautifying the planet. These guys are amazing!

Wijn Of Water

In 2005 terrace restaurant Wijn of Water (Wine or Water) opened in the Lloyd-quarter district of Rotterdam, Netherlands. The chosen building blocks are nine sea containers, converted to create an eclectic little restaurant situated along the River Maas. The views, from inside and the two terraces, are splendid: you look out over a fantastic section of the river and the port. Wijn of Water sees itself as an interactive wine rack with exciting audiovisual projections and claims to be the first multimedia restaurant in Rotterdam.



The menu changes with the seasons, with the dishes served featuring ingredients, aromas and colors from Mediterranean and Oriental cuisines. The restaurant also offers a good selection of Languedoc wines, a sparkling range of waters, trendy cocktails and original drinks from Surinam, Morocco and Turkey.






Industrial on the outside, classy on the inside. I fucking love it! Just check out the beach views, who wouldnt want to eat there?

Rething The Way We Sit At Work

Niels Diffrient is a pioneer of ergonomic design -- taking the radical approach of examining the human body as it interacts with furniture, and asking, 'Is there a better way to sit?' His three-volume reference work, Humanscale, explores the relationship of spine to chair and other "human engineering" data necessary for highly specialized workplaces such as a cockpit or a truck cab, as well as aiding in the search for the perfectly comfortable place to sit down.



Niels Diffrient's Freedom Chair (1999) was a breakthrough in ergonomic task seating. With a height-adjustable headrest, the Hi Back version offers customized support for the head, allowing for proper eye-level positioning when working long hours at a computer station. The Freedom Chair is designed to fit almost all body types. The seat depth is adjustable to properly support the seat and thighs, while the adjustable back support helps to keep the lumbar region of the body in line. A unique counterbalancing tilt mechanism self-adjusts according to the user's weight and movement, thus eliminating the need for manual fixes. Because of a natural lift-and-release action, the armrests are effortlessly repositioned depending on the task at hand, and unlike other ergonomic chairs, the armrests work in tandem.






Big props to my buddy Dave Eckblad for showing me this fine piece of furniture.

Watch & Learn

If...

you dig art/fashion/photography/cool shit in general check out my amazingly talented cousin Jessica's blog. It's jam packed full of goodies: http://anonymousagent.blogspot.com

AND...

if you dig music/graphic & web design/sci-fi/cool shit in general check out my friend Nick's blog. Guaranteed to blow your mind, anytime: http://myevilblog.com

AND...

I know this is an architecture blog but if you are into the local music (hell, even if you aren't) check out 8hz Record Label Collective. 8hz is taking the Minneapolis music scene by storm and you won't want to miss the shit show! http://www.myspace.com/8hzmovement


That's all for now.

Twin Cities Tuesday

LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL!

Nothing makes me more proud of my city than HIVE Modular (okay, maybe Prince). A part of m.a architecture, HIVE takes the cake for Minneapolis prefab. HIVE sells several models of contemporary modular homes with an emphasis on excellent architectural design. A HIVE home is an practical, functional, and AFFORDABLE expression of how you want to live. HIVE homes use a modular construction system, which provides a high level of quality control, minimizes exposure of building materials to the elements, and shortens construction time. These houses, once designed and planned, can literally be assembled in a weekend.

Baseline pricing starts at only $160/SF in the Midwest. (1000 square feet = 160K)

The HIVE B-Line medium (shown below) is a great choice for urban infill lots or where a smaller full-featured home is desirable. Features include a bathroom for every bedroom, a soaring central open space with a custom metal stair and an open catwalk linking the upstairs rooms. Fixtures include concrete countertops, Kahrs prefinished wood flooring, IKEA cabinetry, and specialty light fixtures by Artimide, Tech Lighting, Nemo, Meltemi and Juno. Sustainable aspects include a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient appliances and use of recycled/local materials.

An Ode To FLW And Taliesin

Over the last year, Taliesin Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture graduate and undergraduate students have been blogging on PrairieMod about their project to build a small modern home on the grounds of Taliesin West. The students, with help of Jennifer Siegal of OMD and others, designed a simple but elegant home, simply named Mod.Fab, with sustainability in mind. I have been following the construction online and am so happy it is finished and just as amazing as I thought it would be!



I read a few months ago that they were going to prefabricate this structure, but it looks like they actually decided to go instead with on-site, panelized construction using SIPs for the walls, roof, and floor. Mod.Fab may be the greenest prefab to date. It was designed for use on or off the grid. Unplugged it relies on rainwater collection, reusable greywater, and photovoltaics. Solar panels are placed on a garden wall, which allows builders to use it as a power source during construction. Talk about sustainability!

Mod.Fab has all sorts of amenities, including Cree LED lighting, Caesarstone counters, and IKEA cabinets, etc. The 600 square foot, one-bedroom prototype was designed and engineered to be transportable by roadway, so maybe someone down the road will get the opportunity to purchase it (estimated cost is only $100k). I think this is an amazing idea, creating a house that can be moved when necessary, but doesnt look like your typical trailer.






Frank Lloyd Wright would have loved this!

Wash Your Hands

The new 'Join' is an ingenious bathroom sink from Sanindusa. Made with 100 percent recycled material, the gently curving line of the sink terminates in a convenient looped towel rail. Bringing the sink and towel rail together is a breathtakingly simple concept that makes a highly functional product. Designed by Melissa Vilar, the sink is suitable for both left and right hand side installations. It works wonderfully in a small bathroom.

This sink definitely follows my 'everything must serve at least two functions' mindset.

Local Celebrity

God, I just love Minneapolis-based architect Julie Snow. I first fell in love with Julie's work when, in 2006, she designed a house for Andrew Blauvelt (design director at the Walker Art Center) which was located 5 blocks from my old apartment. Let's just say the builders knew me by name. I wont post pictures of that particular house but it's located on 38th and Lyndale in South Minneapolis. Why not get out, enjoy the spring weather and take a walk to check out an amazing modern house? Good luck seeing over the 11' cement walls :)

Here's a more recent project by Julie: a 1300 square foot weekend house on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Her designs just blow my mind!

The Weekend House was designed to allow the owner to have a quiet weekend away, while still working and maintaining a household. A small studio building, separated from the main house by an open deck, provides a separate focused work environment (brilliant!). The site has 240' of Lake Superior shoreline, with 4 wooden acres of mostly birch and spruce.

This house provides a serene connection to a beautiful, rugged landscape. The presence of the landscape is evident in every room of the house. A bit like camping, only comfortable. Love it.

Well, hello there.

Welcome to the first installment of my new architecture blog: A Machine For Living. Most of the stuff you'll see on here will focus on prefab, minimalism, bauhaus, the de stijl movement, and sustainability. Stay tuned for some amazing buildings/furniture/fixtures.

Check out the FlatPak Prefab Prototype located in the Kenwood neighborhood of Minneapolis. Ever see this beauty on your way to Hidden Beach? I urge you to take a closer look, as this is one of the coolest prefab homes in our area! The sleek prefab 2,600-square-foot house has been featured in Dwell as well as other magazines because of its trend-setting construction techniques combined with its sophisticated modern lines in glass, wood and concrete.

Rock on.











That's all for now.