Archinect - News

Hello Wood creates airplane-inspired tiny home for an ambitious 12-year-old client

2023-02-14T12:48:00-05:00

Budapest-based Hello Wood has completed what it describes as “its most charming and eccentric small house ever.” Named the Jet House, the project comprises of a cottage shaped like a pastel blue airplane, set within a ring of trees in the hills of Hungary.

The project was initiated by an undaunted 12-year-old client named Lujzi, who dreamed of a playhouse she could retreat to with her friends. From Lujzi’s vision, the design team emerged with a functional tiny house which, in their words, is “more reminiscent of a beautiful design toy than a building.”

Image credit: Zsuzsa Darab

“Lujzi has always enjoyed traveling - especially flying on aircraft, which is why she had an airplane-themed cabin in her dreams,” Hello Wood explains. “She arrived at the first meetings with elaborate ideas and plans on paper. Supported by his father, she followed the design process till its end – representing an excitingly different perspective from that of typical real estate developers.”

Image credit: Zsu...

Crazy, abnormal lots aka learning how to build on trapezoidal, rocky or remote parcels

2019-02-19T13:57:00-05:00

But with land prices near all-time highs, developers and nonprofit housing groups are giving the leftovers another look...Several of the projects that have been built on these odd lots have been very inventive, and might even lead to better land-use and zoning policy

Stefanos Chen first reported on the launch of Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC competition and later highlighted a few recent examples of this sort of work. The list of firms includes; Aufgang Architects, OJT, SLCE Architects, SZCZ and XS House

See also; Atelier Bow-Wow and "Pet Architecture"

knowhow shop design offers a new approach to office construction

2018-10-15T15:24:00-04:00

In the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, architects Kagan Taylor and Justin Rice of knowhow shop have designed and built a new office for their design studio in their backyard. Named ‘Lighthouse’, the project is a micro-building that is a place for work and also a physical example of the studio’s thinking and practice

Diverting from traditional construction processes, the founders of knowhow shop, focus on the possibility of constructing an office testing their skills as craftsmen while challenging their understanding of spatial perception.

The office's unique shape and construction materials were custom designed by the founders themselves. A project, whose intricacies add to the stylistic beauty of the structure, "could not have been easily done by a contractor" claims the studio. Each facet of the structure used mitered SIPs and shop fabricated materials to accomplish the craft like aesthetic. Its overall form exhibits clear use of aperture to allow for natural light to enter the space.

Appropriately named Lighthouse, this custom micro-office reflects several elements of importance to the knowhow shop team. "Lighthouse is an office for our business, a showcase of our craft, and an example of the huge potential within rethinking the way we design a...