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architecture
Alley House Brings Luxury Living to Cockroach Cracks
There's plenty of room left to build in the world's major cities; we just have to be MacGyver about it. Because when one group of architects looked at an alley, they saw the perfect lot for a five-story building that's less then eight feet wide. More »
virtual happiness
Have an office without a window? Put down the sledgehammer and try one of these faux skylights or windows from The Sky Factory. Simply put, their SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows are photographic illusions that give users the impression that they have a beautiful outdoor view when, in reality, they are stuck in a gloomy, windowless prison.
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Faux Skylights and Windows For Rooms Without a View
Have an office without a window? Put down the sledgehammer and try one of these faux skylights or windows from The Sky Factory. Simply put, their SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows are photographic illusions that give users the impression that they have a beautiful outdoor view when, in reality, they are stuck in a gloomy, windowless prison.
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leds
Being the businessman that he is, it wasn't the movie Blade Runner that struck L.A. real estate mogul Sonny Astani, it was the animated billboards depicted in the opening sequence. In fact, the idea has had such a profound effect on him that he plans on making advertising in 2019 Los Angeles a reality ahead of schedule. His plans call for two 14 story animated billboards to be built on condos set for construction downtown.
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LA Real Estate Mogul Plans To Light Up Your Life With Blade Runner Inspired Billboards
Being the businessman that he is, it wasn't the movie Blade Runner that struck L.A. real estate mogul Sonny Astani, it was the animated billboards depicted in the opening sequence. In fact, the idea has had such a profound effect on him that he plans on making advertising in 2019 Los Angeles a reality ahead of schedule. His plans call for two 14 story animated billboards to be built on condos set for construction downtown.
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architecture
Gadget-Filled $2 Billion Home Makes Bill Gates' House Look Like a Shack
Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, is ranked as the fifth richest man in the world with a net worth of $46 billion. Unlike billionaires like Warren Buffet who reside in modest accommodations, Ambani is going balls-out with his new home. In fact, the home he calls "Antilla" will be the world's most expensive residence when the four-year building project is completed this January. When all is said and done, the 22-story Mumbai Tower it is based on will reach 550 feet into the sky with an absurd 400,000 square feet of interior space at a total cost of $2 billion. So what accommodations does that kind of coin buy you?
architecture
If you had $15 million to spend on a home, would you choose to drop that cash on this concept home set to be built in a Cotswold nature reserve? Apparently that is just what an anonymous buyer did recently, making the "Orchid House" the UK's most expensive country home—and it won't be completed for three years. For that money the buyer (rumored to be in the entertainment industry) will get a home shaped like a bee orchid that should produce more energy that it consumes thanks to an underground pump and geothermal heating. Great, so the house will pay for itself in about a 1,000 years. Additional pic after the break.
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Weathly, Anonymous Treehugger Buys Eco-House For $15 Million
If you had $15 million to spend on a home, would you choose to drop that cash on this concept home set to be built in a Cotswold nature reserve? Apparently that is just what an anonymous buyer did recently, making the "Orchid House" the UK's most expensive country home—and it won't be completed for three years. For that money the buyer (rumored to be in the entertainment industry) will get a home shaped like a bee orchid that should produce more energy that it consumes thanks to an underground pump and geothermal heating. Great, so the house will pay for itself in about a 1,000 years. Additional pic after the break.
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7:50 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Sean Fallon
12,078 views,
39 comments
Latest by iomatic: @Ubik2501: Very nice reference. wagers on World of Starcraft as the next big MMOG? more »
buildings
Flare Facade is a 'Living Skin' for Building Exteriors
This Flare Facade is a fancy building exterior that allows it to "express, communicate and interact with its environment." It's certainly neat looking, but it doesn't seem to have any, you know, practical application. I wonder if it would be possible to stick solar panels on these and have them automatically tilt towards the sun. That would allow them to keep being all neat-looking while also serving a purpose to justify their undoubtedly expensive installation costs. [Flare Facade via MAKE]
architecture
Vertical Patio Transforms To Save Precious Outdoor Space
There is no doubt that the big trend right now in home design is about saving space. However, many of the designs we have seen in the past focus on the interior. The Vertical Patio from Pique Architecture takes the concept outdoors with a design that gets the most out of a small backyard using an elaborate fold away design. More »
design
MVRDV Floating Stairs Don't Show You the Way
MRDV is a design group that put together this absolutely crazy roof extension in Rotterdam. I'm wondering how they managed to get planning permission for the blue monstrosity, as it just doesn't look right on the outside. Frankly, it doesn't look right on the inside either—check out those crazy floating stairs in the gallery below. My brain hurts. Still, you gotta love the architecture, even if the design does make your grey matter swell. [materialicious]
google
Ever looked around your office and thought "surely there's a better way than this soulless cubicle hell?" Well, there probably isn't. Unless you happen to work for Google in their Swiss HQ, that is. Because, frankly, their new office is awe-inspiringly amazing: it's an exercise in lateral-thinking, creativity-run-wild interior design. Slides to the canteen, cable-car meeting rooms, beanbags, fake snow, a multitude of colors. Check it out... you'll be as filled with envy as an envious person with a degree in enviousness.
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Google's Zurich HQ: Office Fun For Everyone... Who Works There, Anyway
Ever looked around your office and thought "surely there's a better way than this soulless cubicle hell?" Well, there probably isn't. Unless you happen to work for Google in their Swiss HQ, that is. Because, frankly, their new office is awe-inspiringly amazing: it's an exercise in lateral-thinking, creativity-run-wild interior design. Slides to the canteen, cable-car meeting rooms, beanbags, fake snow, a multitude of colors. Check it out... you'll be as filled with envy as an envious person with a degree in enviousness.
More »
architecture
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Koolhaas Transforming House Is Worthy of Iron Man, Batman, and Optimus Prime Combined
Pritzker Architecture Prize-winner—and former Russ Meyer script writer—Rem Koolhaas created 10 years ago one of the most amazing houses on the planet: the Maison à Bordeaux. This house is a wonder of engineering with moving walls, lifting bedrooms, platforms and automated windows designed to allow complete free movements to its owner, a man who has to move on a wheelchair after an almost-fatal car accident. Now, Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine are showing their film Koolhass Houselife across America, a fascinating movie about this living home that seems taken out of a science fiction movie. We talked with Ila about the house and their work around it.More »
architecture
Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. To celebrate, the French will be adding a gigantic webbed Kevlar observation deck to the top, doubling the size of the deck and making the Eiffel Tower look like some sort of alien space needle.
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Eiffel Tower Getting Huge Observation Deck Made of Kevlar Webbing
Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. To celebrate, the French will be adding a gigantic webbed Kevlar observation deck to the top, doubling the size of the deck and making the Eiffel Tower look like some sort of alien space needle.More »
architecture
Color Changing Concert Hall May Be More Interesting Than the Performances
A concert hall has just been unveiled in Aurillac, France, that will be used for everything from sporting events to theater performances. However, the interesting thing about this building is not what is going on inside it, rather, it is what is taking place on the outside. Using a combination of glass bricks and fluorescent lights with color filters, the building displays a serene color spectrum across the entire length of the structure. All that aside, the building itself is beautiful—whether you are looking at in during the day or night. [Dezeen via io9]
architecture
The Masdar HQ in Abu Dhabi has big ambitions; the site is planned to be the world's first positive energy building, meaning it will create more energy than it consumes. Checkout some more fantastic images by clicking through the gallery.
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Masdar HQ: World's First Positive Energy Building
The Masdar HQ in Abu Dhabi has big ambitions; the site is planned to be the world's first positive energy building, meaning it will create more energy than it consumes. Checkout some more fantastic images by clicking through the gallery.
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dubai
From afar, Dubai is the most exciting place on earth, almost every day shaping up to be more like the utopic sci-fi fantasy city we had in our heads growing up. Its latest architectural stuntwork/masterpiece is the 1.5-billion-square-foot Waterfront City designed by Rem Koolhaas, an entire self-contained city resting atop an artificial island that mixes inspirations from ninth-century mosques to Koolhaas's own ideas about the THX 1138-esque generic city.
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Dubai Artificial Island City Mixes Mythic Past and Future With a Death Star 3D Neighborhood for Kicks
From afar, Dubai is the most exciting place on earth, almost every day shaping up to be more like the utopic sci-fi fantasy city we had in our heads growing up. Its latest architectural stuntwork/masterpiece is the 1.5-billion-square-foot Waterfront City designed by Rem Koolhaas, an entire self-contained city resting atop an artificial island that mixes inspirations from ninth-century mosques to Koolhaas's own ideas about the THX 1138-esque generic city.
More »
architecture
Svalbard Global Seed Vault Scoffs at Nuclear Winter
We rarely get excited about seeds here on Giz, but the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is a remarkably daunting structure that looks looks like the lair lovechild of Batman's cave and Superman's snow cave fortress of solitude.
architecture
Build Your Own Bookcase Fort: Settle in for a Nerdy Siege
The stairs bookcase was cool, but this is an entire igloo-like bookcase structure that you can actually use as a miniature dwelling. In fact, this "Uroko House" is built around a bed, which makes it one hell of a place to sleep for any kid—whether they like to read or not. There are no written instructions on how to make your own, but the images in the gallery help illustrate the process. [Flickr via Freshome]
architecture
Stairs Bookcase Actually Makes Me Want to Move to London
Here's a great idea for anyone who loves books and doesn't have enough apartment space or a Kindle: a "secret staircase" made of English oak, lined with books left, right and center, leading to a loft bedroom in a Victorian 1898 apartments block.
