1938 Space Age Mountain Pod By Charlotte Perriand is Reconstucted by Cassina.

A futuristic mountain pod - or the Refuge Barrel (Refuge Tonneau), as it was originally called- designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1938 has been authentically reconstructed by Cassina.



Mountain lover and designer Charlotte Perriand first imagined the mobile refuge in 1936 and in 1938 she and the designer she often worked with, Pierre Jeanneret, developed it for his space at the Design Village at the Furniture Fair.


above: a maquette of the original Refuge Barrel



above: Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret with Corbusier

The dodecahedral pod, originally designed for Mountain Alps, has an aluminum exterior and a fir wooden interior. Purposely designed to be both lightweight and sturdy, the prefab structure sits on stilts which provide good stability, even on the roughest and steep terrain. The central pole has twelve spokes at the top giving it an umbrella like ceiling.







The stove is located in the central pipe and warms the entire pod:




The structure is divided into a ground floor with four single beds and a loft with two double beds, capable of sleeping up to eight people:



The beds on the ground floor, inspired by railroad cars of the time, fold up with leather straps:



The tiny kitchen has a wooden worktop in which a stainless steel sink is placed to melt snow:







In addition, there are special containers for food staples, a shelf for a small camp stove, a table on which maps of the area are laminated and a storage room for backpacks and ski storage.





Cassina has faithfully reproduced the pod on the basis of original drawings, notes or parts already made by Perriand in other housing projects.


above image, courtesy of Designboom




With this reconstruction, Cassina allows anyone to enter the interior of this visionary structure, otherwise doomed to oblivion.

Images courtesy of Cassina and Dwell

IKEA Portland and Ideabox Launch Their First Collaborative Prefab Home, Aktiv.

Oregon-based Ideabox has collaborated with IKEA to create a new prefab collection which debuted this month at the Portland Home & Garden Show.





The collaboration introduces "Aktiv", the first in a new line of prefab houses designed by ideabox and appointed by IKEA.




Working with IKEA designers, ideabox designed aktiv around IKEA systems. In the kitchen, IKEA offers a lot of flexibility in kitchen cabinets. Ideabox designed the layout, and their clients can select the colors. IKEA appliances offer state-of-the-art cooking, so they included an induction cooktop and convection oven.




A counter depth refrigerator keeps food fresh, and cabinet faced dishwashers provide seamless functionality. Proven by millions walking on them in IKEA stores, aktiv offers IKEA flooring, a perfect match for active Northwest lifestyles.



For those IKEA fans, the pure delight of walking and imagining their way through an IKEA store quickly turns to the daunting task of assembly when they get home. However, when your ideabox aktiv arrives, all of the cabinets, countertops, and flooring are installed.




The bath features a “huge” two sink vanity and four drawers along with a storage cabinet. The bedroom features the amazingly functional IKEA built-in series of closet systems.




Think of it as your own personal euro designer flat -only where you want it. Every bit an ideabox, from the energy efficiency to the cool assembly of materials, aktiv by ideabox truly is modern living made remarkably easy.



Jim Russell (above), owner and principal at Ideabox, has a background in energy, having worked for Oregon's Department of Energy and Energy Trust at Oregon. He's passionate about delivering energy-efficient homes — as long as they have a design edge. "We want our homes to be so rockin' cool that people just want them," Russell said. "No Birkenstocks, no flannel, no granola."


above: Jim Russell, ideabox owner, stands in front of the Aktiv at the Portland Home and Garden Show

The home gets a boost in its quest for maximum energy efficiency in part due to its small footprint. Aktiv is compact at 745-square-feet and carries an all-inclusive price tag of about $86,000. From order to delivery, an Ideabox home takes about eight weeks, with two to three of that in building time.

The exterior of the Aktiv in Portland:




The landscaping for the project was done for Ikeabox by Schutlz and Long Landscape Architecture of Portland. Recycled asphalt replaces gravel and water-efficient dwarf plants are fed by a drip irrigation system.



images and info courtesy of ideabox, Sustainable Business Oregon and photographer Cathy Cheney

Check Out The Tetra Shed. A Modern Modular Office Pod Available Next Month.

A Mod pod that rocks. Available as of January 2012 is yet another modular office pod from the UK (they are big on garden sheds and modular pods). The tetra shed® by architect David Ajasa-Adekunle of Innovation Imperative is a new modular building system which, as a single module, has been designed to be a modern garden office.



The tetra shed® is available with external finishes in any RAL colour or clad in either copper, zinc, corten steel or marine plywood.







Inside, the tetra-shed can be internally lined in either birch faced plywood or plasterboard.





A double module layout has also been designed to create a larger office for larger gardens.



Clusters of up to 6 modules have primarily been designed as additional work, rest and play space for homes. Larger tessellations can be used for a range of applications such as classrooms, exhibition space, corporate events, tourism & leisure facilities and retail space. Designed to exceed the building regulations, tetra shed® is suitable for permanent year-round use.
additional images courtesy of sinbad design

Tetra Shed