Archinect - News

Minimalism: another boring product wealthy people can buy

2017-03-05T15:09:00-05:00

Minimalism is just another form of conspicuous consumption, a way of saying to the world: ‘Look at me! Look at all of the things I have refused to buy!’

I always thought domestic minimalism requires maximum household help, made of mostly immigrant domestic workers. So, whenever I see those shelter magazine pictures, I whisper "sonsofbitches, they are hiding something."

Muji's prefab Vertical House now available for Japanese residences

2014-11-03T15:11:00-05:00

MUJI HOUSE, the architectural entity of Japanese design brand Muji, recently released their latest prefab house in Tokyo called the Vertical House. The slender 3-story structure was primarily designed for urban dwellers living within Tokyo's tight living spaces.

Designed with simple white walls and wooden flooring, the house exhibits the same contemporary minimal aesthetic that Muji's products continue to gain popularity for. The house was built with a timber framework method and an open plan interior with no doors or interior walls. The house also features a kitchen and dining area, a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and large windows that allow for ample sunlight.

Muji isn't entirely new to the prefab house scene. The company worked with prominent Japanese architects like Kengo Kuma for the Window House in 2008 followed by the Tree House in 2009. Muji then worked with Shigeru Ban for the Furniture House during the House Vision 2013 Tokyo Exhibition.

Product details:
Name: Vertical Ho...

BIG + KILO launch "BIG Cities" tableware for Rosenthal's Gropius-inspired collection

2014-05-22T14:38:00-04:00

It's all in the details with BIG + KILO's newly launched "BIG Cities" tableware collection. The longtime Danish collaborators worked with major porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal to craft the table set for the company's TAC collection. The collection was first developed in the 1960s and includes designs based on those of Walter Gropius and his historic Boston firm The Architects' Collaborative — or TAC.

The pieces bring present-day appeal to any table setting with minimal, geometric forms that draws its style roots from Bauhaus. At first glance, the thin blue lines etched onto the white porcelain look like an abstract motif.

But taking a closer look reveals the silhouettes of famous architectural landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate, the Eiffel Tower, or Big Ben as well as some recognizable city skylines like Sydney, Moscow, Tokyo, Istanbul, New York, and of course Copenhagen.

Dinner and charger plates are available six different variants each, while all other pieces in the collection com...

Walter De Maria, Artist on Grand Scale, Dies at 77

2013-07-28T01:15:00-04:00

He was best known for large-scale outdoor works that often involved simple if rather extravagant ideas or gestures: a SoHo loft filled with two feet of earth, for example, or a solid brass rod two inches in diameter and one kilometer long driven into the ground in Kassel, Germany, so that only its smooth top was visible (a work consistent with an artist who once noted that “the invisible is real”).