Freshome.com - Interior Design & Architecture Newsletter |  |
- Nature-Welcoming Modern Home in Potsdam: Lakeshore House
- Prefabricated Modern Family Home With Inspiring Design Features in Germany
- Serene Modern Chalet in Switzerland With Views of Lake Geneva
- Bringing Creativity into the Bathroom with Meneghello Paolelli Associati
- 57 Square-Meter Duplex With Slanting White Walls in Stockholm
- Iconic Headquarters For the Hungarian Autoklub in Budapest
| Nature-Welcoming Modern Home in Potsdam: Lakeshore House Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:02 AM PST
Berlin-based studio Archibald Buro completed the design for Lakeshore House, a 2,600 square-foot contemporary residence in Potsdam, Germany. The home is set amidst the lush trees from Wildpark West and was built using wooden plates which were initially fixed, then wrapped with wooden insulation. Here is more from the project developers: “The facade is painted softwood, the windows fit between the horizontal panels, so there is no sheet metal needed. I wanted the facade as simple as possible, it looks like a simple white wooden box with no gutter from the street. The entrance is accentuated with green glass plates. At the lakeside the large folding glass doors of Solarlux can be opened completely. When you stand in the living room, the glass in the winter garden allows a 180° view over the lake." Wood was also the main element employed to set the general tone of the interior design, with great aesthetic results. Have a look!
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| Prefabricated Modern Family Home With Inspiring Design Features in Germany Posted: 07 Dec 2011 04:37 AM PST
Haus W is a prefabricated low-energy residence designed by Kraus Schönberg Architects and located in Hamburg, Germany. The residence was especially built for a couple and their two children. According to the architects, “the family wanted a house which felt like a connected space, but which would also offer individual freedom to the occupants. The building is separated into an upper and a lower part. The upper volume consists of rooms of various heights corresponding to their individual function. Bedrooms, bathrooms, the dressing room and the rooms for the children all require different heights and project into the lower living areas. This common space is organized by these staggered volumes without being interrupted by partitions.The walls and floors of the individual upper rooms are built of sustainable CNC-cut timber panels. These do a variety of things: they constitute the finish; define spaces and functions; help insulate the building; are recyclable; create a comfortable internal environment; and offer a cost-effective building solution”. Enjoy the interior design elements this home has to offer and feel free to get inspired and share your thoughts with us.
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| Serene Modern Chalet in Switzerland With Views of Lake Geneva Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:57 AM PST
This beautiful and playful modern chalet in Genolier, Switzerland was designed by LRS Architects to take full advantage of the Alps and Lake Geneva. According to the architects, “The topographical insertion, in a «plug-in» way, inverts the interior walk and the superposition of the functions. The intermediate floor with the parent and the children bedrooms offers a terrace. From the garden, the ground floor is accessible with the inner-pool and the workshop. So to speak, this single family house get immersed into the topography and let us play with the perceptions and the variation of scales. The relation between the inhabitant and the distant landscape (the lake and the Alps) and the nearby context (so are the garden, the terrace and the porch) is a central theme of the project. The utilization of the larch gives a strong contrast with the mineral parts and the tiled roof introducing the stacking lecture“. Inside and out, the features of this home are tasteful and inspire a serene living environment.
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| Bringing Creativity into the Bathroom with Meneghello Paolelli Associati Posted: 07 Dec 2011 01:35 AM PST
Here at Freshome we were lucky enough to catch up with the dynamic duo to quiz them about their success in the design of sanitaryware and we asked them how they go about bringing more creativity into the bathroom. Here is what they had to say:
You have done a lot of work in the bathroom sector, designing sanitaryware in particular. How did you get started? MP. Everything started by chance in 2004, when our final project at the University was actually a washbasin. This was due to the fact that our tutor at the time was Roberto Palomba who was doing a lot of work in the bathroom sector. That product was manufactured by Antonio Lupi and from that moment on we were introduced to the sector and got to know the products, companies and materials.
MP. It is mainly through word of mouth. Five years ago, we focused on this sector and since then we made contact with a lot of people in that area: sales managers, agents, distributors, journalists, and so on. After a few years, and once our designs had gone into production, we started to become more well known.
MP. Design for us is not just about the designer’s style. Of course we have a way of dealing with forms and surfaces, but at the end we need to do what is right for the company at that time: what the company needs. That is why our designs feature different styles and different typologies.
Many of the products you have designed, in particular for Hidra and Art Ceram, are vastly different from the sanitaryware we are used to seeing in the bathroom. Why did you decide to take such a different approach to the design of sanitaryware? MP. Hidra, and especially Art Ceram, are small companies that manufacture top level design products: they cannot compete with big companies such as Ideal Standard, Roca, Duravit etc. That’s why design is so important for them and it is what they ask for, even though they still produce more "standard" series. From the design point of view, we have more freedom on top level design projects, and it is more fun. But designing "standard" products is also interesting and perhaps more difficult because we have a lot of limits in term of costs, market, usability and production.
Your designs often look more like sculptures than sanitaryware. Is this intentional? MP. I think that is true especially with objects like freestanding washbasins, where the basin is indeed something special, that should be seen as a piece of art. They are very expensive and exclusive products so they must be unconventional.
How did you convince the likes of Hidra and Art Ceram that these ambitious and creative designs would be a success? MP. We are lucky to be working with two companies that have a good vision of the future and the will to innovate. It is not always that simple. Sometimes we deal with companies that want something new and innovative without taking the risk of doing something too different. No decisions are 100% safe but, like in every field, if you want to win you need to risk. The more you risk the more you might win (or lose). If you wait for a formula that gives you the 100% safe victory you will wait forever!
How popular are these ranges and do they sell well? MP. Cow, Cup and Wire are too new for us to be able to tell if they are selling well. They have only recently been introduced to the market. But Sharp, for example, gave us a lot of satisfaction!
Who are the kinds of people who tend to buy your more creative and adventurous designs? MP. That’s a good question. I would say architects, but I’m not sure. We don’t have a report of the buyers, so it is really difficult for us to answer to this question.
Not everybody can afford to buy beautiful, sculptural sanitaryware like yours for their bathroom. How can Freshome readers who have a limited budget transform their bathrooms into a creative and eye-catching oasis? MP. If you stop seeing the bathroom like a toilet and look at it with different eyes, a lot of things would come into your mind. Bring in something from the living room or from the bedroom or why not from the kitchen!
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| 57 Square-Meter Duplex With Slanting White Walls in Stockholm Posted: 07 Dec 2011 12:16 AM PST
We found this truly charming duplex in Stockholm on Per Jansson, that stands out due to a smart layout and captivating design features. This small apartment has a total surface of 57 square meters and a lot of character. Structured on two levels, the crib hosts an open plan living room on the bottom one and a bedroom upstairs. Slanting white walls with large windows make the place very bright and pleasant. Throughout the apartment there is a black concrete floor, which is in tune with the black staircase and kitchen cabinets. There are many beautiful details about this crib, so harmoniously mixed together, that discovering them is a fun and inspiring process. If you don’t mind keeping things in order all the time and living in a tight space, it does not get any nicer than this. Do you agree?
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| Iconic Headquarters For the Hungarian Autoklub in Budapest Posted: 06 Dec 2011 09:16 AM PST
Vikar & Lukacs Architect Studio recently completed the headquarters for the Hungarian Autoklub, located in Budapest. The total built area was 3430 square meters and the design idea implied the construction of the letter “A”. Here is more from the architects: “The main gesture of the building is a ribbon that wraps around the office spaces on seven floors. The main hall and service functions are found on the ground floor, while on the very top, under the arc is a rooftop terrace for representative meetings. The looping strip is about 1,0 meter thick, it has a changing width and deforms as it articulates the loop. The two component of the building comes back also in the material usage, the strip without openings with metal cladding, and the glass curtainwall of the wrapped building volume. Using geothermal energy system in the building helped us to free the rooftop from technical devices“. Located near the Danube bridge, the building acts as an important landmark, helping drivers orient when arriving in the Ujpest district.
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Long gone are the days when bathrooms were seen simply as a functional room where daily cleansing would take place on the grounds of hygiene. Today, bathrooms have become more of a sanctuary where relaxation reigns supreme. They are a place that we can retreat to when we feel in need of revitalisation, a retreat where we can take time for ourselves and undergo some much needed pampering. Bathrooms today have taken on a spa-like identity reminiscent of those typically found in high-end hotels and luxury resorts. This new role for the bathroom obviously means that we tend to spend far more time in this room and we are also likely to want to fill it with more luxurious and sophisticated equipment and more interesting and unusual sanitaryware.
Designers are therefore being called upon to come up with more innovative and inspiring designs for our increasingly sumptuous sanctuaries. Sanitaryware is no longer just a functional piece of apparatus, but a statement piece that will really enhance the space in which it is placed.
Two designers who really excel in this domain are 
You have worked with some big names in the bathroom sector from Antonio Lupi, Fima Frattini and Hidra to Artceram. How do you go about finding new clients to work with in the bathroom sector?
The designs that you have created for your bathroom clients range from the elegant and graceful to the more unusual and eye-catching. Where do you get your inspiration for your designs?
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