°on line by Bart Lens

The power of this light source lies in its slenderness and unobtrusiveness; the simplicity of the fixtures’ design makes that it can be used anywhere. It can be built-in, mounted on the wall, or hung from the ceiling. An innovative and state-of-the-art magnet and contact system makes that a wide variety of LED-fixtures can be inserted or moved.
The LED-fixtures are similar in style yet each one of them has its own character and lighting quality: a mini spotlight ‘dot’, built-in or wall mounted strips ‘in’ and ‘out and directable pliable sheets caled ‘knick’.

°on line, by Bart Lens, for objetb art, Eden Design

Wallace K Harrison Estate Restoration by SchappacherWhite

Atop a hill on Long Island removed from the fog of the shoreline, architect Wallace K Harrison in the early 1930s purchased land to design a house for his wife and himself. However, after the purchase of the land, the young architect had inadequate funds to pay for construction. Then, while touring the annual Architectural League show in Grand Central Palace, he paid around $1000 for what many consider the first prefab home, the Aluminaire House designed by A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey. In 1931, Harrison designed what he considered a summer-use extension to the “Tin House” adding a series of circles, “an exercise in how to fit circles together”.

Around 1940, the Tin House was relocated on the property and a second, linear wing with bathrooms and baths was added to the former circular forms. The Harrison Estate, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, represents the leading edge of the International Style. It has now undergone a complete restoration and expansion, designed by SchappacherWhite Ltd., that honors Harrison’s original design intent while satisfying the needs of a 21st century family. The Harrison Estate was a laboratory for ideas Harrison expressed in his architecture. The home’s signature element, the circle, is found in the forms of the living room, small former dining room, pool, and even concrete pavers used for walkways, all of which have been restored by SchappacherWhite. Spaces were winterized and built to today’s sustainable standards.

The Harrison house was not only a place for architectural exploration, but also a home for many artists and a canvas for site-specific works. In 1942, Fernand Leger, escaping the war in Europe, came to the house and painted a canvas for the large round living room and also painted figurative swimmers on the bottom of the circular swimming pool. Existing and restored is the only remaining Leger artwork, a skylight located at the new dining room. Amongst the many artists and friends whom enjoyed the house were Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Mary Callery, Robert Moses, and Le Corbusier.

Wallace K Harrison Estate, Restoration by SchappacherWhite, via: Arch Daily

Exhibition: Sunny Memories

Sunny Memories is the fusion of solar technology and industrial design. A project that involved more than 80 students from four leading design schools, this exhibit explores the broad new realm of technology, energy, and design that solar dye cells have heralded. Led by the EPFL+ECAL Lab, in Lausanne, Switzerland, the “Sunny Memories” workshops took place in collaboration with the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL), the California College of the Arts (CCA), the Royal College of Art in London (RCA) and the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Creation Industrielle in Paris (ENSCI). Under the tutelage of design leaders like Yves Behar from San Francisco’s fuseproject, Jean-Francois Dingjian of Paris’ Normal Studio, Sam Hecht from London’s Industrial Facility, and Swiss designer Jörg Boner, students began their projects with the following challenge: how do we use energy to record our memory, heritage and knowledge? How can we employ solar energy to preserve history, while increasing autonomy, mobility, and sustainability?

The source of this solar innovation is the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), the “MIT of Switzerland.” There, professor Michael Graëtzel began to use molecules from colorants to transform the sun’s light into electricity. Inspired by photosynthesis, he developed an award-winning technology that allowed solar dye cells to take all sorts of shapes, colors and forms. As industrial production of these solar cells has begun, it is now up to the design community to create products that meld this new technology with great design. Sunny Memories signals a new relationship between technology and design: designers have the freedom to explore the multiple meanings that a new technology can bring about.

Sunny Memories, with the Embassy of Switzerland, January 18 – February 8, Washington Design Center, Washington D.C.

Silver Lake by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

Silver Lake is a Patricia Urquiola creation that offers us an architectural memory inspired by the Californian modernism of the ‘50s. The Silver Lake range is composed of three sofas, two armchairs and a small armchair displaying a continuous geometric interplay of solids and voids, with volumes creating many-sided polyhedral forms. Wood, steel, fabric or leather in a sculptural synthesis that, indirectly, brings to the surface today the Utopian vision of the ‘50s. Silver Lake is the name of a Los Angeles neighbourhood that is famous for its architecture and today hosts numerous architecture firms and creative agencies.

Silver Lake, 2-seater, 3-seater, Armchair, by Patricia Urquiola, for Moroso

Array Screen by Korban/Flaubert

Korban/Flaubert is a design and production partnership between Janos Korban, a metal specialist, and Stefanie Flaubert, an architect. Founded in Stuttgart in 1993, the practice specialises in furniture, lighting and architectural installations in metal or plastic.
Array Screen is made from stainless steel and can be produced in custom sizes, cable suspended or wall mounted.

Array Screen, by Korban/Flaubert

Montauk Residence by Rees Roberts + Partners

With interiors that defer to the elements of art, light, and views, Rees Roberts + Partners creates spaces that are tailored to both the context of each location and the character of the individual. While inventive and informed by a well-rounded knowledge of architectural styles, the designs of the firm remain true to the practical realities and varied lifestyles of its clients. The Company is known for its innovative landscape design, and in particular, its skill in integrating the built structure with its natural environment.

Montauk Residence, by Rees Roberts + Partners

Ligne Roset Christmas Tree

The image of this years Christmas greeting for Ligne Roset was made from dozens of La Pliée chairs. The chair was developed under the umbrella of the ‘aides à projet VIA’ by ENSCI student Marie-Aurore Stiker-Metral. LA PLIEE means ‘the folded one.’ Made from a sheet of laser-cut steel, which is folded and shaped like origami. The video shows how the tree was made (uniquement en français sans sous-titres).

Noël, by Ligne Roset

Pavilniai Family House by G. Natkevicius and Partners

In the Middle Ages, where the building is situated, was a cannon foundry. Client bought a site where stood the old yellow brick lodge with a basement. Cleaning the plaster of a house revealed that the lodge had been built by ancient bricks which were made in a old Vilnius brick factories. Because of a historical and physical value of a house were considered to preserve it by wrapping it with outer glass shape. The historical house structure have been carefully restored.

Family House, Pavilniai Regional Park by Architectural Bureau G. Natkevicius and Partners
via: archdaily

Stack Candlelights by Miranda Watkins

Stack is a playful product for the discerning design conscious. Formed of solid cylindrical building blocks in vibrant hues and muted neutral tones. Stack can be assembled and rearranged in a limitless array of combinations to complement any setting and satisfy any mood. Made in Britain from solid machined aluminum. Stack’s reassuring weight speaks a quality. Its smooth, frosted, anodised finish creates a lustrous matte sheen that is pleasingly cool to the touch.

“I wanted to create a luxurious product that allows discriminating consumers to play a part in the design. The accent here is on quality and precision, with pieces that look and feel great and fit together absolutely perfectly, however they are combined.”
– Miranda Watkins

Tower, Conical and Tier, in Tonal Grey and all Black, by Miranda Watkins Design

Integral House by Shim – Sutcliffe

Math professor Dr. James Stewart, who is also a former violinist with the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra near Toronto, Ontario, has made millions writing calculus textbooks. When he decided to spend most of his fortune on a residence, he could have used any architect anywhere in the world. Instead of an international star, he selected the then-relatively unknown pair, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe of Shim Sutcliffe to create his residence in a ravine in the posh Toronto neighborhood of Rosedale. Stewart was not looking to build just a residence, though. He also wanted a private concert hall and lots of curves. Other than that, he gave the architects unprecedented and probably never-to-be-repeated freedom. No schedule, and no design restrictions. A decade after the initial discussions with Shim and Sutcliffe, the $24 million US, 18,000-square-foot Integral House was completed. It does, indeed, have a multitude of seductive curves, massive amounts of floor to ceiling glass and a spectacular staircase. And, Dr. Stewart now gives concerts and throws parties and costume balls in his 150-seat concert hall.

Integral House, Toronto, Canada, by Shim – Sutcliffe
via: The Cool Hunter