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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Amazing Ecology viallage in Siwa Egypt

These nice village photos were sent to me from A friend i would like to share it with you , lets watch together 


Ecolodge by Laetitia Delubac and Christian Félix



Paris architects Laetitia Delubac and Christian Félix have completed a holiday home and guest house in Siwa, Egypt.

Called Ecolodge and situated overlooking the desert, the building is constructed from locally-available materials including mud, sun-fired bricks, palm wood, reeds and stone.
The walls are made of a traditional local building material called kershef that consists of mud, sand and salt from the nearby salt lakes.
Intended as a retreat, the building incorporates guest rooms with patios, courtyards and gardens arranged around a central tower for the owners' rooms.
The tower draws air upwards from a water basin to cool the rooms.
Photographs are by Laetitia Delubac.
Here's some more information from the architects:
A retreat in the Egyptian desert.
A retreat which also is a guest house.
A retreat fully dedicated to contemplation and rest.
The piece of land, 35 x 35 m, is located in the peninsula of Siwa oasis at the bottom of Adrere Amellal ("white mountain" in tasiwit, the Berber dialect of this area).
We have chosen to dilate the project in order to cover the plot completely. This allows to provide as many patios as guest rooms, closed courtyard and garden; so many quiet places facing the desert.
Facing the four viewpoints that this site offers and the four cardinal points, four distinct façades reply to.
The main living room in the north is protected from direct sun. It opens onto a long pergola looking over the salt lake.
In the west, the guest rooms look over the Adrere Amellal. Varied views whether you are standing, sitting or lying down.
In the south, the façade evenly bored with minimal openings to the palm grove, rampart against sandy winds, borders staff quarters.
Finally in the west, towards the gates to desert, the garden and the swimming pool are isolated from the sole neighbour by a high wall in earth fissured on an ad hoc basis.
Here, quite isolated, the house was built with materials made available by desert, oasis and salt lake: mud, sun fired bricks, palm wood, reeds, red stone and salt stone.

Walls are built by local craftsmen with kershef, a traditional building material made out of mud, sand, and sun-dried salt harvested from the Siwa's salt lakes. In addition to blending in with the surrounding natural environment, kershef acts as a natural insulator, keeping indoor air temperatures mild in both hot and cold seasons.
No electricity in the house. Niches have been installed within the thick walls in kershef to place candles.
A spring spurting out in the bottom of the mountain, not very far in the south, irrigates the palm grove and continuously feeds the kitchen and bathrooms with fresh and healthy water, as well as a small pool and the basin at the centre of the peristyle intended for cooling the courtyard and adjacent rooms.
Waste water treatment is ensured with reed grove.
The tower, master room of the property has a natural air conditioning system using draughts: warm air in the rooms is vented within its two walls for fresh air coming from evaporation of water of the basin in the centre of the courtyard.
It welcomes the owner's suite and dominates the whole house. The terrace roof offers panoramic views of the exceptional landscape.
Architects: Laetitia Delubac and Christian Félix architects, Paris, France
Location: Siwa, Egypt
Client: Private
Project Area: 390 sqm
Project year: 2004-2007
Photographs: Laetitia Delubac

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Friday, May 01, 2009

AMAZING FRUITS ARCHITECTURE

one of the best architecture i ever seen
Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival  in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful  Orange Festival in Netherlands

Beautiful Orange Festival in Netherlands


 


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Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Amazing House of Bones

Restored and remodeled by the Spanish modernist architect Antoni Gaudi in the years 1905–1907, Casa Batllo is now one the most overlooked buildings by the tourists who visit Barcelona. Although Casa Batllo is a museum now, Gaudi designed it for for a wealthy Barcelona Aristocrat.

The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality.

The Amazing House of Bones
Close up of Casa Batllo chimney :: Photo Credit: WikiMedia


Casa Batllo's roof has been compared to a reptilian creature, the backbone of a gigantic dinosaur, the dragon killed by St. George (Sant Jordi being the patron saint of Catalan).

The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo roof :: Photo Credit: Klaus Dolle


It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the facade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues.

The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo arched roof :: Photo Credit: WikiMedia

 
The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo building, Barcelona :: Photo Credit: Fran Barrero


The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo arched roof and complex chimney detailing :: Photo Credit: WikiMedia


From the balconies resembling the bones of animals to the scale like surface of the front facade, the building is a tour de force of an artist reaching the peak of his powers. At night the floodlit facade has an iridescence like the scales of a fish. This polychromic finish is known as trencadís.


The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo, Barcelona in HDR:: Photo Credit: MorBCN


The enlarged windows on the first floor gave it another nickname, 'House of Yawns'.


The Amazing House of Bones
Casa Batllo window, Barcelona :: Photo Credit: WikiMedia


The Amazing House of Bones
Window detail of Caso Batllo building :: Photo Credit: shapeshift


Casa Batllo Interior Design


The Amazing House of Bones
Inside Caso Batllo :: Photo Credit: (Erik)

The Amazing House of Bones
Inside Caso Batllo :: Photo Credit: acastellano


The Amazing House of Bones
Inside Caso Batllo :: Photo Credit: 3dom

The Amazing House of Bones
Caso Batllo: Spiral Design :: Photo Credit: 3dom
 

The Amazing House of Bones
Caso Batllo: Spiral Design :: Photo Credit: Mini Anna


The Amazing House of Bones
Caso Batllo lobby :: Photo Credit: Kipourax

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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Amazing Shipping container Houses

Container City

Invented more than five decades ago, the modern shipping container is the linchpin in our global distribution network of products. In the containers go toys from China, textiles from India, grain from America, and cars from Germany. In go electronics, chocolate, and cheese.
While a number of resourceful people have converted shipping containers into make-shift shelters at the margin of society for years, architects and green designers are also increasingly turning to the strong, cheap boxes as source building blocks.
Shipping containers can be readily modified with a range of creature comforts and can be connected and stacked to create modular, efficient spaces for a fraction of the cost, labor, and resources of more conventional materials.
Discover some of the exciting possibilities of shipping container architecture, from disaster relief shelters to luxury condos, vacation homes, and off-the-grid adventurers. See what makes them green as well as cutting edge.
Redondo Beach House
(Photo: Kool-Kini / Flickr )

De Maria Design Redondo Beach House
With its modern lines and appealing spaces, the award-winning Redondo Beach House by De Maria Design turns heads. The luxury beach-side showpiece was built from eight prefabricated, recycled steel shipping containers, along with some traditional building materials. According to the architects, the modified containers are "nearly indestructible, " as well as resistant to mold, fire, and termites. Seventy percent of the building was efficiently assembled in a shop, saving time, money, and resources.
One of the containers can even sport a pool! The lessons learned from Redondo Beach House are being incorporated into a line of more affordable, accessible designs, soon available as Logical Homes.
London's Container City
(Photo: Urban Space Management)

London's Container City
Conceived by Urban Space Management, London's Container City first sprang up in the heart of the Docklands in 2001. It took just five months to complete the original 12 work studios, at a height of three stories. Shortly after that a fourth floor of studios and living apartments was added.
Container City was designed to be low cost, as well as environmentally friendly. Recycled materials made up 80% of building supplies. Architect Nicholas Lacey and partners and engineer Buro Happold used component pieces to build up adaptable living and work spaces.
Container City II
(Photo: Kool-Kini / Flickr )
Container City II
Container City I was a success, and in2002, Urban Space Management added an addition, dubbed Container City II. Reaching five stories high, Container City II is connected to its earlier iteration via walkways. It also boasts an elevator and full disabled access, as well as 22 studios.
Port-a-Bach
(Photo: Paul McCredie)

Port-a-Bach
Need some flexibility with security? Need a temporary structure or small vacation home? Going off the grid? The Port-a-Bach system from New Zealand's Atelier Workshop might be a good fit.
Costing around $55,000, Port-a-Bach sleeps two adults and two children comfortably, in a dwelling that folds up into a fully enclosed steel shell. It comes with large internal storage cupboards and shelves; a stainless steel kitchen; bathroom with shower, sink and composting toilet; bunk beds and dressing room. Fabric screens allow you to shape internal space, as well as shelter the outdoor deck area.
Bach (pronounced Batch) is Kiwi slang for "Bachelor Pad," and refers to the many small cabins that dot the famously picturesque country.
Cove Park Artists' Retreat
(Photo: Urban Space Management)

Cove Park Artists' Retreat
Set on 50 acres of gorgeous Scottish countryside, Cove Park is an artist's retreat designed to stimulate and reinvigorate. Urban Space Management first brought in three repurposed shipping containers in 2001, and the center became so popular that more units have been added.
Doesn't look like your average shipping box, does it?
All Terrain Cabin
(Photo: Bark Design Collective)

All Terrain Cabin
Canada's Bark Design Collective built the All Terrain Cabin (ATC) as a showcase for sustainable (and Canadian!) ingenuity. The small home is based on a standard shipping container, and is said to be suitable for a family of four, plus a pet, to live off the grid in comfort and style.
The cabin folds up to look like any old shipping container, and can be sent via rail, truck, ship, airplane, or even helicopter. When you're ready to rest your bones, the cabin quickly unfolds to 480 square feet of living space, with a range of creature comforts.
The Ecopod
(Photo: Courtesy of Ecopod)

The Ecopod
Another container home designed for on- or off-grid living is the Ecopod. Made from a shipping container, an electric winch is used to raise and lower the heavy deck door (power is supplied by a solar panel). The floor is made from recycled car tires, and the walls have birch paneling (over closed-cell soya foam insulation). The glass is double paned to slow heat transfer.
The Ecopod can be used as a stand alone unit or with other structures. It is designed to minimize environmental impact.
Adam Kalkin Quik House
(Photo: Quik House )

Adam Kalkin Quik House
Want your own container house? There's a six-month waiting list for the Quik House by architect Adam Kalkin, who is based in New Jersey. The distinctive Quik House comes in a prefabricated kit, based on recycled shipping containers (in fact a completed house is about 75% recycled materials by weight).
The standard Quik House offers 2,000 square feet, three bedrooms and two and one-half baths, though larger options are also available. The shell assembles within just one day, and all the interior details can be finished within about three months.
The Quik House comes in two colors (orange or natural rust bloom), and the estimated total cost, including shipping and assembly, is $184,000. You can add even greener options such as solar panels, wind turbines, a green roof, and additional insulation (to R-50).
LiNX Temporary Structures
(Photo: Kool-Kini / Flickr )

LiNX Temporary Structures
Dublin-based designer Richard Barnwall envisioned this design, dubbed the LiNX, as a temporary structure for construction workers. The two-storey model pictured is to be comprised of four 20-foot containers. Such designs offer flexibility and rapid deployment, and may even work for more permanent homes.
Ross Stevens House
(Photo: Ross Stevens / Flickr )

Ross Stevens House
Industrial designer Ross Stevens built this distinctive house in Wellington, New Zealand. Repurposed shipping containers form an intriguing contrast to the surrounding hill. In fact, the unique home makes use of the hill itself, expanding interior space beyond the containers.
Parts of the Ross Stevens house are surprisingly spacious and comfortable. There's even a cool table made from a repurposed door.
Student Housing Project Keetwonen, Amsterdam
(Photo: Kool-Kini / Flickr)

Student Housing Project Keetwonen, Amsterdam
Billed as the largest container city in the world, Amsterdam's massive Keetwonen complex houses 1,000 students, many of whom are happy to secure housing in the city's tight real estate market. Designed by Tempo Housing in 2006, Keetwonen is said to be a roaring success, with units that are well insulated, surprisingly quiet and comfortable.
Each resident enjoys a balcony, bathroom, kitchen, separate sleeping and studying rooms, and large windows. The complex has central heating and high speed Internet, as well as dedicated bike parking.
Keetwonen has proved so popular that its lease has been extended until at least 2016.
Site-Specific Exhibition
(Photo: Site-Specific )

Site-Specific Exhibition
Site-Specific and Buatalah Studio were asked to design a green building exhibition for Baan Lae Suan Fair in Bangkok. They came up with a design for a family of three, made out of four reused shipping containers and prefabricated modules. The home reuses graywater and incorporates spaces for growing food.

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