Klein Bottle House – McBride Charles Ryan
November 18, 2008 at 1:51 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 2 CommentsTags: architecture, australia, houses, robin boyd award
The Klein Bottle House, designed by McBride Charles Ryan, was recently awarded the 2008 Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture – the highest award for residential architecture in Australia.
"This holiday house is situated on the Mornington Peninsula 1.5 hrs drive from Melbourne. It is located within the tee-tree on the sand dunes, a short distance from the wild 16 beach. From the outset MCR wanted a building that nestled within the tree line. That talked about journey and the playfulness of holiday time."
"What began as a spiral or shell like building developed into a more complex spiral, the Klein bottle. MCR were keen to be topologically true to the Klein bottle but it had to function as a home. We thought an origami version of the bottle would be achievable and hold some ironic fascination. (The resulting Fibre Cement version also has a comforting relationship to the tradition of the Aussie cement sheet beach house). The house revolves around a central courtyard, a grand regal stair connecting all the levels. There is a sense of both being near and far to all occupants."
Photos: John Gollings
The Eames Lounge and Ottoman (1956)
November 11, 2008 at 2:59 am | Posted in furniture | Leave a commentTags: charles and ray eames, eames, eames lounge, furniture, mid century modern
Ok so I’ll start with something easy. This is one of my favourite pieces of furniture: The Eames Lounge and Ottoman.
What I love about this chair is its mix of comfort with technology and craftsmanship which is best summed up in Charles Eames’ description of the chair as a “warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt.”
Designed by husband and wife design team; Charles and Ray Eames, the Eames Lounge and Ottoman were first released in 1956. They are crafted from seven-ply veneer shells with leather upholstery and the back braces and base are die-cast aluminium painted black.
Charles and Ray appeared on the Arlene Francis “Home” show with the lounge chair the week it was released. Here is a clip from that episode: (Watch right to the end to see a cool short time lapse movie of the chair’s construction.)
Prices start from around $3,500US so it isn’t usually a staple item of most people’s lounge rooms.
One day I will hopefully own one. Sigh… one day.
A New Beginning…
November 11, 2008 at 2:44 am | Posted in my design fix | Leave a commentHi.
Welcome to ‘My Design Fix’. My name’s Aidan and I’m a graduate architect – working for almost 3 years now.
I decided to start this blog to promote design, covering anything and everything that I think is cool and generally design related from: architecture, furniture, art, graphics, film, music, books and even stuff that I’m working on.
Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up at least one entry per week… so here goes!
CERAMIC SPEAKER
AALTO VASE
SKYLINE RESIDENCE
I LOVE THE GARAGE SIGN
VADER HOUSE
FIVE GIRLS
SEDUCTIVE ESPIONAGE
DOMESTIC BLISS
BINIMELIS HOUSE
DIANA F+
101 THINGS I LEARNED...
STAHL HOUSE
MONOPOLY REPACKAGING 
SEXITECTURE
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