Apartament Bucuresti

a.a.studio
40, Mircea Voda Avenue, block M11, 6th floor, ap. 60, Bucharest, Romania

Project: Apartment B.S.
Project Design Manager: Alex ADAM
Project Design Team: Roger Pop, Madalina Florea

This unconventional interior design of a three rooms apartament combines elements from the pop-art age, from the aesthetics of the years ‘60-’70 and from the contemporary minimalism, all under the influence of white, used so predominant as a manifest against the impure context where the habitation takes place.

The architecs took this project while the building was still under construction, and the first proposed partition of the apartament wasn’t made. Even so, the architects felt like restrictions some characteristics of the space like the irregular shape of the plan, the dimensions of the columns which was bigger than usual or the small height under the beams. But above all an incovenince was the surface of the apartament: 110 square meters that include two bedrooms with bathrooms and dressing-rooms, and one living space with dinning room and kitchen.

The white, with all its shades,on varied textures and shapes was used to create depth and bigger height and also to give an abstract, luxurious feeling to the place beside his apparent simplicity. Using the white with no limits, the architects made the space more dinamic,and they played with the light, natural and artificial light. The first step to achieve a unitary style was to build a dialog between all the spaces in the apartament.

The long hall was designed to be an extention of the living room: on one side of he hall the architects designed a bookcase with a decorative but functional structure. Every piece of furniture was carefuly chosen to unify the concept.

Una din cele mai curajoase amenajari din mizerabilul nostru oras Bucuresti in ultimii multi ani.

Obvious enough?

Title

Heartbreak

Client

Chi ha paura...?

Design

Tjep

Description

If the cinema industry has taught us a lesson since its appearance is that relationships don't always last and one is inevitably bound to get a broken heart. Yet the vast majority of jewelry that celebrates the concept of love never reveals the fragility of romantic relationships. The Heartbreak consists of a fragile porcelain heart and light yet strong titanium hammer, booth are connected and made inseparable by a titanium chain. When broken the heart will show cracks, yet it will never fall apart as there is a layer of rubber on the inside that will keep the heart together. Indeed as one will usually recover from a broken heart, the small cracks will inevitably add up and form who we are. Heartbreak forms the third piece in the breakable porcelain series after Do Break and Shock Proof.

Linii curate

SAGAPONAC HOUSE, 2000-2007 (Stan Allen Architect of Princeton, New Jersey)

The single family house has been the privileged vehicle for formal, programmatic and technical experimentation in the 20th century. Despite this record of innovation, the gap between popular taste and high design is arguably greater than ever today. At a time when cities are modernizing at an unprecedented rate, and new technologies are filtering into all aspects of our everyday lives, the house is still viewed nostalgically.

The Sagaponac House is a prototype weekend house designed for a wooded lot in Eastern Long Island. One of a number of houses commissioned for a new residential development, our project is characterized by its compact footprint, and open interior spaces. The active roofline and wood cladding recall vernacular traditions, while the open floor plan and interlocking of solid and void acknowledge contemporary, informal lifestyles. Filtered, ambient light that changes with the seasons and the time of day fills the house from the roof lights and window walls.

Patricia mon amour

Patricia Urquiola’s Pear bathroom range was exhibited at 100% Tokyo during Tokyo Design Week. Produced by Agape, the wall-mounted washbasin, toilet and bidet are available with grey screen-printed floral patterns, in plain white or plain grey.

Urquiola has also designed a freestanding bath as part of the range.

Aleluia...update

Dutch architects Merkx + Girod have won the Lensvelt de Architect Interior Prize 2007 for their Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht - a bookstore inside a former Dominican church.
The prize jury said: “Merkx+Girod architects have created a contemporary bookshop in a former Dominican church, preserving the unique landmark setting. The church has been restored to its former glory and the utilities equipment has been housed in the extended cellar.
“In order to preserve the character of the church while achieving the desired commercial square footage, the architects erected a two-storey structure in black steel on one side, where the books are kept. Keeping the shop arrangement on the other side low created a clear and decipherable shop. The jury was very impressed by these spatial solutions, as well as by the gorgeous lighting plan. The combination of book complex and church interior were deemed particularly successful.”

Manifest Monica Bonvicini

considered one of the most important european artists of her generation,the italian monica bonvicini has explored issues of politics as related to physical spacesince the 1990's.

What???

artist simone racheli creates rather curious pieces of work. his art recreates common consumer products to look like they are made of meat. yes, you read that correctly, meat. racheli has created a toilet, iron, hairdryer and patio chair all made to look like the fat, sinew and muscle of meat.

Doctore! Trage-mi una in tampla!

Restaurantul The Clinic (http://www.theclinic.sg/index.html) din Singapore... Creatia apartine firmei olandeze "concrete architects" (http://www.concreteamsterdam.nl). Comentarii?

Wash away the city dust...

Cada care tocmai a navigat din studioul designerului olandez wieki somers. materiale: lemn de stejar, cedru rosu, rasini epoxidice si lacuri. Sail away...

natural architecture

natural architecture (the book)

author: alessandro rocca

publisher: princeton architectural press

year: 2007

the natural environment still manages to fill us with a sense of awe and amazement. despite the amount of scientific knowledge mankind has gathered, nature still holds great mysteries that we may never be able to unravel. this complexity has continually daunted man. in frustration, we try to control nature by enforcing order. as a result, we have distanced ourselves from the earth, even though our survival is completely dependent on it. we are now trying to regain our close connection to nature.
there is an emerging art movement that is exploring mankind's desire to reconnect to the earth, through the built environment. referred to as 'natural architecture', it aims to create a new, more harmonious, relationship between man and nature by exploring what it means to design with nature in mind.
the roots of this movement can be found in earlier artistic shifts like the 'land art' movement of the late nineteen sixties. although this movement was focused on protesting the austerity of the gallery and the commercialization of art, it managed to expand the formal link between art and nature. this has helped develop a new appreciation of nature in all forms of art and design.
the 'natural architecture' movement aims to expand on 'land art' by acting as a form of activism rather than protest. this new form of art aims to capture the harmonious connection we seek with nature by merging humanity and nature through architecture. the core concept of the movement is that mankind can live harmoniously with nature, using it for our needs while respecting its importance.
the movement is characterized by the work of a number of artists, designers and architects that express these principlesin their work. the pieces are simple, humble and built using the most basic materials and skills. because of this, the results often resemble indigenous architecture, reflecting the desire to return to a less technological world. the forms are stripped down to their essence, expressing the natural beauty inherent in the materials and location. the movement has many forms of expression that range from location-based interventions to structures built from living materials. however all of the worksin the movement share a central ethos that demonstrates a respect and appreciation for nature.
these works are meant to comment on architecture and provide a new framework to approach buildings and structures. they aim to infuse new ideas into architecture by subverting the idea that architecture should shelter nature. instead, the structures deliberately expose the natural materials used in the building process. we see the branches, the rocks and all the materials for what they are. we understand that these structures won't exist forever. the materials will evolve over time, slowly decomposing until no evidence remains. these features are intentional, provoking viewers to question the conventions of architecture. the designers aren't suggesting that architecture must conform to their vision, they are just providing ideas that they hope will inspire us all to rethink the relationship between nature and the built environment.