Robots, Lasers and Replicators: Making Science Fiction a Reality liveblog
We’re live from the Robots, Lasers and Replicators panel at Engadget Expand! Veronica Belmont of Revision3, author Daniel Wilson, and John Scalzi join Engadget EIC Tim Steven’s for the talk. Follow along just beyond the break!
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Leave a commentMaking the Most of Building Sharing: Two Townhouse by alsoCAN architects
Jane McDougall from alsoCAN architects sent us photos and information about a project entitled 2 Townhouses. Designing a townhouse each for a builder and a plumber they work with, alsoCAN architects managed the clients’ brief to lift the townhouses from being speculative to being more individual. The plans started off as mirror image 3 bedroom townhouses in Richmond, designed with families in mind, but then morphed to reflect each client. One townhouse stayed similar to the original brief, the other’s plan was altered internally to suit a couple with an adult child. Richmond is an inner city area that was abandoned by families for the space of the suburbs. But they are returning for proximity to the city, using the surrounding parks for their outdoor space.
There are a series of spaces that can be used by different family members; a casual study alcove punches out into the rear courtyard and a separate studio space is over the garage on the lane. A long, thin plan is inevitable when designing townhouses. The interior becomes the focus and is treated like a facade by introducing solid stone walls and timber bed heads wrapping up the wall to the ceiling. In one: dark, warmer tones, bluestone and spotted gum. In the other: light, neutral tones, limestone and paler timbers. To bring light into the deep plan there is a small light well. The light well is not just to look out at; it is a relaxation space. The light well is a red tiled plunge pool / spa, so the reflectiveness of the water and red tiles glow into the living room. The two sets of photos below depict each of the two home layouts- have a look! [Builder: Patrick McKibbin, PBM Group P/L]
Floor plan for the two townhouses below:
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Leave a commentMaking Recycling a Fun and Convenient Routine : GO Recycle Bin
The GO Recycle bin is a really smart idea designed by by Hong Kong-based retailers Goodss Passion. Now if you look at the pictures below you can see why we say that this is a really smart idea. The lid of each bin actually has a molded sample of what you’re supposed to throw in them. The top of the bins are animated with sculptures of a bottle, tin can, and carton. These symbols are easily recognizable and clearly indicate the items allowed for disposal. As the designers put it, “intending to revolutionize the recycling industry and make it consumer-friendly, the idea of the GO bin is make recycling fun and convenience.” Finally We think that this idea could work because it’s simple, fun and very intuitive. Do you think that an idea like this could make recycling a fun and convenient routine, rather than boring and bothersome ?
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Making The Most Out Of A Breathtaking Location: Ani South Beach Villa
Envisioned by the creative team from Lee Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership, the modern Ani Villas overlooking Little Bay, in Anguilla, Caribbean, are in many ways mesmerizing. Today’s post is dedicated to the project entitled Ani South, one of the buildings that make up this stunning cliff-side duo. According to the official description of the villa, “Ani South sits on the southern side of the estate and looks directly down into Little Bay with its shimmering blue waters. The master bedrooms, indoor and outdoor living spaces are oriented toward the breathtaking western view down the Anguilla coast line and sunset views“. Some of the features of the 5-bedroom residence include the possibility for indoor and outdoor dining, roof deck lounge, pool deck lounge, tennis court and gym area. But what I personally appreciate about this project is that if you were to take away its incredible location and its exterior entertainment facilities, other appealing characteristics would still remain. I am talking of course, of its interior design, filled with organic decorative elements that add freshness and personality.
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39 Attic Rooms Cleverly Making Use of All Available Space
Attic rooms are usually the most appealing interiors in the whole house, even though we can not tell for sure what draws us to them so much. Some people unconsciously correlate them with secret rooms, or even with large playgrounds. Either way, they have a special charm, and a warm feel that seems to follow you around, even after you leave them. Designing such a space comes with its many challenges. That is why today we decided to try and make things easier for you. By putting together a list with the most beautiful attic rooms out there, we figured we would at least give you a starting point in decorating. You could also begin by acknowledging the fact that the space just beneath the ceiling is extremely versatile. There is nothing stopping you for turning it into the room of your dreams, whether we are talking about a crazy living space with a hammock in the middle or an exhibition interior for your miniature train collection. But before you take any decision, we have a few really sweet examples of attic rooms we would like to share. Does any of them come close to your tastes?
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Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Kit
Celebrate Oktoberfest at home with Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Kit.
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Modern Residence Making The Most Of A Fantastic Location: The Bridge House in Cape Town
The Bridge House was designed by Van Der merwe Miszewski Architects and is located in City Bowl, an area of Cape Town, South Africa. Here is the official project description from the architects: “The site slopes, in places steeply, from Glen Avenue down towards the North. There are views of Table Mountain, Devils Peak, Lions Head and Signal Hill, the adjacent Pine forest, the City, the Harbour, the Atlantic Ocean, and beyond. At the uppermost end of the site, a bridge was placed across the Donga, allowing the Donga to remain below. A pool and stream, flowing to a pond, were inserted into the dry riverbed. The flow of water is dammed by the POOL, then runs freely in the stream and settles in the pond at the base of the site. Intensive planting will regenerate the garden. Found pathways and steps have been reinstated and added to. The Bridge is the “Main House” (site 1); containing entry, living spaces and main bedrooms. Adjacent to the bridge are the Garage and Guest quarters (site 2). At the base of the site, the Donga House (for visitors) spans over the pond (site 3)“. The impressive villa is up for rent here all year long, with prices ranging from $700 to $2,700 per night.
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Modern Residence Making The Most Of A Fantastic Location: The Bridge House in Cape Town
The Bridge House was designed by Van Der merwe Miszewski Architects and is located in City Bowl, an area of Cape Town, South Africa. Here is the official project description from the architects: “The site slopes, in places steeply, from Glen Avenue down towards the North. There are views of Table Mountain, Devils Peak, Lions Head and Signal Hill, the adjacent Pine forest, the City, the Harbour, the Atlantic Ocean, and beyond. At the uppermost end of the site, a bridge was placed across the Donga, allowing the Donga to remain below. A pool and stream, flowing to a pond, were inserted into the dry riverbed. The flow of water is dammed by the POOL, then runs freely in the stream and settles in the pond at the base of the site. Intensive planting will regenerate the garden. Found pathways and steps have been reinstated and added to. The Bridge is the “Main House” (site 1); containing entry, living spaces and main bedrooms. Adjacent to the bridge are the Garage and Guest quarters (site 2). At the base of the site, the Donga House (for visitors) spans over the pond (site 3)“. The impressive villa is up for rent here all year long, with prices ranging from $700 to $2,700 per night.
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Leave a commentApril Fools: The Making Of
Last year, in November, I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Stevens at the Brand New Conference. Matt, as you’ll remember, was the man behind BNAF’10 (Brand New April Fools 2010): Dunkin Donuts. When we met, the first thing (or last thing) I asked him was if he was up for another April Fools joke? He was. So in February we picked up the conversation and he sent me some possible ideas. My reactions are shown in the header image of this post. Even though Home Depot was the last idea on his list and the one that came without any summary of what we could do, that’s the one I knew would be awesome to do. He obliged and went to work (here is his post about the process and our side of the story follows).
I knew I wanted to do some kind of tease or leak the work ahead of time, but I wasn’t sure how. Matt came up with the idea of creating “spy” images: blurry camera phone photos Photoshop’d to look real. Like JJ Abram’s Cloverfield but for fake logos. Matt found a friend who would TwitPic the brilliant image of a fake checkout machine with the logo on it, someone who couldn’t necessarily be tied back to him or Brand New. So @grokstar, aka Gavin Becker in New York, did the deed. In my role as art director, I asked Matt to also change the logo in the roll of paper at the bottom-right of the image, which was originally showing the old Home Depot logo, worried that someone astute would notice. Although I wasn’t astute myself to upload the revised image to our post on Friday!
A few weeks after he posted it I retweeted it to get some traction going ahead of time. Shortly thereafter a few sites started to pick it up: Unbeige and LogoLounge reported it; Richard Baird at BP&O redrew the blurry logo in the photo to see what it could look like and, in a comment he mentioned that “It has been implied that this my be a viral marketing effort implemented by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather,” which is where our friend Gavin Becker works; and, finally, The Atlanta Egotist proceeded with more caution wondering if it was true or if it was, indeed, a Brand New April Fools joke. Some called a foul on this tactic, claiming that April Fools’ jokes must be constrained to April 1st… yeah, there is some truth to that, but this was much more fun!
I then bought the domain www.myhomedepot.us for $3.99 and redirected some of the code from homedepot.com to it, pointing at all their source files to replicate the exact design and structure but just changing the main feature area for our fake redesign. I have already released the domain back to the registry so that I don’t own anything with the name “Home Depot” in it and deleting that “borrowed” code so that I don’t mislead any potential costumers. All that will remain of www.myhomedepot.us is this flat image, as a souvenir.
So, hats off once again to Matt Stevens. BNAF’12. See ya’ll next year.
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35 Cozy Reading Corners Making it Easy to Enjoy Every Book to the Fullest
We realized we haven’t payed any attention to good books lately, which is why we decided to make a post especially for them. In our opinion, every home should be enriched by a bookcase, no matter how minimalist its design would be. Most people prefer reading in bed before sleep or taking a good book outside and find the coziest park bench. But what if you could have the perfect “erudition” place within your reach, conveniently integrated in your own crib? In this post we decided to showcase some of the most beautiful reading corners we encountered while researching for Freshome ideas. We narrowed it down to 35 amazing photos of reading corners that we find extremely inviting. Some of them feature stylish armchairs, others just interesting floor arrangements. We even have examples of reading corners which were improvised on the windowsill. Enjoy the photos!
Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below !
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 Enjoy the Music in an Innovative Manner with the Sound Carpet |
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