The stark XXS Shop for Mobile Gadgets opened earlier this year in Hamburg’s Innenstadt, at Spitalen Hof 8. It is a minimalist showroom by Hamburg-based Spine Architects for Etronixx-Trading GmbH. The store is void of practically everything else but white surfaces and the merchandise itself. Mobile gizmos appear almost suspended in air, as they rest in small slots within the white expanse of built-in cabinetry that encircles the entire space. It is an excellent example of forcing the customer - in a pleasant way - to focus on the products, not on the props.
Spine is a German-English partnership that started between Boris Bähre, J'orn Hadzik, Jan Löhrs and Neil Winstanley in 2001 when they won one of the prizes awarded in the international design competition for Rabin Square in Tel-Aviv, Israel. They are known for their work in several areas, from housing to public places to TV shows, private homes and shops. In September, Spine Architects opened an office in Menlo Park, San Francisco. By Tuija Seipell
Artist Bruno 9Li is an artist of extraordinary talent, who works and lives in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Bruno's
work is inspired by alchemical imagery, his surrounding neighborhood
and the Art Nouveau period and feature amazing ink on paper works which
are remarkably unique. The work is incredibly vibrant even though only
a handful of colors are used. Bruno's work seems to re-use the same
colors in his latest range. This in no way limits the variety of the
work itself, as each piece is wonderfully unique. Geometric form
coupled with an illustrative foundation is the springboard for this
work.
In its large format scale, his works are illustrative and almost comic like in their colourful representation. By Andy G
Back in May this year, we told you about a little shop in New York called Pong
(pictured below). A tiny table tennis parlor that you could hire out
and film your slide into sporting greatness. What we also mentioned
was after three months, Pong would be gone in favor of something
else.
And the time has come for it to be replaced, by a
Drive-in theatre. What was formally a sporting arena, is a cinema
fitted with a 1965 Ford Falcon convertible and widescreen. Starting
with films from 1960 and progressing chronologically each night, DRV-IN
speeds through four decades of cinematic achievement.
With
seating for six and a full concession stand, where else in Manhattan
are you going to relive all those crappy B-Movie moments you saw when
you were a kid? By Matt Hussey
Many architects struggle when faced with the possibility of compromising their own vision for that of a client’s. Ingo Pott and his practice’s multidisciplinary approach however, invite the minds of creative professionals in hopes they may provide additional stimulus in designs. Every aspect of their body of work centers around the philosophy that cultural exchange generates creativity.
House W considers the changing needs of a growing family by including space to come together and space to spend individually. Pott Architects tend to draw from an eastern mentality with respect to time and place. Both the structure and the surrounding environment are treated as one, and effectively, the design for each private house, including this one, could not be constructed anywhere but it’s present setting. Architect Urlich Hamann effortlessly placed the house in the surrounding environment, and perhaps established a design philosophy carried through in subsequent projects.
One such project, House L, was placed in a wooded site on the slope of a hill. Leaving work and the city behind was the family’s primary objective when choosing this serene environment well outside Berlin. Following through with a commitment to integration in the surrounding, the interior and exterior space blend into one.
From within, large open spaces framed in sweeping glass sheets allow for a heightened awareness of the passing of time. Both subtle and dramatic differences in light as the day gives way to night, as well as the changing of the seasons seamlessly synthesize man and nature. Completed in 2006 by HamannPottArchitekten (now Pott Architecture) and architect, Urlich Hamann, the sustainability of House L provide various ecological considerations as well, including a minimum demand on resources. By Andrew J Weiner.
You are in Stuttgart and in need of a cool party space. Or maybe you just don’t know what to do with your spare old house. Either way, you’ll want to connect with the Berlin-based trio of architects —Thorsten Blatter, Andreas Blödow and Georg Schmidthals — at and off . These guys have just reclaimed an old house in Stuttgart and created Die Blaue Caro (German for Blue Diamond), an ever-changing temporary club.
They call it a kitchen club and, on last look, it did indeed resemble a kitchen slightly. Here’s how it’s done: Use blue and white tile samples for wall and floor coverings, position cool objects on tiny shelves jutting off the tile walls, crank up the superior sound system (by Logitech) and invite some fun people to your funky kitchen, which of course is the place where all good parties start and end anyways. Each event alters Die Blaue Caro space, an idea that is typical of and off. They use found objects and eclectic combinations of styles, and they want the spaces constantly converted and rearranged. So, check out Die Blaue Caro now, while it’s still a kitchen. By Tuija Seipell
Computers could have been the biggest tree-saving invention of all time, yet here we are, “paperless office” still just a dream and trees being cut down faster than ever. Award-winning creative architect duo Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen at molo design in Vancouver, Canada, are not discouraged by this. They have decided to ensure that paper does some serious work at the office.
Their amazing corrugated paper furniture and white “soft” walls are not only fun to assemble, alter and move around, but good for the environment, too. Molo is the product arm of their bigger-scheme practice forsythe-macallen.com. Forsythe and MacAllen have been recognized around the world for their innovative housing and living-space projects and events. The first location for a molo design workshop will open in Milan, Italy by early 2008. It was previewed during this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan. By Tuija Seipell
Fred Perry has become known for its limited edition collaborations with eccentric designers and artists alike. The outfitter has collaborated
with everyone from David David to Peter Jensen to Jessica Ogden, all to
popular acclaim. Most recently, New York Times' T Style magazine
featured Fred Perry's fashions in a fashion editorial spreads with the
description: "Disaffected anglo youth at their snappiest."
For the Fall/Winter 2007 season, Fred Perry is showcasing another of
their popular partnerships with Japanese design team Comme des Garcons.
The spunky lineup includes Comme des Garcons' signature stripe-age,
infused with eye-popping turquoise and hot pink. They will also retail
a pair of red-and-black checkered kicks - ideal housing for the feet of
Fred Perry fanatics everywhere.
And stay tuned for their next fashion-music rendez-vous: rumor has it
Fred Perry will team up with Brit-punk-ska-rock bank Dead 60s for a
limited edition offering of "of reversed tartan Harringtons." By L. Harper
Bodrum in Turkey is home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World and birthplace to Herodotus. It is also Turkey’s answer to what
Cannes is for the south of France. So it’s not the kind of place you
want to build a tower block slab bang on the beach.
House ’Ö’
is a building perfectly in tune with its surroundings but still has an
eye on modernising the idea of a country retreat. The ornate mosaic of
heavy stone is a familiar building practice in the Mediterranean, but
the use of large floor to ceiling windows certainly is not.
The building comprises three units joined by glass boxes allowing bags
of sunlight in, but also allows the structure to cool quicker than
houses favouring large swathes of white concrete as a method of
regulating temperature. Inside, there are no separating walls in the
central living area. Instead, furniture positioning and small
partitions create individual spaces within an open whole. A fitting
tribute to cultural and architectural traditions of an area steeped in
history, but a refreshing approach to a home in the hills that isn’t
all bling and dodgy ‘period’ features. By Matt Hussey
We’re proud to announce the first non-English arm of the coolhunter - coolhunter Turkey, edited by local creative firebrand and natural coolhunter Yagmur Uslu. The site features all of the hottest pieces from the main international version, including extra editorial and news on what’s cool in Turkey including the latest in travel, art, fashion, style and all facets of design. If you can read Turkish check it out. Coolhunter Turkey is just the latest in a bunch of global sites (Coolhunter Australia is already up and running) with more including Italy, New Zealand and the UK set to launch by next week. If you’re a professional media company interested in licensing the coolhunter in your country contact us at
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Let’s face it, taxes have never been the source of architectural inspiration. Or have they?
The Dutch certainly seem to think so. This collection of what looks like old pieces of a tower block strewn across a lake are in fact the Netherlands Central Tax Office.
The Walter Bos complex was originally built in the 1960s and consisted of four drab offices surrounded by even drearier parking bays. As part of the renovation they decided to connect the four blocks with an adjoining one. But instead of lumping a load of concrete onto each side to stitch the towers together, they sunk it deep underground. The result is a huge sunken structure covered by an expanse of water with individual cones breaking the surface.
Below ground, lie two large sunken gardens supplemented with light by the jagged shapes you see above ground. The water, although aesthetically pleasing, acts as a cooling system for the tower and security from intruders trying to fiddle their taxes.
The effect is a startling contrast of severe and brutal steel squares, and a more natural, organic feel permeated with softer circles and earthy hues. Who knew filling out your tax form could lead to such inspiring design? We certainly didn’t. By Matt Hussey. Pics by Daria Scagliola
The Nestlé Chocolate factory
in Mexico City's Paseo Tollocan near Toluca has never been a site
anyone went to see for its beauty. It is what is inside that has always
interested chocolate-lovers.
That changed earlier this year when
Michel Rojkind, the 38-year-old principal of Rojkind Arquitectos,
decided that he was not satisfied with the original idea of just
revamping the factory's viewing gallery.
He put together a team
that came up with an entire museum, with a shop, a theatre, and direct
access to the factory as well. The 300-meter-wide scarlet building
cannot go unnoticed by anyone driving the entrance freeway to Toluca.
This
is by far not the first chocolate museum in Mexico, the ancient home of
chocolate. Neither is it the first sweet museum for the
Switzerland-headquartered consumer-product behemoth Nestlé.
However,
it is probably the first chocolate museum ever to be called both a
piece of origami and a shipping container. The corrugated metal look
gives it an air of impermanence and industrial clunk while the bright
color and crazy shape evoke play and fun. What any of this has to do
with chocolate, we are not exactly sure, but we almost managed to fold
a KitKat wrapper to a similar shape. By Tuija Seipell
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