ChairStoolBench

(Image credits: http://www.kraud.de/en/kraud/)

Cool installation of chairs? stools? benches? the ChairStoolBench for the premiere of Richard Meier’s recently-completed extension project of the Arp Museum, Germany. The playful reinterpretation of the traditional chair reads as one entity, with the familiar image of the good ol’ wooden chairs emerging and disappearing from a long plank of wood. Visitors are allowed to sit on these artworks.

It will be nice to see these installed as park/street furnitures somewhere.

Have a better look at it from the designer’s website, Yvonne Fehling & Jennie Peiz, right here.

Read more about the premiere of Meier’s Arp Museum extension, here.

Gingerbread architecture

Another X’mas post. 

Countdown to X’mas: 5 days!

Tell me you love the gingerbread houses a’la Hansel & Gretel too! It’s not like I know how it tastes like because the word ‘Ginger’ scares me but I’ve always though these houses looked very pretty, PLUS it reminds you to let your imagination go wild!

I guess it’s about time architects are taking a break from steel and glass, concrete and brick structures for the holiday season…

Some of the best Toronto best architects have been commissioned to come up with their very own versions of Gingerbread houses this X’mas.

Will Alsop’s gingerbread version of Peckham Library in London. His gingerbread library emphasizes on his famous ‘legs and blobs’.

Johnson Chou’s gingerbread tower is designed based on famous fairy-tale Rapunzel. Pull the hair a little, and smarties will fall out the little window! Talk about treats!

There are seven of these gingerbread architecture altogether: by Will Alsop, Johnson Chou, KPMB, 3rd Uncle, PLANT, and Diamond Schmitt.

Unfortunately I could only find nice pics of a few of them because Toronto Star has redesigned their site, so I lost the link and can obviously NOT find them back. Alternatively, you could check joe clark’s Flickr photos if you are hungry for more Gingerbread Architecture.

Anyway, if you don’t know who ‘Hansel & Gretel‘ or ‘Rapunzel‘ are, go knock your head on the wall 100 times before you come and ask me, because that’s a crime by Liveeism!

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So, Merry merry X’mas peeps! Don’t bother clicking on my link until after 26th December because I will be X’mas-ing myself away in Singapore (muahahaha!), leaving tomorrow! Enjoy yourselves too yah!

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P/s: I forgot to tell you that I am CAR-LESS because I had another (oh yes, i really mean ANOTHER) accident a week and a half ago, so forgive me for not mamak-ing lately. But no broken bones this time, no worries!

P/p/s: And forgive me too, if i terFFK-ed you last week because my handphone (yes, my Sony Ericsson W700i that I love so dearly *sobs*)  got pickpocketed last week in Sunway Pyramid. So I have lost ALL your contact numbers and am PHONE-LESS to call you to inform me that I am CAR-LESS at the moment. Please e-mail your numbers to livee.tan@gmail.com, or drop me an offline MSN message!

P/p/p/s: And do you remember I posted my X’mas Wishlist here not very long ago? I have already concluded that #5 is way out of my reach!! How how how??? You guys know any way to become less ’sueh’?? I DON’T WANT ANYMORE MISFORTUNES!!!!

P/p/p/p/s: Please drop me some comments for this post! Of all your methods to get rid of ’sueh’ness. (Or if none, at least tell me you love me! I need to feel better…)

The Urilift system

Is the coolest urinal ever. To date, of course. Who knows what kind of things will be invented the very next second?

 

They seem to have some trouble with their night-time public urination in Victoria, so they came up with this thing. (Hmmm they pee merata-rata is it?) But anyways, these are urinals that disappear into the ground during the day, so they can be installed right in the middle of a busy street.

And because these urinals have no doors, you don’t have to worry you’d get mobbed in a public toilet at 4a.m. after your clubbing session. No chance for hidden drug deals or illegal VCD trade, whatsoever. Though I doubt they have illegal VCD trade there in Victoria.

More info here.

Now they’ve got the security problem covered, so where do us girls go pee?

Solar Umbrella House

Here’s a cool house.

The Solar Umbrella House in Venice (by Pugh+Scarpa) features a solar canopy that wraps the south wall and roof, screening out the scorching sun while providing the residence with all of its electricity. Sunlight provides 95% of electricity for the house. The concept for the house was about climate and the idea of making the house a pavilion in the garden.

This is how it looks like on the other side of the street.

This space is located on the first floor of the home. It is defined and highlighted by the solar canopy.

The transition between the house and garden. It is so cool the way the landscape slips in and out of the house.

The living room opens up to the garden at the side. This illustrates the creativity that went into the house’s boundaries between inside and outside, a mixture of concrete, steel, and sliding glass panels that create a porous edge.

The home’s master bedroom is fitted with built-in cabinets made from formalhyde-free MDF.

My favourite interior feature is the feature staircase that links the living room to the upstairs. The perforated steel treads and risers allow light to filter into the spacious living area downstairs.

This project was chosen as an AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project for 2006. You can check out the other projects here.

What more can I say than that this house rocks! 

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Pugh+Scarpa Architects claim to be inspired by the Umbrella House designed by Paul Rudolph in 1953. It was built as a model home on Lido Key. The name came from the huge wooden trellis that extended over the terrace and pool. It was said to be ‘one of the five most remarkable houses of the mid-20th century’. The open floor plan includes visible structural columns and a double-height living room.

 

Go check these links for the Umbrella House: 1 and 2.

James Turrell ‘Light Reign’

I have always been fascinated with light-related architecture and designs because they encourage people to slow down and ponder, enjoy and be fascinated by the beauties of nature in our modern fast-paced world. Many artists work with paint, stone, clay, fabric etc. etc. But I really ‘tabik’ those that work with light, because the medium is so short-lived – but they still manage to capture such beautiful moments. James Turrell is one of them, and he calls his spaces ‘the Skyspace’.

 

‘Light Reign’ is currently installed at the Henry Art Gallery. (No I have not been there, but would very much want to.) This Skyspace is an elliptical pavilion that “floats” above the ground on two columns. Visitors sit on a bench that runs along the building’s interior. The back of the bench is tipped slightly, encouraging visitors to look up at the sky through a large opening in the ceiling.

This reminds me of the Pantheon in Rome though. The only thing is that in Pantheon, the sky seems more remote… In the Skyspace, it seems closer to the viewer.

 

And as for the exterior, one would easily describe the structure as ‘a translucent glass lantern’. Looks cute, don’t you think? Heehee.. The structure’s translucent exterior shell incorporates computerized LED lighting that slowly changes color over time, providing soft luminescence at night and on cloudy days.

For those unfamiliar with James Turrell, he is best known for his other project – Roden Crater. That’s another really cool project I wish I could visit. It is actually a space designed as a massive naked-eye observatory for the volcanic phenomena at the site. Cool huh!