Dream House

I want my house to look exactly like this some day...with a Farrari parked in the drive. More pics on Arch Daily

Zipper Pond

The Zipper Pond was created by sculptor Ju Cheu for the Juming Museum, located just outside Taipei, Taiwan. I think this is a great idea for a pool.

Glass Balcony = holy crap!

Would you trust a glass floor that’s an inch and a half thick when suspended 103 stories in the air? People in Chicago today can find out at the Sears Tower, which opened its new set of glass balconies for public viewing. “The Ledge,” as they’re collectively called, hangs 1,353 feet in the air. With transparent walls and ceilings, visitors say its like floating in the sky, and the view is, of course, spectacular. Don’t worry, those glass floor can withstand five tons, but just to be safe, jumping up and down is probably not a good idea.

I want this house!!!

Located in the heart of historic Old Montreal and facing the vibrant piers of Old Port, Scandinave Les Bains Vieux-Montréal is an urban spa whose purpose is to provide a thermal therapy experience that engages each of the body’s senses. The building, rebuilt half a century ago after extensive fire damage, has housed warehouse functions until recently when it was acquired by the new owners: the new spa is positioned at the ground/entrance level.

The formal part of the project is derived from the contact between hot and cold - and more specifically, the naturally occurring phenomena associated with these conditions - the design distills the idea of cool glacial forms and the warmness of volcanic rocks. White angular masses of glacial topography coupled with volcanic geology bespeak the duality that is central to the thermal therapeutic experience proposed by the spa. This duality is articulated through both the spaces’ forms and the selection of various materials.

Upon exiting the dressing room, the visitor is immersed in a unique environment where walls, floors and ceiling are slightly angled according to a notion of interior topography through which visitors may wander. These angles, though subtle, give bathers a perceptual difference from their everyday environs; the awareness of the corporeal relationship with their surroundings is heightened, thus grounding each visitor for that moment in time. Just as in a natural landscape, slight undulations in the ground plane create gentle slopes; depressions in the floor level generate basins of water for bathing. At particular moments, volumes emerge from the ground to sculpt interior zones for the sauna and steam bath. Uniting the main space is an undulating wood ceiling that echoes the movements of the floor: walls of white marble mosaic appear to melt at the point of contact with the warm-colored wood on the ceiling, resulting in accentuated architectural reveals. Heated, cantilevered benches made of black slate offer visitors a warm place to pause in between a hot and cold bathing cycle.

Opalescent glass has been added to admit natural light through the building’s existing openings while providing a sense of privacy for the visitors. The light that permeates the bath area glows, adding to the purity of the space and the feeling of tranquility for the bathers while keeping contact with city life. Along de la Commune Street, a thin cascading layer of water flows on glass surfaces, filtering views so that from the exterior, passersby can see only shadowed silhouettes of the figures within the hot bath. Rounding out the holistic journey is a relaxation room where bathers can relax in rocking chairs or bean-bag lounge chairs.

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The Surfhouse; love it!!

Architects: XTEN Architecture
Location: Manhattan Beach, California, USA
Principals: Monika Haefelfinger & Austin Kelly, AIA
Client: Jennifer & Nick Hall
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Art Gray Photography

The Surfhouse appears as an abstract block of ebonized cedar a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Hermosa Beach. The site is very small. While typical lots in the area measure 120′ x 40′, the allowable building area for the Surfhouse measures just 33′ x 24′. The architects approached the project by subtracting the larger program areas from a solid volumetric form that conformed to the zoning regulations and sought to maximize space, light, and views while also creating a sense of privacy and retreat for the young owners on a busy beachside street.




The domestic program is stacked vertically on the lot. Services and bedrooms are on the lower floors, with larger rooms pushed to the corners for light and views in multiple directions. The top floor and decks are completely open as continuous indoor / outdoor living spaces open to the beach and ocean. The facade is made from rough sawn, black stained cedar planks with volumetric openings at primary program spaces and a system of identical 2′ x 5′ casement windows arrayed across the secondary elevations for specific views and ventilation. The interior is all light and air, with bamboo floors and walls of glass that slide away to bring the beachside environment inside.

Random thought...

When Jer and I decide to build our house, I'm having it designed in the second empire style with a modern twist.

The real life Fairview

Wisteria Lane might be the picture perfect setting on Desperate Housewives, but what would it look like in real life? Behold New Albany Ohio, where the average house is 800K and there are white fences everywhere. With perfection like this, it's no wonder that Abercrombie & Fitch Home Office is located here.














Check out more about New Albany: WhiteFencesEverywhere.com