Monte Silo

Monte Silo is an 1,800 square foot home by Gigaplex Architects. It is located in on the Provo River in Woodland, Utah and was built for a single man and his many visitors. The owner of the house insisted on having a 27' diameter octagon for a living room, so Gigaplex came up with the brilliant idea of linking two corrugated metal grain silos in such a way as to maximize floor space, river views, and solar heat.

Floors are installed with radiant in-floor heating and there is also a wood burning stove. One of the most unique features is the the 'Bed in a Box' concept for the bunk room, in which each bed 'pod' has it's own flat screen tv and stereo system.


I could definitely get used to hanging out here in the summertime!

Desert House

Welcome to the Desert House, located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. This modern desert oasis was designed by Marwan Al Sayed Architects, Ltd. This house truly shows paradise can exist in even the driest of climates.

Large expanses of glass really help to break out the concrete exterior, while providing amazing views of Squaw Peak Mountain Reserve and the Arizona Canal. The neutral color of the concrete helps the house to really blend with its desert site.

The plan of the Desert House is also quite unique. All of the bedrooms (private spaces) have been brought into the sunken basement. The cement, along with the house being partially underground, really helps to keep the bedrooms cool and shaded. Public spaces, such as the living room, kitchen and dining room, have been brought to the upper level, giving them great access to the scenery.

Sumare

Sumare is the coolest house I've seen in months.

Situated in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sumare was designed to function as a live-work space for a contemporary graphic designer. This is an amazingly simple yet modern design, and architect Isay Weinfeld really made the most of the space, allowing for three levels of living in a two story house.

The main level of the house houses the kitchen, dining room, and living area. Large walls of glass allow for great daylight and amazing scenery. The second level is amazing. Weinfeld has managed to include bedrooms, the awesome swimming pool you'll see below, even a ballet studio. Even the basement has direct access to the outdoors, really showing that this entire house is connected to its site.

The exterior of Sumare is so sleek and simple, yet so interesting. The combination of the grid wall system with the wood and the bright yellow surely makes this house stand out among its neighbors. A roof top deck adds that extra touch, giving back to the site and allowing for great skyline views.

Seriously.

Landcarpet

YES! Never in my life did I think I would be blogging about carpet, but times sure have changed.

Austrian design company Florian Pucher recently released Landcarpet. Carpets come in the style of aerial photo maps. They currently have layouts for Europe, USA, Netherlands, and Africa.

BTW

Sorry I have taken a major hiatus from my blog. Work and school have basically taken over my life, but now that the weather is nice I promise to be better about sharing awesome spaces with you fine folks :]

Skybox House

This little beauty was created by Primus Architecture. The house sits on a partly wooded lot on the coast north of Zealand, Denmark.

The main focus of Primus was to "add spatiality and experience of light." It gets its name "Skybox" from the many box-like sky lights throughout the space, giving it light and air. Large sliding doors really allow the house to become one with its site.

The exterior facade is amazing. It is made of oak lists treated with iron sulfate giving it its color and appearance.

Enjoy!

Newspaper Yarn

I'm always searching for cool and new ways to recycle everyday objects, such as newspapers. I have now found an amazing solution to your stack of NYT: Newspaper Yarn! Greetje van Tiem is now famous for her “Indruk” project (she can purportedly spins 20yds of “yarn” from a sheet of old newspaper).

Newspaper yarn is very versatile and can be used for many things including curtains, rugs, even upholstery! Its strength may be slightly less that of yarn but when spun tightly and woven into something like a mat the newspaper yarn is a durable and functional structure.





So how can YOU make your very own Newspaper yarn? FIND OUT HERE!

Williams Glass Studio

The Williams Glass Studio in Ontario, Canada by gh3.

The central concept of the house is reconceived through a contemporary lens of sustainability, program, site and amenity. The compelling qualities of simple, open spaces; interior and exterior unity and material clarity are transformed to enhance the environmental and programmatic performance of the building, creating architecture of both iconic resonance and innovative context–driven design.

The transparent facade—a curtain wall glazed in low-iron glass—becomes the essential element in a photographic apparatus to produce images unobtainable in a conventional studio. The compact glass form sits at the water’s edge on a granite plinth whose matte black facade dematerializes to suspend the building, lantern-like, on the site. Sliding panes in the glass skin allow the facade to become completely porous for natural ventilation, while an individually automated blind system, white roof, and deciduous hedgerow guard against excessive solar gain.

Entry into the site is facilitated through a minimalist landscape that deploys endogenous materials while leaving the greatest portion of the site in its evocative, glacier-scoured state. Throughout the upper and lower levels, interior partitions are clad with seamless white lacquered panels whose reflective qualities diffuse light into every part of the interior and create complex layered views through the space.

(via archnewhome)

Two Sisters House

This amazing house design is based on reinforced concrete piles, forming covered external spaces. The first floor is a connecting space for entrance zone and the rooms of common use (kitchen, living area, dining) while the second level houses two private living quarters. The way these spaces are connected creates a great individual living environment with maximum isolation and a view to Langstini Lake.

I love the shiny RED (my favorite color) exterior of this house.

Location : Langstini, District of Riga, Latvia

Arcitect : NRJA

Nathan Freise.

Nathan Freise is my new hero. There. I said it.

I have been following Freise's work for the past few years (mostly short films and illustrations) and have always been intrigued at the stuff he has produced....but his most recent exhibition, Unseen Realities, has completely blown me away.

Freise, both architecturally trained and artistically gifted, creates amazing speculative architecture art that combines many different medias and mediums (ink, marker, pencil, paint, collages, mosaics, digital manipulations) into one beautiful dream. I almost feel as if I am in Freise's own imaginary world, and a very futuristic one at that.

V&A pattern

Colors and patterns and textures oh my! It looks Like London's Victoria and Albert Museum has decided to give the public a glimpse of their wonderful pattern archives, published in a set of Volumes known as the V&A Patterns.

These volumes, which come in hardcover I might add, have some amazing people/ideas attached to them including: William Morris, Indian Florals, Digital Pioneers, and The Fifties.

I picked out my favorite prints, patterns, and color combinations below. Enjoy!

P.S. Word on the street is a Secret Garden volume will be released soon!!!!