Québec based architect Pierra Thibault designs a wide range of projects on a variety of scales. Always central to his work is an understanding of context and the dialogue between design and environment.
The interrelation of landscape, site history and cultural context allows for the development of distinctive solutions that give birth to buildings rich with meaning, atmosphere and heightened sensory awareness.Link: Pierre Thibault, architecte
Formed in March, 2001, the Tom Leader Studio is a collaborative and experimental office designing based in Berkeley, California. Tom's work is modern and rigourous with roots based in the pioneering methodology of Peter Walker, where Tom was formerly a partner.
The Studio designs on a variety of scales and their projects span the globe, including the Shanghai University Hub which is currently being featured at Groundswell, and Break Out at Cornerstone Festival of Gardens.
Link: Tom Leader Studio
We just got the word today... the CA Boom II website is now up and dates have been announced:
Link: CA Boom II
Reference: CA Boom (last year's Land+Living post and links to our daily reports)
An architectural exhibition running April 19-23, 2005 at the DESTE Foundation’s Centre for Contemporary Art at 8 Omirou Str., Neo Psychico, Athens, Greece.
The exhibition invited 10 avant-garde architects to propose their own vision of what a future hotel could be. The first prize entry will be exhibited in the reDESIgnDESIre exhibition curated by architect Sotirios Papadopoulos at the SoHo gallery in Milan, during the Salone del Mobile 2005.
Link: Invisible Hotel
Visit: DESTE Foundation
Today, on Saint Patrick's Day, we pay tribute to a great Irish-American architect, Lorcan O'Herlihy. Well, actually.... today Archinect just happened to point us to an article from that the LA Times by Barbara King published back in December about Lorcan... so anyway...
We dig Lorcan. He's a very nice guy who does cool work. I actually cold-called his office looking for a job about 5 years ago, and Lorcan spoke to me on the phone for a couple minutes even though he didn't have any openings. The fact that he would even personally take my call blew me away.
So, for our St. Patrick's Day tribute to Lorcan O'Herlihy, we've included a bunch of previously unpublished pics from our tour of his home at last year's CA Boom festival, provided tons of linkage, and we lift a pint of Guinness... well, actually we'd do that anyway. Sláinte!
Firm: Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects
Article: LA Times - All he needs is a little room
Article: Irish-Architecture.com
Link: Kline residence image gallery
Link: ArchNewsNow - Habitat 825
Link: ArchNewsNow - Hillside Haven: Lexton/MacCarthy Residence
Via: Archinect
Reference: CA Boom (Land+Living)
There is a certain equation that we cant resist:
I flipped past this really quickly at Wallpaper a while back... but I was in a hurry and didn't realize that it contained the magic variables, so I didn't delve further.
Located in the middle of South Tyrol at 1500 meters, this resort is accessible only by cable car (add another childhood fantasy point for this one). Designed by Milan based architect (and one time creative director for Swatch) Mattheo Thun, the structure is at once sleek and organic. Each room contains a fabricated rammed earth wall which serves as a divider and thermal mass for the embedded radiant heating elements... nice.
Visit: Vigilius Mountain Resort
Firm: Mattheo Thun
Via: Earth Architecture
With his experience in photography, graphic design and furniture design, and Swiss and American heritage, Geneva based designer Philippe Cramer is an interesting fellow who's work seem to draw from his eclectic background.
We like the way this collection of chairs and tables simply and elegantly balances opposites of material and form.
Designer: Philippe Cramer
Manufacturer: Bernhardt
As a follow up to the quasi-debate going on with regard to our post about The Very Small Home, here is an article that talks further with author Azby Brown about building smart in Japan... and elsewhere.
At Land+Living, we're all about functional space. Americans as a generalization may think that bigger is better... however we think that functional is better. Perhaps square footage is not so important as "well designed" usable space. Urban property values continue to spiral upwards (like for us in Los Angeles) forcing us to truly consider how we live and what we value.
(Azby Brown) suggests that the small house is actually superior to its larger incarnations and that, given a choice, the truly discerning are opting for life on the squeeze.Read.
Article: Telegraph - Turning Japanese, why aren't we turning Japanese?
Via: Archinect
Reference: The Very Small Home (Land+Living)
People seem to be flipping out about where to find those fresh and funky Pumas by our favorite Frenchman, Philippe Starck.Well, we have some answers... a new website lets you play with the creepy dood shown at right, sweetly tells you how couples come togethere, features a downloadable monkey mask as well as info on how to have a monkey party, AND provides a listing of stores worldwide where you can find the shoes.
Link: Starck Puma
Reference: Starck does Puma (Land+Living)
The prefab GlidehouseTM design by architect Michelle Kaufmann made quite a splash last year at Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park, California. So much so that this year's Celebration will feature an encore.
The BreezehouseTM is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,798 square foot modular home with an optional 248 square foot third bedroom module. The house is organized around a light-filled central space called the Breezeroom which is opens to outdoor living spaces at each end and is topped by butterfly roof.
Firm: MK Architecture
Link: Live Modern - Catch the Breezehouse at Sunset
Visit: Sunset Celebration Weekend - May 21 & 22, 2005
Reference: The Fab New World of Prefab Houses (Land+Living)
Reference:
Prefab-o-rama (Land+Living)
We're always on the lookout for cool outdoor furniture. Henry Hall Designs is based in San Francisco and is available throughout the U.S. They offer a wide range of styles by designers such as Frank Boschman, Julian Chichester, Jean-Louis Guinochet, Wim Segers and Kris Van Puyvelde. Of course, we like the contemporary collections they offer. And Treehugger says they're OK... all teak is plantation grown... so you can rest easy while you lounge in the sun.
Link: Henry Hall Designs
I met Rob Steiner back when he was partners with Jay Griffith... it was an interview actually... and I didn't take the job. But that is another story. I liked Rob's work at the time, and I like it now.
Steiner brings a modern sensibility to his designs which are wonderfully composed and structured architecturally to create outdoor living spaces and extend and/or transform the architecture of the house. He is especially adept in his planting plans which (to borrow from his website since this says it best) "are distinguished for their graphic quality, successional bloom, subtle modulations of tone and year-round foliage interest."
Firm: Rob Steiner Gardens
Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çağlar are multidisciplinary designers based in Istanbul, not Constantinople... ahem. Their work covers the gamut: architecture, interior design and product design
Their temporary website shows a range of cool furniture and lighting designs. We're are particularly impressed with their wide array of plywood furniture. Fun stuff, and we're looking forward to seeing more from Autoban when they get around to finishing their new website. Their new website is now up!
Link: Autoban
Update 4/9/05: Interiors by Autoban (L+L)
A bit of a lull around here... sorry folks, sometimes we just slow down for some reason. Other than just being busy, I've been spending part of my time with this book.
I was introduced to The Great Good Place when I was working on my graduate thesis, but I only read a couple of chapters... back then I had stacks of books I was reading, so many were only given a quick scan. Six years later I am finally getting around to actually reading the whole thing. It is an interesting look at the roll of places (especially unique and authentic places) in social and community life.
The Great Good Place argues that "third places" - where people can gather, put aside the concerns of work and home, and hang out simply for the pleasures of good company and lively conversation - are the heart of a community's social vitality and the grassroots of democracy.Author: Ray Oldenburg
It must be photography week here at Land+Living - first the work of eco-artist Kathryn Miller who photo-documents her field projects, then photographer Chris Jordan yesterday, and our photo spread on Groundswell. To top it off, this morning Peter Baker, who we featured back in June, paid us a visit to let us know about his new site: TreeMeat.
We liked his stuff then, and we like it now. Mmmm... TreeMeat... tasty. Seriously, take a look for yourself. Tasty, right?
Link: TreeMeat
Reference: Peter Baker
We were blown away by the images of Seattle based photographer Chris Jordan when we ran across his website over at Archinect.
In large-format color, these images take the viewer on a tour behind the façade of the American Dream into the underbelly of our consumer society, where the vast cumulative effects of our individual consumer choices are visible. These images invite viewers to consider the complexity and scale of the consumerism issue, and to evaluate their own role in the consumptive process.Chris's photographs are sublimely beautiful and haunting.
Link: Chris Jordan Photography
Slate 's architecture critic, Witold Rybczynski, reviews MoMA's Groundswell exhibit with a slide-show essay. Bookending the review, Mr. Rybcynski provides some historical perspective of landscape design, and laments the lack of a "landscape approach to rebuilding" the World Trade Center site.
And we've added LOTS of images of our own for your browsing pleasure (thanks to MoMA's Press Office). Lots of images means waiting for them to download... please be patient, won't you?
Enjoy.
Link: Slate - The Aesthetics of Urban Renewal
Reference: Groundswell (Land+Living)
Reference: "Confronting Blight With Hope" (Land+Living)
Reference: "From Ruin and Artifice, Landscapes Reborn" (Land+Living)
One of the strongest influences from my college education was my exposure to the works of artist Kathryn Miller at Pitzer College. The concepts and perspectives behind her art struck a deep chord with me, and are an influence in my thinking to this day - a philosophy of working with the land.
Kathryn is both an artist and biologist and is particularly concerned with the importance of place - local ecology, native species, and the natural condition. Many of her projects are interventions which work with ecological systems, while others are commentary dealing with issues of ecological concern. Based in Southern California Kathryn's projects are inspired by local issues such as arid landscapes, urban sprawl and non-native species - from guerilla re-vegetation to lawn life-support, etc.
My work is not about beauty but about challenging the "notion" of beauty that prevails as a general aesthetic in our culture.Link: greenmuseum.org - Kathryn Miller
Located on a wooded hillside in the Chilterns, Oxfordshire, U.K., this simple modern house fits wonderfully into it's surroundings.
Designed by London based architect Níall McLaughlin, the house is a straightforward glass box concept laid out on a regularized 12 square grid. A second glass box protrudes perpendicular to the main structure and encloses a lap pool.
Firm: Níall McLaughlin Architects
Award: Irish Architecture Awards 2002
Born in Finland, raised in Sweden and now residing in San Francisco, California, self-taught designer Lotta Jansson creates a range of beautiful screen-printed home products. Her colorful and fun designs include ceramics, table linens, bags, stationary and more.
Lotta has both a deep appreciation for nature’s limitless beauty and a love for modern urban style. The balance between these two worlds is unequivocally present in Lotta’s contemporary organic designs.She started Lotta Jansdotter in 1996, and opened her San Francisco studio and store front in 2002. Lotta's designs are also available online and at retail stores around the world.
Link: Lotta Jansdotter
Via: urbanSPY
Designed by Sid L. Scott, AIA of Portland, Oregon based Scott | Edwards Architecture
this house utilizes simple "off the shelf" materials to achieve stunning results.
We really like the way that the construction and framing of the structure is honestly expressed. Glulam beams, plywood, structural steel and hardware are exposed and featured as design elements. Large windows capture views of Mount Hood and the Willamette Valley.
The overall effect is a design that is both modern and regional, and we're all about that! Beautiful.
This event organized by Pasadena Heritage features a lecture on March 16th and tour on March 20th, 2005.
This one is rather close to home for us L+L folks... one of us grew up in Pasadena and was inspired by the local architectural tradition from a very early age. Though Pasadena is perhaps best known for Arts and Crafts architecture, especially Greene & Greene and the Gamble House, the city boasts a significant collection postwar residential, commercial and institutional structures.
Lecture: The Modern Suburban Paradise - March 16, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
Tour: Pasadena Modern Tour - March 20, 2005, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Link: Pasadena Heritage
As a whole, the show, organized by Peter Reed, a MoMA curator of architecture and design, signals the refreshing debate that is emerging over how best to deal with the legacy of Modernism.Article: NY Times - Confronting Blight With Hope
An article in the New York Times talks about the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and the Groundswell exhibit which opens tomorrow at MoMA in New York. The article focuses on the designers and projects that will be featured in the exhibition including Peter Latz, Adriaan Geuze, Catherine Mosbach and the much anticipated Fresh Kills project on Staten Island by Field Operations.
No longer the handmaidens of architects, landscape architects are building huge parks, some on a 19th-century scale, on polluted industrial spaces...Article: NY Times - From Ruin and Artifice, Landscapes Reborn
Here is a word you may not have heard since high school biology class:
Cambium (kam' bë um) a layer of formative cells located below the bark of woody plants, reproducing by division and creating new growth.But Cambium is also the name of the design and construction company of Seattle based landscape architect Tim Moshier. Appropriately, they will provide new growth in your garden.
Their website features a nice portfolio of five residential projects, and we are particularly impressed with their skillful selection of plants for color and texture to create striking effects. Superb design and execution.
Link: Cambium
As long as we're on the subject of retail furniture stores, here's one at the other end of the Golden State.
Edit Furnishings doesn't appear to have any exclusive designs, but they do offer an interesting collection of furniture, objects, lighting and art. They are located in Newark, a town in the (south east) San Francisco Bay Area.
Link: Edit [Thanks, John!]
Now, this topic isn't exactly sexy or fun, but you need to use something to keep your home clean... especially if you are lucky enough to own one of these slick modern glass and concrete houses that we like to feature. And trying to find good products that aren't detrimental to your health and the larger environment is a challenge. A post at Cascadia Scorecard Weblog points us to a website that can help you locate eco-friendly products. And of course, our good friends at Treehugger have a couple of suggestions as well.
Link: Eco-Labels
Via: Cascadia Scorecard Weblog - It's Not Easy Cleaning Green
This modern garden is located on the 10th floor of a converted historic warehouse in downtown Minneapolis. The landscape was designed by oslund.and.assoc in conjunction with the project architects, Anmahian Winton as an extention of the interior spaces and as a counterpoint to the historic urban context. Storm water is collected and reused to sustain the plantings.
The garden terrace synthesizes the architecture and the landscape within a shared modernist vocabulary. The loft architecture and landscape sustain a symbiotic relationship where each is enriched by the other, managing light and form outside of the traditional garden-residence paradigm.
Link: oslund.and.assoc
Link: Anmahian Winton Architects
Sweden and good design just seem to go together... not a bad far as stereotypes go. The work of this group just furthers that image.
Founded by Petrus Palmér, John Löfgren and Jonas Pettersson, this Swedish design collective is focused on product and furniture design. The group also produces a wider range of work including graphic design, illustration, concept design, product visualization and interactive media.
Their designs are funky and fun, but clean and modern... and we're liking it!
Link: Form Us With Love
We just realized that Land+Living has been around for more than nine months... totally missed our half year mark, and we'll surely miss our anniversary as well. For some reason this feels like a good time to look back at where we have been and mark the passing of time.
To commemorate the occasion, we have somewhat arbitrarily chosen nine (+1) past blogs, not a "best of" list per se... but, whatever... here it is...
Drum roll, please...............