Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Dornob | Design Ideas Daily


Pie-Shaped Site: Slim Corner Stone House Remodel in Spain

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST

remodel old new detail

Set on the aged streets of an old hillside in Spain, this wedge-shaped property is both enticing but complex – it meets streets and sidewalks at various levels and features almost no normal ninety-degree angles.

remodel hillside home

ADI Arquitectura was tasked with bringing the dwelling up to speed and expanding it vertically while leaving its history intact and working within the strange confines of its peculiar plot.

remodel before after

Their exterior redesign carefully remixes materials and colors that are a match for the surroundings, respectfully befitting such a prominently visible intersection, while selectively adding more contemporary and minimal window openings, balconies and doors.

remodel plan section

remodel interior staircase

A similar approach on the interior yields a lovely play of contrasts between light brick and dark wood, gray slate and white walls, clearly expressing the distinction between old and new while making the place functional for its residents.


    






Bright Blue Snail Poo: Excrement Used to Make Tiles

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST

Snail Poop Tiles 1

When does the use of innovative, totally unexpected materials go too far? Some might say it’s when the word ‘excrement’ comes into the mix. But this project is unusual even beyond its use of a living creature’s bodily waste: the poo that designer Lieske Schreuder makes into carpet tiles comes in shockingly vivid colors, right out of the snails.

Snail Poop Tiles 2

The experiment began when the designer noted that paper is similar in cellular structure to that of the plants snails eat. Curious what would happen when snails were fed paper in single colors, Schreuder purchased hundreds of snails from a snail form and built a colored poo laboratory.

Snail Poop Tiles 4

A snail that eats blue paper produces blue excrement, and so on with each shade on the color spectrum. Why use snail poo? Apparently it’s highly malleable and easy to work with. Schreuder gathers it up, blends it together and then creates ‘threads’ of each color.

Snail Poop Tiles 3

Snail Poop Tiles 5

Those threads are either woven or pressed into molds to create carpet tiles. The project is among 57 designs combining biology and art on display at Rotterdam’s The New Institute through January 5th, 2014.


    






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