Category filter: Design

Alemanys 5

It is official. Alemanys 5 is by far the most enticing vacation rental I have ever come across. In the historic city of Girona, which is in Catalonia, Spain. The location is perfect, and the house itself is beyond perfect. A great balance of historic and modern elements. The totally ass kicking kitchen is probably my favorite part and we cannot forget about the private courtyard. You can rent either of the two separate apartments or the whole house depending on the size of your group.

(via materialicious »)

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29 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . Travel . No Comments

Whitney Loft Renovation

Loft renovations often drag too much of the existing character and history out of the space, but this renovation undertaken by Geoffrey Warner and Alchemy Architects. Alchemy Architects are better know for their prefab system Wee House, which I think gives them a unique set of skills and problem solving that they have applied here. This former turbine room in the Whitney Lofts building in Minneapolis is the new residence of graphic designers Will Hopkins and Mary K. Baumann who have recently relocated from New York City.

(via HomeDSGN »)

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28 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . No Comments

Transitional by Zecc Architecten

Having a workspace that also has open space when you need it is usually a luxury we can’t afford. This studio designed by Zecc Architecten for Heldergroen does this perfectly. By employing a counter weighted pully system they were able to make their desks disappear up into the ceiling opening the entire space up for whatever fun things you can think of. Make sure to check out the video of the space in action after the jump.

(via M Stetson »)

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26 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Minimal . No Comments

New Roof in Porto

Barbosa & Guimarães Architects have really done a beautiful job here. Instead of just renovating they opted to put a whole new roof on. This apartment was that roof.

(via Architizer »)

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22 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . Minimal . No Comments

New Twitter Homepage

I want to start off by saying, the new twitter homepage is a vast improvement. Despite their steps forward mainly simplifying and invigorating the design. Like so many other sites and services in their sphere they still fall victim to flat, lifeless, and infinitely uninspired homepage experiences.

Sites like twitter and facebook, second to second and minute to minute provide users with a platform to generate such a beautifully vast and unique amount of content. Yet are we still battling with designing homepages that balance the tasks of leveraging the sites interior content and not overwhelming the visitor upon arrival.

The NY Times website, and news sites in general are a good place to look for inspiration. Most frequently with periodicals they use the cover in print or the homepage in web to engage the viewer or catch their eye. Services like twitter owe it to themselves to offer up a more profound and enticing homepage. Arriving on their homepage and seeing a few favicons of famous people is not enough of a reason for me to signup and become a user if I were not already using their service. Lets look at Evernote for a moment. They are different because their product functions in a completely different space and purpose, however almost immediately upon arriving at their site I know what the application is, what it does, and I have pretty good understanding of it’s interface.

So one major argument that comes to mind is, how many people still access twitter through the web? Since the release of new twitter the number of users of the browser based application have definitely risen and I know I am not the only person of the opinion that new twitter is the most rich and intuitive way to access your stream. This statement goes for third party apps as well. Sorry guys.

As more and more people shift over to using mobile technologies is this a change or area worth exploring? Any chance to more directly or thoroughly engage a new or potential user should be exploited. And if that means finding new ways of displaying content, whether it be some javascript trickery or something simpler. The solutions are out there.

22 April 2011 . Apps . Design . Tech . Web . 1 Comment

Cube Project: QB1

It is great to see architects designing and thinking smaller. The Cube Project called QB1 is a 3 meter cubic house, which includes all the necessary requirements for living. Just on a more confined scale than we have become used to. In the past people traveled in tiny steamship compartments and cramped stagecoaches, and I think for environmental and economic reasons we should look back to those spaces in designing for the future. QB1 is definitely channeling some of it’s predecessors of it’s scale.

Also check out the video of the construction after the jump.

(via Jetson Green »)

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21 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Green . Homes . No Comments

Housing Project in Elmas

Here, a housing project in Elmas is such a wonderful example of socially conscious design. Architects re-imagining apartment complexes and housing projects has such great cultural and sociality impact. Living in better spaces can provide the necessary conditions for people to thrive and this example by 2+1 officina architettura does exactly that. Architecture is even a suitable way to inject art into people’s day to day life. Here uncommon window treatments and punctuated areas of color turns simple designs into a thing of beauty.

(via SUBTILITAS »)

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21 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . No Comments

Martin-Lancaster House

Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects have designed a wide variety of structures from residential application to schools, and banks. This design is based on a simple modular prefab construction. Using a framing that is made off site and then cobbled together in place. The best example of this is visible after the jump in the rafters of the open ceiling lofted space. MLS also do a wonderful job of, despite this homes modern design, to make it fit and look appropriate in it’s rustic surroundings. The siding material, wood shingles are such a classic material, but gain a new quality when applied to a more modern structure. Also adding a layer of texture and warmth, which is where modern architecture can tend to stumble.

(via ArchDaily »)

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20 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . No Comments

Jeff Rogers Hand Drawn Fonts

Jeff Rogers has created a series of five hand drawn fonts for YouWorkForThem that are all beautifully unique and have various widths and characters. Jeff is a Texas native now living in New York City, working as an illustrator and designer, mainly working with custom and hand drawn type.

(via grain edit »)

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20 April 2011 . Design . Illustration . Typography . No Comments

Base Valley House

Indigenous is not a term that is usually used in the context of architecture, but in the case of Sambuichi Architects I don’t really feel like there is another singular word that could be used to describe there work. Using native materials like crushed stone, Japanese cypress and extensive site research Sambuichi is able to create designs that are one with their location and environment. Base Valley House pictured here is a breath taking design, and you can very easily see these techniques in practice. In a few of the photos you cannot tell if the space is inside or out or merely protected outdoor space. The flow of light and in air between the house and the surrounding environment seems perfect.

(via SUBTILITAS »)

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19 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . Modern . No Comments

Maria Corte

Spanish illustrator Maria Corte harnesses bright colors and unique shapes to create these compositions that bring up memories of seeing a Picasso piece for the first time. Her eye and methods for visual communication really set her apart.

(via grain edit »)

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19 April 2011 . Design . Illustration . Painting . No Comments

75 Abandoned Theaters

Truly amazing collection of photographs, 75 Abandoned Theaters. It is great to see so many shots by so many people be completely unified into a collection because of their shared subject matter. Shooting photos of abandoned buildings is always fun and I think highly social or once public spaces is even more amazing. At one time these houses of the silver screen were bustling with people of all ages, on first dates and out with friends. Now they are devoid of any life and have only the slightest flicker of their past vibrance.

(via Quipsologies »)

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18 April 2011 . Design . Photography . No Comments

Housing in the Born Refurbishment

Small spaces always intrigue me. The restrictions of the design to create a sense of open space and flow and the way organization can make or break the design is such a challenge. I am not really sure about the name of this apartment. It may be an inaccurate translation, but that aside the use of simple materials and a strategically placed series of lofted spaces really makes this design. Amazing to note that this renovation by ARCHITECTURE-G is only 34 square meters, equivalent to about 365 square feet.

(via ArchDaily »)

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18 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . Homes . Kitchen . Minimal . No Comments

Brouwerij ‘t Ij

Loving design, packaging and beer seems like a match made in heaven. Especially as we head into the summer months, when you will be hard pressed to find me without a cold beer. All the our favorite brewers release a special summer beer with an awesome summery label. I can’t wait.

Here are some images of a redesign by Redthumb for independent microbrewery Brouwerij ‘t Ij in Amsterdam. I have read that their brewery is under a windmill and on the side of a canal, which sounds possibly like the most romantic place for a factory ever. However I wonder how the environmental aspects affect the brewing process. The designers seem to have extrapolated very smart aspects from the brand itself as well as their geography to create such wonderful new label designs. I wonder if we will be able to get any of the beers from Brouwerij ‘t Ij in New York City anytime soon.

(via The Best Part »)

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15 April 2011 . Beer . Design . Packaging . No Comments

The Royal Mail & Royal Shakespeare Company

This great collection of stamps was released recently by the Royal Mail to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The designs were executed by hat-trick design. Stamp design really brings me back to one of my earliest memories where I became truly aware of design, and that was selecting and purchasing stamps with my mother.

(via Quipsologies »)

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15 April 2011 . Design . No Comments

Ice Free

When architecture changes and improves a public works facility it makes me smile. I love the idea that something as mundane as a snowplow and salt storage facility can be elevated to a thing of beauty and become easier to use and operate based on some simple decisions made by an architect. In the case the people to be credited are UArchitects. The Netherlands based studio referenced the organization of a farmyard where all the structures are located around a central yard.

(via ArchDaily »)

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14 April 2011 . Architecture . Design . No Comments

County Cork Painter’s Studio