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Small Budget? A New Door Can Work Wonders

The Iosa Ghini Collection is a collection of artful modern styled doors to liven up even the most boring spaces. The collection spans the gamut with art nouveau, complete with floral motifs, sweeping arches that turn in on itself, and overlapping lines. Not your cup of tea? How about textural surfaces? The Interprets Textrix series screams luxury with its leather finishes and detailed trim. Still not feeling it? How about the Materia line with its carved reliefs, a play between fine oak and cold metal.

Designer: Massimo Iosa Ghini

The View from Book Hill

Welcome to a proposed extension of the Stockholm Public Library. This project, called “The Book Hill” is one that makes use of what were thought to be limitations in the landscape to create a building that not only holds books, but acts as a landmark for the city. These limits include the Observatory Hill that sits next to the site; giant, beautiful, too steep to be useful, and the library in place; the Asplund library, with its three detached annexes that separate the library into four.

Designer: JAJA Architects

Living and Breathing

Is Mongolia the hot spot for fringe architects? #27 of the Ordos Project in Inner Mongolia sets up another precedent for avant garde but functional design. We recently wrote about #35 of the Ordos Project – an underground home that takes advantage of the ground’s natural insulation. #27 deals with the extreme elements by a “skin and lung” concept.

Architects: Multiplicities via Arch Daily

Living Underground in Style

Plot #35 of the Ordos Project is not your typical villa. You won’t find it in Spain, France, or Italy. This one is in Inner Mongolia. The flat landscape is known for some of the most amazing blue skies on Earth but living there is harsh with high winds and extreme temperature grades.

Designer: Juan Pablo Maza via Arch Daily

Teeny-Tiny Dishwasher

From the size of it I know most people will go, “Tch, tch that’s a really small dishwasher!” But sweets this one’s for the double-income-no-children types and singles. That’s how specific designing is getting these days, and me being from the old school of thought of big happy families is finding it hard to digest! The sleek looking Gota is small enough to fit on the kitchen platform and has an eco-sense as well. Its one of those niche things that couples will like to show off about.

Designer: CWB Staff

Open House!

Totally inspired by John Lautner’s villa Chemosphere, this modern version of a spaceship house is simply fantastic. The only difference is that John’s version was stationary and this one’s a trailer. The beauty of this house-on-wheels lies in the fact that its compact and yet boats of ample living quarters. You will find a bathroom, living room, bedroom, kitchen and an office in the 252° Living Area: Mobile Mini House.

Designers: Stephanie Bellanger, Amaury Watine, François Gustin & David Dethoor

The Biggest J in the World

From the expansive designer mind of Meryem Ozturkoglu comes this structure which will one day sit on the SE side (NY side) of the Hudson River, and will also stand as base for a giant walkbridge that connects Central Park and Hudson Park. This design, dubbed CITY-PARK, aims to create a pattern of parks in the city, as visible and as essential to the identity of the city as its skyline of business-oriented towers.

Designer: Meryem Ozturkoglu

Houseboat Colony For Oslo

Now I know that houseboats are a specialty of Amsterdam, but designer Espen Erikstad thinks otherwise. He feels that something like the Loup de Mer is what Oslo needs and that too for the student community. Ha! I can picture all the boys and girls getting all studious and cramming for their term papers over a round of fish and chips! I don’t buy this story one bit!

Designer: Espen E. Erikstad

Eels Inspire This Fish And Chips Joint

Being vegetarian gives me two advantages; I don’t care if they don’t serve me eels for my dinner and I don’t care if this one-time-staple has turned into a delicacy (read expensive). However aquariums and marine life do excite me enough to explore what dear Henrik has envisioned for the tidal weir on river Clyde, Glasgow. His project looks at taking advantage of the two distinct ecosystems that exists due to the change from fresh water to salt water within the river estuaries.

Designer: Henrik Width Kristiansen

Drammen on Down the Road to Car Island

Drammen is a city and municipality in Norway (look it up!) which is along the 1,890 km (1,174 mi) long European Route E18. The city of Drammen has been, of recent years, a relatively popular place for the cars; its city center having been burdened by heavy traffic until the installation of the E18 bridge. Designer Fredrik Haukeland plans to capitalize on this situation with an intuitive I.D. project: “a leisure park for car fanatics.”

Behold: “Drive-In Industries.”

Designer: Fredrik Haukeland

What’s a Library with no Books in it?

Books are obsolete! Says the new knowledge seeker who learns by barraging themselves with internets. But I learn by turning the page! Says the traditional reader. That’s just it! Mattis Myhra imagines a library of the future where students of all learning disciplines can gather together in education,

(books included.)

Designer: Mattis Myhra

File Under Robot Infrastructure

In Leeuwarden, Netherlands they enjoy the comforts of a robotic overlord controlling a road bridge.  It looks less like a bridge than a giant transformer crouching next to the river, holding down a thin spatula of road surface.  From the road lines on the bridge arm it looks like cars just drive over the entire surface of the thing.  It’s a smart solution for a small bridge, even though its size is a bit ungainly, and they somehow thought painting cute post-modern pastel colors was interesting.

Via Jalopnik

Self-Sustaining Urban Area Abode Chapeau

Hydroponic Greenhouse. Turns air we breath out into air we can breath in. Uses solar-powered turbines to pump this air. Converts (biodegradable) human waste into food for plants. Plants are edible by humans. Greenhouse creates condensation which is collected for aquarium-dwelling animals, also edible by humans and hamsters.

Beautiful green building helmets.

Designer: Natalie Jeremijenko and Crew