Monday, 24 November 2008 |
We love a fine wine, especially when it can be ingested in as thoughtful an environment as this one. Welcome to Merus,
a "designer" winery like no other. Located in the Napa Valley in
California, Merus looks more like a Michelin-starred restaurant than
your average cellar-door retail outlet. Exposed beams are the only nod
to the past in this interior design strategy, which is thoroughly
modern with a hint of Californian warmth.
Amsterdam-based Uxus Design
is the architecture and design firm behind the winery which will open in early 09. With more than a
few inspiring, high profile projects under its belt, Uxus is one of the
Netherlands' hottest design studios - with an office to match, - which we got to experience first hand during our trip to Amsterdam last week.
It's been a busy year for Uxus, who have unveiled a number of other
great retail design projects recently including the new Heineken
'concept' bars which will open in airports across the globe and one of
Europe's coolest McDonald's play areas in Amsterdam. They were also
behind the Buccella Wines bottle design, which we featured last week. - Bill Tikos
See also Design Wine
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Thursday, 09 October 2008 |
Dupli Casa, a private residence by the Neckar river, near the old town of Marbach in South- Western Germany, is a wonderful example of connection and fluidity. It connects the inside with the outside, up with down, air with ground and — most cleverly — past with present and even future.
From the outside, the three-storey concrete villa looks like a bit like some sort of a fiberglass motorboat job gone funny, yet it also manages to look immensely appealing and intriguing. From some angles, the structure appears to be standing upside down — the lower exterior rim spilling onto the lawn and forming a part of a roof structure, if the building were to stand the other way around. It could have been blown there by the wind; it could be a StarWarsian vehicle frozen in place; it could be just taking off to outer space.
The outdoor swimming pool and the white surface surrounding it seem like a perfect reflection of the house, almost as if the house had been face down on the ground, and when it was lifted off the ground, the process had left an imprint of a swimming pool on the ground and the large window opening in the house.
The views from the inside are amazing, especially from the vast ground-level openings that again, give the sensation of flying, being airborne, weightlessness. Everything is fluid, flowing and smooth.
All of this is very much in keeping with the main inspiration for the house. The new residence follows the footprint of the previous dwelling and its numerous extensions. The idea was to let the “family archaeology” continue in the new building. It’s a house that remembers its beginnings in 1984 yet projects boldly into the future.
Dupli Casa is the work of Jürgen Mayer H., founder and principal of his cross-disciplinary studio. J. Mayer H. Architekten in Berlin. Other team members include Georg Schmidthals, Thorsten Blatter and Simon Takasak, plus Uli Wiesler’s architecture studio based in Stuttgart. - Tuija Seipell
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Monday, 15 September 2008 |
Shuhei Endo's steel, wood and glass structure, Bubbletecture H, inflates ominously out of the Japanese landscape. The visitor center, built in a valley between Osaka and Hiroshima, was planned in three sections housing a theater/lecture hall, a bookshop/galley and a workshop.
Endo’s design aesthetic throughout his career has focused on numerous experiments with steel and the seemingly limitless possibilities the material has in the built environment. He continually sets out to prove that architecture can possess diversity while simultaneously following the rules of geometry, and Bubbletecture H is certainly not an exception.
Endo has a phenomenal ability to place anything he designs within nature. The visitor center is a structural geometry of bubbles from afar. But close up, the surface appears to mimic the faceted planes on the surface of a diamond. A minimal number of windows prevent this building from glimmering in its valley. Instead, Endo subdued his design with rusted steel and occasional moss surfaces to sit within the surrounding forest – additionally meeting his client’s desire to educate the people living in the Hyogo prefecture, as well as anyone else who visit on global environmental concerns.
Drawn from concepts found in traditional Japanese vernacular architecture, the superstructure was prefabricated from local Japanese cedar. Prefabrication minimizes both economic and environmental impacts – less material to transport shorter distances instantly reduces carbon emissions released from the onset of the project.
And like a cliff temple, the supporting structure clings to the earth only where necessary – the building is over 10,000 square feet in size, but it is connected to only sixteen deeply buried five-foot wide beams – and that’s all that goes in the ground.
The concept for the design of Bubbletecture H thoroughly examines nature’s cyclical systems. Circulation through the three functional sections of the building is apparent in the rational built form connecting these spaces across the landscape. Another set of systems cycle and collect rainwater that falls on the building’s surface and reuse it for irrigation. And perhaps the most significant systemic process, the life cycle of the entire site, has been acknowledged, as green technology oozes from practically every surface. Endo’s exhibition dedicated to environmental studies hopes to heighten people’s awareness in their surroundings – and by raising awareness improved care is imminent for the valley and its environs. - Andrew J Wiener
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Monday, 21 July 2008 |
Norihiko Dan — born in 1956 in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan — is the designer of the beautiful Munetsugu Hall,
completed in 2007 in Naka Ward, Nagoya, Japan. It is a privately-funded
concert hall that continues the age-old but almost-dead tradition of
wealthy arts patrons initiating and financing the creation of art
spaces. Fluid, white wall shapes are the distinctive feature of
Munetsugu Hall’s main performance space. The walls bring to mind
artistic sweep marks left by a gigantic builder who in his boredom
doodled in his mortar tray with a massive trowel and then let the
shapes solidify.
Norihiko Dan has won several architecture
awards in Japan and Taiwan including the Distinguished Architect Award
of the Japanese Institute of Architecture and the ARCADIA Award Gold
Medal in 2007. His work has been part of exhibitions in
Japan, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Italy and the UK. In
addition to being a respected architect and educator, Norihiko Dan is
also an architecture historian and writes novels and screenplays.
Munetsugu
Hall’s generous benefactor is Tokuji Munetsugu who with his wife Naomi
made a fortune in the restaurants business. Their company Ichibanya Co.
Ltd. (based in Aichi, Japan) operates more than 1,000 curry and pasta
restaurants under the names Curry House CoCo Ichibanya and Pasta de
Coco. Munetsugu spent two billion yen to build the 310-seat concert
hall. He has also set up a nonprofit organization to support welfare,
sports and arts activities. - Tuija Seipell
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Wednesday, 09 July 2008 |
We are on a hunt for supremely cool houses, from
beach homes, country homes and city pads to holiday houses and ski
retreats, we want to know where the coolest houses are for our upcoming book. We
are looking for the most unique houses from Sao Paulo to
Sydney. Slightly cool, standard-issue luxury won’t do it.
The houses we
want must think like Zaha Hadid who said “I like architecture to have
someraw, vital, earthy quality.” So, if you are an architect of such
a house, please submit your project for consideration or if you
a photographer who has photographed such a house, please get in touch -
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Friday, 04 July 2008 |
Golf and drab are synonyms, right? And the mere mention of Golf and Country Club makes you run. Away. Fast. Golf may indeed have a bit of an image problem but that did not deter the Zürich-based Smolenicky & Partner Architektur when they were retained to work on the expansion of the venerable Sempachersee Golf Club located near Lucerne in Switzerland.
In addition to the new club house-restaurant building and the new maintenance building, both of which Smolenicky designed, the expansion included a second 18-hole golf course. All of this has made Golf Club Sempachersee the largest golf club in Switzerland and, quite likely, the club with the coolest club house.
In their approach to the club house, Smolenicky sought to manifest two things: what they call the “country character of the golfing culture of the Sempachersee course” and the course’s worldly sophistication. They took their design cues from “the rural warmth of a timber barn and the clear lines of a Maserati sports car.” The resulting building, the sleek and minimalist interior, and the magnificent 180-degree panoramic views of the Sempachersee lake and the Alps might just be reasons enough to give golf another chance. Or, at the very least, rethink what a golfing environment could look like. By Tuija Seipell
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Wednesday, 11 June 2008 |
Humlegård House is the stark-looking, year-round residence of a former Finnish TV documentary producer. He moved to this house, located in the town of Fiskars, 78 kilometers west of Helsinki, from a central-Helsinki heritage apartment. Many aspects of Humlegård, especially its placement to respond to the forces of nature, resemble the owner’s childhood home, a large country manor in central Finland.
Designed by Kimmo Friman of Friman Laaksonen Architects of Helsinki, Humlegård House is situated on a small, flat hill so that the north-south line runs diagonally through the building. This is the traditional way of placing a building so that it functions optimally as an energy efficient and comfortable dwelling in the harsh, Finnish climate. Protection from the wind and maximum use of sunlight are primary considerations, and the placement of rooms is as much dependent on how much the room needs heat and daylight as it is on how the residents use each space.
The floor plan resembles the layout of a traditional peasant farmhouse, split lengthwise into two. The house consists of three multi-function areas: two large living rooms linked by a loft with a bathroom and walk-in closet below.
In a typically Finnish fashion, the building appears simple, stark and utilitarian yet exudes a harmonious and stylish form & function sensibility. The owner and architect selected each building material carefully, opting for traditional, natural materials. “I did not want materials of which we did not have decades of experience,” said the owner. Horizontal spruce board – left untreated for maximum structure breathability -- is the main feature of the interior.
The spruce-clad outer facade weathers into a beautiful gray color that matches the stark surroundings. The east-facing facade is clad with galvanized corrugated-steel that protects the wall from rain and sun and also reflects excessive sun away in the summer. The placement of windows was determined by the requirements of the interior spaces. A separate, tiny log sauna, also designed by Friman, was built later east of the main building. By Tuija Seipell
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Tuesday, 27 May 2008 |
Antwerp, Belgium-based one-year-old sculp(IT)
is a partnership of two architects, Pieter Peerlings and Silvia
Mertens. They have recently completed a clever office, residence and
studio for themselves in what they call “Antwerp’s narrowest house”
located in Anwerp’s former red-light district. They took a 2.4-meter (7
feet 10 inches) wide space between two buildings, erected a steel
skeleton in it and installed four wooden floors, one each for work,
dining, relaxing and sleeping, plus a bath tub on the roof.
A one-piece staircase connects the floors. The walls are all glass,
allowing light in and creating a feel of space. In a nod to the area’s
“exhibitionist” past, each “window” to the street has a black frame
emphasizing the showcase or display aspect. The multi-color lighting
scheme completes the seedy notion. By Tuija Seipell
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
There’s a new planet in the solar system and it’s called Luxury.
Actually, it is here on earth, on a little-known island called Nurai,
located northeast of Abu Dhabi city.
The 130,000-square-meter island is about to be transformed into an
achingly glamorous and luxurious resort and exclusive private
residential estate, comprised of one boutique luxury hotel resort with
60 suites, 31 beachfront estates and 36 water villas.
The mammoth project is a collaboration between New York based Studio Dror, led by Dror Benshetrit, that has designed the residences, and the Paris-based firm AW2 are responsible for the design of the hotel.
The sheer scale of the project is awe-inspiring. The incredible
multi-storey water villas alone will span 515 square meters each, and
comprise three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a private rooftop garden with
spa pool, private infinity pool, multiple decks, outdoor barbeque area,
gourmet kitchen and concealed service quarters. No doubt, Tom &
Katie are making their reservations already.
As for the private Seaside residences (which are sure to be snapped up
by Saudi Princes and oil sheiks because they will probably be the only
ones who can afford them), the five-bedroom, six bathroom estates span
between 3,000 and 6,050 square meters.
Each Seaside estate will include a private beach and garden, rooftop
garden with spa pool, infinity swimming pool, indoor reflecting pools,
concealed service quarters, entertainment patios, outdoor dining areas,
chef and show kitchens, and outdoor showers.
The resort is due to open in 2010 and the prices for the residences start at €20 million. By Lisa Evans
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Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
Some of us think that our far off ancestors lived in the trees – and
during our childhood, when our thoughts and memories are most pure, we
yearn to climb trees growing in our gardens, in our parks, in our
cities. As we get older, the urge to climb trees subsides as we ride
elevators up to our offices in the sky and look out across the cities
where we live. Yet occasionally, as we’re sealed up tight in our
artificially climatic spaces, we long for a breath of fresh air.
At a German company called baumraum an
architect, a landscape architect, an arbologist, and a craftsman design
modern, natural and solidly constructed treehouses. Each treehouse
project is assessed individually. The team takes into consideration the
condition of the environment and of the tree, with the size and
features the clients desire.
baumraum offers a range of wood-types as well as options for insulated
walls. Treespaces can be outfitted with sitting and sleeping benches,
storage spaces, a mini-kitchen, heating, glass windows, lighting, as
well as a sound system for multimedia. Every piece is prefabricated in
a workshop, and then brought together on site.
Sound like something you’ve been wanting? The baumraum team offers free
consultation where they can talk you through every option available as
you put together your dream treehouse. The treehouses can span
multiple levels and sit among several trees. Treehouses are mostly
secured with ropes, thereby minimizing the impact of stress to the tree
or trees on which the house is placed. And if a tree is particularly
weak, or even if a treehouse is wanted where there is no suitable tree,
stilts are used to guarantee people everywhere can once again climb
trees. By Andrew J Wiener
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Monday, 05 May 2008 |
We do our best to seek out exceptional design from all corners of the globe, and on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands off the north west coast of Africa, we found an extraordinary architectural example in timber, glass and concrete. The House in Tenerife was built into the cliffs nearly 1000 ft. above a black sand beach.
The entrance to the house leads to the upper tier of the double-height living room. And descending the concrete staircase, the minimalist interior becomes second nature against the surrounding backdrop – where the blues of the sky and the sea appear vertically in formation. Before long, the sensory experiences from the natural world envelope the built form, and the house’s relevance in its surroundings are revealed.
The layout places living areas of the home on the shorter end of the L-shaped form, while both bedrooms and bathrooms sit along the longer side. Both living and sleeping spaces open out to a wooden deck and pool that spills into nature.
The heaviness of the concrete double-story living room allows glass panels to sit effortlessly on the deck. The room’s only furniture, le Corbuiser’s chaise and Mies’ Barcelona chair face out, away from a small fireplace that meets a wall of two-storey shelving.
The sleeping spaces both open to the deck and pool as well. Each has its own bathroom – and from the master, the owners can sleep and bathe in the same space looking out at the same view, as the sink and the concrete tub sit at the foot of the bed.
The house even contains a basement where a home gym looks through a glass wall into the side of the pool. We couldn’t really think of anything else we would want from a home on a Spanish island – except great wine storage, we’d be doing plenty of entertaining. By Andrew J Wiener.
Pics by Roland Halbe
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
The design brief for the James-Robertson House set upon a steep slope at Great Mackerel Beach overlooking the bay was to provide the owners with a permanent residence that separates living, sleeping and guest spaces in three pavilion-like glass, steel and copper structures.
The Sydney-based team of Casey Brown Architecture abides by principles of lying built form atop of the natural environment, and their house perched above the blue waters of the bay is no exception to the practice. For the James-Robertson House, the architects, who also live on the hillside, employed their local knowledge of climate and topography in the relationship between the natural and the tectonic.
After crossing the bay by ferry, visitors and the very few local residents arrive at Great Mackerel Beach via a pier that jets out from the shore. The homes on the hillside sit at the edge of the Ku-ring-gai National Park – a vast expansive protected area just north of Sydney – and no road access means no cars at all – the dream of many urbanists worldwide.
The structure of the house is comprised of three double-storey pavilions that are anchored down into the rock formations yet seem to hang off the steep hill. The climate-sensitive design allows the vast open areas to capture sea breezes from the South Pacific Ocean just out beyond the Bay. Sunlight is effortlessly filtered through folding hoods, mechanical blinds and eaves and long overhangs. The entire steel structure was painted black, which helps the house fade into its natural environment. Along with the structural materials, the architects placed a copper roof above and used local timber and stone.
The two pavilions below house a guest room and bathroom on the lower level, while the main kitchen, dining and living areas are accessed via an exterior stone stairway. The upper pavilion sits 165 feet above the lower, and can only be accessed by riding aboard a very steep inclinator. The pavilion contains the laundry area below, and the master bedroom and bathroom were placed on the highest point for the most expansive views of the surrounding landscape. By Andrew J Wiener
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
The owner couple of this beautiful pre-fabricated cabin on the shores of Lake Simcoe in Ontario, Canada, has been coming to their large recreational property for a quarter-century. But the big property in a great recreational location translated into lots of overnight guests and no privacy for the owners.
They felt they needed a “getaway,” a place at their own property where they could capture the peace and serenity of the surrounding four-season nature without disturbing any of the existing trees or structures. They needed a place that remembers what the Simcoe cottage-country is all about.
The brilliant, award-winning solution by Toronto-based Taylor Smyth Architects is the one-room Sunset Cabin, a real cabin with a decidedly contemporary feel. The wonderful cabin has won several architectural and design awards and met the clients’ needs perfectly.
It is a one-room (190 square feet in size), self-contained box that was built by furniture craftsmen in four weeks in a Toronto parking lot and installed on site in 10 days.
Three of the exterior walls are floor-to-ceiling glass and of those, two are encased in horizontal cedar-screens for privacy, shade and light effects inside. One of the cedar screens has a large opening providing a direct view of the sunset from the built-in bed. The rest of the screen has random smaller gaps to allow various vignettes of the surrounding nature and to create fantastic light patterns inside. The slats are positioned so that there is no direct view in from the outside, but at the same time, it the inside feels almost wall-less.
The untreated cedar of the outer structure will turn silvery grey over time, helping the cabin blend in with its natural surroundings. In addition, the roof, visible from the existing main building, is a green roof planted with native plants of the area, further ensuring that the building mixes in with the landscape rather than sticks out in it.
All interior surfaces are unpainted birch veneer plywood, including the built-in storage cabinets. Doors at both ends of the cabin allow for cross ventilation. The interior floor extends outside to form a deck where the rustic feel continues with the screened-off outdoor shower.
The owners are apparently spending more time at their property than ever before. They enjoy the cabin year-round, heating it by a wood-burning stove and, if needed, electric heaters. Most likely, they are not inviting guests to share the space, so we can join in only by admiring the images. By Tuija Seipell
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Friday, 07 March 2008 |
People have paddled since time immemorial
although the gear today is much different from what it was in ancient
times. Soon we will also see a new type of rest and overnight shelter
specifically for canoeists that will take advantage of the water as a
power source yet retain a pristine and timeless peacefulness. Finnish
architect and artist Sami Rintala,
together with architecture student Janne Saario, has created The Mill,
a modern wilderness hut that will be located in the Halikko river in
south western Finland, near the town of Salo, mid-way between Helsinki
and Turku. The wooden shelter even includes fireplaces and sleeping
platforms and the waterwheel in the middle of the stream produces the
energy for use in the shelter. To be completed in the fall of 2008, The
Mill is part of Halikonlahti Green Art Trilogy, which in turn is part
of an ongoing multi-year "Cross-artistic and Scientific Environmental Event"
The 39-year-old Rintala has created experimental and environmentally
sustainable installations and experimental buildings all over the
world, form the Scandinavian countries to Cuba, Canada, Japan and
Korea. By Tuija Seipell
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
Most of us have a personal image of an ideal escape or getaway. A secluded beach shack hidden on an island paradise - a tucked
away cabin built into a snowy mountainside - a private chateaux set on
the quiet, rolling hills of a vineyard - basically anywhere we feel
removed from the mundane normalcy of our own daily lives.
X.Pace, a Sydney/Singapore-based design studio is on the verge of
helping us redefine the ultimate lifestyle solution - the ultra
luxurious Hingarae residences and resort
located in Lake Taupo on New Zealand's north island. Hingarae embodies
everything one would expect from 6 star standards - the ideal balance
of extreme luxury, privacy and ultra-modern built form set upon a
pristine natural environment.
The development will offer twenty eight opportunities to own a
fully-furnished Hingarae Module. Each individual Module is 2,153 square
feet set carefully within 2.5 acres of natural landscape. Oversized
windows allow uninterrupted views to the surrounding forest, green
countryside, snow-capped mountains and crystal blue lake. The interior
design is equally rewarding offering an exceptional imported blend of
modern and futuristic furniture. The main living space sits on a
revolving disc floor that allows orientation toward the exterior or the
LCD screen.
Numerous additions to Hingarae Module ownership include an electric
car for all on-site traveling, personal use of Hingarae's premium
luxury 4WD vehicles for off-site travel, access to on-call helicopter,
on-going membership to Jack Nicklaus' Kinloch Golf Club, ongoing winter
season's pass to Mount Ruapehu's Whakapapa (New Zealand's largest ski
area), shared use of Hingarae's motor launch and unlimited access to
the 6 Star Hotel Hingarae and all its facilities including a recording
studio. Hingarae also fully manages and maintains each Module and its
individual acreage.
Nearly every aspect of a superior style of living has been taken into
consideration during the conception and development phases of
Hingarae. Unlike anything in the world, this New Zealand
destination will soon embody the ultimate expression of escape for
those of us able to get in - as prices start from US$1.9 million.
As for the rest of us, we can always hope for an invitation from a
generous friend. By Andrew J Wiener.
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