Découverte de ce petit automate en bois qui est destiné à imiter l’effet d’une goutte d’eau tombant sur une masse d’eau. La pièce a été créée par le designer britannique Dean O’Callaghan. Un objet « Water Imitated by a Wood Automaton » à la fois esthétique, et ludique à découvrir en détails en photos et vidéo.
Dans un hameau de Enneberg se trouve cette résidence du cabinet Pedevilla Architekten. Ces maisons sont réalisées en bois et en béton. L’intérieur et l’extérieur sont épurés et donnent un caractère à la fois contemporain et naturel. Une belle création en phase avec la nature à découvrir ci-dessous.
Belgian architect Karel Verstraeten has transformed an abandoned construction-site trailer into a quiet retreat at the end of a family garden in Ghent.
The clients bought the trailer from the local government for just €15 (about £12) and asked asked Karel Verstraeten to redesign it. “They thought of using it as a place to rest, play or study, for them and their two sons,” he said.
The trailer had previously been used as a temporary mobile office on a construction site and had to be towed to the site by a local farmer.
All the work was carried out by the family. They clad the trailer with strips of oak and added a metre-wide domed window to the far end to create submarine-like views of the surrounding fields.
The interior was stripped bare, before plywood was fixed over the walls, floor and ceiling. The junctions between these surfaces are curved, adding to the sense of enclosure.
Wooden runners were attached to the lengths of the walls at even intervals, on which planks of wood can be rested at the different heights. This flexible design allows the owners to create a desk, a low table or even a bed.
“The trailer can be arranged as a place to sleep as well as a place to study or party” added the architect.
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hideaway by Karel Verstraeten appeared first on Dezeen.
Le studio de design Néerlandais Mieke Meijer a conçu un espace de travail innovant : une fonction bureau, stockage et surtout, une fonction escalier. Fabriqué à la main à partir de chêne et d’acier noir, l’oeuvre est divisée en deux sections constituée d’étagères et d’un escalier reliant l’étage supérieur au rez de chaussée.
British studio Jonathan Tuckey Design worked with a small team and a tight budget to build this timber-lined gatehouse for a west London primary school.
The new gabled structure provides an activities centre and crèche at the entrance to Wilberforce Primary School in Westminster and is the first of two new buildings by Jonathan Tuckey Design.
Project architect Nic Howett subsumed the roles of quantity surveyor and project manager to keep costs down, working only with a local builder and a small team of engineers to construct the single-storey building.
“The project was coordinated by ourselves, proving that good education buildings can be built for little money without the need for bureaucratic processes, framework agreements and multiple consultants,” Howett told Dezeen.
“All that is really needed are designers with a good level of care and sensitivity to design,” he added. “This could be a model for the way small-scale education work is procured in the future.”
Built around a simple timber frame, the exterior of the building is clad with corrugated fibre-cement panels, while walls and ceilings inside feature a continuous plywood surface.
A long rear wall provides a pin-up area where pupils can show off their work. This sits opposite a wall of glazing that opens the space out to a narrow playground.
Three skylights puncture the roof to bring in both daylight and ventilation, contrasting with the building’s predecessor, which Howett says was a dark portakabin that needed artificial lighting all year around. “It really was quite a depressing space for kids to be in,” he explained.
For the next stage of the project, the architects will give the school a new entrance building and community centre.
Interior photography is by Dirk Lindner.
Here’s a project description from Jonathan Tuckey Design:
A new after-school activities centre and crèche for a City of Westminster primary school in West London.
Envisioned as a new gate-house for the school this project was designed with two ambitions in mind: to provide the school with much-needed additional space and to help the school engage with the wider community.
The first phase of the project, which includes an activities centre and crèche, is designed to inspire young minds through the provision of generous natural light combined with intriguing volumes and shapes throughout.
An entire wall is given over to displaying pupils’ work; another is fully glazed and, as a sliding wall, allows learning and play to take place both inside and out. Materials were selected to deliver a completed building for £1600/m2. Profile sheeting was used externally whilst inside a plywood interior that needed little finishing was fitted. Both were detailed to give these materials a finely finished appearance. The materials ground the Annexe firmly in the context of the site whilst providing Wilberforce Primary with a durable building.
“I was impressed by the extensive research they had done. They clearly understood the needs of the staff and users of the building, and this was reflected in the design which was not only fit for purpose, but also beautiful” – Angela Piddock, Wilberforce Primary Headteacher.
Sustainability
The building is primarily timber, consisting of a timber frame and clad internally with FSC and PEFC certified plywood from sustainable sources. Externally the building is clad in Marley Eternit fibre cement profile sheeting, which achieves an A+ rating in the BRE Green Guide. The resulting lightweight structure meant that minimum foundations were required. Forbo Marmoleum flooring was used which achieves a Cradle-to-Cradle silver certificate. Openable roof lights in the building allow for all spaces to be naturally lit and ventilated.
The second stage is to complete the new entrance building to the site which houses a community centre that will give the school a welcome and revitalised presence on the street. This work is on going.
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by Jonathan Tuckey Design appeared first on Dezeen.
This wooden home in Helsinki by Finnish architect Tuomas Siitonen has a roof that dips in the middle to allow views across it and a kinked plan that wraps around a secluded garden (+ slideshow).
Constructed on a sloping plot in the garden of a house occupied by the client’s parents, the building was designed by Siitonen to provide two separate apartments – one for a couple and their two children, and another for the children’s great-grandmother.
The ground floor contains an accessible apartment for the great-grandmother, while a larger apartment for the family occupies the two upper storeys.
“The brief was to design an inspiring and environmentally sensible house incorporating a separate flat for a grandmother, or for example to be used by one of the children in the future,” Siitonen told Dezeen.
The new house’s plan kinks to accommodate the contours of the site and to wrap around the garden it shares with the existing hundred-year-old property, increasing privacy while maintaining a connection with its neighbour.
On the other side, the building presents a closed facade to a nearby road and railway, while its height allows views from the upper floors and balcony.
“The plot was a north-facing slope, so I wanted to build something that rises up to provide light and views,” said Siitonen.
“The slope faces a busy road and a railway, which is why the house is more closed on that side and opens up towards the garden, making a small sheltering turn that follows the slope to make the terrace feel more intimate and to take the garden into the house.”
Siberian larch cladding covers the building’s exterior. It will turn grey over time and Siitonen said it was chosen to reflect the house’s natural setting.
As well as the accessible self-contained apartment, the ground floor contains utility areas and a sauna.
Upstairs is an open plan living and dining area incorporating a custom-made kitchen built from flamed birch.
Large windows look out onto a large wood-lined terrace perched among the treetops that can be heated by a fireplace that backs onto another one inside the living room.
Another staircase leads past windows that look out over the treetops to a mezzanine that is intended to give the space the feel of a treehouse, and on to the master bedroom housed in the loft.
Sustainability measures were a key part of the clients’ brief and informed the use of wood throughout the project and the use of a ground-sourced heat pump and underfloor heating that removes a need for radiators.
Exterior photography is by Tuomas Uusheimo. Interior photography is by Maija Luutonen.
Here’s a text about the project by Martta Louekari:
House M-M, Helsinki, Finland
Someone should pick the children up from day-care; the grandparents would appreciate a visit; who’d have time to cook and help with the homework? What if the whole family lived together, on the same plot, even under the same roof?
Actors Vilma Melasniemi and Juho Milonoff wanted a home where the entire family, including grand- parents and great-grandmother could spend their time together. They were looking for space for the family and friends to be together, but also for the chance for everyone to have some privacy and their own room. That way the grandparents could help with childcare and great-grandmother would have company and a feeling of security.
A place was found on the plot of mother Vilma’s parents’ home in Helsinki’s Oulunkylä. The location of the 100-year-old house – in a garden of apple and lilac trees with a steep north-facing slope – imposed its own demands on the design. What was wanted was a house that would be contemporary and yet homely and full of character, that would respect its surroundings and the site’s natural features but would still constitute a clearly self-contained whole.
The new home was designed with two apartments. The lower storey is a level-access studio-apartment for Vilma Melasniemi’s 91-year-old grandmother. The ground floor also includes sauna and utility spaces.
The 120 square-metre apartment upstairs is the home of Vilma Melasniemi and Juho Milonoff and their 8 and 11-year-old children. The upstairs is comprised of a large reception room and a kitchen, made to measure in flamed birch, that serve as the whole family’s living space. In the summer this extends effortlessly outdoors via a large terrace.
The three-storey building sits comfortably on the slope, the large windows bringing in the green outside and creating a feel of a tree house. The tree house-like atmosphere is enhanced by the loft space situated over the kitchen and the stairs leading to the master bedroom with its view over the tree tops. The exterior of Siberian larch changes with the seasons and will gradually turn grey.
Mother Vilma Melasniemi’s parents continue to live in their wooden villa on the same plot. Because the roof of the new building dips in the middle, it does not affect the familiar view from the villa to the rising slope across the plot. The footprint of the new-build follows the shape of the slope and creates a bend making the garden more intimate and shielding it from the public roadway.
One important consideration was the building’s ecological sustainability. Most of the building is made of wood. The building has floor heating coupled to ground-source heat so stand-alone radiators are not necessary. The energy needed for cooling in the summer also comes from ground-source heat. Because of its large south facing roof space, in the future it will also be possible to make good use of solar energy.
“The large windows bring light and warmth right into the house. The exterior doesn’t need maintenance and the open fireplace heats up with wood from our own plot. We travel to work and into town by train. We believe these are sustainable solutions. One good home in a lifetime is enough!” says Vilma Melasniemi.
Finland’s baby-boomer generations are ageing; a demographic peak of 65 to 74-year-olds is expected in 2020, and there is already a shortage of care-home places and staff. The working day is long and school-age children are often forced to spend afternoons either at after-school clubs or home alone. Well-designed models for multi-generational living and functional architecture can help meet these challenges in the future.
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wraps around a sheltered garden appeared first on Dezeen.
L’artiste Paul Kaptein basé en Australie crée ses œuvres en sculptant le bois à la main. Le travail de Kaptein est généralement figuratif, des représentations très réalistes de personnes souvent vêtues d’un pull à capuche. Des représentations spectaculaires en bois clair à découvrir sur Fubiz ci-dessous.
Japanese design studio Nendo has created a range of chairs with wood grain patterns printed onto natural timber for a forthcoming solo show in Milan.
Nendo‘s series features six chairs, each one mixing a different combination of wood and printed grain.
The Print-chairs feature two square wooden panels atop four legs connected by two pieces of interlocking metal. The simplicity of the design highlights the intricate series of patterns the Japanese studio has printed onto the seat and back rest of the chairs.
“We experimented with different degrees of combination,” said the designers. “For some seats we layered two different woodgrain patterns, and for others printed enlarged, abstracted woodgrain patterns onto the existing pattern.”
In one example, the studio printed an enlargement of a grain typically found in a single piece of wood onto one with a finer grain. The result is a distorted perspective with the viewer uncertain of which grain is indigenous to the wood and which has been superimposed.
In another instance, the team changed the angle of the original grain and printed it over the existing one.
“We also experimented with other materials, printing a marble pattern onto the wood,” said Nendo.
Nendo also experimented with colour in the series. In one chair, a pale palette typically found in woods such as pine and birch gradually fades into deeper shades such as those seen in mahogany and teak.
“Thanks to printing technology we could make fine adjustments like the scale, density and colours over and over, bringing out the charm and attraction of natural materials from a variety of angles,” Nendo said.
In perhaps the most extreme combination, Nendo created a chair out of chipboard and then printed a grain over the top.
The six chairs will be exhibited at the studio’s solo exhibition Works by Nendo at Via delle Erbe 2 in Milan’s Brera district, during the city’s design week in April.
Other items to feature in the show include glass furniture patterned with visible brush strokes.
Photographs are by Hiroshi Iwasaki.
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chairs that mix printed and natural grains appeared first on Dezeen.
This solitary wooden cottage on the Norwegian island of Vega was designed by Swedish studio Kolman Boye Architects to resemble the weather-beaten boathouses that are dotted along the island’s coastline (+ slideshow).
The traditional sheds, known as Naust, are common to Norway’s seaside towns and villages, so architects Erik Kolman Janouch and Victor Boye Julebäk decided to pay tribute by creating a small residence that resembles a pair of cabins.
“We have aimed to build a contemporary Naust with an unpretentious presence and a distinctive character, developing themes from the vernacular architecture,” they said, referencing the simple materials and gabled profiles.
Vega Cottage was built over the uneven terrain of a rocky outcrop near the coastline. “The site is distinctive for its grand and harsh northern landscape with wide panoramas of the Norwegian Sea and the jagged mountains rising from it,” said the architects.
A pathway leading to the entrance sits within a natural ravine, so as not to disturb views across the landscape. As a result, the house appears to be completely cut off from any other traces of civilisation.
The architects used pine to build the structure then added birch joinery details. Exterior walls are left exposed, while interior surfaces are painted white.
“The interior is kept subtle with a character of being hand-built, promoting tactile qualities and the attractive patina developed over time,” added Kolman Janouch and Boye Julebäk.
The largest space in the two-storey building is a family living room that occupies one half of the ground floor and features a stone fireplace.
Two oversized windows offer views out towards the ocean and the surrounding mountain range, while a door opens the space out a terrace flanked by two walls.
Other spaces on this floor include a lobby with a wall of storage. Bedrooms and smaller family rooms are located upstairs.
Photography is by Åke E:son Lindman.
Read on for the full description from Kolman Boye Architects:
Vega Cottage
The house stands on the island of Vega in the Norwegian archipelago not far from the polar circle. The site is distinctive for its grand and harsh northern landscape with wide panoramas of the Norwegian Sea and the jagged mountains rising from it.
Not far from the site, near the ocean shore, stands a group of traditional seaside huts, in Norwegian called Naust, whose forms and materials reflect many years’ experience of building in these conditions. The outermost hut shelters those behind – the huts being placed at odd angles to each other, partly due to topography and partly due to chance. The windowless weathered wooden facades have a straightforward tectonic and a strong material vocabulary.
We believe that good buildings engender the refinement of everyday life, having a curious, evocative and empathic nature. We have aimed to build a contemporary Naust with an unpretentious presence and a distinctive character, developing themes from the vernacular architecture.
Seemingly growing from the landscape, the house sits on a rock beneath a granite shoulder negotiating the uneven terrain. As not to disturb the dominant view towards the sea, access to the house is given through a narrow natural ravine densely grown with gnarled birch shrubs and laid out with sea-sand from the nearby shore. The landscape remains untouched and wild.
The large windows of the house face three directions, each with its strong unique characteristic. They are simple and robust in detailing and the optically white glass conveys undisturbed frames of the ocean, the mountain range and the bedrock.
Organised on two levels adapting to the terrain, the plan is compact, providing generous social spaces within a limited floor area. The upper level is comprised of smaller scale bedrooms and family rooms, whereas the lower level is a large gallery-like space structured around a stone hearth. Completed in linseed oil painted pine with untreated birch skirting, frames and reveals, the interior is kept subtle with a character of being hand-built, promoting tactile qualities and the attractive patina developed over time.
Upon completion of the house the clients’ father, who spent his childhood in the close vicinity, visited the cottage. Being able to sit down – for the first time – sheltered from the elements; he stayed seated for several hours silently observing the ever-changing light over the sea.
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references weathered Norwegian boathouses appeared first on Dezeen.
Barcelona designer Martin Azua has created a table that plays on the contrast in properties between wood and stone (+ slideshow).
The Trees and Rocks table features central discs of Venato Carrara marble set into a main frame of Spanish walnut, but future versions may feature different combinations of material.
“I wanted to make a table with two fine materials that are very attractive in themselves and don’t need any kind of ornamentation because their surface are always different and full of information,” said Azua. “The wood is warm and soft and the marble is cold and tough.”
The marble also serves a practical function, creating a heat- and scratch-resistant section on the surface of the table.
Azua’s latest creation is part of his Numbered collection, which features products created in collaboration with local craftsmen using local materials.
Each piece is designed to incorporate elements that can evolve and change naturally with time and use.
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table contrasts wood with marble appeared first on Dezeen.
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