If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): architecture

Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts

Product Pick of the Week: The Barcelona Bird Pavilion by Monique Engelund.

Designer Monique Engelund designed this stunning birdhouse and feeder for menu, inspired by the famous 1929 Barcelona Pavilion, designed by the legendary German architect Mies van der Rohe.

above: Meis van der Rohe's 1929 Barcelona Pavilion.

In keeping with van der Rohe’s spirit, it exudes geometric simplicity and is made of an extraordinary material: robust and durable acacia wood from sustainable European forests.

The feeding table is beneath the roof, where the bird food can be placed on two spikes, while the bird bath sits out in the open:

A stylish outdoor element for your garden that will make all the other birds chirp with envy.

Price approx $175 USD.

The Barcelona Bird Pavilion can be purchased here
Or here
Or here
Or here

New London Ring, Leaning Tower of Pisa Ring & French Kiss Rings by Tournaire.

This is my third post on the Dream House Rings (Villa de Reve) and Bijoux Architecture collection by jeweller Philippe Tournaire. I simply can't get enough of these remarkable examples of craftsmanship and jewelry design. Since my last post, he has added the following London Ring and Leaning Tower of Pisa Ring to his impressive collection of rings that feature the architecture of cities all over the world.

A new pure Platinum and Diamond Cité Carée ring:

Like all of the architectural and custom rings by Phillipe Tournaire, they are available in various combinations of yellow, rose, white gold or platinum. Fine cut or cabochon gemstones are available to set in any of the designs.

Also new is the French Kiss collection.

above: The French Kiss ring in platinum, set with a diamond solitaire

The jeweler has for always been fascinated by the buildings and other architecture, he is also inevitably captivated by the Eiffel Tower which is this tall and powerful Iron Lady proud up on her steel heels. Always curious, Philippe Tournaire has turned it inside out to observe her better. Then he sets precious gemstones in between the 4 square shaped corners of an upside down Eiffel Tour.

above: Eiffel tower rightside up and upside down.

French Kiss XXL ring, Amethyst and Diamonds in rose gold:

French Kiss XL ring, Blue Topaz in white gold:

French Kiss XL ring, Amethyst in yellow gold:

French Kiss ring, Garnet in rose gold:

French Kiss rings come in yellow, pink or white gold ring and platinum upon request. From 1190 euros.

Philippe Tournaire also has an architecturally inspired watch collection:

Most of these rings can be special ordered directly from Tournaire.
Contact info:
Email : eboutique@philippetournaire.com
8,rue Tupinerie - 42600 MONTBRISON (Siège) - Tél. 04 77 96 08 84
103, rue Edouard Herriot - 69002 LYON - Tél. 04 78 92 93 94
7, Place Vendôme - 75001 PARIS - Tél. 01 40 20 00 19

Learn all about the Dream House Rings here

Re-engineering Jewish Tradition. The Design Winners of Sukkah City, 2011.

above: one of the ten winning submissions, 60 degree Sukkah by Filip Tejchman of Brooklyn, NY, and Cambridge, MA

Some of my readers may recall a post I wrote last year on Sukkah City, a design competition held in New York that proposed redesigning a Sukkah, a traditional shelter created for the Jewish Festival Of Sukkot.

Building and expanding upon New York’s Sukkah City 2010, Sukkah City STL proposed a re-imagination of the Sukkah, an ancient and temporary structure used by both nomads and harvesters. The jury selected work that defined and defied boundaries using ancient law and the contemporary experience of shelter. The design winners are below.

Emery McClure Architecture, Lafayette, LA - Tené

Act3 (Ben Kaplan), Trivers Architecture and STL Beacon, St. Louis - Storycubes

Sean Corriel, New York - Thru-motion

Lea Oxenhandler and Evan Maxwell Litvin, Philadelphia

Alexander Morley and Jennifer Wong, St. Louis - Exodus

Casey Hughes Architects, Los Angeles - Sukkah Collective

Christine Yogiaman, Forrest Fulton and Ken Tracy, St. Louis - Gleaned

John Kleinschmidt and Andy Sternad, New Orleans - L’Chime Sukkah

Bronwyn Charlton and Linda Levin, St. Louis. - Heliotrope

Learn more about each of the designs here.

WHAT: Sukkah City STL: Defining & Defying Boundaries
WHEN: Oct. 18-22
WHERE: Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis, near the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building
COST: Free and open to the public

The Jewish Feast of the Tabernacle, Sukkot, begins at sundown on Oct. 12, 2011, and ends at nightfall on Oct. 19.

Support for Sukkah City STL is provided by the Charles and Bunny Burson Art Fund at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

A Different Kind of California Roll. You Can Live In This One, A Cool Modern Prefab.

A pre-fabricated house designed for the desert by Christopher Daniel of Violent Volumes - The California Roll House, 2011.

The following text was written by the designer of the structure and is reprinted here:
At times, the simplest form with least manipulation from its original form can offer visual amenities and adapted solution to the context. California Roll prefabricated house takes this methodology to create its morphological adaptation to its environment : desert. Homogeneous exterior material which provides high grade of energy efficiency and reflects heat from the sun covers the entire surface except for glass panels which is electronically controlled to change its transparency.

Modularization of every structure members and finish materials are maximized to provide mobility with rapid assembly and disassembly on site.

To sustain its challenging structural stand, carbon fibre truss frame under neath the exterior material holds the entire architecture. Hydraulic powered automatic doors and security system is used for main entrance door which allows less spaces to operate the door mechanism. California Roll house features these latest technologies applied to architecture which breaks the boundary of product or vehicle design and architectural design which brings more mobility to living spaces.

Plain surface on the ground extended from exterior surface provides paved area for out door activities which requires flat and artificial surface different from desert sand surface. As well as surface on the ground, inside of exterior shell is covered with fibre reinforced plastic panels.

Modularized skylights and windows along the exterior surface can be placed at desired location to light its interior space to meet resident’s requirement from his own usage of the space.

Passive and subtle control of privacy of bedroom area is provided by curtain divider and bookshelf with translucent midpart.

These parts allows the residents to have sense of privacy by delicate visual hints over as well as providing lights through.

Overall, the privacy in California Roll is controlled rather passively with resident’s awareness than tight blocking of spaces in-between.

Main Entrance/ Front Door
Since the main entrance is on the sloped wall, the door mechanism should be designed in unconventional way. Adopting ideas from automotive design industry, hydraulic powered automatic door controlled by number lock panel is installed on the sloped wall as main entrance to minimize the space required for operation to avoid contact with user while in operation. When the door is fully open, the clearance height is up to 2 meters.

The door opens into two pieces, the upper piece lifts up over head, and the lower piece unfolds onto the floor for visitors to step on. When the door is completely closed, the material on the outside of door continues with the material of the exterior surface to achieve conformity and hide the entrance.

Automatic main door mechanism diagram: