For those former guests and architectural buffs who lamented the demolition of the iconic Hotel Okura Tokyo, they can soon preserve a piece of it in their homes.
Hotel officials plan to sell on the Internet some of the furniture and fixtures used in the guest rooms and restaurants during the main building's 53-year history, with the proceeds going to charity. [...]
The 11-story main building, which opened in May 1962 [...], was called “a masterpiece of Japan’s modernism architecture.”
— ajw.asahi.com
Previously:It's lights out at the old Okura: reconstruction of the iconic Tokyo hotel starts next weekAs the Okura says sayonara, Tokyo doesn't seem to care muchFarewell to the Old Okura View full entry
Jvantspijker urbanism architecture has redesigned the main space of an old steam factory in the Delfshaven neighborhood of Rotterdam, to become an open loft office. A central glass meeting room, with a pantry and stairs leading to the plant-filled roof organizes the large warehouse space in a... View full entry
As with any great architecture, furniture design is a nimble synthesis of form and function. In the case of chairs, some designers have artfully combined both to create visually striking objects that are actually comfortable to sit and work in. The Eames line of chairs has of course received... View full entry
Most planners and architects can speak volumes about accessibility requirements [...].
Tamara Petrovic and Garner Oh, partners of the architecture and design firm 0 to 1, are intimately aware of such needs. To address their son’s difficulty with balance and motor skills, the pair developed a range of products for the home that transform his living environment into a safe and appealing space for all members of the family and resist the institutional aesthetic often seen in special needs products.
— urbanomnibus.net
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
The HY-Bol Pavilion, designed and built in the summer of 2014 by students of the Spitzer school of Architecture at City College New York, was the culmination of a series of courses devoted to the expression of complex geometric curvature. Contemporary architecture theory has witnessed an new... View full entry
Inspired by the vintage French Citroën Type H cargo van, "La Cabane" designed by independent creative director Julien Franc Wahlgreen functions as a room within a room that can enhance the increasingly common working-from-home experience. Plus, the structure's beach shack or quaint treehouse... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
[Marie] Kondo’s decluttering theories are unique, and can be reduced to two basic tenets: Discard everything that does not “spark joy,” after thanking the objects that are getting the heave-ho for their service; and do not buy organizing equipment — your home already has all the storage you need [...] “When we take our clothes in our hands and fold them neatly,” she writes, “we are, I believe, transmitting energy, which has a positive effect on our clothes.” — NY Times
The article goes on to quote Leonard Koren, a design theorist who has written extensively on Japanese aesthetics: "The idea of non-dualism is a relationship to reality that proposes that everything is inextricably connected and alive, even inanimate objects. If we are compassionate and respectful... View full entry
The sterility of the photos, especially the images of prisoner bedrooms, hints at the degree to which the Stasi kept a tight lid on dissenters. In prison culture (or at least prison culture as it’s portrayed in the movies), there’s a lot of graffiti: on the walls, in library books, between cells. “We were searching for any scratching or anything in the cells—usually you would think they were sending messages—but it was very clear you couldn’t see anything” — wired.com
IKEA has a little known secret: the company is a non-profit. Ingvar Kamprad the founder of IKEA created the philanthropic Stichting Ingka Foundation whose mission is to “further the advancement of interior design.” IKEA’s bizarre business model looks like this: the nonprofit Stichting Ingka owns a private Dutch Company, Ingka Holdings that owns the majority of individual stores at the franchise level. — onlinemba.com
Using tracer viruses, researchers found that contamination of just a single doorknob or table top results in the spread of viruses throughout office buildings, hotels, and health care facilities. Within 2 to 4 hours, the virus could be detected on 40 to 60 percent of workers and visitors in the facilities and commonly touched objects. — ScienceDaily
Friday, August 29:MIT's MindRider helmet draws mental maps as you bike: The prototype is currently being used to create a mental-map and guidebook for NYC, and an upcoming Kickstarter campaign will attempt to fund the project for commercial sale.In Beirut, a grassroots push for more grass... View full entry
Pretty much every architect in the alphabet has produced a chair, a miniature version of their particular aesthetic. [...]
Buildings are all very well, but it seems you haven’t truly made it as an architect until you’ve given us something to sit on. [...]
“Mentally, it’s a very good exercise, to go from [designing] a building to the smallest bit in a building,” [Alex Michaelis] says. “You go back to the detail of the human body."
— moreintelligentlife.com
Street furniture is mostly used during the day and not used during the night, except by some homeless, who spend the night on the public benches in parks and on squares. RainCity Housing, a non-profit that provides specialized housing for people living with mental illness and addiction, has launched multi-functional street furniture that can be used as seating during the day and ‘comfortable’ sleeping places for the homeless at night time. — popupcity.net
Previously: Anti-homeless spikes are just the latest in 'defensive urban architecture' View full entry