Florida-based Saltwater Brewery has used by-products from the beer-making process to create six-pack rings that can safely be eaten by marine wildlife (+ slideshow). (more…)
Saltwater Brewery’s edible six-pack rings protect marine wildlife
Architecture
A Bright Contemporary Home in Los Gatos, California Designed by Schwartz and Architecture
Shou Sugi Ban House is a private residence designed by Schwartz and Architecture. It is located in Los Gatos, California, USA. Shou Sugi Ban House by Schwartz and Architecture: “This project, an extensive remodel and addition to an existing modern residence high above Silicon Valley, was inspired by dominant images and textures from the site: boulders, bark, and leaves. We created a two-story addition clad in traditional Japanese ShouSugi Ban..
Flexhouse / Evolution Design
© Peter Wuermli
- Architects: Evolution Design
- Location: Lake Zurich, Switzerland
- Architect In Charge: Evolution Design
- Design Team: Stefan Camenzind, Marco Noch, Patrick Uihlein, Mark Pinter, Silke Ebner, Vanessa Riecke
- Area: 173.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Peter Wuermli
© Peter Wuermli
Site plan
From the architect. With its wide walls of glass and a ribbon-like white façade that winds its way around the building, this home on the banks of Lake Zurich is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural place to dock.
Called Flexhouse and completed in March 2016 by Swiss architecture and design studio Evolution Design, the four storey, 173 sq metre home has an open plan living, dining and kitchen space on the ground floor, two bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor, a studio with two large terraces on the second floor and a basement level with underground garage and utility space. But it is the striking exterior architecture and the breathtaking 180degree views across Lake Zurich to the mountains beyond that really capture the imagination.
© Peter Wuermli
Entrance Level
Architecture in motion
The project began when Evolution Design executive director Stefan Camenzind spotted a vacant block of land. The plot was well positioned on the banks of Lake Zurich but was a challenging site, triangular in shape, narrow and squeezed between a railway line and a road. Camenzind, though, saw potential in the position.
Long Section
‘It’s a very transient plot; it has a lot of movement. The land is at the edge of the village where housing meets the countryside. The railway lines behind the plot are a dynamic yet soothing boundary, and in front of the house there is a local access road and the lake. We wanted to create a building that reflected all that movement,’ he says.
Swiss building regulations are notoriously tight and building on this block was particularly challenging. Camenzind explains: ‘There are strict rules around boundary distance and building volume, which means it’s quite difficult to be creative with buildings in Switzerland. But we were determined to build something that responded to the site rather than just a square box planted on the plot.’
© Peter Wuermli
Flexhouse is anything but a square box. The design features a floor plan that goes from wide to narrow to follow the railway lines and shape of the plot. The striking façade wraps around the building, drawing the eye continuously upward: the house never feels stiff or still, there are always elements drawing your eye throughout the space and to the views beyond.
‘We’ve given the space a direction of view. When you’re travelling in a car or train, you face a certain way and this house does too. On the ground floor it faces south-east, from the bedroom it faces west towards the sunset. And from the top floor terraces there are views around 180degrees,’ says Camenzind.
© Peter Wuermli
Inside out
The fluidity of the design continues inside, thanks to an open plan interior, unbroken views and reams of natural light, which streams throughout the space all day long. On the ground floor, the spacious living room transitions into a dining area and loft-style kitchen. Rather than close off individual floors, the design incorporates a double height open space that allows the eyes to travel, delivering a glimpse of the bedrooms above or, from the first floor, to the living room below.
With glass walls on three sides this home blurs the boundaries between outside and in. ‘Connecting inside and out is very important to me as an architect,’ says Camenzind. ‘I want people to know where they are when they are inside a building.’
© Peter Wuermli
The top floor studio with its panoramic views and two roof terraces is the culmination of this seamless flow between inside and out.
The house does have its quiet corners, too. ‘There’s always a back wall, which helps give a more cosy feeling,’ Camenzind says. ‘And you can close the blinds to create a peaceful, private corner.’
© Peter Wuermli
Practical considerations
Despite its model good looks, the house has been designed for everyday living and practical and ecological elements are integrated into the design. The rear wall of the living room functions as a storage and display space; the kitchen grows out of the same wall and in the bedrooms the wall functions as a screen, to separate the bathrooms from the sleeping spaces. Ecologically, the house meets Switzerland’s Minergie standard with features including thermally activated concrete floors that connect to a geothermal heat pump to heat the house in winter and cool it in summer. The glass façades are triple glazed and have external blinds for optimal control of heat gain from the sun.
© Peter Wuermli
Thus, Flexhouse with its innovative and ecological approach adds an extraordinary architectural touch on picturesque Lake Zurich and provides a truly special kind of eye-catcher.
Watch Ikea’s Democratic Design Day live from Sweden
Klopf Architecture Works on an Eichler Remodel in San Francisco, California
San Francisco Eichler Remodel is a private home located in San Francisco, California, USA. Completed in 2015, it was designed by Klopf Architecture. San Francisco Eichler Remodel by Klopf Architecture: “The owners came to Klopf Architecture with a clear vision: Create a brighter home with clean lines and visual surprises – but that enhances the Eichler vernacular – that blurs the boundaries between inside and outside and supports “modern living”…
Architecture as a Means of Synthesis – Monocle Reports from 2016 Venice Biennale
“Scrutinizing the horizon and looking for a new perspective” is what Alejandro Aravena has encouraged in the 2016 Venice Biennale, Reporting From the Front. “[He] has staged one of the most socially charged Biennales,” Gillian Dobias reports, by “exploring the different ways that design can add value.” In this, the first of two film reportages from the Biennale, Monocle talks to Aravena about his hopes for stimulating the debate on improving quality of life in the built environment, and tour the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale to uncover what’s on show.
Both the opening rooms of Biennale Architettura 2016 – at the Central Pavilion at Giardini and at Arsenale – were built with the 100 tons of waste material generated by the dismantling of the previous Art Biennale: 10,000m2 of gypsum board, 14km of metal studs. Image © Andrea Avezzù
Find out more about Monocle Films, here. See all of ArchDaily’s coverage of the 2016 Venice Biennale, here.
Hiroyuki Moriyama completes Tokyo apartment building with a perforated skin
Johnsen Schmaling Architects Design a Home Enclosed by Nature in Door County, Wisconsin
Pleated House is a private residence designed by Johnsen Schmaling Architects. It is located in Door County, Wisconsin, USA and covers an area of 1,855 square feet. Pleated House by Johnsen Schmaling Architects: “This small house for a graphic designer and her husband sits on the heavily wooded eastern shore of Wisconsin’s Door County, a narrow peninsula on Lake Michigan. Embedded in a dense forest of deciduous and coniferous trees,..
Mining Site Wallers Arenberg / Skope
© Vincent Plutniak
- Architects: Skope
- Location: Rue de Croy, 59135 Wallers, France
- Area: 5000.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: Vincent Plutniak
- Collaborators: T’Kint
- Structure: SECA
- Construction: Bouygues Bâtiment Nord-est
- Techniques Spéciales: SECA
© Vincent Plutniak
Site Plan
The reconversion of the Mining Site of Wallers-Arenberg is in the middle of the Agglomeration community “La Porte du Hainaut” which is, at the same time, initiating and owner of this project.
© Vincent Plutniak
The wish to mobilize this site for a project emanates from several points:
To rehabilitate and reallocate a site with very high historical and patrimonial value, classified as an Historic monument at the World heritage list of UNESCO, under Evolutionary Cultural Landscapes. http://ift.tt/1WEiLIk
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To establish the research laboratory “CREW” of the University of Valenciennes on the site and to develop its activity on it.
The creation of the “Pôle Image” (July 1st, 2009) on the Region Nord-Pas-de-Calais joins together the trades and excellence in terms of cinema, audio-visual, video game and virtual worlds. The ambition is “to innovate to be able to produce differently, more quickly and less expensive”. This regional project is shared by three territories which decided to join their forces: Lille-Métropole, Valenciennes-Métropole and the Agglomeration “La Porte du Hainaut”.
© Vincent Plutniak
Lastly, as a complementary element, the site is recognized as a place of video production (Germinal, Compagnie des Glaces…)
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© Vincent Plutniak
Molekule air purifier destroys pollutants rather than collecting them
San Francisco company Molekule has partnered with London studio PostlerFerguson to design an air purifier that breaks down pollen and dust at a molecular level (+ slideshow). (more…)
