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

Taliesin Students Build Prefab Mod Sustainable Home In The Desert

T A L I E S I N . M O D . F A B TM

The Taliesin Mod.FabTM is an example of simple, elegant, and sustainable living in the desert. The one-bedroom, 600-square-foot prototype residence relies on panelized construction to allow for speed and economy on site or in a factory.

It can be connected to utilities or be "unplugged," relying on low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, greywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation, and photovoltaics to reduce energy and water use. The structure is dimensioned and engineered to be transportable via roadway.

above photos, copyright 2009 Bill Timmerman

The protoype:

The floorplan:

Construction in progress:

above images of the building in progress, courtesy of Nick Mancusi, Ada Rose Williams, Christian Butler, Jeff Graham and Ryan Hewson from the Prairie Mod Blog

The Taliesin Mod.FabTM was designed and built by graduate and undergraduate students at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture with the faculty guidance of Michael P. Johnson and Jennifer Siegal, project manager Christian Butler, recent M.Arch graduate, and assistant project manager Nick Mancusi, current BAS student.

Student participants in design and construction (alphabetical): Dakotah Apostolou, Ebbie Azimi, Thai Blackburn, Christian Butler, Jillian Brooks, Emil Crystal, Michael DesBarres, Daniel Dillow, Dave Frazee, Jeff Graham, Ryan Hewson, Erik Krautbauer, Nick Mancusi, Marietta Pagkalou, Lauren Rybinski, Andrea Tejada, Maya Ward-Karet, Hui Ee Wong, Todd Lehmenkuler, Russell Mahoney, Simon DeAguerro, Taryn Seymour

To see all the companies involved in this project, go to the bottom of the page here.

The structure can be visited on the student-led Taliesin West Desert Shelter Tour, Saturdays at 1:30, mid-November through mid-April.

Funky Find Of The Week: Christian Astuguevieille's Mini Soft Sculpture Chairs

French born artist and designer Christian Astuguevieille, owner of Paris' Populus Alba (which designs luxury goods and jewelry) is also a Creative Director for Comme des Garcons parfums and a designer for Holly Hunt. In addition, he makes unusual items for Couturelab, two of which I have chosen as my Funky Finds Of The Week.

Limited edition miniature soft sculpture chairs by Christian Astuguevieille for CoutureLab. These two playful miniature chairs are meant for budding collectors. Handcrafted from chestnut wood, the chairs are covered in bean-bag toys, painted for a tactile effect.

Created exclusively for CoutureLab, these decorative chairs are part of a limited series of four. Please note: these chairs should only be used for decorative purposes and is not suitable for children.

Manta Ray Mini Chair

above: Manta Ray Mini Chair by Christian Astuguevieille for CoutureLab
Limited edition miniature wooden chair covered in soft toys
Pricing: £605 €647 (approx) $847 (approx)
Size: Small 45 x 38 x 53 cm

The Crab & Lobster Mini Chair

above: Crabes-Langoustes Mini Chair by Christian Astuguevieille for CoutureLab
Limited edition miniature wooden chair covered in soft toys
Pricing: £643 €688 (approx) $900 (approx) Product: CL2095
Size: Medium 45 x 38 x 53 cm

The Christian Astuguevieille exclusive collection at CoutureLab includes a unique jewelry selection as well as a series of mirrors and miniature sculptures. See them all here.

Play, Learn and Laugh: The Fake For Real Memory Game

This fun boxed game is based on the same simple premise as other 'memory' games, only it's a clever, well-executed version for the 18+ crowd. Lie the 60 included cards out face down and flip them over two at a time in hopes of matching the pair. If the cards do not match, place them back down and continue until you've matched the pairs. Only in this case, the 30 pairs contrasts one 'real' photo and one 'fake' photo.

What do I mean by a clever, well-executed version? Take a look at some of the FAKE/REAL 'pairs' from the game:

designer: Hendrik-Jan Grievink.
About the editor: Koert van Mensvoort is a philosopher, scientist, researcher and artist. He is an assistent Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands and co-director of the All-Media foundation, an organisation that researches and visualizes current cultural issues. Among his works are the Datafountain, the TV documentary The Woods smell of Shampoo and the Fake for Real memory game.

Buy the Fake for Real Memory Game here

Other equally creative and well-executed memory games from the same publishers, BIS Publishers, are Twins, Visual Power, Amsterdam and soon to be released...Typefaces!