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Design

A Minimalist Home in Japan Utilizes a Tent Structure With Open Air Sides

A new tent-shaped home built in a small agricultural village near Nagoka, a city in the Niigata prefecture of Japan, is designed with a community in mind, rather than a single family. Conceived of by Takeru Shoji Architects, the 166.24 square-meter “Hara House” is situated on a larger estate and utilizes a simple A-frame structure made up of 120 millimeter-wide beams. The two-story home has a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living space downstairs, with storage and two small rooms upstairs.

The designers said the particular shape is “a stiff yet giving structure which assimilates (to) all the human behaviors,” prompting them to leave out partitions and private rooms that would split up the otherwise expansive space. Because of its bareness, “Hara House” requires its inhabitants to make use of the other buildings and areas on the land, bringing them outdoors and into a more collective setting with nature and their community.

With sloping roofs, the minimalist home also features side areas with wooden supports that open directly to the outside. “We designed a space where passing neighbors, friends and children can easily stop by to chit chat under the entrance porch, or workshop meetings and (the) events hosted in the space can spill out to the land,” the designers said in a statement. “Thus bringing down the threshold of the house and opening it to the village.”

To see more of Takeru Shoji Architects’ community-minded projects, head to Instagram. (via Fubiz)

Design Photography

Dramatic Views of Worldwide Architecture Captured by Gareth Pon (with a Hidden Twist)

Photographer Gareth Pon (previously) encourages his audience to join in his reinvention of Where’s Waldo. His architectural photography relies on depth, pattern, and symmetry, often framing a small piece of the city he’s visiting, like the water-covered street below Chicago’s “L” or a multi-colored building complex replete with balconies and air conditioners in Hong Kong. But every image has one signature twist: Pon hides a small rocket in each of his structural pieces. On his wildly popular Instagram, the photographer shares that his lifelong dream is space travel, perhaps explaining his use of the flying object. To join Pon’s ongoing game of spot the rocket, check out his Facebook.

Design

A Floating Hotel with Aurora Views Just Opened on a Frozen River in Sweden

After 16 months of construction, a spa hotel built on the Lule River in the northern province of Lapland Sweden is now open to travelers. Called Arctic Bath, the 12-room hotel features six elevated land cabins and six cabins that float when the river thaws. In the center is a circular structure with saunas, hot baths around the perimeter, and a large ice bath at its core.

For the buoyant rooms and main structure, architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi took design inspiration from timber floating methods used by loggers to transport felled trees downriver. The land cabins were designed by Ann Kathrin Lundqvist with glass walls that provide guests with unobstructed views of the surrounding Swedish landscape. In addition to experiencing the unique architecture, visitors have access to various spa and wellness treatments, chef-prepared meals, and activities including yoga, dogsledding, bear watching, and cross country skiing.

“The Arctic Bath really is a first—it’s a special spa experience,” Lundqvist said in a statement. “So much thought, engineering and ingenuity have come together to provide visitors with an experience they can’t find anywhere else.” Reservations for the hotel are now open, with rates starting at 9600 Swedish Krona (just more than $1,000 U.S. dollars), and dates available between February 2020 and February 2021.

Photography

Nature Reclaims Abandoned Castles, Theaters, and Monasteries in Photographs by Jonk

Inspired by a wildlife documentary he saw as a child, Paris-based photographer Jonk (Jonathan Jimenez) travels the world in search of man-made structures that have been abandoned and reclaimed by nature. A jungle fills a dilapidated theater in Cuba, roots snake through a mansion in Taiwan, and a wild garden sprouts in a former greenhouse in Belgium. A reflection of his ecological consciousness, Jonk’s photography shows that in the power struggle between man and nature, nature always wins.

Throughout his career, the photographer has visited more than 1,000 abandoned structures in 50 countries on four different continents. The Naturalia: Chronicle of Contemporary Ruins series has led to the publication of a hardcover photography book, and Jonk says that he is working on a second volume. The juxtaposition of weakened architecture with thriving plant life tells a full story. The images capture specific moments in time and allude to the past, but for Jonk, they hint at an inevitable future. “This series also tells the story of the progression of Nature,” he said in a statement, “from the infiltration in abandoned places, through the moment where She grows inside them, until their collapse. Burial comes next along with the disappearance of all traces of Man.”

Images from the Naturalia series are currently being exhibited at the André Planson Museum in Paris through March 1, 2020, with other exhibitions planned this year. To see more of Jonk’s urban ruin photography and to follow his travels, head over to Instagram.

Animation Art Design

Mobile Architecture Twists and Morphs in Futuristic Cityscapes by AUJIK

In “Spatial Bodies: Hong Kong & Shenzhen,” the self-described “mysterious nature/tech cult” AUJIK imagines a Hong Kong and Shenzhen with architecture that shifts and moves seemingly on its own just like live organisms. Using AI and AR technologies, artist and AUJIK founder Stefan Larsson created the short film that depicts a futuristic cityscape with contracting and expanding buildings that are far from resembling typical rectangular skyscrapers. AUJIK’s creature-like structures often have an element similar to limbs or tails, in addition to facades with rounded edges that mimic moving bodies. It is a sequel to a previous project that centered Osaka.

The group says the concept for this project is based on open-source software, which theoretically would allow users to shape the architecture based on their needs and in a collaborative, public manner. Spatial Bodies was commissioned by the Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture and premiered in December 2019. The film features music by Japanese electronic artist Daisuke Tanabe. More of AUJIK’s futuristic conceptions can be found on Behance and Vimeo. (via designboom)

History Photography

Striking Photographs Capture Ornate Patterns of Historic Iranian Mosques and Palaces

Iran-based artist Fatemeh Hosein Aghaei takes mesmerizing photographs that showcase the intricate patterns inside the country’s ancient buildings. The artist mostly features mosques in the Iranian city of Isfahan, which is located about 250 miles south of Tehran and is known for its Perso–Islamic designed structures, boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, tile-filled mosques, and minarets. In her photographs, Hosein Aghaei often looks upward to frame the building’s domes and arches complete with complex colorful designs, sometimes even adding glimpses of the city’s blue skies. The artist tells Colossal that she wants her work to capture and share the beauty of Iran’s historic architecture. Keep up with Hosein Aghaei’s captivating images on Instagram.

Design

Amsterdam Storefront Windows Imitate Billowing Transparent Fabric in Renovation by UNStudio

A soon-to-be fashion shop in Amsterdam has a new facade that mimics flowing textiles. Designed by UNStudio, a Dutch architecture firm, “The Looking Glass” features three glass panels mounted on the building’s brick front. Each low-iron annealed glass piece is attached with silicone to adjacent panels and has stainless steel edges that form a glass box. Eight millimeters of silicone also sit between the steel to account for any shifts or changes in the pieces. The structures were assembled in a factory before being transported for installation to the store, which is located at P.C. Hooftstraat 138 on one of the city’s best-known shopping streets.

Extending away from the building, the boxes eventually will be used to display clothing. “In a fluid gesture, fashion and architecture come together to represent and celebrate the craftsmanship and geometry of high-end, tailored clothing, creating harmony between aesthetics and function,” the firm says of the project.

Follow UNStudio’s upcoming work, which includes a cable car connecting Heihe, China to Blagoveshchensk, Russia, on Instagram. (via designboom)