Modern Treehouse is 1 of 5 Finalists For House Of The Year.

Rockefeller Partners Associates' stunning Mandeville Canyon Treehouse is presently up, along with four other modern homes, for Arch Daily's Building of The Year . Voting ends today, and all the nominees are shown here later in this post.



The Treehouse home, on Banyon Drive in Los Angeles, is perched upon steel pylons that are naturally integrated into the surrounding trees. With a butterfly roof, the 16 square meter home is perched upon an eastern facing ridge, giving it a wonderful view of downtown Los Angeles.








The interior floors and walls are made of walnut wood and the exterior is high grade cedar. Designed for a nature loving artist, it serves as both as a studio and as guest accommodations. The tree house is completely self-sufficient with a water closet, fireplace, refrigerator, daybed, and television. Outside, a quick walk down the stairs leads to a protected and private outdoor shower.

Rockefeller Partners Associates (RPA)
all photos are courtesy of Eric Staudenmaier for RPA


The Other Four Nominees
Also nominated for Arch Daily's Building Of The Year are some of my other favorites:


the Hemeroscopium house


The Casa Y House by Sousa Santos Architects


The House Of Ruins by NRJA


The Villa Vals Underground home (which I'd actually written a huge post on but then it appeared on so many sites and blogs, I refrained from publishing it)

The voting has now closed. The winner was:

read about the House of Ruins project here.

Curiouser & Curiouser: Art Works Inspired By Alice In Wonderland

above: detail from Alice and Bunnypillar by Kukula

Gallery Nucleus presents CURIOUSER & CURIOUSER, a new exhibit of artworks inspired by Alice In Wonderland.

The show runs from February 27, 2010 – March 29, 2010 and features paintings, sculptures, illustration, photography, etchings, mixed media, prints and more inspired by Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland’.

Featuring work by Amy Sol, Chris Appelhans, Kukula, Naoto Hattori and various other contemporary artists, a superbly talented and diverse roster get curiouser and curiouser with works that range from the gothic to the whimsical.

Some of my favorite pieces from the show. please note that for visibility I have shown most unframed:

Kei Acedera (2 details of one piece):

Chris Appelhans:

Oksana Badrak (2 separate pieces):

Naysa Bove:

Vera Brosgol (2 framed pieces sold as one):

Bill Carman (3 separate pieces):


Alberto Cerriteño:

Sean Chao:


Adolie Day:

Jeremy Enecio:

Cory Godbey (2 separate pieces):

Naoto Hattori:

David Ho:


Sterling Hundley:

Aya Kakeda:

Kukula:

SEILER:

Marguerite Sauvage (4 separate pieces):


Stephen Silver (detail):

Amy Sol (triptych):

Marmite Sue:

Jaime Zollars:


Prices for pieces in the show range from $120.00 to $3,500.00

Other artists with pieces in the show:
Lorelay Bove, Trey Bryan, Sarah Caterisano, Alina Chau, Clio Chiang, Bobby Chiu, Meg Hunt, Richard Kirk, Mall, Ver Mar, Jake Parker, Allison Reimold, Hiromi Sato, Jared Andrew Schorr, William Stout, Angie Wang, Jing Wei, Lee White, Andrew Wright

Gallery Nucleus, 210 East Main St., Alhambra, CA, 91801. Tel:626.458.7477
Saturday, February 27, 2010 through Monday, March 29, 2010

To see some other wonderful creative things inspired by the movie, check these out:
•Tom Binns and Stella McCartney's Alice In Wonderland inspired jewelry for Disney Couture

When Is A Pool Not A Pool? When It's Got A HydroFloor.

Hydrofloors® are vertically movable floors -- vertically, not horizontally. The floor actually moves upward to the surface straight from the bottom. This allows you to exploit the surface area taken up by an indoor or outdoor swimming pool. The movable floors convert the associated terrace or indoor pool room for other uses such as recreation, social events, dining and dancing.

It's one of those thing you'd always wished someone had designed, and now someone has.

The system is near invisible, flexible, rapidly adaptable and safe, being in compliance with relevant national safety standards. The concept is that the floor height of the pool may be elevated to set at any pre-selected water depth such as wading depth for children or a depth suited to those with special needs. This makes the pool itself diverse and multifunctional.



The highest elevated position of the floor is that of the pool surround, at which point the water is out of sight beneath the floor. When fully elevated, the entire area becomes totally safe and secure for children to use. Additionally, since the pool is fully closed, energy costs for heating are greatly reduced.



Hydrofloors® is driven to meet the project needs of individual clients by the application of intense technological expertise.



All design and manufacture is executed within their own facilities in Belgium, this gives them full flexibility, control and reliability in serving their clients. Uncompromising in providing products of leading quality and commitment, together with their attention to detail and service, is well recognised by their clients in the markets they serve. Those markets are Europe-wide and beyond.



Visit their site for more information.