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Garden & House

Garden & House
December 20th, 2011 The Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa designed this “Garden & House” in Tokyo on a very small lot of just 8 x 4 m. It doesn’t really have a facade or walls: vases, planters, concrete benches, plexiglass railings, full-height windows and curtains form the boundary between inside and outside. found at DOMUS

Playhouse by Aboday A spiralling concrete slide connects the kitchen and child's bedroom of this family house near Jakarta designed by Indonesian architects Aboday and photographed by Happy Lim. Update: this project is included in Dezeen Book of Ideas, which is on sale now for £12. Play House is part of a gated cluster of 120 residences in Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang. Apart from three enclosed bedrooms the interior is an open-plan space with whitewashed walls and exposed ten-metre concrete ceilings. An open staircase sits between the library and living area on the ground floor and leads up to a gallery on the first. The two-storey house has an exposed concrete exterior covered in part by climbing plants, and punctuated by slit windows and ceiling-height glazing. The house has a large thermal mass due to its concrete construction, relying on natural ventilation and shading, heat-resistant finishes, and a forty-millimeter wall cavity to prevent overheating during the summer. Click above for larger image

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Modern Concrete House (15 photos) When you first think about the words concrete house, you might imagine a cold, sterile environment, perhaps something similar to a prison. If that's the case, this one story house designed by architecture studio A-cero will likely change your mind. Located on the outskirts of Madrid, Concrete House II features a façade that boasts a spectacular view of the whole house. The first impression that visitors usually get is that the building seems to be hidden between concrete walls and ramps that extend up to the roof. Upon further inspection, they find a vegetation area that climbs towards the sky! The back of the house opens up towards the garden where the lounge, dining room, library, study, and bedrooms are found. A-cero

19 Amazing Free Graphic and Image Editors for Designers and Phot Graphic and image editors can help you create beautiful graphics and give your digital images amazing effects, but they can be expensive. What if all you wanted to do was create something simple and basic, would you pay hundreds of dollars just to do that? No, you would not. In this article you will find a range of Free editors that can be used by graphic designers, photographers, animators, artists and even kids. Artweaver URL : Artweaver Description : Artweaver is a basic Windows Freeware program to simulate natural brush tools, which is ideal for giving your creativity a free rein. IrfanView URL : IrfanView. Paint.NET URL : Paint.NET. Picasa 3 URL : Picasa 3. Pixia URL : Pixia. Project Dogwaffle URL : Project Dogwaffle. TwistedBrush Open Studio URL : TwistedBrush Open Studio. CinePaint URL : CinePaint. GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program URL : GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program. KolourPaint URL : KolourPaint. Krita (KOffice Project) URL : Krita (KOffice Project). Pixen 3 Seashore

10 Amazing Underground Homes - Oddee.com (underground, homes...) With the population growing more and more each year, it was only a matter of time before people started building their homes underground like Hobbits from the Tolkien tale. Mankind started off living in caves, and now we realize that "earth homes" are actually a very eco-friendly way to live. These ten underground homes are so amazing they might make you want to set up camp underground too! Cave House in Festus, Missouri This modern and energy-efficient 15,000-square-foot home is built within a sandstone cave in Festus, Missouri. This space was previously used as a concert venue and a roller skating rink! Malator in Druidstone, Wales This contemporary home is touted as one of Wales' architectural masterpieces. "The turf roof, steel chimney and peephole doorway inevitably gave way to its local nickname as ‘the Teletubby house'. Hidden House in Lower Silesia, Poland The Underground House, Great Ormside, Cumbria, England Sedum House, North Norfolk Coast, U.K. Flower Petals in Bolton, U.K.

13 Sites For Beautiful Patterns and Backgrounds | Essential Keys Patterned backgrounds are a very popular finishing touch for many websites. While it seems that diagonal stripes are in this season (especially for Web 2.0 sites), there are so many other options from elegant to whimsy, preppy to proper. The following sites have some really fabulous patterns to choose from: 1. Squidfingers – 158 absolutely stunning background patterns by Travis Beckham. 2. 3. 4. 44Suburbia – 61 very sophisticated patterns 5. 6. 7. iStockPhoto – clearly one of the best resources for fresh, new backgrounds of every kind. 8. 9. 3Quarks – very subtle paper like backgrounds 10. 11. 12. 13. Just a tip – you might want to set aside a nice block of time to browse these sites – there is so much to look at that it becomes a giant time vacuum. This post is part of Thursday Thirteen.

Apple to build largest end user-owned, onsite solar array in the U.S. Apple's Maiden data center already boasts a white cool-roof and is set to add the largest end user-owned, onsite solar array in the U.S. Following widespread criticism of its environmental record from groups including Greenpeace, Apple has made efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its products and facilities in recent years. As part of these ongoing efforts, the company has revealed plans to build the United States' largest end user-owned, onsite solar array at its Maiden, North Carolina iDataCenter. The news comes from a newly released report outlining the environmental impact of Apple's worldwide facilities, including its retail stores, R&D facilities, and operations and data centers. Further enhancing the facility's environmental credentials, Apple will build a 100-acre, 20-megawatt facility on land surrounding the data center to supply 42 million kWh of renewable energy to the facility annually. Source: Apple Facilities Report (PDF) via 9to5Mac About the Author

Breaking the Chains Buying Guide - A Directory of Green and Organic Businesses The Organic Consumers Association and GreenPeople.org have compiled one of the world's largest directories of green and organic businesses For questions about the Buying Guide please call 401-326-2494 Or Email GreenPeople Click the Links Below to View All US Green Businesses in That Category Other Green Directories Local Harvest The freshest, healthiest, most flavorful organic food is what’s grown closest to you. Co-op America’s Green Pages The nation’s only directory of screened and approved green businesses. Green Patriot All of the products listed in Green Patriot reduce the stress on our environment and our natural resources by encouraging sustainability, and by limiting or completely avoiding the use of petrochemicals in packaging and in products, while serving their primary function with excellence. Certified Organic Food Directory American Specialty Toy Retailing Association The national trade association for independent toy stores and manufacturers of unique, creative, well-made toys.

Small House has the footprint of an average sized bedroom - Images 'Small House' is Unemeri Architects' solution to living functionally on a block of land that is smaller than the average sized bedroom Image Gallery (13 images) This incredible 4 x 4 meter (13 x 13 foot) family home pushes architectural boundaries outside of the box. Situated in the highly dense and populated city of Tokyo, "Small House" is Unemeri Architects' solution to living functionally on a block of land that is smaller than the average-sized bedroom. Spread over four levels, this residential building features two bedrooms, open living and dining room, bathroom and rooftop terrace. View all With a height of 9 meters (29.5 feet), the building is a modern day tower, with each floor being joined by a continuous spiral staircase. Space around the building's perimeter allows natural light to stream through the rooms on each level, and also creates the illusion of open space. Overall, Unemeri's Small House is a clever use of space and design that provides small living to the max.

Modular home comes delivered in a 10 foot box and is assembled “like an IKEA house” House Arc is a prefabricated off-the-grid housing solution that facilitates compact living Image Gallery (20 images) House Arc, by Bellomo Architects, is a prefabricated off-the-grid housing solution that facilitates compact living. The project was originally designed as an environmentally sensitive and affordable method of housing that is not only functional but also attractive to the eye. Furthermore, it is designed to be easily packed and shipped to any location, where it can then be erected by the user or community. View all The House Arc is designed to be flat-packed and shipped in a remarkably small box that measures 4 x 10 x 3 feet (1.2 x 3 x .95 meters). Optional additions to further enhance the sustainability of House Arc include the installation of solar photovoltaic panels and insulation that can be added between panels. Whilst the House Arc would make an attractive backyard retreat, the lightweight and easy-to-construct house could also function as an emergency shelter.

Britain to get first floating amphibious home February 13, 2012 at 5:46 PM Lawrence Hall This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved. It sounds more science fiction than bricks and mortar, but Britain is to get its first ever floating home after planning permission was granted to a house that rises with flood waters. The amphibious home – to be set just 10m from the water’s edge – is to be built on an island on the banks of the Thames close to Marlow in Buckinghamshire. It’s considered a major breakthrough for architects and designers who have been trying to find ways to mitigate the risk and damage of water in flood-prone areas. Diagram showing the amphibious house when the Thames is at a regular height … The modern 225 sq ft home, designed by London-based Baca Architects, will rest on fixed foundations but whenever a flood occurs the entire building will rise up in its dock and float, buoyed by the floodwater. Like this: Like Loading...

Badass Bridge of the Day Unbelievable and Incredible Staircase…!! - StumbleUpon Sometimes architects can get a bit carried away. These staircase designs are truly incredible and truly fabulous….!! Some of these have been taken from designer / architecture websites and most of them are unimaginable in the normal thinking. let us know which one is the most incredible in terms of design and aesthetics or if you have any picture which can be a part of this post we will be glad to share it with readers. Post your images in comments and we will display them here with your name. [ad1] [ad2] Ads by Google

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