Hasta La Ideas

Bobbin is a playful multi-functional piece of furniture! Use it as a stool in your entrance, bedside table, for your children’s toys, a couple o..

Photo by Ozier Muhammad for The New York Times

Cliché though it may be, it’s hard not to describe it as anything less than a gift that keeps on giving: still from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, a Long Island waterfront community has united to upcycle some 3,000 Christmas trees as an ad hoc solution in the interest of rebuilding protective sand dunes. Several Long Beach residents proposed the solution, which was approved by city officials and implemented by volunteers last weekend. Per the New York Times:

Healthy sand dunes are the first line of defense for coastal towns during storms because they keep the ocean from invading backyards and basements. But sand alone is not enough. An anchor, often naturally growing grasses, is needed to prevent the sand from blowing or washing away.

But the grasses cannot grow without a significant accumulation of sand, and in Long Beach these days there simply is not enough. That is where the Christmas trees come in.

“The trees act in place of natural plant growth,” said Charlie Peek, a spokesman for the parks service in North Carolina, which has been using Christmas trees to spur dune revival for years. “It gives it a little head start, a little bit of a helping hand. In an ideal situation, the plant growth comes in after it and starts building a natural dune.”

The method is not uncommon, particularly in areas like the Carolinas and Florida that are prone to hurricanes. It can take two to three years for dunes to become fully re-established after a major storm.

The commendable community effort is an uncanny echo of an art installation from almost exactly a year ago to date, Klara Lidén’s widely acclaimed Pretty Vacant at Reena Spaulings, a second-floor gallery space that happens to be above one of my regular dim sum spots. The main attraction of the solo exhibition, “S.A.D.” (after the mood disorder), consisted of a medium-sized room filled with a faux forest of some 80 discarded but otherwise intact Christmas trees. New York Magazine‘s Jerry Saltz nicely captured the redolent sentiment of the installation.

Immediately inside, you’re confronted with the startling sight of a space filled with discarded Christmas trees, all scooped up from the sidewalks of New York by Liden and her cohorts. A disruption of the senses comes, thoughts of the Brothers Grimm, the foreboding of forests, inchoate uneasiness. You see only a few feet in front of you. Still, there’s space enough between the trees to proceed. Make your own way in, push trees aside, slide through…

Unlike almost all artists who fill a gallery with one thing, be it glass jars, wooden beams, or cotton bales—a trope so worn-out it should be banned—Liden places a leather couch in the center of the room. It churns up everything, getting you to stop, look, listen, smell, and maybe shudder.

Photo by Michelle Feffer for NY Mag

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Now that the winter months are in full swing, this is a great time to sort through some of your winter gear. There’s likely to be a few items that you use a lot along with others that you hardly use anymore. Get everyone who lives in your home involved (if possible) so that they can select their favorites and identify items that can be donated to charity.

As you go through each area of you home, remember to look inside closets, under bed storage bins, the attic, the basement, your garage or shed, and any other areas that the following items may be hiding:

• Coats and jackets. Chances are, you reach for the same one or two pieces of outerwear all the time. And, that’s okay. We all have our favorites. Consider donating the ones that no longer fit (or that you don’t like) to One Warm Coat or a local homeless shelter or another charity wanting outerwear. Winter is the best time to donate these items so they can be used.
• Hats, scarves, and gloves. If they don’t fit you anymore (whether in size or style), it’s time to pass on your hats and other winter accessories to others who will put them to good use. Check for winter clothing drives hosted by schools, community centers, or houses of worship in your neighborhood.
• Footwear. Consider donating the boots you no longer wear to Goodwill or Soles4Souls. Both organizations will accept shoes that are new or gently worn. If you have athletic shoes that are in disrepair, send them off to the Nike ReUse a Shoe program to be recycled.
• Sporting gear. If you have winter sports gear that you no longer want, participate in a ski swap to let go of your old winter sport gear (contact the ski resort you go to or local sporting goods shop). Your skis, sleds, snow boards, goggles, helmets, and other winter sport stuff that you no longer use can also be repurposed or recylced. Check out the recycling program at Snow Sport Industries of America, where items are disassembled and repurposed by other industries. Or, you can let Green Mountain Ski Furniture help you transform your old skis into something new, like tables, adirondack chairs, coat racks, and more. This might be a good option for junior skis.
• Blankets and sheets. You probably have a few blankets and flannel sheets that don’t fit the beds in your home that you can donate to a homeless, family, or pet shelter. Art for Humanity, located in Virginia, will allow you to drop off or mail used sheets (as well as towels and shoes) that are in good condition.
• Pet gear. Does your dog really love wearing that winter coat and matching boots? And, do you have enough room to store them? Check with your local veterinarian, SPCA, or animal rescue to see if they have a need for those items and other unused pet supplies.

Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99.

The next intake of architecture students at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia will be accommodated in modular student housing with stark concrete interiors (+ slideshow).

Designed by Spanish studios H Arquitectes and dataAE, the housing isn’t assigned exclusively to architecture students but it is located alongside the Vallès Architecture School in Barcelona.

The project comprises a pair of parallel two-storey blocks positioned either side of a central terrace. Both buildings sit in the lowest point of a sloping site, which allowed the architects to create ground-level entrances on both storeys with a series of first-floor bridges.

Each of the 57 rooms comes with its own kitchenette and small washroom, but otherwise the interiors are left bare and unpainted with exposed concrete ceiling beams overhead.

“From the beginning we decided to give the students an empty home,” Xavier Ros Majó of H Arquitectes told Dezeen. “We decided to use the structural concrete of the modules as a finished interior material, so no plaster and paint were used. We actually love that the architecture students will have the opportunity of designing their home, –inside at least.”

A single module was used for each rectangular room, even though the client favoured modules containing two or more L-shaped rooms. This means all modules can be individually removed, relocated or added to in the future, as the needs of the university change.

The exteriors of both buildings are clad with galvanised steel. The architects have also recently added a polycarbonate roof over the central terrace so that it can be used as a sheltered venue for school events.

H Arquitectes has been established in Barcelona for over ten years. Past projects include a school gym in Barberà del Vallès and a wooden house in Vacarisses. See more architecture by H Architectes.

See more architecture in Spain »

Photography is by Adrià Goula.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Here’s a project description from H Arquitectes:

The new dwelling house for university students is located in the same block as the Vallès Architecture School. The project proposed intends to keep its balance among the existing buildings, outside areas and the new dwelling house, which is formed from two parallel to street blocks layed out over two floors and separated by a central atrium.

Above: block plan – click above for larger image

For it is a dwelling house for architecture students, we have come up with a program that permits intense connections among the users both individual and group level, owing to the interior flexibility of the apartments and the potential use of the atrium as an event space.

Above: apartment plan – click above for larger image

The project banks on industrialized construction by using just one housing module type made of pre-formed concrete without partition walls. Each unit has just the necessary fixed elements, simplifying finishing and installations. Most of the components are installed and assembled by dry-build systems so every module and its finishing can be dismantled and reused or highly recyclable. The building is laid out over two floors in order to take advantage of the existing topography making accessible entrances without the need of using elevators and to reduce a 50 percent of square meters in corridors and stairs. The central atrium is covered in order to create an intermediate bioclimatic space that makes increase the energy efficiency of the building and, at the same time, economizes the building enclosure.

Above: apartment section – click above for larger image

The cycle of life analysis demonstrates that this project saves up to 50 percent the energy associated to construction materials and a 70 percent the energy demand in respect to standard buildings according to CTE regulations.

Above: site section – click above for larger image

Project: Student Housing (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
Situation: Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona.
Authors: H Arquitectes (David Lorente, Josep Ricart, Xavier Ros, Roger Tudó) dataAE (Claudi Aguiló, Albert Domingo)
Collaborators: Ana Tamayo, Toni Jimenez, Blai Cabrero, Montse Fornés, Carla Piñol, Anna Bonet, Montse Quiròs (H Arquitectes), ÀBAC enginyers, Societat Orgànica
Customer: UPC / UTE Compact Hàbit i Constructora d’Aro

Above: long site section – click above for larger image

Competition: 1st Prize
Year of realization: 2009-12
Surface constructed: 2.400 m2
Constructor: Constructora d’Aro

The post Student Housing in St. Cugat
by H Arquitectes and dataAE appeared first on Dezeen.

Etudiant à la Academy Of Fine Arts en Pologne, le créatif et designer Paul Marcinkowski a eu l’excellente idée de créer une infographie complète sous la forme d’un tatouage, le tout sur l’ensemble du corps. Une superbe idée très bien réalisée à découvrir en détails et en images, dans la suite de l’article.