YOSSAWAT

Fairfield House by Webber + Studio, Inc

Yossawat — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:03:12 +0000

David Webber, AIA, of the Austin-based firm Webber + Studio, jokes that the house in Austin’s Hyde Park neighborhood that he designed for himself and Ransom Baldasare, his business and life partner, is really just like everyone else’s. “It has everything anyone asks for when they’re looking for a new house: five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a kitchen open to living and dining areas, a place for guests—programmatically it’s pretty unremarkable.” What Webber says may be true, but the reason he can say it with a smile is because he knows that apart from the program, the house is anything but commonplace.

Hyde Park is one of Austin’s older, centrally located neighborhoods, and its proximity to the University of Texas makes it popular with UT staff. Since part of Webber’s intention with the house was to have a permanent suite for his 68-year-old father when he was in town, it seemed like the right area.

Webber bought a 1947 craftsman-style home with an average-sized lot (120 by 60 feet), and set about creating the house. “We never start a project knowing exactly what shape it’s going to take,” he says. “We knew a few things that we wanted, but mostly, as with everything I do, when you understand the history and geography, the things just design themselves.

For both Webber, who was born and raised in Austin, and Baldasare, who is from California, having a home that was linked to its context and climate was key. To create a 3,200-square-foot home that would not take over the entire lot, Webber designed the home as a series of interlocking volumes and voids that embrace the outdoors, indirectly defining outdoor spaces such as a small terrace, larger backyard, rear patio, and a dog-trot-inspired breezway.

“I was inspired by those dog-trot houses in the south,” says Webber. “In Austin you need to capture breezes where you can.” Clad in a rainscreen made of cypress on the front of the house, the interior courtyard, under the windows on the east and west sides, and double-locked, standing-seam metal roofing on remainder of the west side, the house is nothing if not fortified against the elements.

Walking through and around the house brings a new experience in every space. Webber started with a box facing the street, with a cathedral-like entry 25 feet high. That area quickly drops down to under 8 feet into a sitting area, then back up slightly for the kitchen and dining area. The box then ends in glass, as Webber carved out the center to create a patio.

Back inside, you climb the stairs to the second floor, take a moment to rest in a loft-like sitting area before seeing where Webber’s vision of pulling out one side of the box comes to life in a bridge with a translucent hallway with an eastern-facing polycarbonate wall connecting a study, two kids’ bedrooms (the couple plans to expand their family), and his dad’s guest suite, with bedroom upstairs and steps down to a kitchenette, dining, and sitting area. “It’s my favorite place in the house,” says Baldasare about Webber’s dad’s realm, “because both the upstairs and downstairs living spaces are directly connected to the outside.” Directly connected to the outside, yet still part of the main house.

The surprises continue on the home’s west side, where you notice that the three main upstairs bedrooms actually project out in bays, blocking harsh western sun and bringing in northern and southern exposure from strategically placed windows. Also on that side, a 12-foot cantilevered projectile, clad in metal roofing, creates covered parking.

With local materials such as cypress cladding on the outside, pecan cladding and floors on the inside and Texas limestone in the bathrooms, another connection to the area is realized. And although the house doesn’t look a thing like any of the smaller craftsman homes surrounding it, it makes you wonder why those other homes weren’t designed like this one. “I’m totally against the idea that a house should be one big mass in the center of the lot,” says Webber. “Defining spaces, whether inside or outside, small or big, can make every room feel surprisingly different and unique.”

Source : Architectural Record, Webber + Studio, Inc

Nell Hill’s Christmas At Home by Mary Carol Garrity

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:57:36 +0000

Nell Hill’s Christmas At Home

The town of Atchison, Kansas, is never busier than at Christmastime. It is during this season that the acclaimed Nell Hill’s home decorating emporium is transformed into a magical space where old meets new, formal meets frivolous, and imagination is key. Now you can bring that spirit into your home for the holidays. In Nell Hill’s Christmas At Home, shop owner Mary Carol Garrity, the endlessly inventive home decorating marvel, turns her attention to the specifics of holiday decorating. With the inimitable style and warmth that has made converts of so many, she offers unconventional wisdom for beautifying your home throughout the season. Whether it’s a new and exciting spot for a Christmas tree or a wonderful way to wrap and present gifts, Mary Carol’s ideas are never stuffy and always inspirational. Full of lavish photographs, Nell Hill’s Christmas at Home distills the decorating wisdom gleaned by Mary Carol from countless conversations with her devoted customers. With this latest book, she offers readers the most imaginative and entertaining ideas to come along in years.

Buy “Nell Hill’s Christmas At Home” or Read More @Amazon.com

The Nest Home Design Handbook: Simple ways to decorate, organize, and personalize your place by Carley Roney

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:43:45 +0000

The Nest Home Design Handbook: Simple ways to decorate, organize, and personalize your place

Roney, editor in chief of TheNest.com and cofounder of TheKnot.com, has created a practical guide aimed at the amateur decorator. Color photographs show kitchens, living rooms, dens, bedrooms, baths, and home offices in a modern, uncluttered style, with advice on how to approach interior design, including practical tips on maintaining a home. Sprinkled throughout are sidebars that discuss choices of furniture, flooring, curtains, and rugs and even information concerning proper table settings and spring cleaning. Web resources conclude the book. Recommended for public libraries.

Buy “The Nest Home Design Handbook: Simple ways to decorate, organize, and personalize your place” or Read More @Amazon.com

Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:17:43 +0000

Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure

From not enough space and too many things to not knowing what color to paint the living room walls, many of us struggle with our homes. Now Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, frequent makeover expert on HGTV’s Mission: Organization and Small Spaces, Big Style, shares the do-it-yourself strategies that have enabled his clients and fans to transform their apartments into well-organized, beautiful places that suit their style and budget.

Week by week, Apartment Therapy will guide you to treat common problems, eliminate clutter, and revamp even the tiniest space. Here is an eight-step process that includes:

A therapeutic questionnaire to help you get in touch with your personal taste and diagnose your home’s physical, emotional, and energy flow issues

A prescription with recommendations for each room based on your needs and lifestyle–including tips on how to use color, lighting, and accessories

A treatment plan, including regular maintenance schedules to ensure the ongoing health of your space

Illustrations of floor plans and decorative examples that allow you to visualize concepts before you begin

With surprising ease and without elaborate professional help, Apartment Therapy will help you clear a path through disorder and indecision–to reveal a home you’ll love.

Buy “Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure” or Read More @Amazon.com

Bungalow Style by Treena M Crochet

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:40:09 +0000

Bungalow Style

The classic American bungalow is as popular today as when introduced in the Victorian era. Bungalow Style pictures a wide variety of interior details and describes how to add or restore elements that suggest a historic flair while keeping the home comfortable and functional. Common problems such as integrating modern conveniences or gaining needed space are also addressed.

About Bungalow Style Author
I wrote this book to show that there are many types of bungalows in America, not just the ones we tend to associate with Gustav Stickley–those with dark interiors and boxy furniture. Bungalows were designed for the middle class and the working class alike, and often reflect the tastes and budgets of the original homeowner. What you see inside the book are photos of homes lovingly renovated or restored by architects, interior designers, and even the homeowners themselves. The ideas presented are meant to inspire anyone who owns one of these quaint homes to think historic, but be creative when deciding to remodel or add on a new addition.

Buy “Bungalow Style” or Read More @Amazon.com

In House by Mitchell Owens

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:18:54 +0000

In House by Mitchell Owens

In House celebrates some of the world’s most striking and eccentric rooms, beautifully captured by Derry Moore, the 12th Earl of Drogheda and a regular contributor to Architectural Digest and Nest magazines, who for nearly thirty-five years has inimitably photographed unique, style-setting houses. Richly diverse in style and period, what these extraordinary interiors share is an eccentricity and a commitment to decorative aesthetics that has singled them out in the eyes of the world’s most discerning arbiters of taste. From an airy and colorful Moroccan palace to an austere but whimsical Scottish castle; from an Art Deco masterpiece in Jodhpur to Alphonse Mucha’s cluttered apartment in Prague; and from the museumlike home of one of London’s most macabre collectors to the extravagant remnants of Madrid’s aristocratic heritage, Moore reveals his impeccable taste and unrivaled eye for light in some of the most surprising and original rooms in the world. Each of the houses is accompanied by a commentary by noted architecture and interior design writer Mitchell Owens, and each is uniquely laid out in sympathy with its character by award-winning graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook. Together, their vision has produced a testament both to extraordinary interior design and to the unique eye of a master of interior photography.

Buy “In House by Mitchell Owens” or Read More @Amazon.com

Rooms to Remember: The Classic Interiors of Suzanne Tucker by Suzanne Tucker

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:04:16 +0000

Rooms to Remember: The Classic Interiors of Suzanne Tucker

In the work of interior designer Suzanne Tucker, art and artifact collections are displayed to best advantage for daily enjoyment by their owners, custom-mixed wall colors are set off by richly sensual textiles and forms, and inherited pieces are blended with newly found treasures to bestow a subtle aura of age and permanence. She uses her extensive knowledge of antiques and the decorative arts to create finely detailed, inviting rooms that perfectly complement both their architectural setting and their owners’ personality.

Always looking to the “bones” of a structure first, Tucker works from the outside in to ensure that a house remains true to the conventions of its style while its functions suit a contemporary lifestyle and sensibility. Superb interior architecture, delicate finishes, and fine furnishings are introduced and layered to form spaces that are balanced, fluid, and comfortable, whether in historically significant properties or modern wine country estates. She brings her perceptive ability to create truly unique, tailored spaces—amassed over years as the protégé of the legendary Michael Taylor as well as from her own extensive travels and twenty-three years as a principal of her firm—to each project. She maintains that even the most exquisite pieces of furniture and art can, and should, be arranged throughout a space in an accessible way to serve the needs of the people who inhabit it.

This lavishly illustrated presentation showcases Tucker’s diverse and site-specific styles in twenty projects, ranging from formal Mediterranean-style villas to sophisticated city apartments and airy Napa Valley retreats to rustic mountainside houses. Personal, engaging commentary reveals her spirited nature, many sources of inspiration, creative process, and valuable tips that can be applied to interiors of any age, style, or mood.

Buy “Rooms to Remember: The Classic Interiors of Suzanne Tucker” or Read More @Amazon.com

Not So Big House Coll-2cy by Sarah Susanka

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:50:02 +0000

Not So Big House Coll-2cy (Susanka)

Sarah Susanka’s best-selling books, The Not So Big House and Creating the Not So Big House, are available for the first time in one slipcase set. These two volumes offer all of Sarah Susanka’s trendsetting architectural ideas in one handsome package. “The rooms pictured in the book are both practical and lovely”

Buy “Not So Big House Coll-2cy” or Read More @Amazon.com

The Comfortable Home: How to Invest in Your Nest and Live Well for Less by Mitchell Gold, Bob Williams

Yossawat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:31:55 +0000

The Comfortable Home: How to Invest in Your Nest and Live Well for Less

Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams know that the key to comfort is how you set up your home.

For two decades, their home furnishings have been synonymous with relaxed style. For them, comfort and beauty work in concert; they are never opposing ideals. Gold and Williams’s elegant collection of home furnishings is often the first—and last—place people go when they want pieces that are perfect in scale, comfort, and price.

In The Comfortable Home, Gold and Williams share their insights, experience, and practical knowledge so that you can make your home one that is both designed—and designed for living. With a focus on spending money wisely—investing in pieces you will have forever and making strong statements with affordable “pretty little things,” Gold and Williams cover all aspects of creating a beautiful, inviting living space, including:

Working with color
Deciding whether to hire a decorator (or not)
Furnishing small spaces
Finding inspiration in the world around you
Creating flow from room to room
And much, much more

Taking the reader throughout the home—from the entryway into the bedroom, dining room, and all the living spaces—The Comfortable Home is apropos, whether your style is modern, traditional, or something in between. There is plenty of advice on everything, from choosing the perfect bedside table to displaying a beloved collection to deciding where to splurge and where to hold back.

Throughout, sumptuous original photography provides inspirational tours of real homes—including Gold and Williams’s New York City apartment as well as a revitalized ranch, country cottage, and Federal-style home in the city.

Whether you are starting from scratch or looking for a smart way to update a room with a few new pieces of furniture, The Comfortable Home reveals how rooms with different functions can merge into a perfect whole that is inviting and recharging.

Buy “The Comfortable Home: How to Invest in Your Nest and Live Well for Less” or Read More @Amazon.com

Saxo Bank by 3XN Architects

Yossawat — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:14:14 +0000

Saxo Bank is a young dynamic internet bank with focus on online-trade with currencies, shares and futures on the bank’s self-developed platform, Saxo Trader. Saxo Bank was founded in 1992 in Denmark and counts around 850 staff members of 35 nationalities who serve customers from 115 different countries.

Saxo Bank’s new headquarter in Copenhagen is designed by 3XN. Although the customers primarily encounter the bank in cyberspace, the physical premises of the head office is of great importance to the management of the bank who participate actively and are highly dedicated to the development of the building. The building is of great iconographic significance, and there is a strong conviction that architecture and design affect each staff member’s performance and awareness of the company.

The architectural design is based on Saxo’s cutting-edge profile and branding. The lines of the building design define a sharp balance between reliability and dynamic expressivity in dialogue with the local plan. The building is shaped like two blocks with the end walls pointing towards the canal, joined together by facades that are withdrawn from the end walls. The facades are shaped like double curved glass that wave like a piece of textile.

The interior of the building is open and transparent with a large sense of community. The open plans centre round a softly shaped atrium with a glass roof. In the atrium, the main stair case winds up to the top. However, the main room and largest attraction of the building is the so-called Trading Floor where share prices are monitored intensely and resemble scenes from American movies about stock exchanges. Furthermore, the building encompasses a large number of rooms for technical support, kitchenettes and recreational areas.

spiral staircase the main feature of the building, image courtesy 3XN architects

lobby, image courtesy 3XN architects

spiral staircase, image courtesy 3XN architects

conference room, image courtesy 3XN architects

Source : Designboom.com