The Tote, Mumbai, India by Serie Architects
In the middle of one of Mumbai’s most beautiful open spaces, an old shell has been given a new interior. UK architects Chris Lee and Kapil Gupta of Serie Architects have redesigned ‘The Tote’, a banquet hall, restaurant and bar. The colonial facade of the Tote building gives way to what looks like a bleached, enchanted forest. In the banqueting and indoor restaurant areas, white metal pillars branch out like trees as they reach the ceiling, creating the effect of walking down a forest path.
Strategically placed skylights in abstract shapes, mimicking sunlight breaking through dense foliage, heighten that feeling. By contrast, the 40ft long bar upstairs is all dark chocolate wood. The faceted wood panels on the walls give the impression of looking through a kaleidoscope, or at paper that was folded to make an origami figure and then opened out. The original cubbyhole-like windows, through which bets were placed, have been retained.
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James May’s LEGO House Demolished
In a tragic turn of events, the supercool House of LEGOs constructed for the James May BBC television challenge was torn, hammered and shattered into nothing more than a pile of 3.3 million LEGO bricks, along with the dreams of many a young (and old) LEGO lover.
House H, Tokyo by Sou Fujimoto Architects
House H is the latest project by Sou Fujimoto Architects in Tokyo.
Fujimoto seized the opportunity to extend his research into the potential of primitive forms to create complex responses to contemporary needs. It’s new experiment was to find a balance between volumes, spaces and light.
Dealing innovatively with Japan’s strict plot ratio regulations, Fujimoto has avoided the conventions of creating a courtyard or of setting a house as an isolated object within the site boundary. Instead it is a hybrid; a series of boxes in boxes that define domestic realm, enclosure and interior.
I ♥ Yu, Naoshima Bathhouse by Shinro Ohtake
The Naoshima Bath house was opened on July 26, 2009 under the name of “I♥湯 (I love you).” Conceived by the artist Shinro Ohtake, this charming name softens the hearts of the customers before using the bathroom.
The project is particularly interesting because it blurs the distinction between art and practical daily life (the bathhouse can be used by locals, who pay just 300 yen rather than the standard 500 yen entrance fee to use it), between private corporations and public works, and between inside and outside.
The bottoms of the baths are lined with stones and collages of found images and shunga erotic prints that come in and out of view with the movement of the water.
Camper Store in london by Tokujin Yoshioka
The opening of the new Camper store designed by Tokujin Yoshioka on London’s Regent Street took place during the London Design Festival.
The concept for the new store, is derived from the installation which he presented in New York in 2007, where approximately 30,000 sheets of tissues were covered in the entire space, reminiscent of a snow scape. the red flower blossoms emphasizes the corporate colour and will also include Tokujin’s bouquet chair.
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LEGO Kitchen & Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti
Designed by Paris-based Simon Pillard & Philippe Rosetti, the Munchausen LEGO Kitchen centres around an IKEA kitchen island, which over a week they proceeded to cover with more than 20,000 LEGO pieces.
Valentin Apartment by ecdm
French architects Emmanuel Combarel & Dominique Marrec worked on the transformation of this small apartment, “with a clear strategy.
Architects has decompartmentalized the place so as to fit out an open plan and elude the demand of an extra room by conceiving in the centre of the volume a suspended white cube which generates comic and disconcerting use situations.
Estudios 151 S, Mexico by Plataforma de Arquitectura
The project was conceived by Plataforma de Arquitectura from the will of building a space of multiple relationships between interior and exterior, maintaining the intimacy of two design studios.
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55 Blair Road by Ong&Ong
This is an awesome juxtaposition of a contemporary, refined interior into a historical. 55 Blair Road by Ong & Ong is a renovation and restoration to a traditional art deco style shop house. The new owner however believed it was too dark and desired more light in the living spaces. This residence brings a balance between nature and contemporary living in a renovation of an Art Deco style terrace.
Equis House in Cañete, Peru by Barclay & Crousse Arquitectura
Equis House is based in the city of Cañete, Peru. The architects Barclay & Crousse have sought to create the necessary intimacy to live in the desert and to ‘domesticate’ it without denying or betraying its characteristics.
IJburg House by Kirsten Gabriels and James Webb
IJburg House by the architects Kirsten Gabriels and James Web is a freestanding villa on the new island of IJburg provides for a family to live both independently or together. The two story house with children’s room, kitchenette and bathroom in the lower ground, and can be accessed from the street.
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Syzygy Agency, Hamburg by eins:eins Architecten
The office of Syzygy Hamburg (they also have offices in London and Frankfurt) was created by Christoph Roselius and Julian Hillenkamp, the two founders of eins:eins architecten in Hamburg.
Syzygy Agency is located in the central part of Hamburg, near the city hall, the Binnenalster artificial lake, and the upscale shopping promenades of Jungfernstieg and Neuer Wall.
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V&A washrooms by Glowacka Rennie
London architects Glowacka Rennie have completed the interior of the ladies toilets at the V&A museum in London. The design includes a black, stone wall, black cubicle interiors and brass fittings in a white-painted interior with a high ceiling.
Mid-Century Modern House by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design
A complete remodel of a once run-down split- level ranch house. This project involved removing the existing kitchen entirely to create a bright, airy great room. The existing master bath was removed as well and relocated to the back of the house where it now opens on to a lovely garden. The colour palette is extremely restrained throughout with dark ebonized floors, white walls, and splashes of various shades of green. All the furnishings, including the gorgeous rocking chaise, are vintage finds that we reupholstered and refinished, with the exception of the coffee table which was made by Jessica’s husband architect YIANNI DOULIS from a slab of locally salvaged eastern hardrock maple.
Dolder Grand Hotel in Zürich
Designed in 1899 by Jacques Gros, the Zürich’s Dolder Grand Hotel has a wonderful city location overlooking Lake Zürich and the Alps. The health/spa hotel has been re-invented as a modern luxury hotel by a famous team of architects from London’s Foster and Partners, by United Designers, also of London, and by spa-industry visionary, Arizona-based Sylvia Sepielli, for the spa concept.
Technogym Kinesis by Antonio Citterio
Technogym designed by Antonio Citterio for Kinesis has a really compact size that allows it to integrate perfectly into the home, office, hotel room or spa and it provides the means for diverse, coordinated resistance training.
