Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Remix House: Rustic Originality Meets Honest Regionalism

Posted: 31 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST

[ Filed under Contemporary & in the Architecture category ]

Truth in architecture is a tricky thing – even fans of ‘architectural honesty’ can find themselves hard-pressed to identify what is ‘real’ versus ‘phony’ in the realm of contemporary (or historical) buildings.

This adaptive reconstruction demonstrates a remarkable balance of approaches – on the one hand, it uses traditional building materials, techniques, scales and shapes, but it also introduces clearly modern elements.

Inspired by the barn-over-stable that sat on the site before it was built, the two-story stone structure maintains a large wooden face that, at a distance, resembles a giant-sized door. Up close, though, everything is too neat – and even from far away, the rectilinear interventions let the viewer know that they are not looking at a purely historical work.

Inside, heavy timber likewise recalls the former structure but modern proportions, simplicity and colors can also be found alongside the wood-and-slate essentials. This remote Italian project was designed by Es Arc Architecture

Keep Going - Check out this Great Related Dornob Article:

Rustic Remodel: Stone Farm House to Luxury Country Villa

Modern Rustic Home Weathers With Colors of Nature

[ Filed under Contemporary & in the Architecture category ]

[ Dornob | Archives | Categories | Privacy | TOS ]

Cat Library: Modular Stacking Bookcase for Fans of Felines

Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST

[ Filed under Storage & Shelves & in the Furniture category ]

The cat furniture craze seems to have hit all-time highs, but many of the designs simply try too hard to accommodate feline friends without serving any secondary purpose.

Thus, the Cat Library – a place to climb, play and relax for furry companions, but also a great way to store books as well in the same vertical space.

Being fully modular, one could construct it as tall as desired (with safety in mind, of course) or leave a low stack with the cat bed unit on the second or third levels.

The one trick yet to be determined is how the whole thing will fasten together – cats may be light, but they are also devious and tend to find ways to knock just about anything over if you are not paying close enough attention.