Friday 12 December 2008

Get your Colorful Minimalist Watches before TOOLATE

TOOLATE minimalist watches 1These are only $29.99 each & make a perfect last minute christmas gift. Minimal in design but wonderful range of color to choose from, make your pick!
TOOLATE minimalist watches 2Available in 2 sizes, medium (18cm perimeter) & large (2ocm perimeter). These TOOLATE watches are waterproof silicon band (therefore, suitable for swimming), came with date + time functions. I simply love them!
a+. toolate.com via
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Wednesday 10 December 2008

Blur Hotel- An Experiment in "Urban Acupuncture"

Visual concept of Hotel Kapok (aka Blur Hotel)Visual concept of Hotel Kapok (aka Blur Hotel), located on the site of a large government office beside the western Gate of the Forbidden City.

Blur Hotel...
an experiment in "urban acupuncture"

"Rather than operate and remove the tumour (in other words demolish yet again), a far less disruptive and harmful method is to leave it in place and simply neutralise its ill effects. As a refurbishment proposal, the project aims to harmonize the existing building with its surroundings without resorting to backward looking pastiche, and provide a beacon for renewal of the surrounding area." -Studio Pei-Zhu.
Finished Photo of Blur HotelThe finished result of Blur Hotel, year 2oo6...

The situation faced:
Beijing, once one of the best preserved mediaeval cities in the world...until year 1949, the location of government and industrial premises within the centre of the city disrupts. The once free flowing and hierarchical city plan, now fill with the construction of enclosed large-scale buildings placed with no regard to the rhythm and consistency of the old city resulting the creation of a disjointed and incomprehensible city centre.

The solution/ strategy to cure:
First, open-out ground floor of the building for public-oriented programs to create a layer of traversable space .
The next approach is to integrate the building more with the local sihueyuan, or courtyard house. "By simply carving into concrete slab floors of the existing building, an arrangement of alternating vertical courtyards is created replicating the spatial arrangement of the surrounding hutongs. "
Finally, inspired by the image of a traditional Chinese lantern, the exterior of the building is wrap in a continuous and semi-transparent skin, allowing light out + in-to the building on every floor. It diffuses the building into a single, but permeable, object.

Thus, the BLUR effect...
Finished facade of hotelFinished facade of hotel.

Blur Hotel courtyard view 1Blur Hotel courtyard view 2Blur Hotel courtyard views.

The interior 1The interior 2The interior views.

Northern side night viewNorthern side night view.

Conceptual model 1Conceptual model 2Conceptual model.

Siheyuan study modelSiheyuan study model.

Study model 1Study model 2Study model.

North elevation of Blur HotelThe very interesting north elevation of Blur Hotel.
a+. hotel kapok (aka blur hotel) via
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Tuesday 9 December 2008

Wine-Box-Lamp -Packaging to Die for o7

Wine-Box-Lamp Hera 1Wine-Box-Lamp Hera 2"From Residue to Resource"
is more than just a slogan for Hera...

It epitomises the whole culture of Hera Holding. This year they wanted their new year's corporate gift to place emphasis on sustainability, above all else...they brought in CICLUS who present them Hera's Eco-Champagne Packaging.

Real reuse!
Inspired by the newspaper baskets a friend's mother make in 1997, CICLUS is a sustainable design project starts by a Brasilian industrial and graphic designer, Tatiana Guimarães who extend the life cycle of materials by turning them into new + more interesting objects.

The box which is a carrying case for the cava bottle has a wooden outer packaging that slides off to reveal the cardboard inside and cava bottle. With a "hidden compartment" below the cava where the electrical components for the lamp are stored, this wee cardboard box comes off and transforms into the base of the lamp, where the wooden structure become the lamp shade.
Sliding the wooden structure of Wine-Box-LampSeparate wooden structure & cardboard casing of Wine-Box-LampSliding off the wooden structure of the Eco-Champagne Packaging gives u a rectangular cardboard container.

The cardboard container with champagne revealeda rectangular box attached below the cardboard containerSeparate wooden structure & cardboard casing of Wine-Box-LampThe cardboard container with champagne attached to a removable rectangular box below it.

box removed contain light-bulb etclight-bulb etc. revealedThe rectangular box with its contain revealed.

the light source base of Wine-Box-LampThe Wine-Box-LampThe light source base + wooden shade fixed to reveal a beautiful light-fixture.
a+. ciclus via via
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Monday 8 December 2008

Atelier Ruche, A Very Simple Private Salon

Atelier Ruche 1Atelier Ruche 2Peaking into Atelier Ruche through deciduous leaves (wintersweet leaves)...
Atelier Ruche is a very small, private beauty salon that could only accommodate 2 customer at one time in Suginami Ward of Tokyo. Completed on December 2oo2 with a simply subtle touch from Yashima Architect and Associates. I simply adore their work & going to write about them more.

Atelier Ruche 3Atelier Ruche 4Atelier Ruche 5Atelier Ruche 6Atelier Ruche 7Atelier Ruche 8Words from the designer:
"A beauty salon is essentially a room where customer visit to become beautiful, so why should it simply be a place to provide the latest hairstyle?
Just as good furniture and well-tailored clothes are valued for years, there could be a beauty salon that could be trusted for the service it provides. I hope my design embodies this ideal."

Atelier Ruche's Light-fixture 1Atelier Ruche's Light-fixture 2Atelier Ruche's Light-fixture 3Atelier Ruche's Light-fixture 4
a+. yashima architect and associates
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