Stone walls and contemporary wooden roof trusses frame this pool house that architecture studio Re-Format has added to a house in Surrey, England (+ slideshow). (more…)
Contemporary pool house by Re-Format brings together stone, copper and oak
Month: August 2016
Golden Bubbles / People’s Architecture Office
© People's Architecture Office
- Architects: People's Architecture Office
- Location: K11, Hong Kong, China
- Architect In Charge: He Zhe, James Shen, Zang Feng
- Design Team: Cui Gangjian, Min Kyoung Kim, Xu Xi, Xiang Weixing, Jiang Hao, Zhang Zhen
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: People's Architecture Office
© People's Architecture Office
From the architect. Designed specifically for the K11, Golden Bubbles reflect and exaggerate the movement of people above, below and around. These large golden inflatables span the atrium, weaving between multiple levels and escalators. The objects act as curved mirrors distorting reality by warping the surroundings into one field of view.
© People's Architecture Office
© People's Architecture Office
The hue of Golden Bubbles references Hong Kong’s irrefutable strength as a global financial capital. In a related manner, the impossibility of such massive metallic objects floating in space denies comprehension. Only until we look beyond the enticing skin do we discover the hollow space within. The public is invited to peer into these inflated objects and examine the kaleidoscope-like interior filled with fleeting images of our projected desires.
© People's Architecture Office
Tropical interiors by Melina Romano feature at Brazil’s first Yoo2 hotel in Rio
Brazilian designer Melina Romano has created plant-filled interiors for Rio de Janeiro‘s Yoo2 hotel, which opened last month ahead of the city’s Olympic games (+ slideshow). (more…)
Abandoned House in the Water Gap by rchrdcnnnghm A more recently…
via Abandonedforgotten http://ift.tt/2b766w9
Avava unveils tiny house that represents a “completely new way to do prefab”
San Francisco-based Avava Systems has created a prefabricated micro dwelling with components that are shipped in flat-packed boxes, to enable easier transportation and assembly (+ slideshow). (more…)
Urby Staten Island / concrete
© Ewout Huibers
- Architects: concrete
- Location: United States, Navy Pier Ct, Staten Island, NY 10304, USA
- Area: 30000.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Ewout Huibers
- Team: Erikjan Vermeulen, Rob Wagemans, Cindy Wouters, Matthijs Hombergen, Jolijn Vonk, Jesse Nolte, Sofie Ruytenberg, Ana Bissau Pereira, Eva Stekelenburg, Melanie Knuewer Johanna Zyschki, Robert Schellekens, Kayla Lee
© Ewout Huibers
From the architect. Every day, 180,000 people around the world move to the city. And all those people need a place to live. But with rising demand comes rising rent, making it virtually impossible for young potentials and the middle class to find rental housing that is not only affordable, but also caters to the needs of the modern urban citizen. In a time characterised by flexibility, community and sustainability, the available rental- housing increasingly fails to meet modern-day demands.
© Ewout Huibers
And so in 2009, Concrete was approached by Ironstate to develop a better rental-housing product for New York’s densely populated areas. ‘Better’ in this context was defined as a product that more adequately meets the needs of the modern urban resident, offers higher value for the money and facilitates a more positive way of living. Concrete and Ironstate joined forces and before long, Urby was born. A unique residential concept that offers premium value at sub-premium rates and a truly connected living experience.
© Ewout Huibers
© Ewout Huibers
Urby is a holistic housing concept that offers residents much more than living quarters. That said, Concrete started out with focusing on the essence: the apartments. The design team created Small (studio), Medium (one-bedroom) and Large (two-bedroom) units. In order to test functionality, flow and setup, several mock-up apartments were built in a Jersey warehouse. In 2012, Concrete and Ironstate completed a 48-unit building in Jersey City and started renting the apartments out to gauge market response and collect user feedback. Three apartments have been kept on for testing purposes to this day, in order to constantly fine-tune layouts, finishes and fixtures. Meanwhile in 2011, Concrete started working on the Urby Staten Island project, applying the learnings from the test building to the first official Urby building.
© Ewout Huibers
© Ewout Huibers
The Urby Staten Island project consists of more than 900 rental apartments, 571 of which have been completed in phase 1. This fall, construction begins on the remaining 340 apartments. Next to Staten Island Urby will be present in other areas close to the city as well. End of the year the 69 story tower of Urby Jersey City with 763 apartments will open, while construction of Urby Harrison (450 apartments) is on it’s way and Urby Stamford will start construction in fall. Other sites in and around New York are currently under design investigation.
© Ewout Huibers
What is Ayurveda and Why Should You Care
You’re reading What is Ayurveda and Why Should You Care, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Ayurveda is a science which focuses on human health in its totality taking full advantage of the nature around. It gives importance to not only the body but also the soul, mind and the senses so as to strike a balance between nature and humans. It is the oldest system in the world on self care and originated in India. It has been the traditional medicine system of our country. It began in ancient India when medicine and philosophy were not studied separately and so the Ayurvedic system of medicine has been strongly influenced by philosophy.
The word ‘Ayurveda’ is derived from Sanskrit and is the union of two words ‘ayur’ which means life, and ‘veda’ which means a science or knowledge established once and for all times. It is a philosophy, and human temperaments are classified according to the ‘veda’ into ‘satvic,’ ‘rajasic’ and ‘tamasic’. Humans with different levels of each differ in their reactions and dispositions to physical and socio-cultural environment. People with ‘satvic’ temperament are good and happy; those who are of the ‘rajasic’ temperament are people who are restless and enjoy various pleasure of life, and those with the ‘tamasic’ temperament are lethargic and have interest mainly in material things. These three qualities/temperaments or ‘gunas’ are present in each human’s conscience but the predominence of any brings about the particular psychological constitution of an individual. ‘Ayu’ stands for the soul, mind and the body. So the complete meaning of Ayurveda is ‘the knowledge or the science of life (soul, mind and the body)’. The aim of this science is, therefore, to prevent diseases, to protect health and to prolong life, and get rid of any disease and body dysfunction. Miricbiotech products are the best fit for the requirement.
The basic principles governing this system are the five elements of the universe: fire, earth, air, water and space, These five elements are found in human body as three energies or ‘doshas’ called the vata, kapha and pitta which are present in the body in optimum amounts. Good health is due to these three energies present in the body in a proper balance. Ayurveda defines a healthy human being as ‘one whose mind, body and soul are cheerful’ and who has all the ‘doshas’ in balance, with a good appetite and all body tissues and natural urges properly functioning.
When any of the three energies (doshas) accumulates in the body and reaches undesirable limits, the body system becomes imbalanced. Ayurveda then steps in to get rid of the toxic levels of ‘dosha’ through changes in nutrition and lifestyle. The cleansing process or the ‘therapy of purification’ is called ‘panchakarma’. This process is used to purge out the excess, unwanted toxins from the body. The process is carried out in five specific steps where first comes the ‘vaman’ which is deliberate vomiting or therapeutic emesis. This is followed by ‘virechan’ or purgation. Thereafter enema or ‘basti’ is given. Elimination of toxins is also carried out through the nose or ‘nasya’ which is the fourth step. Lastly, detoxification of the blood is done through bloodletting or ‘rakta moksha’. Mircbiotech Ltd. purely dedicates there work to ayurveda and it helps people understanding and changing there life through Mircbiotech range of ayurvedic products.
Read more about what Ayurveda can do for you here: http://ift.tt/2aBMOQ2
You’ve read What is Ayurveda and Why Should You Care, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Edinburgh, Scotland photo via maarja
5 Reasons to Outsource Your Crazy Life
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While digitization and technology have simplified our lives, they have also introduced several complexities in our lives. Today, we speak of work-life balance but it’s not a choice that one needs to make between the two. It’s finding the right synergies to leverage benefits of both. An individual plays several roles at both the personal and professional levels and the expectations from each of these roles can be daunting.
Think of the last conversation you have had with friends or family. A common thread that emerges is how we have missed our children’s soccer or cricket practice or that important PTA meeting. You may hear a busy mother saying how much she misses the art classes that she always wanted to take.
In an increasingly urbanized world, time is a precious commodity. And managing that time is a critical task.
Ever considered personal outsourcing? A term borrowed from the IT world, it means having another company perform tasks that you would be doing in your own company.
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This can be easily applied to our personal lives — having someone take over some of our personal as well as professional tasks. If you thought outsourcing would mean losing control, then think again!
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Here are five reasons why outsourcing your personal life would actually mean better control over your life rather than losing it.
1. Manage your time better
‘Lost time is never found again’, said a very wise person. So much has been said and written about time management. But, it still eludes most of us.
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Effective and efficient time management does not mean giving up on important tasks. Having someone do the non-core activities for us gives us the opportunity to have that precious time to focus on activities that are important.
See Also: Accomplish More Each Day: Four Steps to Easy Delegation
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Think of all the tasks an outsourced virtual personal assistant can arrange or schedule for you – managing your mail box, organizing your calendar, scheduling maid services or a dog walker, managing a project or scheduling your doctor’s appointments. Activities that you enjoy or are better at doing are definitely an effective way of utilizing your time.
2. Leave some of the tasks to an expert
Most of us are not ‘jacks of all trades’. There are some tasks that we are good at and some that we aren’t.
Let’s say you are good at cooking but planning is not your forte. Having someone to plan your meals makes the execution much simpler.
And there can be a lot of tasks we need to do in our lives that can be better accomplished by someone with more skills, knowledge or talent. One can easily outsource tasks or activities to an expert who acts as your remote personal assistant.
See Also: 6 Most Commonly Outsourced Tasks and Why They Work
3. Improve the quality of your life
We acknowledge that we live in a hyper-connected and super-fast world. The demands that most of us face in our lives today definitely diminish the quality of our lives.
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With personal outsourcing, you can at least try to achieve some balance and improve the quality of your life. Moreover, improving quality of life also means investing in yourself with the time you get.
4. Make yourself efficient
While it’s important to have the free time or do the activities we like doing, it’s also important to focus on the efficiency of a task. Imagine yourself drafting a critical proposal for a very important client, and you are yet to finish an important chore.
For such a time bound activity, efficiency is the key because your livelihood may depend on it. A remote personal assistant can help you not only with some of the activities or tasks you may need to accomplish that proposal but can also carry out other activities that are equally important or necessary.
5. Revitalize your health and energy
Stress is a common term we all like to use. However, there are some serious implications of stress that can affect not just your body but your mind as well.
Stress that you ignore can contribute to several health challenges including high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Outsourcing your life activities to an external person helps you not just free up the time but also allows you to mentally be satisfied that a task is accomplished.
The need of the hour is to take away the stress in this demanding world. An outsourced virtual assistant can be a boon to ensure your mental, physical and professional well-being. Moreover, it doesn’t have to be expensive also.
Enjoy and live your life to the fullest – that’s the motto to live by!
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10 of the best stadiums and venues from past Olympics
Rio 2016: events are in full swing at venues across Rio de Janeiro for this summer’s Olympics, so we’ve collected together 10 of our favourite stadiums and arenas that have hosted the games over the years to see how they compare (+ slideshow). (more…)
Sig Nordal 