Hasta La Ideas

Swedish designers Marcus Abrahamsson Kristoffer Fagerström have created this bench with a seat made of stacked pine batons for outdoor furniture brand Nola.

Called Pylon, the design features a folded metal base that branches to support the coloured slats.

Abrahamsson originally designed the bench in untreated pine for the cafe area at Konstfack University College, where he graduated in 2009.

The project was exhibited at Stockholm Furniture Fair, took place 8-12 February 2011. See all our coverage of the event »

Here are some more details from Nola:

Pylon

Designed by Marcus Abrahamsson and Kristoffer Fagerström

This sleek seat is based on a traditional bench shape, which has been dramatically transformed into a strikingly futuristic design. Taking inspiration from the pylons towers that support power lines, the designers constructed the base of the bench from twin uprights that anchor the seat the floor. Two layers of thick pine slats are glued together to form the seat, which is gripped between the upper reaches of the base supports. Pylon is a perfect complement to high-design interiors and cutting-edge architecture, or any setting where design takes centre stage. A one-seater version is also available.

See also:

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Bench by Raw Edges for Bench 10	Bench by Richard Shed for Bench 10	Kiwa bench by Hyung Suk Cho

Norwegian architects RRA have completed this wood-clad nursery school in Oslo, Norway.

Called Fagerborg Kindergarten, the project features four classrooms that can either be combined or operate separately.

One end of the building is undercut and cantilevers out to shelter the entrances below.

The interior is clad in wood with colourful staircases leading to administrative areas on the upper floors.

More buildings for education on Dezeen »

The information that follows is from the architects:

RRA has been involved in designing a new kindergarten for Fagerborg Congregation in central Oslo. The kindergarten offers 2 units for children between 1-3 years old and 2 units for children between 3-6 years old.

Gross building area is around 1000m2.

There are many cultural heritage guidelines to be considered in the project site. The area is characterised by residential buildings from 1900-1950. As a requirement from the local authority, the kindergarten is to have a contemporary expression.

With its location in the middle of a small city park, the kindergarten has an outdoor area that is protected like an enclosed garden.

The planning solution enables the 4 kindergarten units to function both independently and together as required. All units share a common area and a kitchen in the heart of the building. Administration is placed on the upper floor separate from children areas.

FAGERBORG KINDERGARDEN
Location: Fagerborg, Oslo
Program: Kindergarden
Client: Fagerborg Congregation
Size: 1000 m2
Commission type: Direct commission (2003)
Status: Built

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Tellus Nursery School by Tham & Videgård	Kindergarten Sighartstein by Kadawittfeldarchitektur	Kindergarten in Granada by Solinas + Verd Arquitectos

Four sustainably-made playthings that teach more than fun

Automoblox

An update to classic wooden cars, Automoblox double as imaginative educational tools for car enthusiasts big and small. The modular vehicles ignite creative thinking and cognitive learning by mixing and matching the “building block” components, which fit together like puzzles for open-ended play and teach visuospatial processing in the process.

Made from renewable European beech, premium polycarbonate roofs, tires and connectors in bright colors accent the natural material beautifully. Each year Automoblox adds a new range of classic toy cars to their collection, which now spans hot rods to sport utility vehicles. Cars sell online from Automoblox, with prices ranging from $10-120.

Early Rider

Designed to teach bike riding without training wheels, the Early Rider series is the upshot of a parent frustrated by the lack of options on the market. The three styles—Lite, Classic and Evolution—each cater to a little one’s body size and practical capabilities, beginning with a bike for someone at 20 months to finally a five-year-old. With simple, easy-to-repair design, the solid birch bikes are likely to be passed on for generations. Available in natural as well as pink or blue, prices span $160-200 and sell from
local dealers and online from Early Rider to countries around the world.

Wishbone Bikes

Like Early Rider, Wishbone is a parent-driven idea—in this case, dreamed up by a couple who wanted to provide their children with an exciting reason to spend time outdoors. After prototyping the bikes in an NYC bathroom, the design duo relocated to New Zealand, where they continue to pursue their sustainable project. The bikes are actually a 3-in-1 system, taking the ride from a tricycle style to a bicycle, with a two-wheel “balance bike” in between. Made from kiln-dried, preservative-free birch and ash, the bikes sell online for $230 from Wishbone.

Walachia

Czech-based Walachia creates wooden hobby kits for kids (or adults) to construct their dream building using a Jenga-like design. Like next-generation Lincoln Logs, the quality kits up imagination and education factors with complex designs and real wood blocks of different lengths. With many kits to choose from, including castles, windmills and classic log homes, the challenge can span 100-600 logs. Walachia sells online from Amazon and a host of specialty toy stores, with prices starting at $20 for simpler models and going up to $250.

Architect Carlos Barba of French studio AR+TE Architectes has completed this nursery school with an undulating roof in Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, France.

Called Le Petit Prince Nursery School, the building features curved, wood-panelled walls and a sloping green roof.

Photographs are courtesy of the architects.

See also: Tellus Nursery School by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter.

More buildings for education on Dezeen »

More architecture on Dezeen »

Here’s some more information from Barba in French:

EXTENSION ET RESTRUCTURATION DU CENTRE MULTI-ACCUEIL « LE PETIT PRINCE » A SAINT-NOM-LA-BRETECHE (YVELINES)

« …un serpent boa qui digérait un éléphant… »
à Antoine de Saint-Exupéry… quand il était petit garçon.
…Mon dessin ne représentait pas un chapeau.
Il représentait un serpent boa qui digérait un éléphant… Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Extension d’un centre multi-accueil de 60 berceaux avec auvent extérieur. Le centre multi accueil (crèche de 40+20 berceaux) est un équipement existant construit dans un secteur d’équipements publics entourés d’un quartier résidentiel à caractère pavillonnaire.

Le projet d’extension est construit tout en conservant le caractère très arboré en fond de parcelle.

Afin d’insérer le bâtiment dans une démarche environnementale, la structure, la couverture et le bardage sont entièrement constituées des éléments en bois.

Bien que la structure est en bois, la forme arrondie générale du bâtiment est « née » de la volonté de représenter « …un serpent boa qui digérait un éléphant …».

Cette analogie fait allusion aux récits de la célèbre histoire « Le Petit Prince » en rendant hommage à Antoine de Saint-Exupéry… quant il était petit garçon.

Les trois composants du programme (espace d’activités, espace repos grands et espace repos moyens sont unifiés par une seule toiture à couverture végétalisée faisant un tout.

La toiture bien qu’en pente, est réalisée avec un complexe végétal pour renforcer la performance et le confort thermique en hiver comme en été par inertie thermique.

Quand à la façade, le bardage à clair voie est posé à la verticale compte tenu de la forme adoucie. La couverture est réalisée avec des très grands panneaux en bois massif contrecollés de type BSS de chez « Binderholz ».

Afin de répondre à la demande de réaliser un bâtiment durable avec une consommation énergétique raisonnable et dans une durée de chantier très courte (trois mois concernant l’extension en bois), la structure du bâtiment a été entièrement réalisée en usine et les murs à ossature bois y compris le complexe d’isolation et protection pluie et vapeur ont été assemblés en usine et montés en trois jours.

Le bardage en douglas ne nécessite aucun entretient et la pose est en claire voie suivant un système mathématique simple qui à la fin donne l’impression d’une pose aléatoire.

Cette méthodologie de pose a été spécialement conçue pour ce bâtiment avec un objectif pédagogique pour développer l’éveil des enfants.

Fonctionnalité, rationalité et espaces ludiques sont en harmonie avec le traitement du couronnement du bâtiment, celui-ci représente un élan dans le dynamisme de l’éveil des enfants.

Maître d’ouvrage: VILLE DE SAINT-NOM-LA-BRETECHE
Surface: 158 m² SHON.,193 m² SHOB.
Montant de travaux de construction: 405 000 € H.T.

Architecte mandataire: CARLOS BARBA AR+TE, ARchitecture + TErritoire (Paris)
Architecte co-traitant: JUAN NIETO PARRA, (Paris)
BET & économiste: CTC (Versailles)
Bureau de contrôle: DEKRA (Trappes)
SPS: QUALICONSULT (St Quentin en Yvelynes)

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Tellus Nursery School by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter	Ajurinmäki Daycare Center by AFKS	Canteen at primary school no1 by Cadilhe & Fontoura

Digitally sensuous architecture in two of Alex Haw’s residential staircase projects

Architect Alex Haw of Atmos may not be the first to use digital tools to craft seductively curving forms, but his recent staircase installations in two London abodes might be the most transformative. Each plays off each owner’s interests to create organic asymmetrical forms that lend sensual drama to the spaces.

For a gardener’s house Haw came up with a series of growing sculptural spaces that move seamlessly from exterior to interior, like the serpentine branches of a tree. Delicate branches flow throughout the house in an beautiful arts-and-craft style, albeit using modern technology to realize these complex forms.

Describing the ornate process, Haw explains “The stair was entirely digitally fabricated using an intricate set of simply-cut but highly-detailed flat-pack elements, CNC-carving sheets of MDF and oak directly from our drawings.” To make “elements that perfectly slot together like an architectural jigsaw,” he and his team engraved “depths to further split structural strands into ever-finer lineaments.”

The architect calls the structure a “sensualscape,” citing the client’s lifestyle and passion for plants as direct inspiration. “Our use of the garden as prime architectural generator tries to capture our clients’ brilliant energy and to formulate this essence into built form and lived space, weaving a seamless landscape around the passage of light and the movement of its inhabitants.”

Making a spectacular case for the staircase as an opportunity for playful architectural and sculptural form, the structure at the Woven Nest apartment in North London brings beautifully simple contours to the home. The owners—an actress and musician—clearly embraced the expressive and sinuous Atmos style, at once decorative and minimalist, while always full of movement.

Haw, a lover of florid prose as much as spaces, describes the central open stairs as having, “timber strands growing upwards towards the light, and unleashing delicate tendrils to frame each step—a single thin metallic line dancing across their lines to offer the lightest of additional support to the hands that seek it.”

Atmos’ work, pulsing with life, pushes this exciting new architecture, drawing as much from structural exploration and the use of technology as from close human relationships and behaviors.