The UFO house built in 1970s in Chattanooga, Tennessee was sold on auction on March 15th. I know I’m late on reporting this but nevertheless I feel it’s worth mentioning. A Cincinnati woman won the house for $135,000. The house might look small but it has 2,000 square feet of living area, three floors, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice kitchen, a living room, a large bar, plus a wonderful scenic view of a mountain and a river. Congratulations to the happy new owner.
Nautilus
Home design company Senosiain Arquitectos have built a home in the form of a shell. The name of the project was chosen so the inhabitants of the house like a mollusk moving from one chamber to another. The snail house looks natural both inside and outside. The rooms are located in a upward spiral, the further you go the higher you get. Though I can see how that can be a bit annoying. In order to get from the first room to the last you have to go thought all the rooms. But I still like the idea of snail houses.
Rucksack House
Rucksack House is a great new way to expand your living space. Now you can ad an entire room to your apartment. The box is a welded steel cage covered with plywood which is suspended from steel cables anchored to the roof or the facade of the building. Sections of the walls unfold, with the help of hidden magnets, into a desk, shelves, and a platform for reading or sleeping. It’s an easy and simple way to get more space for your flat. But there are bound to be some issues with the neighbors. Like say the box might be blocking the sunlight of the people living right beneath you. But all neighbor issues aside I’m sure Rucksack House is a great way to improve our apartment living conditions.
Full Moon Rising
Korean Heerim Architects has tried to reinvent the skyscraper with their two projects in central Asian republic of Azerbaijan. The two skyscrapers will be built in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan with a view on the Caspian sea . One building is called Full Moon Bay the other is Crescent and Caspian Plus. The two are going to be built on both side of the bay, acting as gateway markers. So far the pictures look fantastic and I really like the gateway markers idea.
Fresh Start
Martin Houses To-Go has released their new 2008 model called Fresh Start. Julie Martin lost everything in hurricane Katrina but gained a vision on building small homes. She started a company with a goal to make small, affordable houses which can be moved around on a trailer.I like that Fresh Start has so many windows and it seems really cozy, not like those plastic and soulless caravans.
Blue Frog
A large industrial warehouse in Mumbai was converted into a lounge with a restaurant, a bar and a live music stage. The cylindrical booths seat from 4 to 10 people and are arranged at various heights so everybody would see the stage. The sound won’t disturb the people in the neighborhood because the bumpy walls absorb it. Here are the photos of the Blue Frog. I like that the booths change color, it sets a really homey and cozy atmosphere.
Water Cube
Beijing National Aquatic Center or Water Cube was officially opened this week. The center will host swimming and diving events at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and will seat 17,000 people. The architect did an amazing job the building looks fantastic. China is preparing for the 2008 Olympics very seriously. I can’t wait for the events to start.
Minas Tirith: The Battle of Pelennor Fields
Dave, his brothers, sister and some of their friends made a scale model of Minas Tirith a city from the Tolkien’s famous Lord of the Rings. The entire city and armies are made from candy, mostly gummy bears. They’ve made elephants, the licorice ram that was used to smash the gates of the city and even a White Tree of Gondor made out of chocolate pretzels. There also a short video showing the city.
TranslucentConcrete
TranslucentConcrete is a new form of load-bearing, see-through concrete designed by Andreas Bittis. Basically it’s a combinations of fine concrete and optical fibers. TranslucentConcrete blocks of a structure can be several feet thick but you won’t even feel it because the optical fibers work without the loss of light for up till 60 feet. TranslucentConcrete blocks can be made depending on the on structural or architects needs, from small bricks to facade plates or passable paving stones. I think we will soon see some very interesting structures and designs from this concrete. The potential of this new material is great.
Dexia Tower
During daytime Dexia tower in Brussels is an ordinary building, but at night it becomes a light show. The building can be used to show tomorrows weather – temperature and wind. It sure bits watching the weather channel. It’s also possible to make you own light show from a touch screen near the building. Here’s how it works the 4,200 of 6,000 windows have lighting installations consisting of 12 light bulbs, each with 3 LEDs – a green, a red and a blue. Also these windows have special blinds when closed allow the LED’s to illuminate the whole window. Dexia tower is also energy efficient, 1 LED uses 1 watt. Lighting a stadium costs seven times more then Dexia Tower
