Create Your Own Hobbit Hole With The Cosy Green Magic Homes That Can Be Adapted To Your Needs
For those who have dreamed of living in their own snug hobbit hole, they don’t need to travel to Middle Earth to make the dream a reality. Instead of getting out the shovel and building your own habitable hole in the hillside, you can now simply order a ready-made one and tailor it to your exact specification as a year-round home or a place to retreat for a holiday. Similar to their movie counterparts, the tiny eco-friendly houses by Green Magic Homes are similarly designed to exist under layer of grass and soil – perfect for growing vegetables and feeling at one with nature – and come with pools or hot tubs. Continue reading »
This Artist Spent 10 Years Carving A Giant Cave – Alone With His Dog
For the last 10 years, American artist Ra Paulette has been walking alone into New Mexico’s desert to work. He spends his time carving a sandstone cave that he found, turning it into a wonderful subterranean space full of light. Continue reading »
Singapore to Transform Disused Railways into a 15-Mile Park Spanning the Entire Nation
Singapore will soon embark on one of the most ambitious rails-to-trails project in the world. The country’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) recently selected Nikken Sekkei’s proposal to redevelop a 24-kilometer (15 miles) disused rail corridor into a multipurpose linear park. The former cross-country train line spans the entire nation of Singapore, from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station on the south to Malaysia’s border on the north.
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Is this New Hotel in Amsterdam the “Hotel of the Future”?
There’s a recently opened hotel in Amsterdam called CityHub, which is aimed at Generation Y (currently 25-35 years old) travellers that are all about a digital lifestyle. Continue reading »
Numbers on Stairs Help Kids Learn to Count
This kindergarten in Slovenia, designed by Jure Kotnik Architecture, has a staircase where they put a number on each stair, as a subtle way to encourage self-learning. Because kids have little legs, they pay attention to each stair they climb, and by placing the numbers on each stair, it gets them counting in their heads or even out loud.
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This Dutch Museum is Covered in Grass and Has a Rooftop Walkway
Photography © Ronald Tilleman
After an eight-month redesign by Studio Marco Vermeulen, the Biesbosch Museum in Werkendam, The Netherlands, opened to the public this summer. Continue reading »
This “Story Pod” Is A Free-For-All Lending Library Designed For A Public Park
On the edge of a recently completed civic square for the Canadian town of Newmarket, Ontario, Atelier Kastelic Buffey (AKB) have designed the “Story Pod,” a free community-supported lending library that is open to everyone.
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Japanese Art Store Lines Walls with Every Pigment Imaginable
With a sleek, modern design and thousands of colourful hues lining its walls, the new “art supply laboratory” known as ‘Pigment‘ is an art lover’s dream come true. Owned by the Japanese company Warehouse Terrada and built under the architectural design of Kengo Kuma, this unique shop, based in Tokyo, acts as both a hub for artists to gather supplies and collaborate, as well as a venue that provides the opportunity for traditional material manufacturers to deliver high quality products that have been passed down for generations to their clients. Continue reading »
384ft-Tall Apartment Tower To Be World’s First Building Covered In Evergreen Trees
Stefano Boeri, an Italian architect with an affinity for innovative green structures, is set to build a 117m-tall (384ft) apartment tower in Lausanne, Switzerland, that will be the first building in the world to be covered in evergreen trees. Continue reading »
See How This Dilapidated Graffiti Filled Kitchen Got Transformed Into A Stunning Award Winner
A dilapidated 1920’s house in Sydney, Australia, was in desperate need of saving. Its life for the past 10 years had been home to squatters and the homeless. Continue reading »
This Guy Builds A House Using Shipping Containers And Now His Biggest Expense Is His Phone Plan
In a forest on the outskirts of Ottawa, Canada, Joseph Dupuis built a home out of three shipping containers. Continue reading »
Joel Weber’s Tiny House Will Help Him Save At University of Texas In Austin
A college student who will be returning to the University of Texas in Austin for his junior year this fall is hoping his miniature home will help him save big on housing fees and keep him out of debt.
Joel Weber’s 145-square-foot home will help him avoid paying rent for an apartment or on-campus dorm and save him from two years of roommate aggravation… priceless. With rent costing upwards of $800 a month near campus, the 25-year-old’s new home will save him about $19,200 while he finishes school and could help him conserve cash after graduation as well.
Joel Weber is hoping his 145-square-foot home will help him avoid paying rent for a college apartment or dorm. Continue reading »
Artist Buys Abandoned Chicago Bank to Transform It into Public Arts Center
Till recently, the 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) Stony Island Savings & Loan Bank on Chicago’s South Side was just an old, abandoned construction. Built back in the 1920s, it has been vacant since the 1980s and has remained in a deteriorating state for all these years. Who could imagine that this decaying structure would soon become an amazing art center? Continue reading »
These Playhouses Are Inspired By Japanese Architecture
Barcelona-based designer, David Lamolla of SmartPlayhouse, has designed a collection of minimalist playhouses inspired by Japanese architecture.
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What Do You Think of this Dessert Themed Public Toilet in Japan?
Photo by Yasunori Takeuchi, courtesy Toilennale
What looks like a giant cake, or possibly an ice cream sunday, stands in the street, connected to a park. This is a piece of art. But it’s also a public toilet. It’s both. As part of the 2015 Oita Toilennale, perhaps the world’s first art festival dedicated to toilets, artist Minako Nishiyama conceived of the project. And with the help of artists Mika Kasahara and Yuma Haruna, the 3 female artists brought “Melting Dream” to life. Continue reading »
Luxurious Eco-Friendly Mansion Exists Entirely Below Ground
For those wanting to lessen their negative impact on the environment, the best place to build is down. Known as “underground homes” or “low-impact houses,” these structures minimize the amount of green space used by containing entire buildings below the Earth’s surface. Two English firms — NC Homes and Huntsmere — have proposed an underground dwelling that’s as luxurious as a conventional, above-the-soil structure. Called Perdu, it’s a circular three-bedroom home located on the grounds of Bowdon in Manchester. Continue reading »
Longest Glass Bridge Ever Just Opened in China and Tourists are Terrified to Walk It
Walking among the clouds is technologically infeasible, but glass bridge is a close second. The longest walkway just opened in Shiniuzhai Geopark in Chinese province of Hunan. It’s about 984 feet / 300 meters long and 590 feet / 180 meters high. It’s both the world’s longest glass bridge.
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A Cocoon in a Library
The city council of Monterrey, Mexico, has commissioned designers from the Anagrama studio designer the adaptation of space in the local library reading room. So architects created a great cozy cocoon from the shelves and books and everyone can sit there comfortably and read a book they want. Continue reading »
The Unique Bridge Between Sweden and Denmark
This is the longest bridge in Europe and also it’s the world’s longest single bridge with a highwayon top and a railway line at the bottom. The bridge is nearly 8 kilometers long and is the sea ordeal between Sweden and Denmark. Continue reading »
Secluded Timber Cabin on Stilts is a Creative Escape for Writers
For writers, it’s important that they sometimes escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life and focus on their craft. The Hut on Stilts was built with this type of creative getaway in mind. Designed by architect Nozomi Nakabayashi, whose client is a writer, the eight-square-meter cabin stands four meters above the ground and among secluded woodlands in Dorset, England.
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A Closer Look Inside the Student Apartment in Hong Kong
LYCS Architecture have designed Campus Hong Kong, a shared apartment created specifically for students.
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Solitary Wilderness Shelter Provides Warmth to Mountain Hikers
Photo credit: Janez Martincic
The Skuta mountain, located in Slovenia’s Kamnik Alps, presents many challenges for those trying to scale it. Strong winds, heavy snowfalls, and dangerous landslides are just a few of the hazards that await climbers. To make their journey safer, the students at Harvard University School of Design and OFIS Architects have recently constructed a shelter that sits along the beautiful rocky landscape.
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Artist Uses Recycled Off-Cuts Of Wood To Create An Architectural Sculpture
Russian artist, Nikolay Polissky, has recently completed the SELPO Pavilion, located in Nikola-Lenivets Park, which contains 28 permanent art works. Continue reading »
This Feline-shaped Kindergarten Is The Cat’s Meow
Introducing young children to a school environment can be a challenge, but one kindergarten in Germany has no trouble getting their students excited for the day. This cat-shaped kindergarten in Karlsruhe, Germany, offers a whimsical playground for the kids, inside and out. Continue reading »
Stunning See-through Church Is Made From Stacked Weathered Steel
Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh of the Gijs Van Vaerenbergh studio designed the thought-provoking project, called ’Reading Between the Lines,’ for Art Museum Z33’s Z-OUT ‘art in the public space’ program. The 10-meter-tall church was built from 100 layers of stacked weathered steel and 2,000 columns of metal. Continue reading »
