May 13, 2013
All images by FIXd Architecture
The problem with sustainable design? Sometimes the architects can forget the “design” part, letting the means for achieving sustainability define a project’s aesthetics. Since the late 1960s, this kind of structural and technical exhibitionism has become a widely practiced metaphor for the building-as-metabolic-system. The not-so-hidden agenda, of course, is to display the technical proficiency of a given architect and to make obvious the immense array of complex systems any designer must manage.
The latest example of this is the Mo Ventus house, by FIXd Architecture. This conceptual zero-net-energy, luxury residence—thus far realized only in digital renderings—can be built almost anywhere, unbound by climate or existing infrastructure.
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March 20, 2013
The number of striking and well-designed projects in our daily roundups varies from day to day. Some days it’s 10, while others it’s 7. Today however, we are more concerned with the numbers 1 and 2. While the habitual trip to the porcelain throne can get pretty monotonous—most johns have the aesthetic sophistication of the local Airport Sheraton—we’ve come across some pretty unusual ones lately. So, to bring a little excitement to your daily routine, we’ve scoured the ‘net looking for the most offbeat bathrooms. And boy did we find some weird ones. From the pool of more “safe-for-work” projects, here are 10 perfectly peculiar places for you to—ok we’ll just say it—go to the bathroom! Click through to see them all!
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September 12, 2012
Photo by Daici Ano
When thinking about Japan and its burgeoning cities, it can be easy to forget that the majority of the nation is still covered in trees and mountains. While still respecting the surrounding rural areas, Japanese firm Nendo has managed to bring a touch of urban living to the forests of Komoro City in the form of the Bird-Apartment. Looking as if it was ripped straight from the overcrowded dwellings of the city, the Bird-Apartment serves as a small animal reserve capable of housing 78 birds and one average-sized human guest. Read more!
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August 24, 2012
Visitors to Huainan, China, might be expecting to see typical scenes of Chinese urbanism—mega subdivisions, skyscrapers, shopping malls, and the like—but the city has a surprise in store: a very weird house shaped like a violin leaning against a grand piano. Read more.
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February 3, 2012
The dream of the self-built home has yielded many a curious structure, but few have sustained the strange aura and the clout of the miraculous Smith Mansion in Wapiti Valley, Wyoming. The monstrous inhabitable collage assembled single-handedly by local legend Francis Lee Smith has its own set of tales as tall as its rickety wooden lookout tower. Staggering pagoda-like rooftops and what the New York Times described eloquently as “writhing balustrades of warped pine” paint stories of a raving madman, who some believe erected the hilltop house as precaution for a falsely impending volcano eruption and others believe were merely making a twisted vision into reality. You want the truth? Read on.
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