Freshome.com - Interior Design & Architecture Newsletter

---

• Rising From Between Water Sheets: 1001 Nights House
• The Microbial Home by Philips Helps Turn Domestic Waste Into Fuel
• Revitalized 1920s Residence: Folded Corten House

Rising From Between Water Sheets: 1001 Nights House Posted: 23 Oct 2011 06:21 AM PDT An exclusive residence that offers exceptional displays of shadows, volumes and curves rises dressed in black villar granite stone that plays with colored light at night. 1001 Nights House – a name as powerful as its inspiration and architecture – describes how the concept was transformed into a swanky residential development. The interiors spread over 2,100 square meters.  The outside furniture by the pool is part of the Rest collection by A-cero In. Well-known A-Cero Architects describe their latest project: “The access, through the development walkway, is placed on a higher level. Here is the property, partially hidden by many curved walls that seem to elevate from some water sheets over a stone covering in white, grey and black shades, placed on purpose as a part of the landscape in this area of the plot. Besides its sculptural features, typical of the A-cero style, this side of the facade expects the integration of the building in the surrounding environment. A wide stone path, with water sheets on both sides, lead us to a huge black glass door that gives us access inside the property. In the garden, following the wishes of the owners, there are palms, pome granate trees and Middle East vegetation.” The 7,000 square meter property looks more as an artistic contemporary palace/fortress than a house. Still, don’t you wish you could admire the 1001 Nights House each time you come home?

The Microbial Home by Philips Helps Turn Domestic Waste Into Fuel Posted: 23 Oct 2011 04:11 AM PDT Dwindling energy resources, mounting waste, and environmental damage are all issues that designers are faced with in today's modern world. They are also the main issues explored by the most recent Philips Design Probes project. Set up to explore future lifestyle scenarios, the Probes projects are intended to expand our understanding of future socio-cultural and technological shifts with a view to developing solutions that satisfy our needs without destroying the planet . With the Microbial Home, which is currently being exhibited at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the Philips Design team has sought to achieve a drastic cut in the environmental impact of our homes by creating a domestic ecosystem that challenges conventional design solutions to energy, cleaning, food preservation, lighting, human waste and healthy lifestyle. "Designers have an obligation to understand the urgency of the situation, and translate humanity's needs into solutions" says Clive van Heerden, Senior Director of Design-led Innovation at Philips Design. "Energy-saving light bulbs will only take us so far. We need to push ourselves to rethink domestic appliances entirely, to rethink how homes consume energy, and how entire communities can pool resources." By creating an integrated, cyclical ecosystem whereby the output of certain processes provides the input of others, the Microbial Home acts as a biological machine to filter, process and recycle what we conventionally think of as waste – sewage, effluent, garbage, and waste water. At the heart of the Microbial Home system is the bio-digester kitchen island, which consists of a methane digester that converts bathroom waste solids and vegetable trimmings into methane gas that is used to power a series of functions in the home. The repositionable kitchen island includes a chopping surface with vegetable waste grinder, a gas cooking range, a glass tank that shows energy reserves, and glass elements showing pressure, volume and readiness of compost sludge. The composted material and methane gas from the bio-digester can then be transported to a wall of glass cells which make up the bio-light. The fuel is used to feed a culture of bioluminescent bacteria, which in turn power the bio-light creating ambient green mood lighting. The kitchen also features a larder, which is designed to use natural processes to keep 'living food' fresh. A twin-walled terra cotta evaporative cooler and vegetable storage system is built into the dining table. The compartments and chambers vary in wall thicknesses and volumes, and are designed to keep different types of food at different optimal temperatures. Above the table is a ceramic garden and larder where vegetable groups are grown and stored. An unconventional urban beehive allows us to keep bees at home and harvest the honey that they produce. The hive consists of two parts: an entry passage and flower pot outside, and a glass vessel containing an array of honeycomb frames, inside. As global bee colonies are in decline, this design contributes to the preservation of the species and encourages the return of the urban bee. Plastic packaging waste is a problem in most households, but the paternoster waste up-cycler allows families to utilize the powerful enzymes and decomposing power of funghi to break it down. Plastics are ground into small chips and mixed with a fungal starter culture in a glass canister, which is slotted into a compartment of the 'paternoster' system. Each week plastic grounds are mixed with mycelium. Provided the inks on the plastic did not contain toxic heavy metals, this mycelium could, in theory, generate edible mushrooms. Designed to show the energy value in human waste and raise awareness about wasting water, the filtering squatting toilet filters effluent through charcoal, sand and ceramic filters while channelling excreta into the methane digester. The concept is sustainable and ecological as it uses no energy, saves water and causes no pollution. By mimicking nature's processes, the Microbial Home could allow us to enter a Biological Age, one where materials can repair themselves and where by-products are no longer waste, but fuel for other systems.

Revitalized 1920s Residence: Folded Corten House Posted: 22 Oct 2011 08:43 AM PDT Found on Architizer his residence is a fascinating modern home that shows us how contemporary materials can enhance the beauty of modern residential designs. The Folded Corten House displays 215 square meters of wide open spaces visually connected to the outside with the help of expansive use of glass both on the walls and on the ceilings. The mesmerizing Corten-cladded residence was designed by Austrian studio X Architekten with offices in Vienna and Linz. By resizing and revamping an existing 1920s residential building, the architects designed a link between the public and private area by folding and cutting a Corten steel panel. The slightly sloped terrain allowed the architects to use this little detail in constructing a clear line between the addition and the original building, seen in the difference between levels and use of building materials. The client’s brief included several points: modern energy standards, strong visual connection to the surroundings, a clearer living space, and terraces that seamlessly connect the interior spaces to the surrounding landscape. Located on the southern border of the Linz city in Austria, the geometric terraced house is unique in both concept and design. How do you feel about Corten cladding – is it too bold?

You are subscribed to email updates from Freshome.com - Interior Design & Architecture Newsletter To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610