Modern Floating Home is the Perfect Tranquil Retreat

by Jacob Paul Wiegmann

Floating House is a home designed by architect Dymitr Malcew that offers its residents beautiful unobstructed views, a connectedness to their surroundings, and an easy way to move from one locale to another. Created for H2ORIZON, a French developer that specializes in floating structures like this one, the stunning construct is built on top of a buoyant platform that comes equipped with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen and fully roofed terrace.
Though the architectural structures are typically equipped with similar amenities, the floor plans can be changed to suit any individual's preferences. Malcew wanted to create a home that barely impacted its environment while also allowing for scenic views that arise naturally but do not visually hinder the breathtaking view of the home's surrounding landscape.





Dymitr Malcew's website

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/dymitr-malcew-floating-househttp://www.mymodernmet.com

What Cities Would Look Like Without Any Lights

Paris

Cohen photographs the world’s major cities, seeking out views that resonate for him and noting the precise time, angle, and latitude and longitude of his exposure.

Rio de Janeiro

As the world rotates around its axis the stars that would have been visible above a particular city move to deserts, plains, and other places free of light pollution.

San Franscisco

By noting the precise latitude and angle of his cityscape, Cohen is able to track the earth’s rotation to places of atmospheric clarity like the Mojave, the Sahara, and the Atacama desert.

The Empire State Building, New York City

There he sets up his camera to record what is lost to modern urban dwellers.Compositing the two images, Cohen creates a single new image full of resonance and nuance

Los Angeles

The work is both political and spiritual questioning not only what we are doing to the planet but drawing unexpected connections between disparate locations.

Sao Paulo

Equally importantly it asks: what do we miss by obscuring the visibility of stars? As the world’s population becomes increasingly urban, there is a disjunction with the natural world which both Cohen and science posit causes both physical and psychological harm.

Shanghai

Cities that never sleep are made up of millions of individuals breaking natural cycles of work and repose. Cohen’s photographs attempt to restore our vision, and in beautifully crafted prints and images offer the viewer a possibility - to re-connect us to the infinite energy of the stars.

The Brooklyn Bridge, New York City

Hong Kong

Hong Kong

 

 http://imgur.com/gallery/HN3Hs 

Parisian flat containing €2.1 million painting lay untouched for 70 years

For 70 years the Parisian apartment had been left uninhabited, under lock and key, the rent faithfully paid but no hint of what was inside.

The owner of this apartment, Mrs. De Florian left Paris just before the rumblings of World War II broke out in Europe. She closed up her shutters and left for the South of France, never to return to the city again. Seven decades later she passed away at the age of 91. It was only when her heirs enlisted professionals to make an inventory of the Parisian apartment she left behind, that this time capsule was finally unlocked.

The team that had the honor of opening what must have been a very stiff old lock for the first time in 70 years, likened the experience to ‘stumbling into the castle of sleeping beauty’. The smell of dust, the cobwebs, the silence, was overwhelming; a once in a lifetime experience.

There is a further twist to the story. In the apartment a painting of familiar style was discovered of a beautiful woman in pink. One of the inventory team members suspected this might be a very important piece of treasure. Along with the painting, they also found stacks of old love letters tied with colored ribbon.

With some expert historical opinion, the ribbon-bound love letters were quickly recognized as the calling card of none other than Giovanni Boldini, one of Paris’ most important painters of the Belle Époque. The painting was his. The beautiful woman pictured in the painting was Mrs. de Florian’s grand-mother, Marthe de Florian, a beautiful French actress and socialite of the Belle Époque. She was Boldini’s muse. And, despite him being a married man, she was also his lover. The art world went a bit nutty for the whole story and the painting was later sold for $3 million at auction.

What I find so intriguing about this story is not so much the discovered painting and the revelation of a love affair between a great Italian painter and the beautiful actress in an enchanting era, but more the story of Mrs. de Florian and why she stayed away from Paris for so long.

What kept her away even after the war? Was she running away from someone or something other than the Nazis? For all those decades, her rent on the elegant apartment in a flourishing city had been faithfully paid, but it was left to freeze in time. It all sounds like the perfect mystery…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Fabulous Tree House

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In childhood almost each of us was dreaming to built a house on a tree where you could spend time with your friends. Nine years ago, residents of Dallas Steve and Jeri Wakefield decided to build such a house on a tree for their grandchildren. But not a small house – a whole cottage. They invited a family friend, a professional architect James Curvan. As a result, a fabulous tree house was built around the tree. It was equipped with air conditioning, ventilation and electricity. In fact it’s not just a house but entertainment center for children of all ages. The grandchildren have grown up, and the house on the tree became uninteresting. Steve and Jeri invite children from all neighborhoods for entertainment and leisure. Kids are happy to come to visit them and play at home on a tree.

 

http://www.beautifullife.info/urban-design/fabulous-tree-house/

the built-ins {part one}

When designing the family room section of the basement I knew I wanted a wall of bookcases, storage and media storage. We decided that at some point we were going to bite the bullet and purchase a wall mounted television so I made space for that as well. I wanted built-ins, I just didn't want the built in price. I went to the IKEA site to see what I could find. I knew I wanted wood pieces that could be customized. The Hemnes line at IKEA is just that. This series is made of pine and painted either white, black or a lovely shade of greige (yes, that is a word).

I knew that I was going to have about 17 feet of wall space to work with so I picked the pieces I wanted and added up the dimensions. This took a little bit of figuring out. I went under 17 feet and decided that I would just add wall on either end. I chose a total of five pieces, a tv unit, two glass door cabinets with drawers and two bookcases. They totaled about 14 feet in width. 

Once the pieces came in and were put together we decided to space them out instead of building walls on either side. We were putting wood to cover the joints between each unit so those pieces of wood just became a little wider. 

The tv unit was also deeper in depth so the 4 units on the sides were bumped out a bit so they all sit flush in the front. Some pieces were added behind each of those pieces and then the sides were covered with more wood. The top of the tv unit was removed since the original width did not cover the strips of wood added in between each unit.  

Above the tv unit section are pieces to match the board and batten in the rest of the room. The tv will be mounted in the center of all that. The wires necessary for the television, cable, and whatever other things we will have like Wii, etc, will all run within the wall and come out from behind the tv unit. I didn't want all that woodwork to be ruined by wires hanging down!

A soffit was built across the top, completing the built-in look. This is hiding all those wires and pipes. One long piece of wood was also added along the entire bottom, hiding the legs and cleaning up the entire look.

Everything will be painted with a coat of white semi gloss paint. That should be happening soon. After that it is just flooring and some finishing touches. I'm drooling just looking at this next picture. The entire built-in unit will hold books, board games, some decorative touches, dvd's, and so much more! If I had actually had someone create a built-in I would have paid about 3 to 4 times what it cost for some well constructed IKEA pieces and wood strips! 

http://www.no29design.com/2012/04/built-ins-part-one.html

Summerhouse by Architect Irene Sævik

Secluded yet open. Just a stone’s throw away from the ocean and situated amidst a plethora of summer houses and cottages, Irene Sævik’s zen-like summer house manages the impossible: a private and peaceful ambience only forty minutes outside of the busy capitol of Oslo and a mere three minute walk from the shores of the Oslo fjord. The house is a renovation and expansion of a smaller-scale cabin built by seminal modernist painter Irma Sahlo Jæger in 1963.
Architect Irene Sævik picked up on the original building’s asceticism and upgraded it to a contemporary contemplative hideout. Drawing from Japanese architecture, the yard is surrounded by a slender gallery enabling one to freely circulate—and enter—between the adjacent rooms. The living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, sauna, restroom, study and two bedrooms all follow one another. Due to the rooms being separate the retreat can harbor a larger number of people and yet allow for quiet activities such as writing, reading, painting, as well as listening to music, preparing foods in the spacious kitchen, and conversing. A large terrace is ideal for soaking in the sun and the view encompassing both treetops and the fjord arms surrounding the narrow peninsula. The Architect metamorphosed a traditional Norwegian summer retreat into a vivid, comfortable and yet contemplative, in which we sure would like to spend our holidays, too.

All images © Ivan Brodey | Via: archdaily

http://www.ignant.de/2013/11/04/summerhouse-by-architect-irene-saevik/