Wall Coverings to the Rescue

Photo by Astek, Inc.

When Product developer Eric Chu built his prefab house on a narrow lot in LA, he put it face to face with another identical one.  Both featured vast walls of glass overlooking a motor court, and each other.  What to do about views and privacy?  According to dwell magazine (Dec/Jan 2013), Chu and Architect Whitney Sander brought in Astek, Inc. to cover the facades with a graphic wall covering using bus wrapping material.  The material only covers 50 percent of the window thereby allowing views from the inside out and preventing views from the outside in.  The mural features a photograph of a Chinese Pistache tree also found on site.

Skateboarder’s Dream House

Imagine, a house built for grinding, carving and flying tomatoes?!  This home is a skateboarder’s dream.  Actually, the living area of this home was developed by Pierre-Andre Senizergues (PAS), founder of Sole Technology and a former pro skater.  It is a prototype for a single-family home to be used for indoor skateboarding.  Too fun not to share. 









Check out the back of that chair and the wall partition.  Is this home for you?  To read more about this prototype house, go to Inman News.

     

2010 World Expo Closes in China

The architecture every one is talking about these days is not in Dubai, but China.  On October 31, the Chinese finished hosting the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai where over 73 million people visited the 5.28 square kilometer (1300+ acres) site.  Nearly 200 countries participated in the event whose overall theme was “Better City – Better Life” signifying Shanghai’s “new status” as the “next great world city.”

 

 

Perhaps the greatest part of the Expo are the Pavilions.  This year, there were five central themes exploring urban development.  They included Urban Footprints, Urban Planet, Urbanian, City Being and Urban Future.  There were both National and Corporate pavilions.  Here’s a look at a few of the National pavilions.

 

The Latvian Pavilion theme was “Innovation City of Science and Technology.”  It featured an interior wind tunnel.

 

The Australian Pavilion had curving walls and a red exterior symbolizing it’s great natural monument Ayer’s Rock.  Its theme was ImagiNation.

 

The Chinese Pavilion’s theme was “Chinese Wisdom in Urban Development.”  It featured elements of traditional Chinese architecture dating back 2000 years that utilized interlocking wooden brackets or “dougong” for the roof.  This building was called “The Crown of the East.”

 

Japan’s Pavilion featured a purple membrane exterior and was modeled after a breathing organism.  Its theme was “Harmony of the Hearts, Harmony of the Skills.”  The Chinese called it the “Purple Silkworm Island.”

 

The Brazilian Pavilion’s concept was to highlight the cultural diversity and dynamism of its cities.  Its theme was “Pulsing Cities:  Feel the Life of Brazilian Cities.”  The green intersecting wooden lace exterior was symbolic of its forests and a recyclable material.

 

Canada’s Pavilion, shaped like the letter “C,” invited guests to enter through a gap in its exterior where they then proceeded through an interior courtyard to the building entrance.  It featured a virtual waterfall and the Cirque du Soleil.  Its theme was “The Living City:  Inclusive, Sustainable, Creative.”

 

The French Pavllion appears to be floating and features the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of France.  Its theme was “Sensual City.”  The exterior is made of a special concrete mesh and featured planted walls as well as a green roof garden. 

“Norway, Powered by Nature” themed the Norway Pavilion.  The wood structure was made up of 15 “trees” covered with a semi-transparent roof that provided enough solar energy to make the entire pavilion self sufficient.

 

“Balancity” was the theme of the German Pavilion.  It featured a cone-shaped structure that housed a revolving Metal Sphere.

 

Designed as a “hand-weaved” wicker basket, Spain’s Pavilion was themed “From the City of our Parents to the City of our Children.”  Each panel on the exterior was hand made and unique.

 

The United Kingdom’s Pavilion featured the theme of “Building on our Past, Shaping our future.”  It was dubbed as the “Seed Cathedral” and the area around it represented wrapping paper, that had fallen away to reveal the treasure inside.  It featured a tour of it’s major cities including London, Belfast, Edinborough and Cardiff, as well as a special Olympic Corner previewing the 2012 Olympics.

 

Finally, the United States’ Pavilion was designed around the theme of “Rise to the Challenge.”  It was a large grey steel structure that symbolized an eagle spreading its wings.  It conveyed four core concepts of sustainability, teamwork, health and the spirit of striving for success and presented the U.S. as a place of opportunity and diversity.

I can only dream of going to something like this one day.  I can’t imagine being there! 

These great World Expos or Fairs take place roughly every three or four years, depending upon which country commits to hosting it.  Italy will host the World Expo 2015 in Milan.  The history of these world fairs began in London in 1851.  Their purpose was to express the hopes of the day, showcase outside cultures, scientific advances, new inventions and also, to generate revenue.  To learn more about the history of these great events, go Here.

Finally, Shanghai has announced its plans to build a World Expo Museum and intends to conserve expo exhibits and popularize world expo history.  To read and learn more about the 2010 World Expo, visit their website Here.

Shipping Containers in the Sky

Sky is the Limit 2008 was designed by Mesarchitecture as a Tea House in Yang Yang, South Korea.  Basically, the structure suspends two shipping containers 20 meters above the ground.

Sky is the Limit 2008

Here’s a view inside one:

I’d like to go up there and have a look, but would hate to be up there on an especially windy day!

More Shipping Container Homes

 

Can less be more?

Modern Architecture from Italy

Thumbs up to the wood decking leading to this house.  Wood is pervious, allowing water through the cracks.  The modern outdoor light fixtures illuminating the walkway to the house are also very cool and the wood screened courtyard provides a sense of mystery -- making me want to see what is behind it. 

From the street, I guess you could say that this house looks rather ordinary – like any other modern dwelling. 

But once inside however, one can see that it is special.   I see a zen view window in the kitchen.  I am sure that the white interior makes the narrow space feel much bigger.  The dining area opens up nicely to the outdoors.  Also, it looks like crystal chandeliers are still “in” … did they every go “out?”

WoW!  I can’t tell where the house stops and the landscape begins. 

The pool sits at the edge of the home with water cascading down from the roof overhang, offering a great connection between the nature outdoors and the living indoors.

Love this!  House design is by Damilano Studio.  It is called Maison De La Lumiere and it is located in Bologna, Italy.  I stumbled upon it at chic tip.com.

Me, Jane …

… Who wouldn’t want to swing from the trees with an abode such as this?

Tree House by Robert Harvey Oshatz, Portland, OR.

Check out those curves!

 

Love this semi-circle glass door and the flagstone paving that runs inside and out.

But the views!  They are to die for!

You like?  Read more about it at Canopy Living: The Ultimate Tree House at Twisted Sifter.

Beach Cottage Love

I normally don’t go into the interiors of homes and post about them, but I have made an exception in this case.  Last weekend I sat in this beach cottage in Wrightsville Beach and fell in love with it!
My camera does not do it justice, but I’ll share my photographs any way.



Upon walking in to this beautiful beach cottage on Harbor Island in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, you are greeted with the colors of the sea.  The front room on the ground floor is a sitting room with four identical chairs gathered around a round glass table.

 
The adjoining space  is a small desk and nook area.



There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, a bathroom and a large laundry closet.



The first bedroom had a large closet, a chest of drawers and two single beds.



The second bedroom was larger and had a double bed,



benches that also doubled as storage, and

 
a window seat sandwiched between two closets.



I loved this vase in the bathroom.


The stairs from first to second floor were painted in a shiny black lacquer.  Once upstairs you enter into this room.



The  large front room has a fireplace in it and adjoins a very wide front porch, which runs the length of the house and is highly usable for outdoor living.

The dining table is made of glass and is supported by twin urns painted black.



Each chair had a pillow.



The fireplace is not used for wood any more, so the owner decorated it using the coastal theme.




A detail from the fireplace mantle featuring the wood trim and mosaic tile.



A chandelier hangs over the dining table and is reflected in a mirror over the fireplace mantle.

 
There is plenty of light in this room with many double hung windows overlooking the very wide 2nd story porch.  



The porch is accessed through a door in the front room and is essentially, an outdoor living room.  What a great place to be 3 months out of the year in Wrightsville Beach!

Photo from Wilmington MLS (Thanks Terry!)

Another front window looks out at the neighbor’s house.  I love the sheer drapes.



The 2nd floor has a very open floor plan.  The front room adjoins the kitchen area.





I love how the kitchen island and cupboard are both painted in the shiny black laquer paint that matches the stairs in the front room.  The kitchen counter is a shiny black granite and the cabinets are white.  The interior of the tall black built-in cupboard is painted sky blue.

The owner used the wall space beneath a high window to create this little area between the kitchen and the front room.  The small table consists of a cart with a glass table.  The burlap runner matches the burlap runner used on the dining room table.


Here are some of the goodies displayed on the table.


 





Above this little table was a window with a shutter awning.

Here is the view out of the same window …



And the view looking toward the front room from the kitchen. 


The kitchen sink and countertop are classic.  The owner was wise enough to make that sink large enough to accommodate a large pot of crabs, that can be caught in Banks Channel right across the street!

The family room behind the kitchen was added on.  There is an opening between the two rooms where there once was a window.

This is a spacious and light family room with a fireplace.

 

The back of this room is all glass and opens up to a spacious back deck that leads down to the back yard area.  There were large evergreens planted on the other side of the deck, giving this room both privacy and a “tree house” feel.

The master bedroom was stunning.  The bed had a built-in headboard.  Can you see the palm trees on the sheer curtain fabric?



The room had a large walk-in closet on one end and adjoined a luxurious bath and large walk-in shower  on the other end.  That shower can be entered from either side.

There were his and her sinks on opposite sides of the master bath room.























Finally, there was one more bedroom upstairs as well as another full bath.  Here is the bedroom.



A painted desk in this room is sandwiched between two closets.

 
Can you believe I was so taken with the interior of this house, that I didn’t even take one photo of the outside?!   However, I did go out there.  The back yard was completely private and fenced in and featured a lovely sitting area and garden courtyard.

This home is situated on Harbor Island in Wrightsville Beach, NC within walking distance to the ocean!  It is currently for sale at a price of $879,900 and is listed by Debbie Mitchell at Intracoastal Realty Corp.  It has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and is 2601-square feet.  Please contact me directly if you would like more information!

This, in my opinion, is the epitome of coastal living!