Hasta La Ideas

Australian ad agency BMF has partnered with publisher Random House Australia to realise a nifty book donation charity campaign which turns the humble dust jacket into a pre-paid envelope…

BMF came up with the campaign, entitled Mailbooks For Good, as a way to make it super simple to donate books to The Footpath Library – a charity which provides books for homeless and disadvantaged Australians.

The idea is gloriously simple: once readers have finished a book sporting one of the specially designed dust jackets, they can simply remove said dust jacket, turn it inside out and wrap it back around the book at which point it becomes a perfectly fitting, pre-paid envelope. Et voila, the book is now ready to send direct to the charity for distribution:

The campaign works particularly well for The Footpath Library as they encourage the donation of books in good condition. “It’s important for our readers to receive books before they are old or broken,” says Sarah Garnett, founder of the charity. “When you don’t have very much, the gift of a beautiful book reminds you that you are connected to the world and that the world cares.”

Earlier this month Random House released several titles sporting Mailbooks For Good jackets in Sydney’s Gleebooks book shop, displayed in special point-of-sale shelves (as above) . The agency and charity hope to roll out the campaign internationally in the near future.

Find out more about the campaign at mailbooksforgood.com.

The April print issue of CR presents the work of three young animators and animation teams to watch. Plus, we go in search of illustrator John Hanna, test out the claims of a new app to have uncovered the secrets of viral ad success and see how visual communications can both help keep us safe and help us recover in hospital

Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.

Product news: Spanish studio Lievore Altherr Molina has designed a family of triangular tables and stools for Italian brand Arper.

The Ply collection comprises low tables and stools each made from a single plane of wood, which curves over from the bottom of one leg to the base of two others.

The tables are available in two different sizes and come in either red, black or a natural oak finish.

The stools come in three different heights, suitable for low tables, dining tables or bars. They are available in black or natural oak.

Arper will present the collection in Milan next month, where Tom Dixon is showing his Rough & Smooth collection and Citco will unveil an edition of marble tables by Zaha Hadid.

Lievore Altherr Molina has previously designed a number of other products for Arper, including the hourglass-shaped Saya chairs that were showcased at the launch of the brand’s London showroom in October last year.

See more stories about Milan 2013 »

The post Ply by Lievore Altherr Molina
for Arper appeared first on Dezeen.

Nail teeth..(Read…)

Focus sur l’ukrainien Mustang Wanted, un véritable casse-cou qui s’amuse à prendre la pose alors qu’il est suspendu en l’air à une hauteur vertigineuse. Des clichés très impressionnants et insolites autour de la série « Extreme Photography », à découvrir en images dans la suite de l’article.

Czech studio Stempel & Tesar has completed a house that looks likes it’s being swallowed up by the landscape (+ slideshow).

The family house is located in Český ráj, an 18,000-hectare nature reserve also known as Bohemian Paradise, and the house nestles against a hillside blanketed with grass.

Stempel & Tesar tunneled down into the landscape to make room for a sauna that had been requested by the client. “We decided to add a basement rather than increase the footprint of the house,” architect Jan Tesar told Dezeen. “It wasn’t too complicated to build because of the sloping site.”

The rest of the three-storey house is designed to reflect the traditional local vernacular, as planning conditions in the area are strict. Three elevations are clad with timber, while the fourth is covered with stone – a nod to the old Bohemian residences that also contained workshops or barns.

Design guidelines stipulated that no more than four windows could be added to each elevation, plus each one had to follow precise size and proportion guidelines. The architects got around this by designing large timber shutters, which slide across larger glazing panels on the north-east walls.

A steeply pitched roof oversails the walls and is clad with pre-weathered sheets of titanium-zinc.

Rooms inside the house follow a basic linear arrangement and are divided into two rows by a central corridor.

Other residences completed recently in the Czech Republic include a gabled lodge with a first-floor observatory. See more Czech architecture on Dezeen.

Photography is by Fotes.

Here’s a project description from Stempel & Tesar:

Cesky raj – Stempel & Tesar architekti

The opportunity to construct a family house in Cesky raj turned out to be a very pleasant and unique one right from the very first moment when we met the client.

Unique location adjacent to a wood with view opportunities to rocks and forests was constraint by very prescriptive and challenging planning restrictions applicable in the location in protected natural area.

The guidance documents from the authorities outlined the design meticulously: main windows must be of rectangular shape, long edge vertical, subdivided into glass panes, fixed window height ratio of 2:3 up to 4:5, the typical width of windows between 0.7-1.2m, the number of windows in the front wall between 2-4 etc. Many other building elements were prescribed with the same precision to the same level of detail.

Our design proposal originated from characteristics of local historic architecture, hence half of the house is made of stone and other half of timber, this duality derives from original division between dwelling and a workshop or a barn. Traditional open barn entrances with in/out passage inspired the high clearance glazing. These opportunities for vistas bring desired southern light into the interior while opening unique view at forests in the north and peaks of mountains.

A simple pitched roof covers the entire building volume. For roof material we selected weathered titanium-zinc sheets resisting severe weather conditions. The roof is in 45dg and the ridge is oriented parallel to the entrance as well as the main building axes.

Building volume of the house is very simple and uncomplicated therefore the final design is a pure form without any additional architectural element. The final form is very respectful to the traditional building forms in the area and originates from principles of local vernacular architecture.

Building plans extends from ground floor to the attic space right above, both used as dwelling. The house is used as a terraced house with the entrance located in the centre of the building volume.

Above: site plan

Client: private clients
Location of site: Cesky Raj, Czech Republic
Program: housing 198 sqm
Project by (firm name): Stempel & Tesar architects
Principal designer: Jan Stempel, Jan Tesar
Site area: 2715 sqm
Building footprint: 189 sqm
Design and construction: 2010-2012

Above: basement floor plan

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: cross section

The post Family house in Český ráj
by Stempel & Tesar appeared first on Dezeen.