To celebrate National Dog Day, Universal Pictures presents the first look at, A Dog’s Purpose, an upcoming 2017 family comedy film starring Josh Gad, Britt Robertson, Peggy Lipton, and Dennis Quaid. “Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose, from director Lasse Hallström, shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love.” In theaters on January 27th, 2017…(Read…)

This DIY 3d-printed wireless lantern by designer Jonathan Odom uses induction charging to let you take it anywhere. You can even make your own, here(on instructables).”This battery powered wireless charging lantern will glow for 1.5 hours on a single charge. It works with a handful of electronic parts and a USB charger. The USB cable plugs into the base, and the lamp sits on the base and charges through induction, which we’ll get into later. The lamp housing, charging base, and lens are all 3D printed on a desktop FDM printer.”..(Read…)

Rhode Island firm 3six0 has converted the garage of a family home to make room for an in-law residence adjacent to the main house (+ slideshow).

The architects had previously renovated the residence in 2011, so were familiar with the family’s needs and the project’s site.

An existing garage and tool shed were converted to house the extension, which was created for the one of the client’s elderly parents. The single-storey volume was previously connected to the main house.

Further west, a new garage was built, freeing up the front yard by diverting the driveway away from the main residence.

The result is a volume that branches off the house and is made up of three distinct massing elements.

“The wing is broken into three related yet distinct program masses – garage/tool shed, in-law residence, and home office,” said 3six0.

The architects aimed to establish a visual continuity between the existing house and new elements.

“Western red cedar linking elements bridge the gaps between the different masses and relate to the vocabulary of the main house,” they explained.

Between the new garage and in-law residence, a cedar wall creates a covered porch that allows residents to access both spaces.

The entrance leads into an open-plan living room and kitchen. This space is illuminated by a large southern-facing window.

“The location of the structure offered wonderful unobstructed views across the landscaped yard and down to the Pettaquamscutt River,” said the studio.

The window is framed by red cedar elements that create an overhang. This prevents overheating during the summer months, yet allows sunlight into the home during the winter.

A modest bedroom is located in the eastern portion of the extension.

Given the residents’ age, the entire addition complies with wheelchair accessibility standards. “The living spaces are ADA accessible, with no steps and rooms that are connected with wide pocket doors that are left open most of the time,” said the firm.

A clean material palette was chosen on the inside, with wooden floors and white surfaces throughout. The north wall of the living rooms features floor-to-ceiling maple shelving that houses the residents’ memorabilia.

“The interior was designed with simplicity in mind, for the homeowner’s parents to enjoy the rest of their years,” said the architects. “The space will also eventually be converted to a guest residence for visiting friends.”

Other facilities designed for elderly tenants include a cluster of white cubes in Portugal that turn red in case of emergency and a monochrome gabled structure in Paris.

Photography is by Bob O’Connor.

The post 3six0 creates living annex for elderly in-laws at Rhode Island home appeared first on Dezeen.

Core77’s editors spend time combing through the news so you don’t have to. Here’s a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks

Advanced technologies like VR can be quite isolating, sometimes making you feel as if you’re venturing further and further away from reality (I only tried Google Cardboard for the first time a few days ago and it completely tripped me up). On the other hand, these technological advances in some cases can make us feel even more in touch with our world. In celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, Google Arts & Culture has created a beautiful series of immersive HD and 360 degree films that give us a hyper-real, almost superhuman look at some of the best and brightest of America’s national parks.

—Allison Fonder, community manager

How Design Heals History

This recent profile of the life and work of Alabama-based lawyer and civil rights activist Bryan Stevenson is both moving and inspirational—his decades long dedication to bringing justice to prisoners on death row is unparalleled. But it is his most recent project to spark a public conversation around the history of lynchings and its legacy in the American South that highlights the way that design can be a poetic and powerful vehicle for reconciling our relationship with history.

—LinYee Yuan, managing editor

Remembering a Design Legend

This week we’re remembering designer, urban planner and editor Jane Thompson, who passed away on August 23rd. Thompson was the founding editor of Industrial Design magazine (later known asI.D.) and a strong advocate for women in the architecture and design fields. Her long career took many interesting turns, and as journalist Alexandra Lange points out in Architect magazine’s tribute, “Any one of her careers, as an editor, as a planner, and more recently as an advocate and historian, would have been enough to make her a legend.”

—Rebecca Veit, columnist, Designing Women

Instagram 20 Years Ago

Russian designer, Misha Petrick reimagined Instagram as a Windows 95 .exe program, and I couldn’t be more intrigued. #foodporn would not have been appealing 20 years ago…

—Emily Engle, editorial assistant

Global firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill used a restrained palette of concrete, steel and glass to create a new home for a photography museum in a once-derelict area of Manhattan (+ slideshow).

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. It formerly was housed in a two-storey space in Midtown Manhattan.

Its new home is located at the base of a residential building in the Lower East Side – a formerly rundown district that has gentrified in recent decades. Nearby buildings include the New Museum by Japanese studio SANAA and the Sperone Wastewater Gallery by British firm Foster + Partners.

SOM’s design enables the museum “to connect with the energy and dynamism of an emerging arts district on the Bowery,” the firm said, in reference to a main thoroughfare that stretches through the area.

“With a strong connection to the street and a dynamic sequence of exhibition spaces, the ICP Museum serves as a platform for the dialogue and public engagement that is central to the institution’s mission,” said Roger Duffy, an SOM design partner.

The front elevation consists of a glazed facade and glass canopy, with a gallery and cafe visible to passers-by.

The entrance door and windows are framed with thick stainless steel — a material that reflects the “craft and resilience” of the museum, along with the building’s context, which includes historic brick tenement buildings and restaurant supply stores.

In addition to the front gallery, the facility contains a large gallery in the rear and another exhibition area below ground.

Designed to be highly flexible, the galleries feature ceiling-mounted power grids that provide precise lighting. Concrete flooring and exposed ductwork give the facility an industrial feel.

“Left exposed and painted white, the ductwork works in concert with the concrete-finished structural columns to define the elemental experience of the museum,” said SOM.

“Through its organisation of space, material expression and minimalist sensibility, the design intensifies a sense of experimentation at this downtown arts venue,” the firm added.

For the inauguration of its new home, the museum is presenting an exhibition called Public, Private, Secret, which examines the notion of privacy in modern society and how self-identity is tied to public visibility. The show is on view through January 2017.

Other recent cultural projects in the US include a contemporary art museum in California by SO-IL and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and an African-American history and culture museum in Washington DC by David Adjaye.

Photography is by Saul Metnick, courtesy SOM.

The post SOM creates Minimalist home for New York’s International Center of Photography appeared first on Dezeen.