Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Tree-Topped Rectangular Houses Look Like Giant Potted Plants

Posted: 22 Jun 2014 09:18 AM PDT

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A formerly empty courtyard in Hi Chi Minh City, Vietnam is now filled with five oversized rectangular pots planted with trees that stretch up high above the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Those ribbed concrete ‘pots’ are actually architectural volumes making up ‘House for Trees,’ a two-bedroom residence for a family of three.

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The separate spaces each have their own function. The smallest is an altar room, while the other four have communal areas on the ground floor and private rooms on top. The kitchen is in one volume, the library in a second, a dining room in the third; the fourth has bathrooms on both levels.

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This creates an open plan that requires residents to venture outside to get from one section of the home to another, encouraging an open-air lifestyle that follows the local tradition. Metal bridges connect the top levels of some of the structures, which have few windows on the exterior to preserve privacy, opening instead onto a small, sheltered outdoor space.

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Vo Trong Nghia Architects chose banyan trees, which have shallow aerial roots, for the roofs of each ‘pot.’ The concrete structures had to be reinforced to support the weight of nearly 5 feet of soil, the storm water that it collects and the trees themselves.

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Modular Wall Storage System is Totally Flapping Unique

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT

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The Fläpps Shelving System from designer Malte Grieb removes the utilitarian association from wall shelving and turns it into a functional, transforming work of art. The modular shelving can be used as storage, of course, but it also has the ability to act as wall art or to nearly disappear into the surrounding wall.

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Each Fläpps shelf is its own separate unit that, thanks to a unique wall mounting mechanism, can be combined vertically with up to four other units. When not in use, the units are folded up and look like part of the wall – or better yet, like stylish modern art.

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Some or all of the shelves can be folded down and away from the wall, forming simple and convenient storage. Some are simply flat surface shelves, others have rails to hold hangers or ridges from which to hang coats and bags. The line also includes a fold-down wall desk and a bathroom vanity cabinet that contains a mirror.

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Combining different colors and shapes from the Fläpps line gives you the unique ability to create a storage space that suits you perfectly and also happens to be just your style.