Accessible Modern Residence in Toronto Built to Last for Generations

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• Accessible Modern Residence in Toronto Built to Last for Generations
• Gorgeous Luxury Home With Staggering View Over Aspen
• House With Panoramic View Over The River in Brittany, France
• How to Keep Your Home and Valuables Safe When You Are Away
• Kinetic Creatures that Demonstrate the Magic of Mechanics

Accessible Modern Residence in Toronto Built to Last for Generations Posted: 09 Apr 2013 05:44 AM PDT Altius Architecture completed the design for an imposing modern home located on an urban lot on Beech Avenue in Toronto's Beach neighborhood, Canada. The 2200 square foot house was built on a steep terrain and the architects’ main objective was to develop an accessible crib, appropriate for children as for an occupant in a wheelchair. The universal design of the residence was aimed at living spaces that will function for generations: “A glassy double height dining room suggests a transparent division between the public spaces at the front and the private spaces at the rear of the lot. A generous front porch extends the living spaces toward the street and connects the house to the eclectic fabric of the neighborhood. Large spaces and fluid circulation routes contribute to the flexibility and accessibility of the house“. Advanced lighting and control systems with iPhone and iPad connectivity are an integrated factor in the design, ensuring overall ease of use. You're reading Accessible Modern Residence in Toronto Built to Last for Generations originally posted on Freshome. The post Accessible Modern Residence in Toronto Built to Last for Generations appeared first on Freshome.com.

Gorgeous Luxury Home With Staggering View Over Aspen Posted: 09 Apr 2013 03:43 AM PDT Located in Aspen, Colorado, the Willoughby Way is a spacious luxury home, with gorgeous finishings. The interior is breezy and luminous, thanks to the glass walls that replace the regular ones. The house is flooded by light, offering also a beautiful view over the inspiring site. Surrounded by a staggering landscape, the Willoughby Way is a wonderful place for daydreamers: they can take long walks, admire the sunset, enjoy the fresh air and disconnect from the busy city rush.  This particularly beautiful Aspen residence was defined by Charles Cuniffe Architects. “Heavy timbers and stone anchor this home into its site on Red Mountain, while large expanses of glass encompass the mountain views. Clean and contemporary materials create soft interiors.” Timber beams embellish the interior and make it more comfortable and cozy. The stone walls reflect the rocky landscape and the sophisticated furniture adds a touch of personality to this living space. The interior is very much connected to the exterior: the materials used in defining the décor, the transparence created through the glass walls and through the irregular ceiling’s sculpture that resembles to a mountain peak. Modern and stylish, the Willoughby Way (due to its location) inspires tranquility and harmony.   You're reading Gorgeous Luxury Home With Staggering View Over Aspen originally posted on Freshome. The post Gorgeous Luxury Home With Staggering View Over Aspen appeared first on Freshome.com.

House With Panoramic View Over The River in Brittany, France Posted: 09 Apr 2013 12:43 AM PDT Meet this versatile space, a house that is so flexible that can be used as a calm retreat when you are getting enough of that too-fast-moving-forward world called city, as the coolest party spot or as your less regular home, surrounded by an airy and  carefree site. Located nearby the river, in the picturesque region of Brittany, France, the D House is a space that connects the human to its natural ambient through open space living rooms, natural materials and last, but not least, through the relaxing ambience that Lode Architecture managed to create. The location is really impressive, especially during autumn, when the leaves start falling in a playful manner, creating eventually a colourful thick carpet around the house. If you’re into sports, you can explore your limits and try a ride with the kayak on the river. The interior is neat and spacious, without being too edgy nor sophisticated. Its striking simplicity is exactly what you need when you arrive in a place such as this. “Life is organised here around the hearth, the stairs and a central cooking island. All around you, panoramic views of the undergrowth and beyond the river are offered by the upstairs floor.Wells of light passing through the upstairs floor invite the sky into this blended landscape. On the ground, the stone disappears, the windowed angles fade. We live inside the wood.”      You're reading House With Panoramic View Over The River in Brittany, France originally posted on Freshome. The post House With Panoramic View Over The River in Brittany, France appeared first on Freshome.com.

How to Keep Your Home and Valuables Safe When You Are Away Posted: 08 Apr 2013 01:54 PM PDT Whether you are away for a few hours, days or weeks, there are some basic steps you can take to safeguard your home. Burglars often watch homes to see when people are or aren't there and plan to make their moves accordingly. It doesn't take much, or long, for someone to enter your home and grab your most prized possessions. What you can do on a daily basis. It's amazing how many people have home security systems and yet never seem to use them. It is essential that you turn yours on even if you're just running to the store to pick up a container of milk. Keep all your doors and windows locked when you are not there as well. According to safeguardtheworld.com: “There are over 2,000,000 home burglaries are reported each year in the United States, and 30 % of these happen through an open or unlocked window or door. Nearly 66 % of all burglaries are residential break-ins. Renters are just as likely to be the victims of property crime as homeowners. It is important to note that the highest percentage of burglaries occur during the summer months. Homes without security systems are up to 300% more likely to be broken into. According to the FBI a home burglary happens every 13 seconds and most of these break-ins take place during the day when people are at work.” Furthermore Every 13 seconds a home intrusion is committed and 1 out of 3 residential assaults are a result of a burglary. 85 % of these burglaries are performed by "non professionals" who are usually males under the age of 25 seeking to feed a drug habit and these perpetrators are the most dangerous.  These thieves look for easy access, through unlocked doors or windows and the type of tools used to break in are usually simple; a screwdriver, pliers, pries bars, and small hammers. These thieves are looking for small and expensive items that can quickly be sold for cash. Their favorite items to steal include, but are not limited to:  cash, jewelry, laptops, guns, digital cameras, and small electronics such as iPods and iPhones. Thieves will select a home based on a very simple selection process. They want unoccupied homes with easy access; this can be a window or an unlocked door or a door that is easily broken into. Thieves also want the greatest amount of cover and the simplest best escape routes.  Homeowners often make this selection process easy for thieves by failing to take simplest precautions.  If you have an alarm system, use it. If not, you might want to consider purchasing one. Keeping your home looking lived-in while you travel. It is crucial not to let others think your house is sitting vacant for any significant amount of time. If you don't already have timers for your lights, purchase a few. You do not want to leave the house and leave all your lights on. First, this is a terrible waste of natural energy but thieves will notice if the lights do not go on and off. Place various lamps on timers set for different times so that the lights will go on and off at various intervals.  You may want to have a radio or television on a timer as well. Noise coming from a home is a good thing. On the same note, turn down your telephone's ringer so that no one will hear the phone go unanswered. And while we are on the subject of telephones never leave a message on your machine indicating that you are on vacation. You may want to have your calls forwarded to a cell number that you can access. More steps to help keep your home looking lived-in is to have hold your mail. A quick visit to the post office is all it takes. You can also have your mail held on-line, providing you give the post office enough advanced warning. Hold all newspaper deliveries as well as dry cleaning if you have that delivered as well. Keep you lawns well landscaped and your bushes and hedges trimmed. If you use a local service do not stop them from coming to take care of your property. Trimmed hedges keep windows in plain view and are less tempting to a potential thief. Manicured lawns make it seem as though you are home maintaining your own property. If you are away and do not have a landscaping service, you may want to employ a local teenager to come and mow your lawn for you. Likewise if it is wintertime and you are away and aware that a large snow storm is headed your way, you will want to make sure that someone will be able to plow your driveway. Install outside lighting with motion sensors that will automatically turn on when someone approaches the property and keep the outside of your home lit as much as you possibly can. Before you leave town. Do a last minute check to ensure that all of your doors and windows are locked and dead bolted. Do not forget about screened-in porches, basement and garage points of entry. Check the batteries on your smoke detectors and unplug all non-essential items. Walk around your home and unplug everything you will not use including clocks, toaster ovens, printers, stereo systems, video and gaming units, and most especially any and all computers, laptops, televisions and cable boxes. Loss of power and electrical surges can irreparably damage these expensive items. If it is wintertime, do turn the heat down, but do not turn it off as doing so may result in burst pipes which are both a major inconvenience as well as a major expense. A good habit to get in to. You should really try to get in the habit of always keeping your car in your garage. Many of us use our garages for extra storage space and many of these garages are quite full leaving no room for your car. It would be worth it to clear out your garage space for your car. A potential thief may notice that a car that is almost always in the driveway is suddenly gone for a few days. It is also imperative that you lock your garage door. You garage door should have a locking mechanism at the bottom. There are universal remotes that a thief could use to open yours. If you have pets you may want to hire a house sitter instead of putting them in a kennel. And even homeowners that do not have pets may feel safer with a house sitter. If you do not have or want a house sitter, notify a trusting neighbor and friend that you will be away and ask them kindly to check in on your home from time to time. You may also want to notify the police who may also drive by your home from time to time during your absence. You may also want to notify your alarm company as well. Keep off social media. As tempting as it may be to tell others that you are luxuriating in the lap of paradise, stay off of social media. Keep your travel plans quiet and away from any public arena. While it is fun to post pictures of crystal blue waters, pink sandy beaches and colorful cocktails being sipped in the sunset, save these photos to be uploaded after your return. This applies to all avenues of social media including but not limited to blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Finally, keep your valuables tucked away and hidden from view. You don't want a potential thief to glance in a window and see televisions, gaming devices and laptops that can quickly be taken from your home. You may want to invest in a home safe. (Read my article on home safes here.) You're reading How to Keep Your Home and Valuables Safe When You Are Away originally posted on Freshome. The post How to Keep Your Home and Valuables Safe When You Are Away appeared first on Freshome.com.

Kinetic Creatures that Demonstrate the Magic of Mechanics Posted: 08 Apr 2013 09:58 AM PDT Remember playing with your toys when you were a kid, pushing them along and imagining that they could walk on their own? Well kids these days are lucky, because they can actually walk on their on thanks to a creative project by Lucas Ainsworth and Alyssa Hamel. Kinetic Creatures is a set of three walking cardboard animal sculptures made up of cardboard pieces that you assemble using tabs-and-slots. By turning the wire handle, you make the creatures come alive with a simple mechanical motion. Here at Freshome we thought that these Kinetic Creatures are not only fantastic sculptures and fun toys, but they also provide a great way to educate kids and young people about mechanics. We wanted to know more about the project and thankfully Lucas and Alyssa agreed to answer all our questions. Here’s what they had to say about Kinetic Creatures. Can you tell us about your company?  Kinetic Creatures is a collaboration between Lucas Ainsworth, an Industrial Designer and Alyssa Hamel, a Visual Arts Teacher and artist. What are Kinetic Creatures exactly? Kinetic Creatures are walking cardboard animals that are built from a tab & slot kit.  Each animal walks and moves it's head when you turn a wire handle. Is it true that they can be made to walk on their own? Yes! We've designed a battery operated motor kit that drops into the back of any animal to make it walk by itself.  Also, the Kinetic Creatures fit standard Lego axle pieces, so you can use Lego motors as well.  We have a tutorial on our website that shows you how to use Lego motors and sensors to make a cardboard animal that will walk to your hand. How did you come up with the idea of making walking cardboard animal sculptures? The initial design originated in a 2008 class at the California College of the Arts, where Lucas was studying Industrial Design.  The design challenge was to make a toy that could be manufactured on a rule-die press (a machine that makes cardboard boxes.) The first creature was relatively unrefined, but the idea of starting with a complex mechanical form and breaking it down into something easy took hold. You were inspired by the work of the great Dutch sculptor, Theo Jansen. Can you tell us more? Jansen's Strandbeest are phenomenal, giant mechanical creatures that wander the beaches of the Netherlands.  The complexity and organic movement of Jansen's work led to an insight; These types of mechanisms capture the imagination, but are very difficult to successfully build yourself.  An adaptation of one of Jansen’s linkages gives movement to the Kinetic Creatures, but all of the difficult measurements, alignment and mechanics are designed into an easy-to-assemble, pre-cut and scored pattern. Who is the target market? Kinetic Creatures are intended to encourage children and adults to build, hack and play.  Children aged 11 and older benefit from the challenges of building a kit and hopefully inspire them to add electrical mechanisms and create their own versions. Alyssa will be using Kinetic Creatures in her art classes and workshops. What are you hoping to achieve by doing this? By melding art, design, science and engineering into one, Kinetic Creatures makes all of these areas of study not only accessible to students, but also engages students on a variety of levels.  We hope to ignite excitement and curiosity around these areas of study.  The students gain insight into their potential when they successfully build a sculpture that walks.  As in all of Alyssa's work with her art students, her aim is to build self-esteem through the process of creating, building and experimenting. Can you tell us about how you funded the project with a Kickstarter campaign? Kickstarter is an incredible crowd-funding platform that helped us get our project off the ground without going through the traditional toy industry gatekeepers, or loosing creative control of our designs. All of the excitement and interest in our project has been amazingly overwhelming, and we are so grateful that there are people out there supporting projects like ours. Kickstarter funding allowed us to not only create a product that encourages people to build and play, but also allowed us to stay true to our belief in environmentally sound products, dynamic design and local manufacturing. What gave you the courage to embark on this project and how did you know it would be a success? When we started this project we didn't know if it would be a success or not; it was a gamble that we took together but ultimately together we've overcome so many challenges and in the end, that has been the most gratifying part. Do you have any plans for further developments in the future? We are cooking up big plans for the future, designing more creatures, collaborating with people that are also passionate about the Maker Movement, brainstorming about getting more creatures into schools and maker labs, and developing educational kits. We are really excited about getting back into the creative side of our project. Right now, all of our energy is going towards the business side of getting creatures into the homes of people all over the world. It's always about encouraging people to build, hack and play; it's gratifying hard work. Freshome would like to thank Lucas and Alyssa for sharing their exciting project with us. We’d love to hear your thoughts on Kinetic Creatures so please do leave us a comment below. You're reading Kinetic Creatures that Demonstrate the Magic of Mechanics originally posted on Freshome. The post Kinetic Creatures that Demonstrate the Magic of Mechanics appeared first on Freshome.com.

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