Rammed Earth
December 26, 2011 at 1:46 pm | Posted in my design fix, my work, photography | Leave a commentTags: architecture, my photography, photography, rammed earth
Photo: Aidan Taylor 2011
So… It has been well over a year since my last post.
A combination of being busy with work, spending an average of over 4 hours per researched entry and being frustrated that My Design Fix had turned into something that mainly documented the creative pursuits of others while neglecting my own led to the blog taking a serious back seat for a while.
But I’m back – and hopefully with a vengeance. The photo above is a sneak peak of one of the architectural projects that has been keeping me busy on the construction site for much of the past year.
So stay tuned – I’ll be back with more after this short commercial break… 
Aidan
Happy Haus – Donovan Hill Architects
July 4, 2010 at 11:21 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, australia, houses, modular, prefab
Queensland based architecture practice Donovan Hill have designed a series of prefabricated housing modules for designer pre-fab housing company Happy Haus.
Titled the DHAN series, it consists of base modules that include a fully fitted bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living space as well as smaller expansion modules such as additional bedrooms or living areas. With over ten different modules to choose from, multiple configurations can be created to suit any family, lifestyle or site. This allows owners to extend or add freestanding modules when needed as well as having the flexibility to downsize over time.
Suurupi House Extension – Arhitektid Muru & Pere
March 16, 2010 at 8:37 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, estonia, houses, timber
The Suurupi House Extension, located in Estonia is designed by Arhitektid Muru & Pere.
Initially designed and built in 1998/99, the one-storey house was a simple wooden ‘”matchbox” to cater for the needs of a young family with children. As the family grew and the children got older various additions were made culminating in the latest addition of a second floor in 2008/09.
‘The modest “matchbox” has been made bigger in time, the drawer was stretched out further and further until it came out of the box and could be placed, crosswise, on top as a first floor and could be covered with tangled matches.
That is how the first floor looks: a box covered with crisscrossed sticks which resembles an angular bird’s nest, a ball of hay that is pressed together, a tangle of boards, all of which glows in the dark.’ – Arhitektid Muru & Pere
I personally wonder how this timber skin will age. Will it age gracefully as the timber weathers? Or will it require a lot of maintenance and need to be replaced after a number of years? Either way it looks really cool.
via archdaily
Photography: Tarvo Varres
Continue Reading Suurupi House Extension – Arhitektid Muru & Pere…
Skyline Residence – Belzberg Architects
January 12, 2010 at 10:52 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, california, hollywood hills, houses
The Skyline Residence by Belzberg Architects is located in the Hollywood hills overlooking the San Fernando Valley and was designed and built by all 13 staff members of Belzberg Architects for director Hagy Belzberg.
To combat a narrow and difficult site with cliffs on two sides, the house is arranged in a long pavilion containing the bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms with the living area protruding to the north east. There is also a guest house that has been strategically separated from the main building to create a terrace space and car parking court between the two buildings. This space also doubles as an outdoor theatre. Movies can be projected onto the southern wall of the guest house and viewed from the terrace above the garage.
The form of each of the two buildings is derived from a single, solid, folded plane with glazing infill on the remaining sides. These folded forms act to shelter the interiors from the sun while still allowing views to be maximised.
Timber slat screens on the western facades of both buildings also protect them from the afternoon sun while the corridor in the main building is situated to the west to act as a heat buffer. Large opening doors take advantage of cross ventilation and openings at either end of hallway encourage breezes to flow through the house and through the bedrooms.
Other aspects of the house that aid in reducing its carbon footprint include sourcing recycled and local materials as much as possible, keeping granite excavated from the site for gravel paving and using products like reconstituted timber instead of hardwood for the slats on the western facade.
Aside from this house having the most awesome home theatre ever, I particularly like the suspended fireplace in the living area and the wet edge infinity pool overlooking the amazing view. But something like this doesn’t come cheap – According to la.curbed.com it was sold for $5.6 million US just last December!
To view more photos of the Skyline Residence along with other work from Belzberg Architects visit their website here.
Photos: Benny Chan of Fotoworks
Mafoombey Acoustic Space – Martti Kalliala & Esa Ruskeepää
December 14, 2009 at 11:12 pm | Posted in architecture | 1 CommentTags: architecture, cardboard, cardboard architecture, mafoombey
Mafoombey is the title of an award winning corrugated cardboard sound installation designed by Finnish architecture students Martti Kalliala and Esa Ruskeepää with the aid of architect, Martin Lukasczyk.
Designed for a competition organised by the Helsinki University of Art and Design in 2005, the competition brief called for a space for listening to and experiencing music within the set dimension of a 2.5m cube.
Kalliala and Ruskeepää’s resulting design is a very sculptural form that plays on the contrast between the regular cubic volume, and the irregular free form interior, while also making use of the unique and underutilised material – corrugated cardboard.
The interior contours of the cube were designed mostly via 3D computer modelling. Once an appealing form was decided upon, the 3D model was sliced into horizontal layers in order to produce the cutting files for the computer-controlled cardboard cutter.
The structure itself consists of 360 layers of 7mm thick corrugated cardboard made up of 720 half-square sheets cut out one by one. Cardboard columns run through each corner of the cube to stiffen the structure with cable runs and apertures for the speakers, DVD player and lamps all integrated within the stack.
Another impressive detail is the fact that no adhesives were used in the project! The installation is held together entirely by its own weight which lends itself to being a temporary structure – easily assembled and disassembled.
Mafoombey’s simple, yet playful form creates the ultimate listening and relaxing space, further enhanced by the sound-absorbing properties of a very eco-friendly material: cardboard.
via paperforest, iaac blog and finnish design shop
‘Prologue’ – 2009 UniSA Architecture & Interior Graduate Exhibition
November 29, 2009 at 7:09 pm | Posted in architecture, events | Leave a commentTags: 2009, architecture, graduate exhibition, interior architecture, uniSA
The annual University of South Australia Architecture and Interior Architecture graduate exhibition is on once again. Fittingly titled ‘Prologue’, the 2009 exhibition showcases the work of the graduating students and is open to the public from Friday, November 27 until Wednesday, December 2.
If you happen to be passing by the west end of town between 9am and 5pm (I’m pretty sure they are the opening hours) drop by and check it out:
UniSA City West Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide
Level 5, Kaurna Building / BH5 – 16
Below are a few photographs that I took at the opening night:
Freshwater House – Chenchow Little Architects
November 9, 2009 at 11:40 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, australia, houses, robin boyd award
The Freshwater House was recently announced as the winner of the 2009 Robin Boyd Award – Australia’s highest award for residential architecture.
Designed by Chenchow Little Architects, the house is situated in the coastal Sydney suburb of Harbord, overlooking Queenscliffe Bay and an adjacent reserve.
From the street the house appears as a modernist black box floating above a wall of weathered timber slats. Made from recylcled spotted gum, the timber slats conceal the garage while also forming a podium for the garden terrace and main living area above.
The use of full height glazing and sliding doors creates a strong connection between the internal living areas and the lawned terrace. (How cool is the lone tree and the little lawn mound?)
The bedrooms on the the upper level are enclosed by a series of dark metal slatted screens. These operable screens allow the house to take advantage of the amazing view through extensive glazing while still allowing for sun control and privacy.
Photos: John Gollings
For more work by Chenchow Little Architects visit their website here.
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Vader House – Andrew Maynard Architects
October 29, 2009 at 10:57 pm | Posted in architecture, houses | 3 CommentsTags: architecture, australia, houses, steel, vader
The Vader House, design by Andrew Maynard Architects is an extension to a two storey Victorian terrace house located in inner city Melbourne. The form, dictated by planning restrictions and the tight site, is a clever solution that creates open, flexible spaces and blurs the boundaries between inside and out.
Some of my favourite details in this thoroughly considered house include; the folded steel stair, the expressed hanging beam over the walkway to the existing building that appears as if it’s floating over the lounge space and, the sliding deck that reveals a hidden spa beneath. I also really like the warmth and grittiness that is created by leaving the existing brick walls exposed in contrast to the clean, hard edges of the new joinery.
I’m pretty sure the name “Vader House” refers to the black, machine-like steel structure and louvres having a slight resemblance to the helmet of the Star Wars character Darth Vader (see video below).
For more information and photos visit the Andrew Maynard Architects website here.
Youtube video via arquitectoslatinos.com
Photos: Peter Bennetts
Highgate Hill Residence – Richard Kirk Architect
August 11, 2009 at 12:17 am | Posted in architecture, houses | Leave a commentTags: architecture, australia, houses, timber battens
The Highgate Hill Residence, by Richard Kirk Architects is a beautifully detailed house located in the inner Brisbane suburb of Highgate Hill.
Screened from the street by fine hardwood timber battens, the living area opens up to built-up platforms of timber decking and lawn, which in turn overlook the lush gully beyond.
‘In response to the dominance of the landscape, the house is entirely clad in timber and uses timber glazed façade systems where each species is selected to age in response to its orientation and weathering.’ – Richard Kirk Architects
The living and kitchen areas open up completely to the north and east through the use of sliding, stacking hardwood doors.
Spatially, the internal void over the living area plays quite an important role in the house. It creates a vertical connection with the existing trees outside to the north, allows daylight to flood the space from the south and separates the children’s bedrooms from the master bedroom on the upper floor.
‘The stair is an important organizational reference between the levels and is treated as a sculptural element that twists slightly within the void to allow its form to visually link all levels.’ – Richard Kirk Architects
Photos: Patrick Bingham Hall, Scott Burrows
For further reading visit the Richard Kirk Architects website here.
Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman
July 29, 2009 at 9:19 pm | Posted in architecture, film, photography | Leave a commentTags: architecture, julius shulman, photography, visual acoustics
This film has been on my list of things to blog about for a while so I figured this would be a fitting follow up to my previous entry; a tribute to the late Julius Shulman.
Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Visual Acoustics explores the monumental career of 98-year-old architectural photographer, Julius Shulman. Populating his photos with human models and striking landscapes, Shulman combined the organic with the synthetic, melding nature with revolutionary urban design. The resulting images helped to shape the careers of some of the greatest architects of the 20th Century, with Shulman documenting the work of Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Pierre Koenig, John Lautner, and many others.
For those of you who happen to be in Melbourne there is a screening of Visual Acoustics this weekend (Sunday August 2) as a part of the Melbourne International Film Festival. I’m afraid I’ll just have to wait for the theatre release or when it comes out on DVD though. 
For more information visit the official website at www.juliusshulmanfilm.com
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