Who knew the Cartoon Network would have such an fantastic production studio!? I came across this project last week on ‘STUDIOSarchitecture’ website whilst looking for some inspirational images to show a new client, and although this was completely irrelevant for what I was looking for I just thought it was a beautifully designed space. I love the way they have managed to keep the exposed rawness of this 3 story industrial block and modernize it with the materials used and the way in which they are used.
Hungarian architects Zsanett Benedek and Dániel Lakos of Tervhivatal have completed Goldberger, as a result of converting the loft of a former textile factory by juxtaposing numerous pods to create an exciting and innovative office space. Each pod forms a smaller meeting or office space that are slightly elevated or fixed to ground to denote corridors between them. The pods are made up of plasterboard supported by steel structures; the floors are a combination of highly polished concrete and linoleum. The space is used as a venue during the evenings too. I love the simplistic sense the space has; even the fixtures are minimal. The overall highly polished quality is owed to the attention to detail and materials used.
‘Slack Space’ is a volunteer run initiative in Colchester that interrupts and occupies empty retail units and other locations abandoned due to recession. The units are used as performance spaces and to display and promote local artists work, in order to generate a buzz in the towns centre. They have injected colour, art and laughter back into the local community in a successful attempt to help uplift our local social, economic and cultural life in during the recession, which I think is a fantastic cause that gets local artists work seen. ‘The Space’ is its new location (19- 29 Queen Street) and opened this week, wed 21st April.
Adding to my collection of favourite retail design concepts, this eye- catcher is well up there in my opinion. Romanian studio Square One have completed a clothing store in Bucharest with pointy stark display stands juxtaposed with a network of black electrical cables. Called Entrance, the monochrome interior features light bulbs weighted at the ends of electrical wires that create angular planes fanning across the ceiling. One side of each emanates light to illuminate the merchandise, bringing the focus back to the products by highlighting them.
I saw a few images of Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshiokas completed installation comprising of hundreds of transparent plastic sticks at the Kartell showroom in Milan last week, and it immediately caught my attention. Called Snowflake, the installation displayed Yoshioka’s beautifully minimalist Invisibles collection of clear plastic furniture:
‘I am drawn by things that do not have forms but leave emotional effect to people. At a glance, such material is invisible and its existence is erased. Through the interaction with light, however, the form suddenly emerges.’
I had almost forgotten how much I missed my favorite hideaway in Brighton, until I was reminded today! Besides its amazingly tasty array of frozen yogurt toppings and toffee covered waffles, Lick has a beautifully minimal, fresh interior and brand identity, that sits proudly in the heart of Brighton’s North lanes. Their brand identity reflects the simple and natural ingredients they use… simple but effective. The Sunday times named them ‘most likely to succeed brand’, thanks to their perfect product and lovable aesthetic. Good news as I’m practically addicted, Yum.
LICK
LICK
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GO VISIT THEM.. or maybe just visit their website instead:
This caught my eye on the dezeen website today… ‘Livaria da Vila’ is a book- shop in São Paulo that was completed in 2007. The store- front is made of revolving bookcases, it seems to be very effective in fulfilling various functions and happens to be aesthetically stunning… in my opinion!
Melbourne based Architects EAT have completed the restoration and alteration of an existing Edwardian structure, they have called ‘Elm and Willow House’, in Australia. The projects ‘inside is outside is inside’ quality resembles influence from various projects such as the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe, and for me the exhibition wing in the Kroller- Muller museum, Amsterdam. The structure is suspended on steel columns to avoid damaging the roots of mature elm and willow trees on the site. I particularly like the fact that the non- load bearing sliding glass doors juxtaposed with the meticulously detailed skeletal structure supplies a light and airy environment that allows occupants to have an interchangeable relationship with the exterior surroundings.
I decided to post a bit on LOT-EK because their project ‘Morton Loft’ got stuck in my head a few days ago and for some reason I could not remember who designed it, this annoyed me to the point to which I couldn’t give up until I figured it out, and of course I found it scribbled down in an old sketch book… which meant I could sleep once again. But no, in all seriousness, I absolutely love the work they do and I just felt like reviving my appreciation. Their projects are so innovative and have the most beautifully thought out spaces that have an unrefined, raw, industrial sense. The materials they use are often re- cycled, and they transform existing objects to fulfill new functions, which could be anything from a space to a piece of furniture.
LOT-EK is essentially an architectural practice whose aim is to blur the boundaries between art, architecture, entertainment and information. They claim to be ‘the dialogue between existing objects and program needs to generate unexpected volumes/ spaces.’ Below are a few images taken from their website of projects I find intriguing…
New Dublin based advertising agency ‘Boys and Girls’ approached architecture and design practice ‘ABGC’ with a brief to transform their new establishment, a gorgeous Georgian house with high ceilings, great spaces and original joinery, into something that was more playful without becoming juvenile.
ABGC went ahead, by trying to give the space a more small contemporary gallery feel they stripped all the floors and whited out all the 90’s color paint covering the walls, which also made the space more functional for presentations etc…The proposal also included a 1.2m x 2.7m boardroom table made out of Lego. The company’s logo is built in relief into the table- top. The table consists of 22,742 pieces clicked together with traditional Lego construction techniques; a 136mm grommet is located in its centre. It sits on a polished Stainless Steel square hollow section structure and is topped with a 10mm sheet of toughened glass.
Artist Cormac Browne made this 2 minute stop frame animation of the construction and installation of the table, which consists of over 8,000 photos. I noticed the table a little while ago, but only saw the video today and it made me happy…
DALE IS AN ART AND (SPATIAL)DESIGN BLOG THAT DABBLES IN ANYTHING THAT KEEPS ME(DALE) INSPIRED FROM (INTERIOR)ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, FINE ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, INSTALLATION, ILLUSTRATION TO WHO KNOWS WHAT... ITS A LITTLE PEEP INTO THE MIND OF DALE. ENJOY.
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