The Mirror House in Copenhagen, Denmark by architects MLRP, plays with its surroundings with the use of mirrors at each gable end. When viewed from from certain angles the building disappears into the backdrop contrasting with the rest of the building which is clad in dark wood. The building houses toilets and other facilities on the site of an infant school, what an inspiring playful building for children! Beats my ugly primary school.
So it’s Christmas and men are typically difficult to buy for and we’ll get lot’s of boxer shorts and socks so buy us something nice! I’ve picked out five gifts for the design conscious at prices ranging from just over £100 to just under £240.
UNIFORM WARES 200 Series wristwatch
BOWERS & WILKINS P5 Headphones
Minox DCC 5.1 Digital Camera
Miniot iWood 4 Contour for iPhone 4
Something I’m loving at the moment is grey. Grey walls especially. I love the way it fades into the background but remains warmer than white. Colour can sometimes get lost against a white wall but grey walls recede setting the colour forward. Here’s lot’s of images to drool over.
This is the beautiful Beacon range by Bark Furniture, If you love the mid-century modern style you’ll adore this range. The range is beautifully hand crafted from light ash with a contrasting range of bright mid-century fabrics in typical colours and designs of the time. The range includes a desk, desk chair, lounge chair (my favorite piece!), sofa, side table and coffee table. Effortless classic design with a pure quality finish, I love Bark Furniture!
I’m in the library in Birmingham at the moment on this very grey day and I’m working on a lighting design project for uni which involves designing an interior and introducing a lighting scheme. Sometimes when I’m feeling a little uninspired I check my tumblr account, I don’t post that much on there anymore but I follow some lovely blogs, one of which is ‘Rock The Room‘ which is a regularly updated stream of beautiful images of interiors which are usually linked back to their source which is always really useful.
I’m aware that living in a space like this would be some peoples nightmare, however; I think everybody can relate and appreciate the extreme attention to detail and what the building and interior stand for. As humans the fact we have little control over many of the factors in our lives and are surrounded daily by things we have no choice in or control over instills a longing for control and order, we cannot, for example, demand a streetlamp to be replaced simply because we deem it ugly or change an unappealing font on aeroplane seat because it looks unfriendly. So our home is where we may seek to restore order to our lives, the fact we can have every detail absolutely perfect and everything exactly where it should be is satisfying. There is a calmness in the fact we can restore and maintain order to something for an extended period of time. For me, this property and it’s fastidious precision represents something many of us are seeking in our lives, regardless of whether it is how you would want to live on a daily basis I think it still speaks to you.
I found the property on Architizer take a look for more information on the property and Ian Moore Architects.
I posted about the KnowHow Shop and a very cool bike rack they produced back in July (it’s here if you’ve not seen it). I check their tumblr site regularly as they are always doing something imaginative, this latest woodwork for clothing retailer ‘ST&NDARD GOODS‘ is beautifully crafted and subtle. I adore the subtle flick at the corner of the shelves, such a subtle piece of detailing, anyway, I don’t think you need me to talk about it, I’ll let it speak for itself…
OpenShop is one of those design studios that I find truly inspiring, they seem to conjure up a magic that surrounds a project. Apartment 21.4 is one of their less obscure projects and compared with others in their portfolio the design features are far more subtle yet no less ingenious. I especially like the low bookshelf solution which makes a feature out of the books whilst aiding the flow of the space rather than obstructing it which a large set of bookshelves may do. The bedroom artwork wall is contrasted with white walls, light woods and natural fabrics ensuring a space that is still relaxing despite the drama of the artwork.
This weeks feature blog is Teenage Bedroom. The blog invites people to send pictures of their teenage bedrooms. There’s something special about your bedroom as a teenager, your own space to fill with the things most important to you. As an interior design student I can’t help but feel the teenage bedroom is, in some ways, the epitome of good design (bear with me here). You look at the photos on Teenage Bedroom and you know what that person is about instantly, what music they like, the places that are important to them and the people and things they consider most important to them, their personality is heavily present in the space. When you walk into the houses of ‘grown-ups’ all of that personality is gone. People seem to submit to decor ‘trends’ or keep things ‘neutral’ or ‘traditional’ and include very little that says anything to or about them, this is the reason many people are unhappy in the spaces where they are supposed to rest, relax and call a home. I’m not suggesting you go out and buy a Twilight poster and pin it above the fireplace but just consider what you surround yourself with, does it make you happy? if not why put it in your home? A good interior designer will try to understand you and what you are all about before they begin a design, when designing a space yourself try to take a step back from yourself and think about how you can inject your personality in the space, a problem we didn’t really have when we were teenagers.
Here’s some photographs from Teenage Bedroom…
I, as just about everybody else, was very sad to hear the news today. We lost somebody who changed many of our lives for the better by creating truly beautifully designed products and marketing them in a way nobody had ever marketed such products. I’m not going to speculate on the future of Apple, I just wanted to say what an inspiration Steve Jobs has been to me, he was a true perfectionist and he seemed to know that the smallest detail is as important and the very concept itself. I first heard the Leonardo da Vinci quote “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” through the advert for the Apple II, a quote which Apple seemed to live by.
Steve Jobs made buying products feel special from the moment you hold the box in your hand. His marketing ability made product launches exciting events and just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be anymore…. his famous four words “And one more thing.”
