Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Morphing House Shape Shifts to Maximize Weather + Light

Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

When the seasons change, so do the characteristics we value most in our homes. Hot, sunny weather means that we need the walls to repel heat so that the interior stays nice and cool. Winter, of course, necessitates the opposite. It was never possible for one home to embody all of these characteristics until UK design team David Ben Grünberg and Daniel Woolfson tackled the problem.

Their creation is the Dynamic D*Haus, a home that actually moves and morphs according to the seasons. The house can move into eight different configurations – kind of like origami or a transforming toy, but on a massive scale.

This incredible house design was based on Henry Dudeney’s mathematical formula for turning a triangle into a square. This is achieved by splitting the equilateral triangle into four pieces which move and shift to form the square.

The house follows that principle with its four moving modules. As the shape of the building needs to change, the modules shift around and move on rails to form new shapes. Interior walls become exterior walls and vice versa, effectively changing the functionality of the house.

In addition to changing its shape based on the seasons, the Dynamic D*Haus would be able to rotate throughout the day to follow the sun, maximizing sun exposure and natural heating for the residents.

The only drawback to a home that changes shape and orientation so regularly is the fact that it would be incredibly disorienting. Imagine the living room being next to the kitchen one day and on the opposite side of the house the next. The designers are still working out these kinks in practicality; perhaps the answer will simply be that only truly adventurous souls can inhabit these morphing homes.

Side-Storage Mirror: Drawers for Rings & Rack for Necklaces

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST

Maybe you already have a medicine cabinet or sufficient under-sink cupboard space for everyday essentials. If your mirror is free to be something else, like a built-in jewelry box, this product may have something to offer.

This is about favorite necklaces you may suspend from a hidden rack, rings you want to keep safely out of the way in side drawers. Intentionally indirect, though not exactly secret, these become accessible only with greater intention than simply opening a front door.

Céline Merhand and Anaïs Morel of Les M Design Studio: "the mirror unfolds to reveal a colorful system for the organization of jewelry and fashion accessories. "Precious" offers a pull-out bar with hooks to neatly hang necklaces and earrings.

“A set of removable boxes can accommodate bracelets, rings and the smallest items. The boxes in different shapes and colors, can be playfully assembled in multiple variations, creating an ever-changing setting.”

Lightwell Library: Skylight With a Lofted Circular Bookcase

Posted: 11 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

The perfect space for writing should include a good deal of reading material, but walls of books all around you can be distracting as well as inspiring. Light is essential, but direct daylight can also detract from the process.

Solving two problems at once, this light-well-plus-bookcase by Travis Price Architects lofts a small library in the ceiling of a room, leaving a hand-selected collection of travel artifacts to populate the white walls below. The written works above can be accessed by a ladder that hooks onto subtle rails.

From Bartlett Year 1: “National Geographic Society’s Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis called on architect and designer Travis Price to construct his very own personal at-home workspace in Washington, DC. Price’s architecture and design firm Travis Price Architects took on the task of creating this unconventionally visionary design for the multifaceted scholar.” The result is a well-lit space that takes maximum advantage of all walls and creates an isolated but visually-rich environment for creative production.

Barbed Beauty: Stickwork Chair Inspired by Birds’ Nests

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST

At first glance the Iron Throne of George R.R. Martin may come to mind, asymmetrical prongs sticking out at all angles ready to poke the unwary.

At second glance, though, Markus Johannson‘s nest chair appears stable and potentially quite comfortable, with each spindly piece of structure stretching out to become a support as well as a potential handle or arm rest.

As simple as the construction looks, a great deal of work went into each threaded connection spiraling around the central cushioned seat, as seen in this video.

Laps of Luxury: Pool-Centric Hillside African Spa House

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

Set on the hills surrounding Cape Town, South Africa, this home is all about its exterior, from the lush landscape to the huge swimming pool which shapes the rest of the abode.

Underwater spa and viewing areas migrate up to a flexible-walled poolside deck that can be opened to the elements, and living spaces overlooking all of the above (or rather: below). Wood slats provide shade without interfering with views.

Metropolis Design made most levels open directly onto surrounding lawns, giving each room the sense of being connected to the outdoors both visually and physically.

Aviary Alphabet: Birdhouses Shaped Like Letters

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST

Spell out your name, display your house number or just enjoy the beauty of typography with this alphabet-shaped birdhouse set by Nishant Jethi. Entitled ‘Living Typography’, the birdhouse series recreates all 26 letters of the alphabet along with numbers 1-9 in hollow, 3D wooden form, with little perches for feathered inhabitants.

Measuring roughly 6 inches in height, each birdhouse is a graphic representation of a letter or number; some letters necessitate more than one entrance, while others have their holes drilled into the sides.

Jethi created the birdhouses in response to the sharp decline in the numbers of house sparrows, calling these friendly little birds “the ultimate groupie to humankind.” The houses provide a safe place to nest and breed for these and other small spaces.

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