The auction of furniture and tableware from the iconic Philip Johnson-designed The Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan has brought in over four times the original estimate. (more…)
From the architect. Apartment in the 19th century townhouse in Ljubljana is a place of opposites: it is both warm and cold, both soft and orthagonal. It is equally open and closed against its surroundings and both in contact and in conflict with it’s past. It is an interpolation of two different but visually connected ambients with contrasting identities and materialities: the loft and the salon.
Living room, furbished in textured and warm materials, reinterprets an Art Nouveau salon. Its layered materiality – ranging from an open fireplace in onyx stone to vintage hardwood floors – is reflected in the round ceiling mirror that acts as an illusionist fresco. The room is ambientally lit: apart from the contemporary chandelier, whose light is reflected in the ceiling mirror and polished stone, the fireplace itself, with light fixtures behing the thin onyx stone, can become a source of light.
The loft, on the other hand, is defined by a grid of aluminium beams, suspended from the ceiling. The grid structures the space – kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and wardrobe volumes are defined by sliding doors, attached to the structural beams. By opening the doors the living space can be extended beyond the dining room into a bedroom and a shower, thus creating functionally diverse ambients that range from straight-forward to complex.
The loft is lit by a system of reflectors, thoughtfully suspended from the grid. The materials, used in this section of the apartment – aluminium, plexi glass, textile, concrete and mirrors – further add to the industrial feeling.
Apartment’s layout allows for a sort of voyeurism: the position on the sofa offers views to the city square, to the fireplace, to the dining table and inside the bedroom, and if we look upwards, even a view upon ourselves. Similarly, sitting at the dining table we can observe the kitchen, bedroom and even the shower, which provocatively borders on the living area.
Closing the sliding doors can create neat and functionally separated spaces. Opening them, on the other hand, can offer us layers of visual experiences that vary from industrial to vintage, from etheric to earthly, from the physical space to its reflection.
C Residence is a private home located in Taichung, Taiwan. Completed in 2015, it was designed by Z-AXIS DESIGN. C Residence by Z-AXIS DESIGN : “Designer combined soft-tone colors and personalized elements to create a fashion taste into this 182M2 (1,959FT2) space. By using large ceiling windows across the whole area to inject more sunlight, as if you are in a modern penthouse apartment in Paris. An art painting hung..
If the title of this article made you say – “that’s me!” then we are glad you stopped by! Feelings of isolation and loneliness occur even to the most seemingly popular of people. Even those who have large networks of friends, acquaintances, colleagues and romancers slip into stages of despondency, leaving the rest of us to wonder, why? And how?
People love comparing themselves to others, but when doing so also tend to neglect the relativity of each of our situations. Take our local bartender for example – a staple of our community, he or she is constantly in the limelight, and we have fantasies about how popular they must be with the opposite sex and how many friends they must make everyday. Although that may or may not be true, what do most bartenders do before and after work? They go home, sleep, and hide in their rooms. Not such the life of the party, huh? But why is this?
When it comes to friendship, sometimes the adage less is more is appropriate. Most bartenders lead rather quiet lives outside of the spot light because they have to be so socially charged for so much of their average day, that when given the opportunity to relax and shut down, they do it with enthusiasm.
Remember what I said; we all experience a feeling of loneliness every now and then, that has us seek other people for companionship. It is the byproduct of our daily routines getting to us that make us crave something slightly different, a bit of outside influence to sprinkle into our life.
We all have our core friends that we rely on for support, friendship and relaxing, but sometimes it’s not enough. The exploding rise of internet dating and social chatting puts us at the helm of our social desires, and we should not be afraid to use them. There’s also a number of social clubs that exist in all of our cities for different tastes – dancing, meet and greets, singles events – but many people are also worried about going to these alone.
Breaking through our own fourth wall is very important is we want to meet other people. It’s too easy these days to spend our time at home on Facebook instead of going out or organizing time with friends or making a new friend date. The excuses could be as long as you want them to be; you’re too tired, you’ll do it next weekend, you don’t have enough money, etc. But we all know this is a vicious, endless cycle. The reason I point this out is because humans are meant to be social creatures, and if we are not socialized properly, there’s a higher chance we won’t succeed in life as well as we could if we are socialized properly.
That means having a confident social network to draw from, and the strength to use it. If we neglect this part of our growth, we risk depression, lethargy, and the inability to create lasting relationships. We should use the most o f our time to socialize properly and exercise our social skills – fortunately for us, there are millions of people out there just waiting to become your friend!
Let’s say you live in the city, but have a relative who lives in a small town. They recently broke up with their partner, but suddenly a few weeks or months later, they are in a new, healthy relationship – meanwhile in the city, you’re struggling to get a date, for friends or otherwise! What’s happening here?
Despite cities having huge numbers of people, most citizens feel most left out when they live in the city. Social pressures like looking good, being successful, and being on the right path make us feel more insecure than ever as we try to keep up with the next trends. Meanwhile, our cousins in rural areas are able to socialize freely in their controlled society and socialize without the impending insecurities that we feel here in the city.
The key is to remember that we are all human. That it’s OK to feel the way we do, lonely or alone sometimes, and that we all feel that way. If you are afraid to talk to someone because they don’t seem like your type , fear not – they are thinking the exact same thing. We all fear the same things, and feel the same things. Some of us hide it better than others, but at the end of the day, we all love feeling wanted an d interesting. Don’t be afraid to speak to new people and see where it takes you; the other person is just waiting for you to come by.
The post Help I Need Friends appeared first on Change your thoughts.
Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen
8.59am BST
Good morning. Today the high court is due to rule on whether Jeremy Corbyn can contest the Labour leadership without having 51 nominations from MPs and MEPs like his challenger, Owen Smith. It is expected that the court will back the decision of Labour’s national executive committee to let Corbyn stand without the nominations, and if that happens the leadership contest already underway will just carry on. But there is a chance that the court could rule against the NEC, and that would trigger – well, not just an appeal, but chaos too.
A decision against the NEC would not automatically mean that Corbyn could not be a candidate. But it would mean that he would have to obtain nominations from 20% of MPs and MEPs, which might be difficult for him.
A decision is to be given in a legal action aimed at overturning the Labour Party’s decision to guarantee Jeremy Corbyn a place on the leadership ballot.
Labour donor Michael Foster, a former parliamentary candidate, has brought the claim against the party’s general secretary Iain McNicol, who is being sued in a representative capacity, and Corbyn.
Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2abZPMy
Kirkwood McCarthy has added a black zinc-clad wing to the rear of a London house, creating a light-filled living space that sits between the garden and a new courtyard. (more…)
From the architect. A bedrock plot in the Turku archipelago, southfacing onto a beautiful seaview. The starting point for the building plans for the island plot was to build as low and as discretely as possible, while affording excellent views of the archipelago landscape.
The cottage is fit for winter habitation and has a waterside sauna and car shelter. The buildings are constructed from prefabricated parts made of Finnish timber.
The timber frames are designed according to the modular system.
The blind panel walls on the north side are cladded in dark stained panelling. The partition lends an added sense of privacy and creates a background to the seaward facing glass wall which looks out onto a picture postcard seascape. The long eaves of the buildings lend them added shelter and emphasise their horizontal aspect. Movable wooden louvre shutters provide additional shade from the sun.
The roof timberwork runs through the building frame and alongside the upper windows. The pleasing dimensional coordination of the buildings’ modular structures is evident in both indoor and outdoor spaces. In the evenings, floor-embedded lighting sets the ceiling aglow.
All external architecture, fittings and décor have been comprehensively installed. The rear wall is stained in black. The bulding frame and interior flooring are stained in white. The movable wooden shutters, terrace surfaces and walkways on the south face are made of larch. The indoor spaces are made of birch in various forms and the partitions, sliding doors and fixtures are in birch plywood.
Bolsasoft is a private home located in Gran Canaria, The Canary Islands, Spain. Completed in 2012, it was designed by Bello y Monterde Arquitectos. Bolsasoft by Bello y Monterde Arquitectos: “Designed by the prestigious architectural firm Bello and Monterde, this avant-garde house is very close to the Golf Club of Bandama, in Gran Canaria, The Canary Islands, Spain. Open spaces, numerous hidden cupboards, a new distribution that makes every room..
Sig Nordal 