Playful Architecture in Poland Intelligently Expanding Towards the Sky

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Playful Architecture in Poland Intelligently Expanding Towards the Sky
Ambitious 10 Year Gardening Project : John Brooker’s Green Dragon Hedge
New Multi-Family Home Repurposing Collective Family Experiences
Stunning Beverly Hills House Designed by DJ Avicii’s House Architects

Posted: 30 May 2014 06:58 AM PDT

What does a gardener’s home look like? Well, there’s an example in Krakow, Poland, that can shift your perspective on how much living space a person needs. Compact homes don’t necessarily mean boring homes. In the hands of creative architects like Arciteckt.Lemanski, client’s wishes are turned into fabulous, example-worthy homes. Rising up towards the sky via a curved volume sheltering the staircase, the playful architecture of the house named Domo Dom provokes a powerful first impression.

The siding and angled windows hint towards the internal floor plan but reveal nothing but a fun, impressive architectural style. Indoor spaces were kept simple and functional, just as the client requested. A dining/living space downstairs connects the outdoor deck to the kitchen.

Leading up to the bedroom area above the garage, the staircase proved the most important feature of all. It transformed what could have been a small home into an exemplary work of residential art. And underneath, the small bathroom fits in perfectly. All around the peculiar construction, stones create an even deeper play of geometry, a frame that speaks about the owner’s passion and work.

In the photographs taken by Tomasz Zakrzewski we can see the unusual building from different vantage points and understand how even the deck elongates the living spaces outdoors. In good weather, the seamlessly connected indoor/outdoor spaces almost double the square footage.The entrance was placed at the side of the house and adorned with a protective overhang. Seen on Trendir, this stunningly playful architecture defines not only the need for visual candy, but also the need for simplicity and functionality.

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Ambitious 10 Year Gardening Project : John Brooker’s Green Dragon Hedge

Posted: 30 May 2014 01:24 AM PDT

Investing a few hours each day to turn his ordinary hedge into a massive sculpture of a dragon, John Brooker made his Frizzleton Farm property a magical land. We were pleasantly surprised by this man’s ability and ambition to shape a 100 feet long, 20 feet high dragon out of his living fence. Spending a decade of his life shaping each detail, 75 year-old gardener John Brooker transformed his hedge in Norfolk into an ambitious work of art photographed by Damien McFadden.

Seen on This Is Colossal, the massive green dragon hedge faces the street while its ambitiously manicured body serpents along the property. From the nostrils above the open mouth, past the large wings and down to the six sets of legs, the dragon’s details were carefully sculpted into virality. It took 10 years because the perfectionist gardener was adding details after details as the hedge started to take a dragon’s shape. We can all agree that his ambition and perseverance finally pays off.

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New Multi-Family Home Repurposing Collective Family Experiences

Posted: 29 May 2014 02:26 PM PDT

Raising a family in a home for 25 years induces the feeling of belonging and a relaxed state of mind. That’s why it was hard for the owners of this new multi-family home to tear down their bungalow where years have been transposed into memories. Replacing the original house with two semi detached houses meant evolving into this new life phase, one in which the family’s eldest son lives right next door and the youngest son occupies an apartment within the house.

Photographed by Derek Swalwell, this impressively designed 974 square feet home in Singapore was imagined by A D Lab (you might remember their stunning, innovative Andrew Road House). Elements of the old house were cleverly introduced into the new residential project “to facilitate the transference of experience and collective memory from the old to the new houses.” Hence, the double pitched roof shape and bright open spaces were re-imagined to fit the new family lifestyle.

Known as “2 Holland Grove”, the new home displays a central courtyard and water feature that create the sense of living in the garden. Architects explain how the floor-plan became a mirroring of the old house’s emotional attachment with the help of the pitched roof: ” With the new design, the architects retained the concept of the original roof form with one pitch at the front and one pitch along the side of the development. These pitches were then related to the entrance of the parent's house at the front left side of the lot, and the side pitch defined the son's house along the right side of the property.

The front pitch in the parent's house encloses a two and a half storey living room. This lofty living space anchors the house and serves as central core that visually links all the levels of the house. The youngest son's bedroom and suite is placed on the upper level of the parent's house. In order to retain a sense of privacy, this zone is somewhat separated from the rest of the house, however the entrance area of the suite is vertically connected to the rest of the house through a balcony that overlooks the bright and airy living room below.”

With this creative example in mind, would you reconsider living with your parents?

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Stunning Beverly Hills House Designed by DJ Avicii’s House Architects

Posted: 29 May 2014 08:28 AM PDT

The same studio that imagined DJ Avicii’s house in Hollywood Hills also designed this heavenly Beverly Hills House. With a carefully manicured lawn surrounding an inviting pool in the back garden, the modern house in Beverly Hills draws in Californian sun all day long. Infusing interiors with a vibrant, natural feel, McClean Design imagined a suite of residential spaces starting from the original layout: “This residence is a remodel of an existing home that was designed in a contemporary style during the 1970s. Although the structure itself was in good shape the house did not take advantage of its wonderful views and did not contain the required amount of bedrooms and ancillary rooms necessary for a house of this size.”

Now showcasing a refreshing design and openness towards city panoramas, this private Beverly Hills House was stripped down to its frames before the architecture studio began re-imagining it as a contemporary place to live a modern life. This also encouraged framing views of Los Angeles and a greater transparency between different areas. Increasing the height of the ceilings in the main living spaces also created a visually larger space.

From under these tall ceilings, it feels natural to step outside under the overwhelmingly blue sky. The architects say they’re already “working with the owner on a major expansion of the house including a new guest house, wellness spa, elevated walkways and further additions to the main house itself."

Working with a simple materials palette but keeping things interesting by adding a few details for warmth, architects managed to create an inviting Californian home. It looks as the house is almost completely open to the outdoors and high above the city, it should be. The privacy offered by the location and architecture is used to its full extent.

Daytime pool lounging or nighttime drinks with friends become the moments you focus on when you hear: “Go to your happy place”.