Ramat Hasharon House 1 by Pitsou Kedem Architect

Ramat Hasharon House 1, Isreal, by Pitsou Kedem Architect

Dot Lamp by Samuel Accoceberry for MARCEL BY

Dot Lamp, by Samuel Accoceberry, for MARCEL BY

Modern Family Home by Dennis Gibbens Architects

This project consists of a two-story, 5,000-square-foot single family residence and guest house on a 12,000-square-foot property in Venice, California. The property is large for this section of Los Angeles, making it nicely sized for a young family of four. The first floor plan is in the shape of a long bar and has an open arrangement of public rooms all looking on to the western half of the property. The living room is a double-height space. The exterior areas are comprised of a front garden, a private garden, an exterior covered area and various concrete deck areas, a sports court, and a swimming pool and spa. The T-shaped second floor of the main house contains a large master suite and two children’s bedrooms, a laundry room, an office and a large black-out media room. A guest house pool house is situated at the south end of the property on axis with the pool. The main exterior materials are white stucco, glass and metal panel. Photo-voltaic panels on the roof provide a portion of the electricity for the residence.

Modern Family Home, Venice, California, USA, by Dennis Gibbens Architects, Photography © Ryan Childers, via: ArchDaily

Exhibition: Droog Lab: The New Original

Aiming to raise discourse on the future of design, Droog Lab went to Shenzhen, China, the epicentre of copycat culture, with the intent of copying China. The result is a collection of 26 works by Studio Droog, Richard Hutten, Ed Annink, Stanley Wong and Urbanus each taking copying as a starting point. From a classic Chinese teapot with an added robust handle by Richard Hutten, to an inverted Chinese restaurant that features a miniature table setting inside a fish tank by Studio Droog-each piece translates an essence of the original in a literal way.

Chinese companies and the government are working hard to shed their copycat reputation. But copying does not only produce exact replicas. Chinese imitation and pirated brands and goods often introduce novelty by adding something, upgrading, or adapting for another market. By linking copying to creativity, The New Original demonstrates that the process of copying is clearly more than just mere replication-it can be a real driver in innovation.

“We have reached a level of saturation in design and in the market, that it’s time to think more intelligently about what to do with the surplus, and use it in the design process. We should take better advantage of our collective intelligence,” states Renny Ramakers, co-founder and director of Droog. “Imitation can also be inspiration.”

Droog Lab: The New Original, March 9th – April 9th, 2013, at Hi space, zhen Jia shopping mall, 4th floor, No. 228 Tianhe Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China

Norwegian Official Residence by Dis. interiørarkitekter

In addition to covering various functions of public visits the interior should present and emphasize a Nordic style. We had never worked with an official residence, and the client wanted to use this as an advantage and not put so many constraints so we would be able to see this with new eyes. The main objective of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in all of its projects is that most of the furniture, lighting and other essential elements shall promote Norwegian design. The concept was designed around preserving the building’s character and let the furniture and lighting be a contrast to emphasize the two different worlds that come together here. The colors on the furniture were chosen to emphasize the Scandinavian design and at the same time they were inspired by Sri Lankan traditional clothing and their rich natural landscape. Large rooms with dark wood and hard surfaces became the contrast to colorful furniture with a light and soft look.

Norwegian Official Residence, Sri Lanka, by Dis. interiørarkitekter, via: Contemporist

Flag House by Apollo Architects and Associates

Flag House, Nakano Ward Tokyo, Japan, by Apollo Architects and Associates, Photography by Masao Nishikawa

Element Table by Tokujin Yoshioka for Desalto

The collection was the development from the process of the numerous experiments and research for ‘Crystallized project’ initiated in 2007. In this project, Tokujin created “VENUS” which is having crystal structure. VENUS is formed through the growth of the crystal by using the laws of nature. Through the project, Tokujin would like to throw a question of how we could connect our lives to the future, by being exposed to the serendipitous beauty born of nature. Upon these experiments, “Element” was born from his challenge revealing a new aspect of nature and it’s sculptural form for furniture.

Element Table, by Tokujin Yoshioka, for Desalto

YAK01 House by Ayutt and Associates Design

The house is specifically designed for a small modern family. It is composed of a 560 sq.m private land and 500 sq. m usable internal space. Even though the usable space of the land is limited, the client wanted a modern house with sun shades and rain protections as well as a large greenery area to enjoy. After numerous hours of design planning and meetings, the architect proposed cantilevering practically half of the house over the ground floor area. This would liberate more space in the garden while following the regulations.

The house is designed in L shape to enhance the usable space and green area. One side of the wall of the house is designed close to an adjacent plot of land to maximize the green space. The bathrooms, service areas, storages and staircases are designed as buffer zones to absorb the heat and provide more privacy for the main private space on the north. Most of glass walls are also in the north of the house in order to receive natural sunlight since the northern sunlight is the least intense in Thailand. In addition, 50 percent of the land is an open space for gardening that can be visible from every angle. The swimming pool is positioned in parallel with the building to draw cool air into the house.

The architect’s main concerns are to keep the building cool during daytime and provide cross-ventilation from opposing windows for every room. The layout not only satisfies the client’s need, but also provides a natural ventilation and generous outdoor area compared with that of a small plot with similar surrounding properties.

YAK01, Yen Akat Road, Bangkok, Thailand, by Ayutt and Associates Design

Hood Lamp by Form Us With Love for Ateljé Lyktan

Hood is a sheltering lamp that creates both room and light. Much like the recent Plug lamp, Hood is built on necessity. Once again bringing a dual function light, Hood meets the basic desire of shutting things out and concentrating light on secluded areas like work-, conference- or dining tables. At the same time, the three-piece modular function lets you build the Hood to whatever size you need. Starting with basic corner units, one can add the compressed industrial felt sheets to scale the pendant for an extensive illuminating form.

“The Hood lamp is more than a lamp. Itʼs a piece of furniture – the size and material has an interesting effect on the atmosphere, making the piece feel so much more than just a pendant lamp”, says Form Us With Love.

Hood Lamp, by Form Us With Love, for Ateljé Lyktan, Photography by Jonas Lindström

Woodchester House by Robert Grace

According to English Heritage (which oversees historic buildings for the British government), Woodchester House, a Georgian mansion built in 1746 and located on 30 acres of Gloucestershire countryside, is architecturally untouchable and unchangeable. For both the architect, London- and Paris-based Robert Grace, and the client, a financier and author, that was a problem.

Granted, the mansion and its grounds and garden–where the owner’s wallabies frolic–are breathtaking. But the link, visual or physical, between the house and the landscape was lacking. After months of discussion, Grace and the owner decided that a 1,500-square-foot glass, wood, and concrete “orangery,” or garden room, would solve the problem. It provides a place of contemplation and repose adjacent to, but never touching, the house. “It is shelter,” says Grace, “but you can look out at the garden or at the back at the house and feel linked to both.”

The new 18-foot-high structure may relate to the house functionally, but hardly stylistically. “It’s totally of the ‘now,’” says Grace. Two slender reinforced concrete columns support a concrete roof, while expanses of glass diminish the sense of mass. Triple-glazed units enclosing the space are almost nonexistent, especially where they meet at a corner facing the garden: With a push of a button they glide back on an invisible motorized track. Oak plank floors unite the various parts of the retreat, which includes an entry, bathroom, laundry, and living area with a fireplace carved in a stone wall.

A 41-foot gallery links the garden pavilion to an existing outbuilding, used as a kitchen and dining room, that adjoins the main house. To create the linear gallery, Grace placed sections of an old stone garden wall, once part of the house’s former orangery, parallel to each other and clad the interiors with white concrete. He then covered the hallway with a glass roof resting on glass beams that in turn hook into the concrete columns.

Woodchester House, by Robert Grace, via: Architectural Record