...this blog gave to thee...
...ten striking structures...
...nine fat wee ladies...
...nine fat wee ladies...
...eight resolutions...
...seven shoes to choose from...
...six party dresses...
...five gold rings!..
...four little shorts...
...three tasty treats...
...two fancy stamps...
...and a Cathedral made of seeds.
Today's gift is bits of architecture, of which seems to have been the subject of a lot of my pinning recently, so here are nine of my favourites, starting with above. The Bird-apartment by Japanese designers Nendo and is an enormous bird box placed high up in the trees, perfectly sized for your or I. And affixed to one of the outer walls are seventy eight individual bird boxes, and inside, are seventy eight perfectly positioned spy holes for you to discreetly observe the birds as they nest. Isn't that beautiful?
I'm torn when it comes to architecture, I adore old houses for their character, but there's something about modern architecture that lures me over to what a lot of my friends would consider the dark side. But, I almost prefer derelict buildings over both, ones which have been abandoned and gone unloved for decade upon decade...two of my favourites at home have been torn down in the past year and I think that's sad. Now, the house part of this next design is beyond simple, but the concept is what I love. Dovecote Studio, which sees a prefab house-shaped studio slotted within the crumbling walls of the old houses foundations. Created by Haworth Tompkins for Aldeburgh Music Campus, Dovecote is a music studio in Suffolk and while the Victorian façade enhances the plain box, the box helps maintain the building in its state of decay.
Decaying buildings which people are unwilling to spend the money, time or energy on is one problem, another is the fact that space is at a premium, especially in cities such as Toyko, Japan. While in the UK there always seems to be some piece of farmland or brownfield site which can be transformed into generic little boxes (Malvina Reynolds song of the same name, 'Little Boxes', being a political satire about the way suburbia and the identical houses were creeping across America) however, in Japan people are making use of every tiny space. Lucky Drops by Yashuhiro Yamashita of Atelier Tekuto is on 29.3 metres long and at its narrowest only 70cm wide, and yet it boasts 656 square feet of floor because while most would believe the only way to gain space is to go up, going down into the ground could provide more. Lucky Drops is a beautifully elegant steel structure, covered in a opaque skin to transmit as much natural light down into the building. I have to say, while what I've seen of the interior is stark, I'm in love with the exterior, it looks like a stretched out hull of a boat, which should be a tiny studio, not a home, but the glow from inside is incredibly welcoming.
Even a tiny temporary structure can be incredibly beautiful in its simplicity, and this mobile ice fishing hut by Norwegian design studio Gartnerfuglen is the simplest. Unavailability is a temporary folding structure made formed by a chicken wire covered wooden frame, which, when filled with water to create icy panes of glass form walls and a roof for a single person to isolate themselves from the world around them and gain shelter from the elements, then grow plants up during warmer weather. It's a gorgeous tiny ice hotel/greenhouse.
From the tiny to the giant but equally lovely, Art Warehouse in Boeotia by A31 Architecture. All I want to say is one day this will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine! I'm thinking studio and shop/gallery...yeah, a girl can dream.
As can these chickens! Inspired by the shape of the spreading wings of a mother hen protecting her chicks, Hoshus-1 is a beautiful wooden hen house design by Yorsten Ottesjo, which gives hens a light, bright and spacious environment to live and plenty of space to roam. The curving shingled roofs help to blend the structure into the Swedish landscape.
Environment is incredibly important, and this design, well...the story is beautiful, the structure is beautiful, in environment is beautiful and frankly, if you'll indulge me, I shall use this as a little teaser as since I've been reading up on this building, I think it needs its own post. So that will be in the next few days.
This is another building I've been keeping for a post on its own, but it has yet to materialize...and I think it's a little mean of me to taunt you with two post Christmas posts, so this is the Garden Shed by Ville Hara and Linda Bergroth for Kekkila Garden and it is in fact a kit shed/greenhouse. This modular shed can be bought in four different variations, but only in Scandinavia (unfortunately) but imagine waking up at the edge of a Finnish lake, or the bottom of the garden, and seeing that.
If you work at home, having a place to escape to away from the house is beneficial. Somewhere where you can remove yourself from chores and interruptions (it's even better if you can make yourself a cup of tea out there, or trust me you're constantly lured back inside) but one of the things I have found very difficult is going from the social environment of the university workshop to the solitary environment of my workshop. At uni, it was easy to work whilst keeping up conversations and if anything being alone is more distracting. The Selgas Cano Architecture Office in Madrid by Iwan Baan would be a great environment, secluded away from distractions, this sunken office is naturally lit, open and inviting and with just enough people around to curb the feeling of loneliness without being distracted by the hustle and bustle. I want to work here.
And finally, the way to make a log cabin, that symbol of Americana, sleek and modern. The Flake House by French architects, Olgga who have created a two piece transportable log cabin, which while without the amenities we would expect from a dwelling, it gives a modern, yet traditional means of temporary shelter from the elements.
What more do you want from a shelter? Well, maybe a bathroom...
Link | Bird-apartment by Nendo ( via Dezeen, Images via Pinterest: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Link | Dovecote Studio by Haworth Tompkins (via Interiorholic, via Pinterest)
Link | Lucky Drops by Atelier Tekuto (via Busyboo)
Link | Mobile Ice Fishing Hut by Gartnerfuglen (via Architizer and Dezeen via Pinterest)
Link | Art Warehouse in Boeotia by A31 Architecture (via Architizer)
Link | Honshus-1 by Torsten Ottesjo (via Inhabitat)
Link | Freya and Robin by Studio Weave (via Busyboo)
Link | Garden Shed by Ville Hara and Linda Bergroth (via Dezeen)
Link | The Selgas Cano Architecture Office by Iwan Baan (via Design Sigh)
Link | Flake House by Olgga (via Inhabitat and Dezeen)
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Listening: Little Boxes - The Shins
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