i-eclectica.org

I got a response to one of my posts, one that could even have been spam but: it does have a link to a very appealing piece of architecture in Poland. Since I can’t speak Polish, I’m not sure what the website says except that the building seems to be built to house a radio station, and that the design won the “Mies van der Rohe Award for European Contemporary Architecture”.

South Jersey Real Estate has quite a long list of unusual house designs, some of which are shown below.

Located in Darmstadt and built between 1998 and 2000 by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the famous Austrian architect and painter, widely renowned for his revolutionary, colourful architectural designs which incorporate irregular, organic forms, e.g. onion-shaped domes. The Hundertwasser house “Waldspirale” contains 105 apartments and wraps around a landscaped courtyard with a running stream. The turret at the southeast corner holds a restaurant, including a cocktail bar. Natural features of the landscape around the building are expressed in it: the layers of sedimentary rock found underneath the site are reflected on the facade in bands of ceramic tiles and coloured stucco. The roof above the 12 floors is formed by a garden of beech, maple, and lime trees.

What better example between European sophistication (the Hundertwasser building) and American crassness: the basket building. Located in Newark, Ohio the Basket Building is the home office of The Longaberger Basket Company. Founder Dave Longaberger decided he wanted the corporate home office in a giant basket. History of the Basket Building.

Located in Tourettes-sur-Loup, France, and was designed by the Hungarian architect Antti Lovag. At 35 years old, it has already been listed by the French ministry of culture as an historic monument.

Located in Sopot, Poland at Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street the Crooked House was constructed in 2003 based off of drawings from Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg. Additional Photos and construction details from maps.pomocnik.com.

Office building located in Prague, Czech Republic and designed by architects Vlado Miluni? and Frank Gehry. Because the building somewhat resembles a pair of dancers it was orginially named Fred and Ginger, after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Later it was nicknamed the Dancing House.

This unique piano house was built recently in An Hui Province, China. Inside of the violin is the escalator to the building. The building displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area.

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Now playing: Cloud Cult - Untitled Track; Bloc Party - Song for Clay (Disappear Here); Tunng - Stories; Animal Collective - Daffy Duck; Archive - Sane; Ms. John Soda - Sometimes Stop, Sometimes Go; Modest Mouse - Bankrupt On Selling; Erase Errata - Wasteland (in a…); Masha Qrella - I Can’t Tell; Fujiya & Miyagi - Photocopier; CocoRosie - Bisounours; Burial - Broken Home; Hot Chip - Look After Me
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TechRepublic has a photo gallery on tree houses, which is quite informative and also features some quite unreal looking looking designs that actually are inhabited - as primary residences, vacation getaways and meditation retreats.

Tree houses seem to come in two forms: those perched on or attached to a tree (the environmentally friendly ones), and those being a living tree (the ones that ARE the environment). The latter are particularly intriguing, given that they create a house that lives and breathes and constantly changes. The challenge here would not just be that you might have to forever prune your house but also that you have to have pretty flexible and adaptable building materials - I don’t think standard window glass would cope particularly well with a tree-branch-frame that is constantly in growth mode. Another issue would be the growth rate of the tree, which could easily either rearrange your dwelling too fast or make you wait forever to move in (see top) .

But, as the second image from the top shows, such building also have nice advantages, such a structure being both nourished and nourishing its natural surroundings. Elements in this case include walls woven from vines, soy-based plastic windows, rammed earth and tile flooring, and radiant solar hot water heating. In theory, a household living in such a structure could use its wastewater and compost to feed the roots of trees, helping the walls and roof to grow. Health benefits include fresh air from the oxygen given off by the trees, which absorb carbon generated by the household.

[Check out also the Japanese tree house]

Liverpool is getting a new museum, based on 3XN’s winning proposal. It will be built at one of the city’s most prominent development sites, within the Liverpool’s World Heritage site which was inscribed by UNESCO last year. The building is conceived as inclined or elevated platforms, gradually forming a sculptural structure. It will be fully accessible and will contribute to the public promenade flow along the Docks. Situated at the Pier Head, next to ‘The Three Graces’ (Royal Liver Building, Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building), the museum will be visible from both the river and the city.The Museum of Liverpool will become the World’s leading city history museum, showcasing social history and popular culture and will look at Britain and the world through the eyes of Liverpool. Hope is that it will attract at least 750.000 visitors on a yearly basis, and that it will help Liverpool to be resurrected to new grand times while creating a new and attractive image for the city.

Adaptation to the site and a clear distinction between new and existing buildings is essential in a sensitive and listed environment. Architecture true to its own time is the only way the area’s history stays visible; pastiches that mime the existing buildings will inevitably obscure the picture. The distinction is furthermore achieved by using smaller size, lower height and a formal contemporary language. This makes The Three Graces and Albert Dock stand out and maintain their visual power, while the waterfront maintains its characteristic skyline. Distinction does not rule out harmony. Harmony is achieved by a balanced use of materials such as a natural stone in keeping with what can already be found in the area, and by planning the new building according to existing public flow lines along the promenade in order not to block any movement patterns. The new building creates protected outdoor spaces and indoor view points towards the city’s attractions.

The museum will be a focal point of 2008 when Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture. It is with this impetus that the first phase of the museum must be complete in October of the celebration year. After the Capital of Culture Year, phase two, the exhibition fit out will begin with the museum completion scheduled for April 2010.

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How to build a low-impact woodland house starting with a block of land shown above (left)? Simon Dale of Wales lays it all out on his website. The home was built by himself and his father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting they moved in. He estimates that 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 were put in.He explains that “the house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.”

Some key points of the design and construction:

* Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
* Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
* Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
* Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
* Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
* Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
* Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
* Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
* Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring…)
* Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
* Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
* Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
* Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
* Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
* Water by gravity from nearby spring
* Compost toilet
* Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way, Simon is not a builder or carpenter; his experience is only having had a go at one similar house 2 yrs before he built his and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This shows that this kind of building is accessible to anyone. His main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverance and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.

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Now playing: Tiga - Brothers; Armand Van Helden - This Ain’t Hollywood (Feat. Will ‘tha Wiz’ Lemay); Various Artists - Jo Manji - Lazy Loungin; Grossstadtgeflüster - Die Strassen - via FoxyTunes