As Portelli’s evolving artistic style morphed from Impressionism to Cubism to Constructivism, he infused such Maltese hot spots as the Whisky a Go-go, La Stella Band Club, the Dragut and Piali restaurants, and the sanctuary of St. Therese of Lisieux with his love for moody color palettes, clean lines, and blocky shapes.

The post-war modernist also designed his own live-work space in Attard, an ancient city nestled within the center of Malta’s main island. Architecture firm Valentino Architects just completed a retrofit of this space, which they call “La Serenissima,” aiming to preserve “the intentions of the artist’s design as a contemporary living space.” The result is an artist’s dream, bright and modern with high ceilings and plenty of windows to let all-important sunlight deep within the living quarters.

Preserving a Sense of History

The original studio is defined by tall geometric windows and strong southwestern light, and Valentino Architects decided to focus on these elements in their new design. The reworked interiors follow the same north-south axis, placing private living spaces at the south and north with a small home office and conservatory at the intersection. At the south end, which gets the most light, they integrated 45-degree skylights and high windows.

Sliding glass doors lead from the kitchen to a covered outdoor space with a raised timber deck and new glass perimeter. The angled skylights above this deck were removed to give the space more exposure to the elements, allowing it to become an external terrace that’s shaded from the summer heat but still capable of being opened to cooling breezes. The deck steps down into the living room to double as interior seating.

This cleverly converted outdoor space also acts as one big sunlight collector. The light bounces off the new brushed concrete flooring, pale countertops, and white walls and ceilings, further transmitted into the apartment by interior windows and glazing. Additional new elements like angular floor mosaics, sharply arched entryways, and a sculptural staircase recall the strong dynamic lines of Portelli’s paintings.

“Throughout the apartment, Portelli’s collection of midcentury furniture and lighting have been restored and integrated into the decor, his original plywood pinup board kept hung in the kitchen,” say the architects. “At the northernmost end of the plan, a bedroom and bathroom flank a central, floor-to-ceiling triangular window. A sliding door provides the option for closing off these rooms for privacy, whilst allowing the central sight-line to remain uninterrupted while open.”

About Valentino Architects

Based in Valetta, Malta, Valentino Architects is a design-led architecture studio with projects spanning residential, retail, and commercial sectors, with an emphasis on tailored solutions. “Our work is a study in form, proportion, detailing, and texture, characterized by an economy of scale, color, and material,” they say. “We have built a design approach that prioritizes collaboration and is driven by social, environmental, and urban impact.”

The post Valentino Architects Transform a Live-Work Artist Studio in Malta first appeared on Dornob.

Set back from a cliff overlooking the water, the old barn structure consisted of two parts: a taller volume with gabled ends, and a wide addition off one side with a sloping shed-style roofline. No doors, windows, or actual roofs remained – just holes where they used to be. Aiming to keep as much of the concrete structure in place as possible to preserve its aged and weathered character, the architects decided to insert a lightweight two-story timber structure into the original volume, mimicking its shape.

Preserving the crumbling concrete required some creativity. The old barn was made of thick and stable mass concrete, but most of its walls lacked foundations, and some were very fragile. They decided to retain only the perimeter walls, leaving them in a ruined state peppered with lichen and patchwork patterns of local pebbles. They also stabilized the existing structure and lined the barn floor with a reinforced concrete raft to ensure the home wouldn’t continue to deteriorate after the renovations were complete.

New openings were created sparingly to avoid compromising the structural integrity of the old concrete shell. One was added to let more light into the kitchen, and another adds a separate entrance to the art studio so the homeowners can move large artworks in and out. Both the new openings and the original ones were diamond-cut to a smooth surface that contrasts with the roughness of the outer facade. On the ground floor, Studio Bua placed a kitchen and dining space adjacent to the studio, giving them all a floor of polished concrete.

The client, an artist, had previous experience staining plywood and wanted to experiment with adding light washes of color to the birch walls. She and the architects collaborated on a palette inspired by the colors of the meadow as they shift from green in spring to yellow in winter and purple in late summer. On the second floor, the white stained pine boards and plywood surfaces are left in their natural color to complement the darkness of the concrete and stone. A plywood staircase leads from the ground floor dining room to a mezzanine sitting room overlooking a double-height space, with both rooms taking advantage of the massive amount of daylight emanating from a fully-glazed end facade.

Outside, the walled garden might just be the coolest part of this old-meets-modern renovation. Protected from both strong winds and hungry wildlife, the garden preserves the framed views of the original windows and doors, now open to the air, and uses the remains of the original interior walls as row dividers.

The architects also chose a number of materials that are uniquely Icelandic in character. They explain that “the cladding of the new volume is corrugated Aluzinc – a reflective material that takes the color of the sky and meadow around the house, changing with the seasons and weather embodying the lightness of the inserted volume. This allowed us to extend to a second story without overpowering the concrete barn. From our experience working in harsh climates, this rather industrial material is one of the few cladding options that can withstand the extremes of weather.”

“The corrugation is also a reference to a local building tradition. From the early 20th century corrugated steel has been used diffusely in Iceland in rural and urban settings for all typologies. Most dwellings and farm buildings in the area are partly or completely clad in this material.”

The post Dilapidated Barn Ruins Transformed into a Remote Artist’s Studio in Iceland first appeared on Dornob.

Villa Trap consists of four linked spaces that progress from public to intimate as you move deeper into the building. The first, a large street-facing room, features a dining table and curving built-in concrete banquette seating encircled by a retractible neon yellow accordion-style screen, which mimics the actual security screen outside the glass front doors. This permeable enclosure can be fully opened to make the room feel bright and accessible, or drawn completely closed almost like armor around the seating area.

Just inside the main entrance, a small kitchen with deep blue cabinetry and a sculptural stainless steel vent hood is tucked into a circular alcove. The yellow security screen either grants or denies access to the hallway and brick stairs beyond, and from there, one can either descend into the basement studio or turn into Cain’s highly unique bedroom.

Lined with matte black tiles, the bedroom almost has a funhouse effect to it, its proportions blurred and multiplied by mirrors that stretch from halfway up the walls onto the ceiling. The first thing you see upon entering is a tub sunken into the floor, with curving pink screens separating this area from the bed for extra privacy.

Downstairs, past a graffitied wall and a red door, the spacious recording studio offers a second bathroom, another bed, a seating area, a desk, and a central recording booth. Covered in street art and slapped with a “Metro” sticker, it looks a lot like something you’d find at a transit station, and that’s exactly the point. Rooted in urban contexts, trap often makes references to the literal streets in which it originated. Iniesta’s design for Cain’s home and studio brings the textures, colors, objects and art you can find throughout Madrid and arranges them into a sort of elevated bachelor pad – just the kind of space you’d expect a rapper on the rise to inhabit.

Javier Jiminéz Iniesta graduated from the Alicante School of Architecture in 2007 and later founded Studio Animal, based in Barcelona and Madrid. He explains that “Studio Animal addresses the development of proposals related to ultra-contemporary thought and its links with the habitat in which we live; the rethinking of the spaces inhabited by the contemporary subject and the atmospheres I breathe are the center of [my] work, in pursuit of a super optimistic future for the potential inhabitants of his architectures. With a progressive specialization in the design of all types of interior spaces, Studio Animal moves from the small scale of industrial design, through the planning of the brand image, to the integral design of the spatial proposal, offering tailor-made projects for each client always under a very architectural vision.”

The post Inside the Street Art-Inspired Home Studio of European Trap Star Kaydy Cain first appeared on Dornob.

The Castle Cottage — Lake George, New York

If having a whole castle to yourself (or at least, your family or pod of quarantine buddies) sounds more up your alley, The Castle Cottage is your fairytale waiting to happen. Set on a mountaintop in the Adirondacks overlooking Lake George, this gorgeous stone keep sleeps up to six people.

Alpaca Treehouse — Atlanta, Georgia

Sometimes you need a place to get away without leaving the city. In Atlanta, this treehouse set within a bamboo forest comes complete with wandering llamas. Seriously. One of the most wishlisted Airbnbs in the world (and recently featured on the Netflix reality show Love is Blind, Delta’s inflight commercials, Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters, and VH1’s Love & Hip Hop), this space sleeps four guests. Unsurprisingly, this spot is also super in-demand for small weddings, photo shoots, and music videos.

Silo Studio Cottage — Tyringham, Massachusetts

A romantic getaway ideal for a couple, the Silo Studio Cottage is an adorable two-story round house on the Santarella Estate in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. Formerly the summer studio of sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson, it features a 35-foot-high conical ceiling with a canopied bed and views of a nearby lily pond and babbling brook.

Earthship Studio — Taos, New Mexico

Staying overnight in an awesome recycled Earthship is a must-do in New Mexico. This one in Taos includes all the cool features you’d expect in an Earthship, including glass bottle walls, polished earthen floors, and a passive solar sunroom, plus modern amenities like Wi-Fi, Netflix, and a luxurious deep tub.

River House — New Orleans, Louisiana

This one bedroom, one bath guest home tucked away in the historic neighborhood of Faubourg Marigny is well away from the crowds of downtown, but it still packs in all the New Orleans charm you can handle. Located on the second floor of a mansion, it features its own private 500-square-foot balcony with original cast iron railings and city views, as well as access to a swimming pool and lush gardens.

Desert Yacht — Terlingua, Texas

Looking for a highly unique place where you can be wild and free? This Airbnb getaway is literally a yacht in the desert near Big Bend in West Texas, and officially listed as “clothing optional.” It features one bedroom, a kitchen, an upper deck for all the stargazing you can handle, and best of all, loads of privacy. The property itself is a good 20 miles outside civilization, but Wi-Fi access and an indoor shower are just a quick drive away.

Desert Sage House — Yucca Valley, California

Dreaming of a place where you can safely gather with your friends or extended family? This complex of cabins, yurts, and trailers is spread out on five acres of land in California’s Yucca Valley, and set up so you can hang out together outdoors or retreat to your own private spaces. You’ll have the whole property to yourselves (but no parties or weddings are allowed). It’s capable of hosting up to 12 guests in five bedrooms, with eight beds total.

Chelan Hobbit Haven — Orondo, Washington

A global pandemic is enough to make anyone wish they could hide away in a hobbit hole. Lucky for you, you actually can! “Underground Hygge” is an earth house nestled into the Columbia River Gorge mountainside in Orondo, Washington featuring an iconic round front door, gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside, six acres to explore, and one bedroom ideal for one or two people.

The Silos at Prairie Vale — Green Ridge, Missouri

You’ve heard of tiny houses, but what about tiny silo houses? Experience one for yourself on a family-owned farm in Green Ridge, Missouri. You’ll get a taste of farm life complete with Nigerian Dwarf goats, miniature donkeys, chickens, and other animals while staying in a silo apartment with its own full kitchen, bathroom, and loft.

The Ark Tiny House — Virgin, Utah

Location, location, location! Utah’s Zion National Park is unlike anywhere else in the United States, and The Ark is a great way to experience it. Sure, it’s a tiny house, but it’s actually capable of sleeping up to six people between its bedroom and common spaces. It also boasts a loft, bathtub, office desk, TV with Netflix, Wi-Fi, a hot tub and fire pit, and a breathtaking bay window overlooking a 75-acre property with a stream.

Find more unique places to stay near you on Airbnb’s website.

The post The 10 Most Amazing Airbnbs for Your Quarantine Vacation first appeared on Dornob.

It may look like there’s a real tree growing within this art studio, but take the time to examine the image a little closer. Notice how the branches at the far right side actually follow the contours of the wall? See the edges of the paper upon which the leaves are printed peeling away from the ceiling? The illusion of the tree’s presence is so complete, it’s almost hard to believe someone didn’t build a room around it — but it’s all (literally) a matter of perspective. If you were to slide a few steps to the left or right within this physical space, the illusion would break as its architectural features began to fragment the imagery.

Pulling off these optical illusions isn’t a matter of using Photoshop or otherwise manipulating the final image. It all comes down to a surprisingly simple process of printing an enormous photograph out on many sheets of paper and then assembling them to fit the space. But it does take painstaking precision for Los Angeles-based artist  to pull off the hyperrealistic qualities of these incredible installations.

Hundreds of printed images plastered across the walls, ceilings, and floors, of several rooms allow us to physically enter the photographs, something Engman finds to be a bit of a paradox within his own work. He believes photography derives its power precisely from the fact that it can’t be entered, explaining that he tries to be mindful of this fact even as he exploits it when creating his 3D scenes.

Much of Engman’s documented work in this series has been rendered as “photographs within photographs,” in which he takes an original photo, applies it to a room, and then photographs the finished product before it’s disassembled. Recently, he extended this concept to a physical space that viewers could actually enter. “Containment for the Fotofocus in Cincinnati” takes his “Containment” piece and translates it to a purpose-built temporary structure within an art gallery, allowing for physical immersion in the art. But it’s in the tension between the safety of the built environment the adventurous, uncontrollable spirit of nature that these pieces find their greatest power.

Engman adds: “In the piece titled Prospect, the combination of the ocean with the studio is a marriage of prospect and refuge and the metaphoric associations of the two. In the case of prospect these associations are adventure, excitement, and a feeling of freedom. For refuge they are safety, comfort, and a looking inwards. Prospect and refuge are not mutually exclusive in a binary sense, but they are at times in conflict with each other, and this conflict, to my thinking, is central to much of what we want and work for.”

“There is a correspondence, for me, between the prospect and refuge conflict and the tension between illusion and materiality that I see as intrinsic to the medium of photography. The latter has long been a subject of my work. By “illusion” I am referring broadly to the power we invest in photographs to tell us the truth about the world, to be a record of it, to “capture moments,” as it is said. By materiality I am referring to the stuff of photographic objects, their actual truths: ink, paper, frame, and physical context.”

“The tension between illusion and material is exhibited in these works most notably by the different ways in which paper in used to construct images. In the piece titled Refuge, for example, the image of the wooded scene was printed onto over 150 pieces of paper and then physically cut and affixed to walls and objects within an architectural space. The room itself was then photographed and the resulting image printed onto a single sheet of photo paper. In the case of the former, the physical properties of paper are acknowledged. In the case of the latter (and this applies to the majority of photographs), everything about the presentation is designed to deny that the paper exists at all. What matters and is emphasized is the illusion, or, if you like, the lie.”

The post Chris Engman’s Optical Illusions Allow You to Step Inside Photographs first appeared on Dornob.

Japanese architects mtka found a creative compromise while renovating a 20-year-old single family home in the Kodaira neighborhood of Tokyo. The ground floor contains the bedrooms and bathroom, while the upper floor is a completely open-plan living space. The new owners, a couple with two children, felt like they could use a little more room for the kids to play.

With its sloping roof, the home didn’t have enough ceiling height for a full third floor, and adding a conventional loft on the higher side would have cut off natural light to the rest of the space. The design team’s workaround is pretty brilliant. As they put it, they changed the flow of the house with a “maximal ellipse,” a mezzanine level with a giant oval cutout that maintains the spacious feel of the high ceilings while creating a new inhabitable surface.

This new level is almost flush with the lower side of the ceiling, but provides 5.9 feet (1.8 meters) of head space on the higher side, just enough for the inhabitants to stand up. Not only does its unusual shape help keep the south wall of windows open to the rest of the living area, but it also provides structural support. On the higher side of the home, it’s a loft; on the lower side, it’s a shelf.

“By putting a single maximal object in this large studio, I thought of updating the flow of people, the flow of power, the flow of wind, and the flow of lights and creating an architecture suitable for a new family,” says mtka co-founder Murayama Toru. “Therefore, a super-elliptical perforated ceiling was inserted at a level of 1.8 meters in the horizontal material of the south window. Since the center of gravity of the space is based on the south side, the center of gravity of the living room, which had no base, was pulled to the center, creating various places around the ellipse.”

“The ceiling is neither as thick as a wooden floor, nor as thin as a suspended ceiling. [Built] from an existing wooden construction, it is an autonomous and substantial object. And the oval stairwell is empty without any substance. Standing on the floor of the living room on the second floor, the edge of the ceiling, with a thickness of 101 millimeters and a height of 1.8 meters, is recognized as a single endless line, which makes it look like a large horizon.”

Building codes in many countries would at least require a safety railing around the opening, eliminating the ability to sit at the edge, but it’s still doable. The elliptical opening gives the home some visual interest by incorporating a rounded shape within an otherwise rectilinear box, but it always avoids overpowering the rest of the space.

The post Japanese Home Renovation Features Elliptical Cutout Mezzanine first appeared on Dornob.

Freestanding offices, studios, guest quarters, playrooms, and other structures can add a lot of functionality to your property with a surprisingly small amount of work. Prefabricated options are almost instantaneous, especially if they aren’t hooked up to utilities. If you’re really handy, backyard additions are often small enough to DIY, or you can hire an architect to come up with something a little more robust. But the best part about designing these small structures is the chance to think outside the box.

With “Herald Garden Studio,” a multipurpose backyard addition in Wellington, New Zealand, Parsonson Architects demonstrates how fun it can be to experiment a little bit with visuals and materials. And hey, as long as you aren’t violating any local ordinances, why not break out beyond conventional aesthetics and bring in some elements that contrast with your existing home?

The architects began with the small two bedroom Victorian cottage house occupied by the clients: a couple and their two young sons. They knew immediately that trying to add onto this compact home would run the risk of dwarfing it, and that it was already feeling a bit cramped by close neighbors on either side. What the property did have going for it, however, was a long and narrow backyard. The property measures 243 square meters (2,616 square feet), with just enough room to leave a small outdoor space between the home and an addition.

The new garden studio feels fresh and contemporary without creating too much visual tension with its surroundings, thanks in large part to the materials chosen to build it. A shed-style roof creates an interesting angle for the front, as amplified by the frame of its covered porch. Using transparent corrugated plastic roof panels, the architects created a protected space that still lets in plenty of light. Two oversized glass doors swing out to welcome guests, facilitating an easy transition between indoors and out. Multiple complementary tones of warm wood add to the studio’s cozy feel.

The design team explains that “the new studio is designed to provide flexible additional space such as catering for children’s play, as a place for a peaceful retreat, study, or overflow accommodation. Whilst it is separate from the house at the end of the rear yard, it is visually connected and linked by sheltered outdoor space. The main space of the studio faces north, with a bathroom and storage area at the rear and a mezzanine sleeping/play/storage area above. The studio sits above the ground on timber piles, with a deck extending northwards back towards the house. The deck is cut around an existing olive tree on the Westside.”

“Both the deck, pergola, and the main interior space have been conceived as one triangulated structure, stitching together the spaces and reinforcing the interior-exterior connection, while relating to the delicacy of the surrounding vegetation. Materials are unadorned and raw but carefully assembled.”

While the budget isn’t specified, it’s not hard to imagine pulling something like this off at a modest expense, especially if you reclaim materials like windows and doors at a local building supply resale shop.

The post Angular Backyard Office Adds Space to a Victorian Cottage House first appeared on Dornob.

Climate control is an expensive component in relation to the infrastructure of classrooms, art studios, and exhibition halls. Most of these institutions spend a pretty penny maintaining the temperature within their confines as a way to protect the pieces and provide comfort for the artists. But one vintage warehouse in Los Angeles has implemented a sustainable way to protect the art and lower the carbon footprint, all while aiming for a prestigious LEED certification.

Once a 21,200-square-foot industrial wallpaper factory, the building now houses the Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studio, a UCLA-based gallery and art center where students study art, architecture, and design. In September, the now 48,000-square-foot campus held a grand opening to reveal all the renovations that had been made to the space.

Designed by Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee and led by architect Sharon Johnston, the updated campus is now open for classes beginning with fall term 2019. It boasts 42 different studios and labs where students can focus on computer-aided graphics, ceramics, photography, and more. The upstairs houses a studio apartment loft for the live-in artist’s residence. The designers planned the area to allow for both personal work space and public spaces where art can be shared and evaluated by others.

With sustainability in mind, the architects also designed the campus to be LEED Gold certified — a certification that recognizes materials and projects aimed at energy savings, water efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources, and sensitivity to their impacts.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally-recognized independent green building verification organization. A gold certification means that the building’s design has earned high marks for efficient use of resources and a healthier environment for residents.

In the case of UCLA’s Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, that meant using passive means instead of energy-consumptive technology. To achieve this goal, “innovative building systems and elemental materials [were] distilled towards a holistic and efficient structure rather than adding layers of sustainable technology.”

Starting with the exterior walls, the architects replaced the original materials with concrete, finishing them with a special technique that eliminates the need for waterproofing and insulation, and leaves a very small construction footprint, to boot. On the inside, workshops are basically open-air courtyards that allow for natural airflow under the protection of the structure. Relying on the temperate weather of southern California minimizes the need for expensive and consumptive heating and cooling systems.

The campus project was funded by alumni Margo Leavin in 2016. Her $20 million gift provided the means to not only develop a program in her vision, but also to place it on a campus that encompasses a view of both sustainable schooling and art production.

Leavin said in a recent statement: “I’m grateful that my career in the Los Angeles art world has afforded me the opportunity to support those at the very heart of this community: artists. The students, alumni, and faculty from the art department at UCLA shape the future of the arts in Los Angeles and beyond. It would be my wish that others who are passionate about the future of the arts — especially other women who have enjoyed professional success — will join me in harnessing their resources to benefit those who are still developing their creative practices. We need to remember that without artists, there would be no art world.”

The post UCLA’s New Graduate Art Studio Stresses the Importance of Sustainable Schools first appeared on Dornob.

Social media “fitness influencers” make everything look easy, from performing circus-worthy yoga poses to dawning fresh faces after grueling workouts. But Instagram-perfect shots aren’t always what they seem, and some of them perpetuate unrealistic ideals of health and fitness. Still, it’s not hard to see why many people find them inspiring.

Naturally, the Insta-famous (and those who aspire to be them) are always looking for supremely photogenic places to work out, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s all about looks and selfies. You might not think the setting has much to do with the quality of the exercise, but if a beautiful studio helps motivate you to stick to your routine, it’s probably worth seeking out.

Among the most visually striking fitness studios in Los Angeles is Paris Pilates, which is every bit as chic as it sounds, despite all the sweat. While many other boutique fitness facilities find a cool, relaxing minimalist vibe most appealing, Paris Pilates takes things in a slightly more Baroque direction, all the while remaining just as effortless as the stereotypical fashionable French woman.

From the moment you step in the door, this pilates studio has the feel of a shop on the Champs Elysées or Rue Saint-Honoré. Set in a bright modern space on Sunset Boulevard, it gets much of its immediate impact from its color palette, which includes Paris Pink and Chalky White from Portola LA on the ceiling and walls, respectively, as well as white oak, brass details, and a striking deep blue-green accent wall behind the lobby desk.

Oversized mirrors with scrolled, gilded frames lean against a wall behind the machines, while a neon logo captures the mood of the city after dark. Outside, a mural reads “Let them do Pilates.” Somehow, even the pilates machines arranged on the chevron hardwood floors have a sort of casual elegance to them.

Paris Pilates creative director Jenny Williams is the multitalented mastermind behind the aesthetics of the space, taking inspiration from summers spent in the city, where she picked up on some essential style elements that are distinctly French.

She explains: “I was in Paris and after a long walk near the Seine, I rested for a glowy evening picnic. I dreamt what I wanted to bring back to LA. I wanted the feeling of French flair, of French carefree elegance, and feminine strength. I wanted a place that would transport me to Paris everyday. A place that had beautiful creaky floors like my apartment in the Marais, wooden beam ceilings painted a soothing color, modern lighting, and gilt mirrors.”

“I wanted to hear the music I heard when I was eating at my favorite restos or at the discotheque in Pigalle and feel my body move in a rhythmic pattern on the Reformer. A true experience-based environment was born. A story for the senses. We have equipped the studio with all you need to take a beautiful class, be inspired, dream of design, buy a French pharmacie favorite, and take home a souvenir.”

The results are intentional without being overly precious. They’re not the sort of self-conscious stylings you often see in contemporary businesses that are trying a little too hard to attract the Instagram crowd, like backdrops with a self-promoting hashtag painted onto them.

As you may have already guessed, you can check out more photos of the space on the pilates studio’s Instagram page.

The post Chic L.A. Fitness Studio Paris Pilates is Intentionally Instagram-Worthy first appeared on Dornob.

A sort of futuristic floating treehouse hangs among artificial steel trees in a striking sculptural canopy at the Maison de l’Ecriture in Switzerland. Phoenix-based architecture firm Blank Studio envisions the ‘House of Writing,’ a small residence promoting and encouraging literary creativity. The dramatic structure looks out over the Alps, a lake and the surrounding countryside.

Designed in response to a competition sponsored by the Jan Michalski Foundation, a Swiss prize for literature, the writer’s studio nestles within an existing complex of steel pilots under an organically patterned canopy.

Within this canopy are scattered cabins which “‘left up their feet so as not to trample upon the garden,'” explains the architect of the Maison, Vincent Mangeat. “Writers who love solitude will find spaces for life and work. In all sorts of other places, they will find spaces for exchanges and for sharing life… with this, we believe that we have created a space that offers the ideal ‘climate for writing’ that Jan and Vera Michalski dreamed of as being central to the project.”

Blank Studio’s design includes a writer’s loft on the uppermost level to take advantage of the soaring views, and a lace-like stainless steel skin around indoor/outdoor spaces that collect and disperse the available daylight. The inside is lined with bleached birch wood and black-stained oak.

“Blank studio was invited to participate in this competition to design of a small residence or cabin to promote and encourage literary creativity. The residence is  suspended high above the ground by cables from an existing, open-weave concrete canopy to afford views to the Alps, the lake, and the surrounding countryside of western Switzerland. The dwelling would be for short-term stays, anywhere from one month to one year, giving the writer full access to the large adjacent library, auditorium, exhibition areas, and communal dining. “

“The proposal is a lean, glassy structure that is divided into three levels. The lowest level is for entry, food preparation and dining, and for entertaining guests. The center of the building is an open, thoughtful space, bordered by stairs that access the sleeping area on the next level, and ascend to the uppermost level where the writer’s loft is located, affording prominent, elevated views of the countryside. Internally, the residence is lined with bleached birch wood on the walls and ceilings, and black-stained oak for the floors and stairs. To respond to the existing buildings use of white concrete, we propose wrapping the building in a satin-etched, translucent glass and satin-finished, stainless steel to softly collect and disperse the available daylight.”

The post Futuristic Floating Writing Studio first appeared on Dornob.

If this warm three-story building rendered in tones of mud and clay presents an aura of awe and reverence, there’s good reason for it. Architect Mauricio Rocha is the son of client Graciela Iturbide and architect Manuel Rocha Díaz, and he created this stunning studio in tribute to his mother. Its rich tones and surfaces act as a loving backdrop for Iturbide’s photography, contrasting beautifully with all of the lush greenery planted and potted within its walls.

While the studio is certainly a wonder, the bricks themselves are undeniably the stars of the show. Though the building reaches higher than others on the block, it remains grounded thanks to its connection to the earth through these materials. The way they’re arranged, they become artistic tools facilitating a private sanctuary infused with character, daylight, and cooling breezes.

A contemporary expression of vernacular Mexican architecture, this kind of open brickwork has become a creative way to add both personality and breathability to building projects. The bricks might be latticed, as seen here, or arranged in sculptural, almost mural-like patterns, with segments twisting and turning to create shapes within what would otherwise be blank facades.

Architects Rocha and Carrillo explain that their primary objective, other than fulfilling Iturbide’s desires for a light-filled indoor-outdoor space protected from the sun, was the pursuit of emptiness. As they put it, their projects set out to “translate the traditions and materials of the places in which [they] operate in a contemporary way, not through fashionable forms or fireworks, but with silence, space, and the experience of emptiness.”

“In our case, the void is a perfect space for various things. It is a space offered to users in a free way, but also the ideal place to test the potential of natural light in relation to architecture. Across the hours of the day, the shadows and nuances change; in emptiness, all of this becomes more vivid.”

The studio is located just a few steps from the artist’s house and contains three interior planes of wood, concrete, and marble, all possessing a similar gravitas as that of the brick. The architects see it simultaneously as a “sieve” thanks to its porosity and a “solid piece of clay that deconstructs before its own materiality.”

“A work that above all sought silence, synthesis, continuous, repetitive, and almost obsessive use of a single material. A strategic use of the ‘form’ and proportions to make the concrete disappear from the structure and become almost self-supporting. A work that seeks to be mass and emptiness, an ethereal volume that disappears with light and shadow; that it ceases to be, so that the powerful atmosphere that transpires this woman that we so admire inhabits it and makes it hers.”

The post Rich Red Brick Studio Built for a Mexican Icon first appeared on Dornob.

Aside from leaving behind a host of incredibly influential public buildings, Le Corbusier also designed a number of private residences, including his own home in Paris, where he lived for over 30 years. The apartment is located in Immeuble Molitor: a 1930s apartment building also designed by the architect in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement. The building was very innovative for its time, marking one of the first structures in the world to have an entirely glazed facade and use skylights and walls of glass blocks to allow natural light into its interiors.

The building was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, and ever since then, Le Corbusier’s personal apartment has been undergoing extensive renovation work with the hope of one day reopening its doors to the public.

Luckily for us all, that day has finally come. The apartment has been restored by the Fondation Le Corbusier: an organization that maintains the architect’s archive of artworks, writings, furniture designs, and architecture. Occupying the entirety of Immeuble Molitor’s seventh and eighth floors, the unit has been returned its original condition to allow visitors a window into the way Le Corbusier would have lived at the height of the 20th century.

The apartment embodies many of the starchitect’s tenets of good architecture, one of the most prominent of which being the facilitation of bright, airy spaces. This can be appreciated in both the unit’s views of the surrounding city and the fact that it is widely considered to be a precursor to Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse (The Radiant City) project, which itself focused on improving the living conditions of Paris’ urban dwellers.

Much of the apartment was based on the style and atmosphere of an ocean liner, including the bedroom, which boasts blocks of color along its walls and curved surfaces inspired by the Art Deco nature of most mid-1900s cruise ships. Like most of the other units in the building, Le Corbusier gave his own home an open plan design, effectively allowing himself (and his neighbors) to divide the interiors up as he saw fit. Open plan designs also conform to the idea of flexibility, which comprised yet another part of Le Corbusier’s architectural ethos.

While the renovation was carried out by the foundation, it was overseen by architect Francois Chatillon, who specializes in 20th-century buildings, paint expert Marie-Odile Hubert, and furniture company Cassina. This team set about matching all of the elements of the apartment to what they had been before, ultimately recreating the sense of opulent minimalism that pervades so many of Le Corbusier’s structures. One of the highlights of the restoration is Le Corbusier’s studio, which features built-in storage and a curving wall of glass blocks over a fitted studio desk.

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SOLO Arquitetos, an architecture firm based in Curitiba, Brazil, was founded in 2015 by six architects who had previously collaborated on independent projects for architectural competitions. Most recently, they designed and built a new studio for themselves, reflecting their consummate creativity in a space that perfectly combines comfort, practicality, and tranquility.

The Perfect Palette

Equipped with a set of impressive floor-to-ceiling windows, this fourth-story studio is constantly being washed in natural light, simultaneously soaking in views of the charming tree-lined street below. Simple plywood shelves serve as room dividers, with several openings being left in them to promote the open exchange of ideas and basic communication. Window frames and other décor accents are painted yellow and green to enhance the space’s natural brightness.

From the onset of the project, the architects knew that they wanted to respect the unit’s original design while working in a few of their own touches to reflect a gentle, natural sense of coziness. A spokesperson for the group explains: “In a sense, our office is also our home. It is the result of a process, a story, and personal reflection of six young architects.”

Open Space, Open Minds

On a larger scale, the studio consists of a foyer and reception desk, an area for personal workstations, a large meeting room, two restrooms, and a small kitchen. Instead of creating traditional blueprints and specs for the renovation, the SOLO team decided to go with the flow, creating and designing as they went along so as to facilitate the fusion of new ideas and existing components.

The group concurs: “The construction of our space results from several conditioning factors and pleasant coincidences. We did not make a detailed and delimited project for the office, [nor did we] propose any kind of skin between the main spaces in order to propose a wide and free work atmosphere. Even the meeting room is segregated by a dividing and glazed shelf, promoting visual communication between spaces.”

Delectable Details

The design’s appealing character sprung from the studio’s original dark parquet flooring, which itself is made from Brazilian Walnut. It ended up being the perfect complement for the new space’s natural brightness, creating a sense of innate balance all throughout.

Pillars add old world charm to the space while a white brick wall provides the perfect canvas for a sprinkling of framed abstract art. Pendant green lights made of metal hang down from the ceiling in front of this wall to illuminate the work below, reminiscent of the fixtures found in old barns. The green of these lights helps connect the space to both the deep green outdoor foliage outside and the healthy houseplants strategically placed throughout the studio.

Of course, the thing that really offsets all the studio’s design components is the plywood. Unlike more conventional lumber, the light color and variegated grains of the light yet sturdy plywood tie the space together in the drafting tables, storage room under the desks, and shelving units.

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But even if you’re yearning for a backyard office pod of your very own, space can be a major issue. For one family in New South Wales, Australia, the only available outdoor area was situated on a steep slope that climbed almost vertically to meet the adjoining yard of a neighbor, making it seem nearly impossible to build upon.

Tasked with designing a new addition, architect Matt Thitchener found himself up against all sorts of obstacles. First and foremost, the hillside slopes at roughly a 45-degree angle behind the family’s existing split-level home, so the new volume would have to be safely and securely supported without disturbing the site’s structural integrity. Second, all building materials would have to be lifted right over the home with a crane.

But for the clients, who primarily work from home, finding a way to use the slope would create some much-needed extra space while also taking advantage of some seriously picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean — so Thitchener was determined to find a solution that complemented the challenging landscape instead of clashing with it. The result is a simple, lightweight rectilinear volume clad in black steel placed at the very top of the slope, just under a retaining wall, preserving their hilltop neighbors’ views as well as their own sense of privacy.

The project’s difficult geotechnical conditions required substantial footings, Thitchener explains. Steel supports embedded into the rock allow the volume to cantilever off the edge of the slope in seeming defiance of gravity. “Clever design ensures a minimum of these footings and a reduction in cost by splitting the load into two paths down a cluster of piloti to the ground,” he says.

Capped with solar panels and accessible via a staircase that leads straight up from the back door of the main house, the new “North Avoca Studio” boasts a glazed facade and a glass-walled balcony to take in the vast sky and shimmering water through the treetops, gazing right over the rooftops of the surrounding coastal community.

Inside, the addition’s open-plan interior offers a mini living space of its own, complete with a kitchenette, bathroom, sitting area, and a long dining table. With views like this, it would be a waste not to have this lofted cube double as an extra living area. By day, it’s filled with natural light, with operable windows along one side allowing a cross breeze for natural ventilation.

Winner of the Colorbond Award for steel architecture, North Avoca Studio is a technical marvel, a testament to the architect’s creative vision and proof that sometimes you have more space to work with than you might think. Doesn’t it make you want to wander outside and evaluate your own yard for all the possibilities you’ve yet to consider?

The post Slope Too Steep to Build? Not for This Backyard Office Addition first appeared on Dornob.

Built by principal architect James Cutler for his own use, the outbuilding is located just down a damp, verdant trail from his home, on a tiny plot formerly occupied by an old tool shed. He tore it down himself and commissioned his 12-year-old daughter to help him lay the concrete foundation and build the framing out of rough-sawn Douglas firs from a local sawmill. In the beginning, he envisioned the cabin as a design studio for himself that could double as a bunkhouse for his daughter and her friends.

To this end, the studio is highly adaptable. Though it measures a mere 80 square feet, it enjoys a feeling of spaciousness aided by generous glazing and multiple fold-away surfaces built by a local craftsman. One of the platforms tucked into the rear of the structure functions as a bunk bed. The other is a long, narrow desk that runs along the front windows for tranquil and inspiring views of the woods beyond the glass. A wood stove perches atop built-in storage in one corner.

According to the architects, the bunk beds fold up on traction struts. When both the beds and the desks are folded, the room opens up, becoming a prime spot for Cutler’s poker nights. But one thing the architect didn’t anticipate during the building process was the fact that his whole family would end up using the cabin as a living room, trekking down the 30-foot walkway rain or shine to get there. The fact that they have to pass through the outdoors for access enhances the secluded feel of the building, as well as the family’s connection to the island setting.

Cutler left the interior framing lumber and exterior shiplap framing exposed for a rustic look, and placed “shingles” cut from Corten steel over rigid insulation to sheath it. The amber tones of the steel blend in with the warm, textural trunks of the cedar and madrone trees surrounding the structure.

The tiny cabin even acts as an off-grid getaway during power outages, which aren’t uncommon in this windswept setting outside Seattle. Cutler installed four kilowatts worth of batteries and an inverter behind the rolling file cabinets, which power the lights, television, and a small refrigerator.

For Cutler’s daughter, the ability to have sleepovers with friends in a private space separate from her parents is a preteen dream come true. Who among us wouldn’t want a multipurpose backyard studio like this for reading, napping, creating, and socializing?

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About This Clever Invention

The original Shotbox was released on Kickstarter in 2015 and consisted of a pop-up “micro-studio” that allowed people to adjust a set of high-powered LEDs to create the perfect lighting for their shoots. To this day, its inventors swear that their product yields quality images on absolutely any camera, whether it’s a high-end model or simply built into your smartphone. Shoot photos from the front and down through the top of the Shotbox for a variety of angles and lighting effects.

Shotbox’ compact size is undoubtedly one of its most convenient features. The studio measures a modest 14-and-a-quarter inches wide by 15 inches deep and 15 inches tall. Since the Shotbox is also collapsible, you’ll never have to worry about going through some huge ordeal when preparing it for a photo session. Just open it up, set it on a nearby table, and plug it in. Each Shotbox also comes with a waterproof mesh bag to make transporting it even safer and easier than it already is. To quote its designers, “The Shotbox is so simple to use that even your kids can do it.”

How it works

You’ve probably noticed that the Shotbox has a little bit of an unusual shape. As it turns out, the company deliberately decided to bend its walls inward, preferring the design over that of a traditional square box. Of course, these concave walls are much more than a talking point — they also serve a functional purpose. “The angles actually assist the light within the box to diffuse and balance,” the design team explains. “By providing more angles to bounce off and collide with, it creates softer lighting on the floor.” To further diminish the intensity of the LEDs, the company has lined some of the Shotbox’ interior panels with support ribbing.

What sets the 2.0 model apart from its predecessor is its ability to work with add-on background and floor panels, which people can use to add some variety to their shots. The company’s standard backdrop kit includes four colors: black, white, green and blue.

The Shotbox staff claims that they are always working on new accessories for their pop-up light studio, so consider the 2.0 another step in an ongoing work in progress. In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait and see what the company “develops” next.

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