April 2005
British Columbian Modernism
We’ve always been impressed with this well known Canadian firm based in Vancouver. A partnership between David Battersby and Heather Howat, the collaborative practice draws on backgrounds in architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design to create a distinctive modern vocabulary all their own.
There is a certain "look" to their work which comes from a rigorous design philosophy. Each project is a unique representation and expression of their quiet yet meticulously conceived design language.
We highly recomend that you browse through the project images on their website... truly outstanding work. Go... now!
Firm: BattersbyHowat
News — April 28, 2005
Posted by James
We needed something to move and fill up the space;
we needed something this always is just the case
I have no idea what that Pixies song is actually about, but it pops into my head while pondering the question of just how much living space does a person need.
This question comes up all the time for me: when I design houses for clients, and lately my wife and I have been thinking about just exactly how we want to live as we consider purchasing the property where we live that is zoned multi-family. How much of the lot should we use for ourselves versus for rental units? How much space should we allocate to specific uses, and how can we use spaces for multiple uses? How efficient can our home be while still providing needed personal space? Less is more, but it is more work to figure out how to do less! But I digress...
We've touched on the issue of home size here at Land+Living many times before, and an article in today's Los Angeles Times takes a look at the question of home size. The article includes an interview with Sasha Tarnopolsky & John Jennings of Los Angeles based architecture and landscape design firm DRY Design.
Article: LA Times - What makes a home the right size for you?
Reference: Size Matters (Land+Living)
Reference: The Very Small Home (Land+Living)
Contemporary one-off and batch produced furniture
Dublin County, Ireland based John Doolin of Imbue Furniture Design brings a traditional vibe to his decidedly modern furnishings. All of Imbue's pieces show superb attention to detail and functionality.
John Doolin’s approach to furniture owes as much to a great respect for the traditional skills of cabinet making as to modern design principles and methodology.
The guiding principle throughout his work is the belief that the real value of any product is not only in the sum of its size and materials, but in the way in which it serves its user - the function it performs.
Link: Imbue Furniture Design
A contemporary extension
With all these UK posts, one might think we're turning into L+L London (hmmm, there's an idea). Well, here's yet another UK blog. In the same vain as the Fold House this traditional Waterloo home gets a clean modern addition.
"The garden extension to this grade II listed building in Waterloo is a simple pattern of solid and glazed panels repeating the original openings of the rear façade which are then repeated in reverse on the roof. The additional floor space extends the family living area and acts as an open connection between kitchen and dining area. The works also included lowering the existing semi-basement to create a utility room, storage and study and refurbishment of the house throughout."
Firm: Dive Architects
Corrugated plastic: so hot right now.
I have a bit of a thing for screens and after seeing the Folding Screen over at iannone:sanderson (nice find Grace!), I just had to include it here. Their website doesn't say, but I wonder if the resin panels are available in different colors?
"Our folding screen combines ash wood with modern manmade materials to create layers of transparency and color. Corrugated plastic is bent into a graceful form and drilled with a grid of holes which allow light to pass through and project a pattern on textured colored resing panels. The projected light fades and changes as one moves about the screen."
Via: design*sponge
Link: iannone:sanderson
Green Spaces in the Sky
Continuing our theme of blogs from across the pond, Urban Roof Gardens is London's only multi-disciplinary team of architects and designers that focus exclusively on roof gardens and green roofs. Their website features a portfolio with gardens from around the world including Edinburgh, Amsterdam, New York, and San Francisco. I only wish I could design my ground-level garden to look as good as these.
This is the mission of Urbanroofgardens: To raise awareness of the benefits of urban roof gardens, terraces and green roofs. To collate and publish world-class research and best-practice relating to urban roof gardens. And to offer concept to completion advice and services to both the lay and the professional citizen wishing to build urban roof gardens.
Link: Urban Roof Gardens [Thanks, John!]
A steel and glass extension of a traditional home
Designed by London based Canadian architect Alison Brooks, designed this simple and refined addition to a Victorian terraced house.
The existing kitchen was remodeled and expanded outward to include new dining and living areas within the bronze and glass Miesean pavilion. The concept is of a repeatedly folded plane of bronze which defines the space and frames views of the garden. Two of the glazed walls can be opened completely to create a seamless indoor/outdoor space.
Firm: Alison Brooks Architects
Please stand by...
We have been experiencing some technical problems today... more accurately, our web host has had some trouble, thus, Land+Living has been offline at times today.
While we've had more down time than we'd like in the past, it has never been this bad. So, please accept our apologies if you have had trouble reaching us. We're going to try to remember why we extended our hosting agreement...
Events — April 22, 2005
Posted by James
One of the world's great garden festivals
Speaking of gardens in London, the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show is just around the corner; May 24-28, 2005, as always at the Royal Hospital grounds in Chelsea.
A goodly number of contemporary landscapes will be displayed including designs by Diarmuid Gavin, Jack Merlo, Andy Sturgeon, Marcus Barnett, David Macqueen, Lizzie Taylor and Dawn Isaac just to name a few.
Link: Chelsea Flower Show 2005
Reference: Garden design winners at Chelsea 2004 (Land+Living)
Maximizing a small landscape in North London
Designed by Tel-Aviv born, London based garden designer Amir Schlezinger, this contemporary woodland garden makes the most out of a small yard and extends the interior out and the exterior into the house. It is a "beautiful yet highly livable" space, a true outdoor room.
The same gray sandstone used inside the home was used as the primary paving surface in the garden to help visually merge the spaces. The irregular shaped patio and concrete planter walls with iroko benches articulate the space and create an illusion of space. Bright orange electrifies the basin of the minimal cube water feature and echoes a color used inside the house as well. The simple yet layered planting palette compliments the design perfectly.
Firm: MyLandscapes
Wall unit and room divider
The Bibliotech from Porro is a multi-use bookshelf and storage system. It can be outfitted with a wide configuration of shelves and containers. The Bibliotech can be wall-mounted or outfitted with feet and used as a room divider. Available in a variety of finishings including anthracite grey, stained beech, natural beech, cherry-wood stained beech, bleached beech, natural or stained cherry.
Designers: Piero Lissoni & Lorenzo Porro
Link: Porro
John Norquist responds to Mr. Greenhut's demonization of New Urbanism
John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism in Chicago, provides a rebuttal that is admittedly more studied and level headed than our own in response to a scathing editorial published earlier this month in the Orange County Register by Steven Greenhut.
Some of the opinions and facts presented by Mr. Norquist seem to reveal that Mr. Greenhut may actually be a closet New Urbanist... or, more seriously, help to dispel many of the misconceptions about New Urbanism held by many.
We are heartened to see that Mr. Greenhut has chosen to engage in debate and will speak at the annual meeting of the Congress for the New Urbanism in Pasadena this June. If he doesn't drink the kool-aid, we will at least be interested to read a more educated editorial from Mr. Greenhut in the future.
Article: OC Register - Free developers to build 'new urban' towns (reg required)
Link: BugMeNot.com (get a username/pwd here)
Reference: Fear and Loathing in Orange County (Land+Living)
A house inspired by the New Zealand landscape
I can't recall how I came across the website of Auckland, New Zealand, based architects Fearon Hay, but it was a happy find... one look at the Coromandel House and I was hooked.
The house is beautifully linked to its site and landscape. In fact, architects Jeff Fearon and Tim Hay conceived of the house and landscape design together as an integrated whole. The plan assimilates indoor and outdoor living spaces with window walls which slide away to open the house to the extensive decks and patio spaces.
Firm: Fearon Hay Architects
Misc — April 19, 2005
Posted by Anthony
Year of the Cock.
I was browsing our server logs and noticed quite a bit of traffic coming from a certain Chinese design site. Turns out, they weren't sending us traffic, but instead, simply stealing images. In the past, I hadn't really thought it was that big of a deal, I mean, sure, we are paying for bandwidth and all, and by linking directly to our images, you are consuming our bandwidth, but since it's common for blogs to show their love for other sites with a "Via" link, I never really paid much attention to it.
So then I come across this Chinese site and notice that, while they've got our images, they've also got our text. Except it's in Chinese. And without any "via" or other link thanking us hard-working folks here at L+L for the find. A quick Google translation would reveal that it was translated by someone named "Janel" with an origin of "china-idc". Janel, we're honestly flattered that you found some of the items we've featured likeable enough to put on your site, but not too happy about the way you've gone about it. Since you decided to not give us credit, I decided to (manually, for now) swap out the images with some that do give us credit. In the future, try being like (most) everyone else in the world of design blogs by giving proper credit and hosting the images on your own server. The world will be a much happier place if you do. :-)
Update 4/21/2005: Well, that didn't take too long. Looks like Janel has decided that our "Visit Land+Living" images weren't appropriate for her site so now she's simply linking directly to the manufacturer's site. Hey Janel, what about that Via link I mentioned above? Since you're still using our text, it's only appropriate. And do the same for all the Moco Loco images and text you grabbed as well.
Via (oh, the irony!): China IDC
Outdoor — April 19, 2005
Posted by Anthony
A nice place to plant your seed.
Serralunga makes flowerpots. Small pots, ginormous pots, and every size pot in-between. One of the interesting tidbits we found is that some of the designers, while sketching their pots, sketched them with specific plants in mind. While some pots might be approriate for your orchids, alocasias, and cannas, others are much better suited for your agaves and cactii. The Hole Pot (featured at right) features.....get this, Holes!....allowing you to see the plant inside. Genius!
Link: Serralunga
Land+Living profiled in the ASLA Minnesota Chapter journal
Land+Living is all the rage amongst landscape architects in Minnesota, don't ya know. We've featured some design from the land-of-a-thousand-lakes before on Land+Living (see references below) and now the favor has been returned.
Adam Regn Arvidson, ASLA wrote us up in the premier issue of _SCAPE the journal of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. It's a nice little article in the "In Other Words" section that captures the spirit of Land+Living quite well. Thanks Adam!
Link: _SCAPE (pdf file)
Link: Minnesota Chapter of the ASLA
Reference: NowHaus 01 (Land+Living)
Reference: Midwestern Modernism (Land+Living)
Reference: Penthouse Garden (Land+Living)
A modern Japanses house
We don't know much about this house in Saiki-city, Japan, but we like it. It was designed by Takao Shiotsuka Atelier, an architecture firm based in Oita on the southern Japan island of Kyushu. The exterior cladding and spare esthetic is slightly reminiscent of Lorcan O’Helihy’s Vertical House, but similarities end there - the form and concepts are quite different.
The two story structure is topped by a third level lantern, with a 360° ribbon window providing views of the city and allowing light to penetrate the center of the house through the translucent stairway.
Firm: Takao Shiotsuka Atelier
Link: Blue House
Brave. Humorous. Thoughtful...yadda yadda...Fun.
We just came across the design team of Lift and we like their work. In the past, they been featured in print rags such as ID, Metropolis, Sunset, DNA, and Time. They've designed products ranging from the Whisk (featured at right), an "inner-city commuting vehicle", the Veggie-Love (utensils with garden tool inspiration), the Taboo (a collection of houseware products), and the Botta, one of the best looking martini glasses we've come across yet.
Link: Lift
Expressing the creative spirit of site and place made possible by architecture
While first browsing through the website of New York City based OBR Architects, I was pleasantly reminded of the early works of Steven Holl. Upon clicking the profile link, I found out why - the firm's principles, Pablo Castro and Jennifer Lee, are both Holl office alumni.
Their work has a certain simplicity, more a distillation really, derived from rigorous study and attention to detail. It is clear that they have a strong design ethic that is both academic and practical.
Link: OBRA Architects
Contemporary residential garage doors
We got excited a while back when we found a source for modern aluminum and glass garage doors made for residential application... for some reason they are somewhat hard to find. Well, we've found another source. Clopay has adapted one of their commercial models to meet the demand for such a style in the residential market.
Link: Clopay Avante
Reference: Glass Garage Doors
Glass tableware
These glass plates, bowls and platters are handcrafted by Pittsburgh based Riverside Design Group of post-industrial / pre-consumer recycled glass.
There are 10 shapes / sizes which are available in 12 luminous colors and are made for every day use - food, dishwasher and microwave safe.
Link: Riverside Design Group
Via: Mettaefficient
News — April 12, 2005
Posted by James
When is enough enough?
Mother Jones reports some interesting figures about the lifestyle of Americans.
The American Dream just keeps growing. Since 1970 the size of the average new home has ballooned by 50 percent.
Studies have found that even with the big houses, modern comforts, opportunities and latest technologies, we are no happier than our predecessors. In fact, some studies show that Americans are less happy today than 25 years ago. It's part of what is often referred to as "the dark side of the American dream," the insatiable appetite for more wealth and more stuff to the detriment of personal well being.
Whoa... too big a topic for this quick blog... but while we here at Land+Living are all for the enjoyment of your home and the contents within and without, we also believe that there is more to life. Dare we say, it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it.
Link: Mother Jones - This New House
Architecture mediates the opposing forces of domestic life and the American Midwestern landscape
Traces of the former agricultural field are exploited and built upon to create a modern regional home in Michigan. PLY Architects of Ann Arbor developed the design as a spatial exploration of the rural American landscape as manipulated by the Jeffersonian Grid, exploring the relationships between the agrarian landscape and domestic life.
Connections are made between inside and out; primary interior spaces are linked to reciprocal landscape elements, relating the domestic rituals with the grided landscape and creating a symbiosis between daily life and place.
Firm: PLY Architecture
Studied and eclectic interiors
We featured Istanbul design firm Autoban a while back for their groovy plywood furniture and accessories shown on their temporary website. Well, their new web presence is now live and includes a more extensive portfolio of their works. Of particular note are their interior design projects ranging from clubs and restaurants to stores and offices as well as homes and special events.
Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar have an eclectic and unique design sensibility that is modern but highly layered and influenced by historical precedent. They often mix old and new, incorporating existing architecture with new elements or using antique furnishings with pieces of their own designs such as their ply items we like so much.
Link: Autoban
Reference: Autoban (Land+Living)
Paolo Soleri's experimental city in the Arizona high desert
I visited Arcosanti in 1998 on an extended field trip through Arizona while pursing my masters degree, and was reminded of this trip while reading an article in the Arizona State University student newspaper.
What a crazy place... crazy, and incredibly interesting. During our two day stay at Arcosanti, we learned about the concept of Arcology, explored the site, and partied all night with the locals.
Paolo Soleri is an Italian architect who was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1940's. Soleri later developed the concept of Arcology, the fusion of architecture and ecology, an alternative urban development form. In 1970 construction began on Arcosanti, a prototype town for 5,000 people (there are currently about 60 residents).
...a highly integrated and compact three-dimensional urban form that is the opposite of urban sprawl with its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy and time, tending to isolate people from each other and the community.
I bet Mr. Greenhut would freak. ;-)
Link: Arcosanti
Link: Cosanti Originals
Article: ASU Web Devil - In your own backyard: No roads, no conservatives (via The Dirt)
A simple kit of parts
We featured a different table called the Concord "plug table" a while back, but this design by Munich based designer Matthias Demacker is a totally different concept.
The form is elegantly simple, a table reduced to the minimum components. The top is made from compactforming HPL which can be made in any color. The tube steel legs can be removed by hand with no tools, and allow for two different table heights. The design also makes the table easily portable.
The table was given the Interior Innovation Award for Best Detail at the IMM 2005.
Link: Demacker Design [Thanks, Matthias!]
"Malls are now being designed to resemble the downtown commercial districts they replaced."
Andrew Blum has come to some concerns and conclusions similar to our own when it comes to the lifestyle center phenomenon. In an article published today on Slate, he talks about the evolution of malls and the appropriation of "public space."
The lifestyle center is a bizarre outgrowth of the suburban mentality: People want public space, even if making that space private is the only way to get it.
Article: Slate - The Mall Goes Undercover
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part I (Land+Living)
Reference: Downtown Mauled - Part II (Land+Living)
Reference: Reality bites (Land+Living)
Reference: It's a Crock(er) (Land+Living)
Reference: Nobody says the "M" word (Land+Living)
News — April 6, 2005
Posted by James
Why I may give up my drafting board for a good pair of shears
According to the UK's City & Guilds' annually compiled "Happiness Index," architects come in dead last with a dismal 2% saying that they are extremely happy with their jobs (or giving a 10 out of 10 on the "happiness scale"). Hairdressers were the happiest at 40%.
Unfortunately, this fits with my informal assessment of friends and colleagues who are architects here in the United States... so, be nice to your designers, won't you?
Link: City & Guilds
Via: The Dirt
The chair on rails
The Castelo Branco Chair was designed to compliment the Castelo Branco project. The Castelo Branco project will be located in Portugal and is being designed by Josep Lluis Mateo of Map Architects. The chair itself is a prototype and part of a larger collection of semi-mobile furniture designed specifically for outdoor environments.
Link: Castelo Branco Chair
Link: Map Architect
Link: Castelo Branco Project
Give me burbs or give me death
Sometimes it doesn't matter what opinion I may hold when I read gibberish spewed by someone feigning authority. Mind you, I am not a journalist (most traditional journalists would be quick to point out that journalistic shortcoming of blogs), but I am an educated professional with experience, opinions and knowledge that give me some background from which to judge the worthiness of an argument within my field. I have read the opinions of many educated opponents of New Urbanism that I can respect, but an article published Sunday in The Orange County Register written by Steven Greenhut is not among them.
Now, I do not consider myself an expert in New Urban theory, but I do think that Mr. Greenhut is grossly misinformed. Or perhaps he just enjoys lighting a fire and fanning the flames. At any rate, he misses the concept that New Urbanism promotes a mix of housing types and income levels and that the principles can be applied to lower density situations. Mr. Greenhut has bitten off more than he can chew... and indeed more than can even be responded to in this format. Never the less, let's take an abbreviated look, shall we?
Article: Orange County Register - City planning by Those Who Know Best (reg required)
Link: BugMeNot.com (get a username/pwd here)
Link: Congress for New Urbanism
Link: NewUrbanism.org
Stand 'em up, knock 'em down
Not to be confused with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, these Big Head coasters are a great accessory for your boring coffee table. They can be easily stacked for storage or, impress your friends by lining them up in a row and knocking them all down, domino style. They are sold in sets of 4 and claim to include both "boy" and "girl" models, however, that appears to be anatomically incorrect.
"the coasters are manufactured using heat resistant rubber moulded in the form of either a boy or girl figure with an enlarged ‘head’, which provides space for your drink. the coasters have ‘feet’ so they can be stacked together and stood up to attention when not in use! when you need them, just flick them down and place your drink on their big heads. the ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ forms mean your drinks need never get muddled up again!"
Link: J-Me Big Head Coasters
Misc — April 4, 2005
Posted by James
Green wristbands raise awareness for National Landscape Architecture Month
It seems to us that the whole colored wristband thing has gone a bit too far. Then again, the concept is to raise money and awareness for "good causes" and to provide a way for people to contribute to and display their support for these causes. So really, what's wrong with that?
The wristbands are available for $5, with the proceeds benefiting the ASLA Library and Education Advocacy Fund.
Link: ASLA's Store - Live Green Bracelet
Link: Landscape Architecture Month - Design for Active Living
Reference: April declared National Landscape Architecture Month (Land+Living)
News — April 1, 2005
Posted by James
Christian Science Monitor article by Kelly Kleiman
A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor details the controversy surrounding the photographing of public art, namely the Cloud Gate sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Chicago's Millennium Park.
Can a city really prevent others from photographing - and profiting from - public art on display in a public park?
Under copyright law it can, explains American University professor Christine Farley.
Link: csmonitor.com -
"Who owns public art?"
Reference: "The Copyrighting of Public Space" (Land+Living)
Garden-as-a-sculpture and sculpture-as-a-garden
My smart cousin who is a student at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburg tipped me off to this new campus garden designed in collaboration by artist Mel Bochner and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
The garden is a physical manifestation of Carnegie Mellon's multidisciplinary philosophy, a communal crossroads of the arts, business, science and humanities. The garden is an intimate gathering space and a foil to the large formal lawns, quads and early 20th-century Beaux Arts architecture that dominate the campus.
The University has a wonderful website that provides extensive information about the design, the players and the plantings, as well as information about how to visit.
Link: Kraus Campo
Artist: Mel Bochner
Firm: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Lighting the way
Based in Spain, Luzifer Lamps manufacturers suspension, floor, wall, and table lighting in a wide range of styles. Shades are available in materials such as timber, veneer, parchment, and polypropelene. If you're the type that enjoys matching fixtures throughout your home, Luzifer makes many of their styles in each of their lighting categories. However, since variety is the spice of life, why limit yourself to one style? Go ahead, mix it up a little!
Link: Luzifer Lamps
