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Natural Luxury: Iceland’s Eco-Friendly Northern Lights Hotel

15 May

[ By Delana in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

ion hotel iceland

Iceland has become quite the tourist destination for world travelers thanks to its ethereal landscapes, amazing history, unique culture, and unspoilt views of the Northern Lights. It’s the Northern Lights that draw eco-conscious travelers to the breathtaking Ion Hotel by Minarc Architects. iceland ion hotel

minarc ion hotel

earth friendly luxury ion hotel iceland

The hotel was designed to provide visitors with an unobstructed view of the otherworldy surroundings while itself blending into the landscape. Emerging from the mossy mountain like a natural rock outcropping, the Ion Hotel could almost be mistaken for a body of hardened lava extending out into the mountainous area.

scenic overlook ion hotel

northern lights hotel iceland

glass walled outlook ion hotel iceland

An abundance of floor to ceiling windows were designed to let in natural light while allowing an optimized view of the hotel’s settings. A glassed-in lounge at the building’s terminus lets visitors gaze out on the utterly exquisite Northern Lights after the sun goes down.

eco-friendly ion hotel iceland

locally inspired rooms ion hotel

ion hotel bar

But the Ion isn’t all about looks; it is also a decidedly Earth-friendly place to spend a vacation. The luxury hotel uses locally-sourced materials included repurposed natural materials like lava and driftwood. The huge windows cut down on the building’s electricity consumption by reducing the need for artificial lighting.

interior ion hotel iceland

brown trout ion hotel interior

iceland northern lights ion hotel

Local customs and culture inspired the interior design of the hotel; nods to the country’s history and notable features can be seen in every area of the building. When locally-sourced materials are not available, Fair Trade products are used instead. And as a truly exceptional feature, the hotel utilizes the abundant surrounding natural hot springs as a source of clean geothermal heating and hot water.

[ By Delana in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

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Designer Sci-Fi: Ferrari Spaceship Takes Luxury Sky-High

12 May

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

ferrari spaceship 2

Given how far away we still are from personal spacecraft, perhaps it’s not surprising that most design concepts for extra-terrestrial ships haven’t evolved much in the last couple decades. Concerned more with practicalities (and budget constraints) than aesthetics, even NASA has stuck to the same-old same-old when it comes to spacecraft design, but a fun vision of the future from Ferrari’s design director gives us some hope.

ferrari spaceship 1

Known for incorporating Ferrari design sensibilities into all sorts of sketches, Flavio Manzoni doesn’t disappoint with his spaceship concept. Fluid and reflective, the ship is just as sleek as any of the real-life luxury cars that Manzoni has designed, including the LaFerrari supercar.

ferrari spaceship 4

The ship is divided into two shells by a signature red line, and two wings wrap around the lower section of the body.

ferrari spaceship 3

Unveiling the sketches and renderings at Form Trends, Manzoni says it started as just a bit of fun, inspired by his childhood living at the top of a six-story building and imagining a UFO landing on the rooftop terrace.

ferrari spaceship 5

“I tried to imagine something that can fly in the future, since there will be less and less space available on the ground,” says Manzoni. “And I focused on creating a little craft that’s different than my childhood dreamm, when I thought that a car of the future would slip on a cushion.”

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Luxury Retrofit: New 440-Square-Foot Condo Hidden in Old Garage

17 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

box-home

Boxed in on both sides, this once-homely little garage space is now a cozy high-end condo, its rusted white corrugated metal front replaced with a still-concealing wood facade serving to hide something much more dynamic inside.

garage house interior

garage house kitchen

garage house seating

Designed by FABRE/deMARIEN, this ‘100% Box’ home features white walls and ceilings, reinforcing lightness and openness toward the front of the space, an area containing a kitchen and dining room as well as a front entry deck.

garage house living room

garage bathroom inside box

garage elevated sleeping loft

A wood-paneled box in back serves all kinds of additional functions, housing a series of desk and seating built-ins, enclosing a small bathroom and supporting the elevated bedroom with bed and storage above.

garage house before

garage reconstruction

garage under construction

garage house conversion

garage house car port

The sloping roof helps provide higher ceilings in the back spaces as well as accommodating the additional needs of the raised bedroom area, with periodic sunlights to help illuminate all of the above. Enclosed on all sides, this urban infill lot reuse manages to feel spacious and open despite the limitations of its site.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Lowepro launches Echelon luxury bag line

03 Mar

Lowepro has announced a line of new photography bags with a high-end design. The Echelon series includes a roller, laptop brief and attache with premium touches like leather handles and each piece includes a removable All Weather cover. We took the attache model for a spin – find out our first impressions of it. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Iceberg Homes: London Boroughs Curb Luxury ‘Super-Basements’

21 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

underground estate luxury home

It is increasingly common to find London properties that have more subterranean interior space than above-ground square footage, a byproduct of the wealthy desiring to build additions without tripping over surface-oriented building codes. New legislation in some boroughs of the city aims to cut down on permits issue to such underground expansions.

mega basement

'Iceberg house' illustration

Anecdotes around these mega-basements abound, including stories of the compromising neighboring houses by undermining their structural integrity. As Curbed reports: “In a famous case from 2012, excavation work under the mansion of a Goldmann Sachs director resulted in his neighbor getting trapped inside her home, unable to open her front door since it had shifted so much.”

mega basement design

Indeed, the billionaires building these projects do a lot of strange things to maintain their bottom line while maximizing their additions, including leaving diggers worth thousands of dollars each (millions in aggregate) buried in unmarked and self-dug graves simply because the cost of excavating exceeds that of retrieving them. Like other facets of this phenomena, the lack of visibility relating to such practices has helped keep them hidden from public scrutiny.

london basement expansion diagram

Over the last decade, the demand for permits to extend below ground has skyrocketed, increasing by over tenfold. In response to the growing concern over these practices, Chelsea and other boroughs are considering measures including: restricting below-ground extensions to a single story, reducing the distance they can expand beyond the building footprint and capping the total subterranean square footage by project (diagrams via TheDailyMail and TheGuardian).

mole man underground house

Finally, any discussion of tunnels and London would be remiss not to mention the famous case of the Mole Man, which helped bring many of these other oddities to light. Without permits or permission of any time, this now-infamous Hackney resident began to burrow beneath his house. William Lyttle ultimately tunneled outward in various directions and well beyond his own property line and underneath adjacent streets and homes. For the safety of all involved, the building has been condemned though there are potential plans in place to turn it into artist housing.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Hasselblad introduces Stellar II luxury enthusiast compact

26 Nov

Hasselblad has announced the Stellar II, an enthusiast compact which the company says has been ‘conceived and crafted exclusively for aficionados, collectors, and connoisseurs’. Like other recent Hasselblads, the Stellar II is a rebadged Sony camera – which in this case is the RX100 III. Available grip finishes include olive, walnut, padouk, and carbon fiber. You can pick one up for yourself at a price of $ 2395/€1650.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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50 Luxury Fashion Photography Portfolios You Should See

18 Apr

The world of couture and high fashion ?aptivates with its glamor and gloss. With its big audience, glamorous, international lifestyle and high price tags, fashion photography may seem to be one of the world’s most demanded professions. For each fashion photographer who makes it through the door of top magazines, many others find their niche in art photography, fashion advertising, Continue Reading

The post 50 Luxury Fashion Photography Portfolios You Should See appeared first on Photodoto.

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Submarine Suite: Private Luxury in Submersible Yacht Hotel

12 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

luxury underwater hotel

Nemo and his companions on the Nautilus would find themselves quite at home in this self-contained underwater retreat, complete with wraparound views and dupped Lovers Deep.

luxury above the water

A project of Oliver’s Travels, the vessel can help the rich and famous sneak away from prying eyes, submerging itself then depositing its passengers on a remote romantic island, or simply treating its hidden guests to secret seafood dinners under the sea.

luxury submarine retreat underwater

luxury hotel deep ocean

The interior features a full kitchen, bar and living spaces with long horizontal windows to take in the scenery and wildlife. Chefs and concierges, located on the upper level but available on demand, can be provided as well to help customize the experience.

luxury submersible living room

luxury suite bathroom hall

However, unless you, like the eccentric protagonist of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, can offset the cost of your voyage via hidden stashes of wealth, you may have a hard time paying the $ 100,000+ per-night price tag this vessel demands.

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

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Juxtapositions: Luxury Skyscrapers in Seas of Blue Shanties

12 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

skyscraper next to squatters

In some cities the slums run vertical while the rich build mansions on the precious ground, but in Mumbai, India, high-rise housing is considered premium real estate while the poor cobble together shelters below.

scryscraper slum backdrop mumbai

Alicja Dobrucka is the Polish photographer behind this photo series titled Life on a New High. Many of the photos were shot from a sufficiently high elevation to capture tall buildings on the backdrop of the surrounding urban landscape.

skyscraper foreground shelter view

The residential towers stand in stark contrast to the sprawling ad hoc homes below, topped with a kind of (unfortunately) iconic patchwork of blue tarps.

skyscraper urban luxury tower

Thousands of mid-rise-and-higher structures have been or are being built in Mumbai, often without regard for any overarching city plan. Some (like the famous one above) house single families on multiple floors, often with space for dozens of servants (in this case, reportedly, as many as 200).

skyscraper no urban planning

skyscraper new construction india

skyscraper being built mumbai

Dobrucka also calls attention to the marketing slogans used to promote these structures. These catchy phrases are as seemingly out of touch with a their surroundings as the European-style architectural follies they are attached to: “You don’t just invite friends over, you invite awe”, ”Ask yourself, how much envy can you endure? Neither wealth nor influence will bring them back again”, ”If your tastes match with the President of France, we have just the right home for you”, ”Other homes have works of art. Yours is one” and “Rooftop pool. Rooftop Jacuzzi. Rooftop lawn. As for the moon consider it complimentary”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Building for Billionaires: Luxury Tower with Car Elevators

20 Dec

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Porsche Design Tower 1

If you’re rich enough to live in the Porsche Design Tower, you’re rich enough to have a mega-expensive car or two worth hauling up to your upper-floor penthouse each day in your very own car elevator. The 60-story oceanfront tower in Miami was designed for the mega-rich, with 132 suites offering 2-4 car garages on every level, with three car elevators available to residents as they arrive and depart.

Porsche Design Tower 2

Residents drive their cars out of the elevators and straight into their own glass-walled garages, giving them the ability to admire their expensive toys as they relax on their couches or enjoy a meal prepared by a team of personal chefs. The vehicles will be washed and maintained by an in-house concierge service.

Porsche Design Tower 3

Twenty-two billionaires (representing about 2% of the world’s richest people) have already secured units, though they won’t be able to move in until the tower is complete in 2016. Each residence includes a large balcony with a plunge pool and outdoor kitchen, and shared amenities include a spa, game room, movie theater and a ballroom with expansive ocean views.

Porsche Design Tower 4

The units cost between $ 4.8 million and $ 32.5 million each, with the whole building estimated to cost $ 214 million, the largest loan taken out for a commercial project since the recession.