twin.homes

Twins: Houses in Five Parts are two home proposals found on The Fancy. The designs were created for brothers looking to build two nearby vacation homes for their families. O'Brien gives detailed theory to explain his polygonal approach but the nitty-gritty is too in-depth for this website (read more background here). The houses look beautiful with their modern lines and open spaces, providing a truly blissful retreat. The over-sized windows make privacy far from guaranteed but when you're in the middle of the woods, only forest animals (and the occasional stalker) will have the opportunity to sneak peeks.

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diving.boards

The 2012 London Olympics are around the corner and I'm excited. Sports aside, the new structures are bound to impress. The aquatic center and bird's nest stadium both received much attention leading up to and through the 2008 Beijing Olympics but the London Olympics Aquatics Centre by Zaha Hadid is an exciting masterpiece. Found on The Fancy, the modern design is incredibly impressive and I look forward to seeing its worldwide debut next year.

Update: I actually featured Zaha Hadid's work in late 2010 in my post covering the the National Museum of the XXI Century Arts. The beautiful building, located in Rome, features equally impressive architecture and I look forward to covering more works from Zaha Hadid Architects given their consistent eye for amazing designs.

pool.house

A pool by itself is a pretty good deal but an amazing pool house sweetens the experience. Created by Hariri & Hariri Architecture and featuring a kitchen, bar, and bathroom, the pool house is nearly 4,000 sq/ft and built with natural stone and Ipe wood. Check out the attached outdoor shower in the last picture; nice added touch. You better have a pretty incredible pool to compliment this pool house or time will be better spent indoors. Pair with the Mrs. White’s Unstung Hero to complete the experience.

winnett.house

The 360 Winnett House by Altius Architecture, found on MocoLoco, is a beautiful home based in Toronto, Canada. With an interior almost exclusively in white, the house is a blank canvas waiting for the right art and furniture to add character and personality. The interior shots suggest the firm saved money by skimping on top-line appliances and accessories but a little money can bring everything up to the expected standard.

architect.posters

As graduation nears and I search for housing, I've been trying to find new decorations for a new home. The posters below come from two collections found on Minimalissimo, "a blog that celebrates minimalism" across multiple platforms. The first poster comes from Donna Wearmouth while the latter two were created by Andrea Gallo. All three, including the rest of their collections, would be great decorations that feature some of the most famous architects (all have been mentioned on this blog) without being too distracting.

[caption id="attachment_2827" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Charles Eames Poster by Donna Wearmouth"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2828" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Frank Lloyd Wright by Andrea Gallo"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2829" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mies van der Rohe by Andrea Gallo"][/caption]

wsj.homes

The Wall Street Journal, like the NYTimes, has a great selection of homes in their real estate section. Their House of the Day segment features the best houses on the market and those lucky enough to appear are really amazing. The properties are viewable through the iPhone and iPad app offered by the WSJ but also offered on their website without a subscription. Properties range from Victorian to modern and encompass the the best of the finest. The modern house below is available for $10.9 million and located in Beverly Hill. According to the article, the "four-bedroom, mid-century modern in the trendy Trousdale section of Beverly Hills [and] recently underwent a renovation to make it 'sexy'". You have the option to vote the house as WSJ's House of the Week -- what I believe to be the obvious clear winner.

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living.modern

This modern home, found on MocoLoco, has more history than the surface reveals. Hidden inside is a yellow brick lodge for a local cannon foundry. To preserve the middle-age building but create a modern home, Biuras G.Natkevičius and his architecture firm built a glass box around the original structure. The conclusion is a modern and unique home located in Lithuania's Pavilniai Regional Park.

xxi.century

The National Museum of the XXI Century Arts by Zaha Hadid is an arts attraction unto itself. Based in Rome, the museum is Italy’s first national public museum of comtemporary arts and features a vast openness walled by concrete and glass. Straight sharp edges and intriguing intersecting lines create anticipation for the art it's built to hold. From Zaha Hadid Architects:

Here we are weaving a dense texture of interior and exterior spaces. It’s an intriguing mixture of permanent, temporary and commercial galleries, irrigating a large urban field with linear display surfaces. It could be a library; there are so many buildings that are not standing next to, but are intertwined and superimposed over one another.

Found on Dezeen -- an online design magazine -- the website also features a mini-assembly of Hadid's previous works. Check it out online until your next visit to Roma.

th.house

The TH House exemplifies what I've always said: a house need not be warm and welcoming when a museum is so much more beautiful. In my opinion, this is a different kind of warm, and a different kind of welcoming. Found on Moco Loco, the TH House was created by Baqueratta and features beautiful straight lines and sharp edges that create the simple yet intriguingly complex structure. The outdoor/indoor feature could be a bit scary when home alone after dark but it provides a nice private sanctuary 24/7. If you take a look at the living room, they outfitted the home with Bang & Olufsen sound to complete the perfect picture (and audio).

winter.residence

So I don't understand why winter vacation homes need to look like houses commissioned by the Bernstein Bears. This one, designed by Michael P. Johnson Design Studio, incorporates wooden warmth without being a model from my Lincoln Logs set. Built in Colorado, the Hiller Residence is well-lit with clean cut lines, beautiful but not over-sized. If you're looking for a winter retreat for skiing or reclusion, a modern home with a stunning backdrop gets you half way there.

spaghetti.architecture

This modern spaghetti package is a concept designed by Alex Creamer for a class at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. Featured on TheDieline.com, a website dedicated to great package designs, the NYC Spaghetti is modeled after the Chrysler Building in NY, though the concept can be applied to design. Says creator Alex Creamer:

I created this spaghetti packaging for a university project last year. The brief was to package one of 5 difficult items i.e. eggs, a rose, custard powder, spaghetti or marbles. I chose spaghetti. The spaghetti sits on a 3d model of the chrysler building that was modelled on CAD by my friend Ben Thorpe. And then modelled out of high density foam at uni. Creating a spaghetti model of the Chrysler building!

hollywood.hills

New York has always been my go-to for amazing real estate but the Hollywood Hills would admittedly make an awesome place to live. The Beuth House was designed by Zoltan E. Pali, founder of SPF Architects, and features 9,200 sq/ft., a pool, screen room, and fully stocked bar. Most impressive is the 180 degree view that overlooks downtown LA. Beautiful on the inside and out, the home could fit families both small and large.

legos.building

LEGO will always be a classic but they're constantly releasing new and exciting collections to expand their collection. Too often their releases can hardly be called LEGOs (or building blocks, for that matter) but their new architecture line uses traditional blocks to create famous buildings such as the Guggenheim Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. The collection also features the Empire State Building and Seattle Space Needle with promises of more to come.