Dec 27, 2011 | Architecture, blog, Interiors
According to Home Designing, this could be Ashton Kutcher’s next House. The 9,385 square foot mansion is priced at $10,800,000 located in the Hollywood Hills with spectacular views of Lake Hollywood and the culturally iconic sign, visible beyond walls of retractable glass.
The contemporary five bedroom dream home boasts eight bathrooms, a ‘floating’ dining room, state-of-the-art screening room, and a fitness & massage room. The house also makes full use of the Hollywood heat, enjoying an infinity-edged swimming pool with elevated spa, and a number of outdoor rooms perched on cantilevered decks or far reaching patios with extensive built in fire pits.
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Dec 17, 2011 | Architecture, blog
Finally one of my favorite architecture firms, A-cero, makes it to Lebanon with this magnificent residence in Adma. This is a 3-level detached house situated in a unique environment on the side of a mountain overlooking the sea.
The basement is around of 546 m2,including a garage for 10 vehicles, 3 halls multipurpose room, sauna, 3 bedrooms,and a kitchen.
The ground floor level is of 486m2 includes an office, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen,a family living room in addition to porches and large terraces . There is also an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi.
The first floor is around 475m2 and includes the private areas such as the master bedroom suit , guest bedroom, and 3 bedrooms. Also there is a small garden on this level.
“The materials used for the facade are the white and beige travertine stone with black glass. What is prominent is broken facade forms, coherent with the topography of the land’s stony steep slopes.The architecture highlights the cantilevered master bedroom with spectacular sea views and overlooking the hillside.
The pool is designed with a structural glass in the front to take the advantage of views and the surrounding.
Both the lounge and the dining room windows are retractable, creating a fusion of the exterior with the interior, enjoying the good weather of this region throughout the year
The overhangs favor the visual effect on surrounding vegetation. One of the formal characteristics of this single family house is the blind spot (the wall without windows), oriented toward the street, in contrast to the large windows of the house, facing the valley and the sea.
In the beach area you can enjoy unbeatable views, so A-cero designed a large porch area partially covered by the pergola area.”
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Nov 24, 2011 | Architecture, blog
Barcelona-based DNA Architects designed this project for Cheraga, Algeria . Known as Le Far du Grand Vent, this building is designed around the form of a ship with similar angles and horizontal protrusions varying from floor to floor. The building will house a residential and a commercial part. Le Far with it’s exquisite design can be considered one of the city’s landmarks. The lighting is beautiful and accentuates its distinct architecture.
DNA Barcelona Architects is a studio of Architecture, Planning, Landscape, Interiors and Design, that develops projects with a high index of innovation inside a global strategy of internationalization. The projects are located principally within Spain, North and Central Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Central America for residential, hospitality and tourist developments.
Evolo
Nov 21, 2011 | Environment
Beirut, Lebanon is known to be a very polluted city. With the chaos during the years of war, building regulations were not respected, not to mention whatever ‘green’ Lebanon was known for is being diminished by the day. Political greed lead to the environmental catastrophe Lebanese are now living in. It is time to raise awareness and come up with solutions to stop the wrong and try to introduce alternatives or some kind of “patchwork” to the existing mess. This is where Studioinvisible come in, they proposed a concept to help Beirut restore some of its ‘green’.
Studioinvisible’s concept:
Given the circumstances, the most pragmatic solution will be to have a municipal decree that requires each building to grow it’s simple rooftop garden (by require we mean harshly implement, by force if necessary). Nothing fancy, just a couple of trees in a large fixed pot on each rooftop. As incentives to the urban population, the municipality can offer tax reductions or benefits to the buildings that have a well maintained rooftop garden, and the gardening/plant companies could offer discounts and sponsorship, and later claim that they turned Beirut green (we can already predict their campaigns).
There are many types of tree that can grow in the Beirut climate to 3-4 meters high in a simple 1 meter pot, such as the olive tree, the Schinum Molle, Morus Alba, Melia azaderachh, Punica Granatum, Etc… In order to prevent these trees from falling in case of high winds, they could be connected by three steel wires to the roof slab.
The advantages of having this done on a large scale are many. Better oxygen levels and a healthy environment is the first that comes to mind, but also a layer of trees will provide shade and accordingly soften the increasingly hot and arid climate, which in turn would lead to a lower level of energy consumption. Moreover, semi public green spaces will be created for the respective residents of each building, increasing even further the quality of living within the city itself. On the other hand, depending on the choice of trees and plants, these gardens can evolve into a sort of urban farming, yielding a small but valuable agricultural output.
Ultimately, If the plan works out, Beirut could become a rooftop wonder forest, the whole city as a Landmark: Beirutopia.
StudioInvisible (pronounced in French), is a multidisciplinary design consultancy working in the fields of Urban Planning, Architecture, Interior & product Design, Visual Branding and Political Science, and aiming to provide the world with Avant-Garde Design interventions as well as in-depth Cultural, Social and Political guidance. Composed of Architect and Urban Designer Wassim Melki, Colonel Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot, the studio is an open platform for debate and thought-sharing.
Do you think this is feasible?
Nov 21, 2011 | Architecture, New Concepts
Many of Libya’s cities were damaged or destroyed during the February 17th Revolution. While the human cost was heavy by any measure, there is an opportunity for Libya to be rebuilt in pioneering new ways. Design Libya will be sponsoring a major international conference in Tripoli in mid to late 2012, bringing together innovative thinkers, designers, architects and visionaries to collaborate on new ideas for Libya’s new schools, ports, hospitals, public spaces, plazas and more.
Bab al-Azizia, Gaddafi’s former military stronghold, bunker and palace in the heart of Tripoli, was transformed from a 2.3 square-mile symbol of fear and oppression into a place for public gatherings and weekly markets before it was finally demolished in late October. Bab al-Azizia is now the site for an open architecture competition.
Announcing an open competition in 2012 for redesigning Bab al-Azizia. Architects, landscape architects, designers, planners, artists, horticulturalists, students and community members are invited to create visionary, inspired design proposals for the space’s reuse as a public, open space for all. The competition will culminate in a major exhibition in Tripoli, Libya, accompanied by a publication and website. Design Libya hope the rebirth of Bab al-Azizia will come to powerfully symbolize the rebirth of the new Libya, and serve as an inspiration to the Libyan people, and all free people around the world.
The competition is not meant to result in awarding of actual contracts to formally design the new site. This is a preliminary call for open ideas, not sponsored by the Libyan government, to help shape inspire citizen participation and creative investment right here on bitcoin360ai which is better in the future of the country. Design Libya hope as the government is formed and elections take place to build systems to properly begin reclaiming Bab al-Azizia, raising funds and preparing a formal call for design submissions.
As much as the competition sound interesting, I just hope their new government will really take on such a project and allow Libyans a breath of novelty.
