RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Home.’

Hose To Home: 10 Reverently Restored Firehouses

13 Jan

[ By Steve in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

firehouse homes
America’s urban firehouses combine form with function in solidly-built structures, making them ideal candidates for respectful residential restoration.

Anderson’s Coop

Anderson Cooper restored home firehouse New York(image via: Daytonian In Manhattan/Alice Lum)

Architect Franklin Baylis, designer of the 1906-vintage Fire Patrol House #2 in New York City’s Greenwich Village, would no doubt be pleased to see his original work revealed after so many years. Bland and unappealing painting, re-painting and over-painting had obscured the firehouse facade’s intricate detailing but all that would change when media celeb Anderson Cooper bought the building for $ 4.3 million and embarked on an extensive (and doubtless expensive) restoration.

Anderson Cooper firehouse home NYC Greenwich Village(images via: Curbed)

The term “restoration” shouldn’t be taken literally – Cooper was looking to LIVE in the building, not fight fires from it. Even so, the new owner of the 8,240-square-foot former firehall at 84 West 3rd Street intends to restore the old fireman’s gymnasium for his personal use and although the front garage door is now black, the station’s iconic bust of Mercury is looking pretty good for a dude going on 108!

Newport Renews

Hose 8 firehouse restoration Newport RI(images via: H + A)

The town of Newport, Rhode Island was founded in 1639, which makes the historic Hose 8 firehouse one of the burg’s newer structures. When structural issues appeared to consign the late nineteenth century building to the wrecker’s ball, Boston-based Hacin + Associates architecture and design firm stepped in with an intriguing plan: completely dismantle the three-story firehouse and rebuild it, brick by brick, with a flexible modern interior suitable for homeowners. Upon completion of the three-year-long project, The Newport Restoration Foundation awarded H + A the Doris Duke Preservation Award honoring the firm’s “heroic efforts to save a building that would have otherwise been lost”.

Ravenswood; You Would Too

Ravenswood Chicago home firehouse(image via: Your Windy City Guide)

Chicago Fire anyone? The Windy City found itself chock-a-block with redundant firehouses in the late 1950s when the many competing private fire protection companies were absorbed by the municipal government. Some, like the restored Ravenswood beauty above, found themselves in revitalized residential neighborhoods where their form took precedence over their former function.

Chicago restored firehouse Ravenswood(images via: Hall Of Flame, StrawStickStone/Cragin Spring and Chicago Scanner)

In its previous life, the structure was Patrol #8 of the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol. Listed for $ 1,275,000 in 2006 (just before the national financial crisis clobbered the housing market), the cozy firehall features two bedrooms, two baths, a wine cellar and an expansive first floor formerly reserved for parking fire engines. The building looked almost naked without its current covering of ivy, though the “before” photo above from StrawStickStone does reveal some of its architectural highlights.

San Francisco Treat

117 Broad St. fire station 33 SFFD home (images via: Zillow)

Give my regards to Broad Street… San Francisco that is! Operating from 1896 to 1974, Firehouse 33 enjoyed an eventful life that included the Great San Francisco Earthquake when it was just a decade old. These days, the station does double duty as a two bedroom/2 bathroom home and a working business: the San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures company – it even has a 1955 red Mack Truck fire engine parked in the garage. Kiss those traffic jams goodbye!

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Hose To Home 10 Reverently Restored Firehouses

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

House in Reverse: Rooftop Driveway Leads to Hillside Home

Most people with single-family homes are used to pulling up into their driveways and then ascending flights of stairs to get to the living spaces. But in this … Click Here to Read More »»


Adaptive Reuse: 15 Creative House & Home Conversions

Billboards, fire towers, pig barns and factories are converted into stunning modern homes that preserve the history of the original structures. Click Here to Read More »»


Sounds Of Sirens: 10 Alarmingly Abandoned Firehalls

Made to last and styled to please, these abandoned firehalls silently linger on long after the factories and buildings they were built to protect have gone. Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook

[ By Steve in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Hose To Home: 10 Reverently Restored Firehouses

Posted in Creativity

 

House in Reverse: Rooftop Driveway Leads to Hillside Home

09 Jan

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

House in Reverse 1

Most people with single-family homes are used to pulling up into their driveways and then ascending flights of stairs to get to the living spaces. But in this case, a ground-level driveway leads directly to an open-air rooftop terrace, and to enter the home, you go down.

House in Reverse 2

House in Reverse 3

‘Car Park House’ by Anonymous Architects takes advantage of the hilly Los Angeles landscape. Built on a steep plot of land just off a winding road, the home makes the most of a challenging site, maximizing views from every level. Local building code requires the home to have two parking spots.

House in Reverse 4

A steel frame and a series of concrete pillars support the modern house as it projects out from the hillside, with two separate terraces looking out onto the San Gabriel mountains from the kitchen and master bedroom.

House in Reverse 5

House in Reverse 6

Calling it a ‘car park house’ puts the emphasis on the least attractive part of the home, but perhaps it’s appropriate considering Los Angeles car culture. But it’s a lot more than just a driveway with a view.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Open House(s): 10 Wonderful Open-Plan Home Designs

Open floor plans allow even the smallest cottage to seem spacious and luxurious. These 10 homes with open plans are the pinnacle of modern architectural design. Click Here to Read More »»


House of the Future: 12 Ultra-Modern Home Designs

With sharp angles, sterile white interiors and built-in furniture, these 12 house designs may give us an idea of what the homes of the future will look like. Click Here to Read More »»


Amphitheater of the Dead: Hong Kong Hillside Cemeteries

This terraced structure is not the remains of some ancient amphitheater, but a metropolis of the dead that’s just as dense as that of the living city of … Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on House in Reverse: Rooftop Driveway Leads to Hillside Home

Posted in Creativity

 

Slices of Home: Modular Mobile House-Shaped Micro-Rooms

23 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

modular room rendered blue

Spatial separation can be as much about a feeling of enclosure as a physical divider, like this set of portable lounge structures that provide a semi-secluded experience in an otherwise wide-open space.

modular rooms in context

Proposed by Malcrew for a co-working office space in an old Singapore warehouse, these mobile mini-rooms offer seating and shelving that can be deployed in a variety of personalized configurations.

modular mini rooms

Better still, like slices of a house set side by side, the disparate units can be slid back together to form gathering or meeting spaces on demand.

modular mobile reading room

Individual cushions can also be removed from each structure to make legroom for sitting upright and, in turn, be used as stools as well.

modular room closeup yellow

Inspired by treehouses, white oak frames reference wooden home construction, while brightly-colored interior cushions and walls distinguish the different modules from one another.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Borrowed from Libraries: Mobile Shelving for Modular Rooms

To save space, libraries employ a rolling stack system that allows access to only one or a few aisles needed at one time. How about the same in homes or … Click Here to Read More »»


5 Room-in-a-Box Designs Form 100% Modular Home Interior

For the minimalist space-saving fanatic, this collection may be the ultimate all-in-one solution – a set of five boxes, one for each essential home space. Click Here to Read More »»


Sibling Spaces: Modular Rooms Made for Brother & Sister

For getting things done: a static, serious and refined work space is shared by the siblings. For everything else: there is a playful flexibility to be found in … Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Slices of Home: Modular Mobile House-Shaped Micro-Rooms

Posted in Creativity

 

Calling Home: 9 Nifty Smartphone Shaped Buildings

01 Dec

[ By Steve in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

smartphone buildings
Does your high-rise apartment or office tower look like a mobile phone? These ones do, and you can bet smartphone users inside them get REALLY good reception.

Telefónica Chile Building – Santiago, Chile

Telefónica Chile Building Santiago(image via: Celebrate Big)

The Telefónica Chile Building (Torre Telefónica Chile) in Santiago was designed by architects Seismic A&E and while the firm doesn’t explicitly say so at their website, the structure was clearly intended to house a mobile telecommunications company – in this case, Telefónica Chile (known since 2009 as Movistar).

Telefónica Chile Building Santiago(images via: Chilling In Chile, Dijitalimaj and Wikimedia/Diego Sepulveda)

The 143 m (469 ft) tall tower’s design was an attempt to ape the appearance of state-of-the-art mid-1990s mobile phones… considering the building opened in December of 1995, we’d say the architects achieved their goal. It’s odd, however, that planners did not foresee the continuing evolution of mobile phone design through the Telefónica Chile Building‘s estimated lifespan and indeed, only a few short years after it opened the design was already looking quite dated.

Omniyat Properties iPad Building – Dubai, UAE

iPad Building Dubai(image via: WIRED)

Don’t let the name “iPad” fool you, this 23-story building concept from Omniyat Properties dates from 2007 and its design was intended to evoke Apple’s iPod MP3 player sitting atop a docking station. If the design doesn’t resemble an iPod upon first glance, keep in mind the edifice will lean back at a six degree angle.

iPad Building Dubai(images via: Roberta’s Blog and LandvestDubai)

Omniyat Properties suspended work on many of its planned building designs as the late-2000s world financial crisis bit into investment budgets, and the iPad was one of those to be put “on hold” until better days arrived. By 2010 the design had been re-named “The Pad” for obvious reasons and according to Omniyat Properties over 50 percent of payments required to re-start work on this and other outstanding projects had been nailed down.

Bic Camera Building – Tokyo, Japan

Bic Camera cellphone building Tokyo Ikebukuro(image via: Panoramio/alicemarotta)

The Bic Camera building in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district is one of about 40 Bic Camera stores in Japan, though it’s the only one that looks like a cellphone. The building’s facade is actually functional in a way, as the number buttons match the building’s floors and include a short description of what products may be found there.

Bic Camera cellphone building Tokyo Ikebukuro Japan(images via: Spicykarma and Kirainet)

Oddly for a building shaped like a cellular phone, the Bic Camera building in Ikebukuro does not specialize in mobile phone sales. Instead, this particular location predominantly sells computers, parts, peripheral devices and the like.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Calling Home 9 Nifty Smartphone Shaped Buildings

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Aren’t We Nautical: 10 Swell Ship-Shaped Buildings

From the fish out of water department: Landlubbers leery of getting their feet wet can live vicariously by visiting these 10 swell ship-shaped buildings.
Click Here to Read More »»


In The Doghouse Again: 13 Odd Animal-Shaped Buildings

Animal House reboot anyone? This unlucky group of 13 zoomorphic buildings make being sent to the doghouse (cathouse, etc.) a decidedly different experience.
Click Here to Read More »»


Crossed Up: 9 Twisted Swastika-Shaped Buildings

Though most modern architects avoid using swastikas in their blueprints, a few swastika-shaped buildings are out there, twisting in the winds of change.
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steve in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Calling Home: 9 Nifty Smartphone Shaped Buildings

Posted in Creativity

 

5 Mobile Photography Accessories You Will Never Leave Your Home Without

13 Sep

I don’t know a single photographer who would think a Canon L lens-shaped coffee cup is something not absolutely amazing! Today, web stores are packed with mobile photography accessories you could only imagine: Camera-resembling iPhone cases, camera-shaped keychains, various photo-filters and hotshoe mounted levels. All of them arouse the “I-want-it-now” feeling and make your hand click the “Add-to-cart” button without Continue Reading

The post 5 Mobile Photography Accessories You Will Never Leave Your Home Without appeared first on Photodoto.


Photodoto

 
Comments Off on 5 Mobile Photography Accessories You Will Never Leave Your Home Without

Posted in Photography

 

Suburb-Terranean: 70s Bunker Home Simulates Day & Night

10 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

underground bunker home

It is a dream home like any other of its era, with brick walls, sliding doors, stock windows and shingle roofs as well as a lawn, garden, trees and pool. The difference? It is set two stories underground in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the faux flora never wilts nor does it grow, and it is for sale.

underground home day night

If this real-life 1970s home seems like something out of a science-fiction movie, you may be remembering the film Blast from the Past, in which the protagonist spends decades underground in vintage fallout shelter styled after a mid-century suburban home and garden.

underground house kitchen pool

Listed at 1.7 million dollars, this foreclosed property looks conventional at street level, but hides a stunning set of secret spaces below, including two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen and every other space you would expect inside and outside of a single-family house on the surface.

Next Page:
Suburb Terranean Fake Day Night In 1970s Bunker Home

Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Suburb-Terranean: 70s Bunker Home Simulates Day & Night

Posted in Creativity

 

Beautifully Simple: School Bus Turned Minimal Mobile Home

26 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

bus home finished project

You could make a strong case for this vehicle being barely recognizable as such. The dimensions, fenestration and over spatial configuration give good clues that this space may have once been a school bus, but the finishes, furnishings and built-ins go above and beyond bare-bones adaptive reuse.

bus converted exterior retrofit

Architecture student Hank Butitta was sick of drafting imaginary buildings in studio courses destined never to be built, and sought (with help from his younger brother Vince) to steer his education in a more hands-on direction.

bus conversion program diagram

For his final thesis project at the University of Minnesota, Hank bought a bus for $ 3,000, added $ 6,000 to improve it, and spent fifteen weeks creating this amazing multifunctional mobile home.

bus adjustable seating area

We should start with the evolution of the programmatic diagram, described and illustrated in simple terms: “The even spacing of the window bays allow for the volume to be broken down into modular units of 28 inches square, leaving an aisle that is also 28 inches wide. The modular units are then grouped to create four primary zones: Bathroom, Kitchen, Seating, and Sleeping.”

bus multifunctional sleeping space

From there, a series of rules and strategies evolved, like: keep the space as open as possible, so the 225 square feet available area does not get broken down into cramped compartments.  The result is a limitation of objects built above the bottom edge of each window and an open-feeling floor plan. Hank also “developed a thin wall system integrating structure, insulation, electrical, lighting, and facing, leaving the interior open for occupation. The ceiling is covered in plywood flexed by compression, and the floor is reclaimed gym flooring, complete with 3-point line.”

bus cab storage space

Throughout the project, there are clever and deceptively simple ways to redeploy structure to address different needs on demand, like a bed system that allows for different sleeping configurations, and seats that with secret flip-up and slide-out panels to allow for further lounging or additional overnight guests. Storage is tucked and hidden throughout, integrated into other built-ins wherever spare space was available. The detailing throughout is minimal and consistent, but don’t let that fool you: a great deal of thought and work went into that apparent simplicity.

Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Beautifully Simple: School Bus Turned Minimal Mobile Home

Posted in Creativity

 

Heart of the Home Laid Open: Intimate Kitchen Portraits

10 Aug

[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

1 kitchen portraits amsterdam

Would you ever allow a stranger to come into your home, open every cabinet and cupboard in your kitchen, and photograph whatever he finds? Artist Erik Klein Wolterink does just that, photographing the room that is often thought of as the heart of the home. He doesn’t romanticize the space, however – he wants to catch the everyday chaos that exists in most kitchens.

2 amsterdam kitchen portraits

3 portraits of kitchens

As he steps foot into each kitchen, he opens everything up – fridges, cupboards, drawers, pantries, ovens and dishwashers – and meticulously photographs everything. The camera misses nothing – not the full dishwashers or the foreign food items or the many jars of Nutella.

4 portraits inside kitchens amsterdam

5 kitchen portraits

After photographing every possible angle of the kitchens, Klein Wolterink assembles the photos into pieced-together portraits. They are patchwork quilts made up of different angles of different parts of the same kitchen. They aren’t simply straight-on pictures of rooms; they are surreal portraits, real-life tableaux in which we can see every single part of the room all at once.

6 portraits of kitchen contents

7 kitchen interior portraits

The photographs all come from kitchens in and around Amsterdam, a city rich with multicultural life. This multiculturalism is displayed in the objects residents keep in their kitchens: foreign foods, exotic ingredients, alien-looking tools. But there is something here that unites all of us, a type of universal humanism that pervades the way we buy, store, prepare, and eat our food.

8 pictures of kitchen interiors

Interestingly, Klein Wolterink doesn’t consider himself a photographer as such. He thinks of himself as a modern cartographer. Maps, he says, are not realistic representations but they make you understand reality. His photos are, in a way, maps to the human condition and our varying but connected lives.

Share on Facebook

[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Heart of the Home Laid Open: Intimate Kitchen Portraits

Posted in Creativity

 

Wheel House: Circular Hobo Home is a Rolling Circus Marvel

22 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

rolling mobile home

In this strange circus performance piece, two travelers turn architectural conventions on end, moving an offbeat nomadic home through a comedic narrative via carefully choreographic actions. A bit of theater-to-go, The Wheelhouse features careworn gypsies, and revolves around homeless living but is bolstered by conceptual architecture and compelling acrobatics.

rolling circular circus act

Per the video above and images below, this quite dynamic acting duo from the Acrojou Circus Theatre have taken their show quite literally on the road – audience members have to walk or ride alongside their curious portable stage, consisting of domestic essentials packed into a portable circle.

rolling acrobatic performance art

Doors, windows, furnishings and fixtures are all affixed to the inside of this unbalanced blend of off-kilter architecture and vertigo-inducing set design. Their half-hour performance consists of walking, sitting and laying down inside the circular structure as it winds its way down streets and sidewalks.

rolling architecture circle concept

A hidden sound system provides the soundtrack for the piece, and the set itself can be deconstructed into three pieces – that bit is perhaps too bad: it would be neat were the rolling architecture a part of their traveling circus caravan.

Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

    


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Wheel House: Circular Hobo Home is a Rolling Circus Marvel

Posted in Creativity

 

Urban Fabric: Stretched, Stitched & Suspended Mobile Home

15 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Urbex & Parkour. ]

fabric mobile urban home

Imagine rooms that expanded and compressed depending on occupancy, then stretch your mind to conceptualize a whole home that works the same way – it folds virtually flat then unfolds as you move through it.

fabric home nomadic urbanists

Thi sultra-slim temporary dwelling design, dubbed Cocoon by Tanya Shukstelinsky, is early-stage and essentially conceptual at this point. It is nonetheless compelling as an idea and prototype for nomadic urban explorers – a thin and lightweight way to slip oneself in between buildings or into other cracks in a city.

fabric hanging home design

A series of handholds and other slim elements are stitched into place to create horizontal and vertical spatial dividers as well as other essential domestic elements like stairs, seats, sleeping platforms … even a fillable bathtub. Then, of course, like a tent without poles, the entire structure can be packed up into a highly portable unit, too.

fabric temporary portable shelter

Giving a new, more literal meaning to the phrase ‘urban fabric’, the designer writes: “I came up with an idea for a space between two stitched layers of fabric. A person who lives in the space can move upon the stitches. The stitches are dividing the fabric into different areas – dining area, sleeping area and bath.” 

Share on Facebook

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Urbex & Parkour. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

    


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Urban Fabric: Stretched, Stitched & Suspended Mobile Home

Posted in Creativity

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »