Category Archives: Design

Architecture, Design, Home Design, Homes, Videos

Architecture & Design: ‘Ruum Model’ – Australia

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The Ruum model proudly represents a new pathway to architect designed living. Through considered partnerships with industry leading companies such as Chamberlain Architects and Fisher & Paykel, Ruum is making architectural designs accessible to more people.

Captured in a recently completed home designed by Chamberlain Architects, Ruum founder Elliot McLaren and Chamberlain director Glen Chamberlain explain what this new pathway to architect designed living represents, and how Ruum is able to maximise value for the home-owner. As Elliot explains, “having spent over 15 years in the residential building industry, I became acutely aware of a chasm in the marketplace where traditional project building will stop and one off bespoke architecture starts.”

In practice this has seen Ruum partnering with Chamberlain Architects on the first series of Ruum architect designed homes – five different configurations that can only be commissioned ten times per state before they are retired. Within this program, there exists the potential for customisation of each template to maximise the living and lifestyle benefits of Ruum’s offering. It allows home-owners a degree of customisation to their layout, whilst achieving efficiencies in the appointments and appliances throughout their home.

For Glen Chamberlain, this meant that “the attention to the plan” and choosing to partner with “companies that have a passion and commitment to design” were of utmost importance in elevating this new pathway to architect designed living. The decision to align Ruum with Fisher & Paykel was therefore a logical choice, with all Ruum homes enjoying integrated Fisher & Paykel kitchens that become extensions of the main living space. Elliot elaborates that “what is a common theme with all the partnerships that we have curated within the Ruum model is a common belief around quality” and this is nowhere more apparent than in the Ruum kitchens.

Demonstrating a new path for architect designed living, Ruum allows clients to create beautiful and architectural spaces without the rigours of the traditional model. Presented in Partnership with Ruum. Architecture by Chamberlain Architects. Kitchen Appliances by Fisher & Paykel. Filmed by Cheer Squad Film Co. Production by The Local Project.

Design, Interviews, Podcasts, Transportation, Videos

Interview: BMW Motorrad Chief Designer Edgar Heinrich On CE 04 Scooter

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In this week’s episode of ‘The Chiefs’, Monocle’s editorial director Tyler Brûlé is joined by BMW Motorrad’s chief designer Edgar Heinrich. They discuss why the future of the two-wheeler is looking bright and the innovative design process behind the upcoming CE 04.

Architecture, Books, Design, Reviews, Videos

Books: ‘The Notebooks And Drawings Of Louis I. Kahn’ To Be Republished

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Originally published in 1962 and out of print for almost 50 years, The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn was the first book on influential 20th-century American architect Louis Kahn to feature his own images and words— and the first to capture the modern master’s powerful and unique spirit.  

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Design, Home Design, Homes, Views

Home Design: The Art Of The ‘Minimal Kitchen’

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Whether it’s a wall of stainless steel cabinets or a row of plywood units, there is something particularly satisfying about a thoughtfully designed, minimal kitchen.

The trick to clutter-free surfaces is to make sure that behind the clean-lined exterior, there is plenty of space to stash away kitchen paraphernalia. Here, we’re sharing our favourite example of minimal kitchen designs – from a monochrome kitchen in north London to a barely-there arrangement of white units in the Cotswolds. 

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Design, Reviews, Technology, Videos

Racing Design: ‘Airspeeder’ Flying Electric Car (Video)

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“It’s not a concept anymore, it’s not abstract anymore – it’s real.” Meet flying racing car Head Designer Felix Pierron, tasked with creating future flying machines.

Airspeeder is the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars. Our mission will accelerate eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) advanced aviation technology through intense sporting competition. This mobility revolution, underpinned by future tech will transform urban air mobility (UAM), global logistics and even medical applications with a clean-air electric vehicle (EV) solution.

Our racing multicopters are developed at our advanced aerospace engineering hub in Adelaide, South Australia by engineers drawn from elite motorsports, automotive, aviation and even FPV drone, electric plane, electric vehicles and passenger drone backgrounds. Airspeeder’s vision will deliver the most exciting and future focused motorsport on the planet. Following an inaugural unmanned season, elite pilots will take to the skies to race prop-to-prop while navigating electronically governed racetracks in the skies above some of the most visually arresting scenery in the world.

These manned multirotor electric vehicles will define a new era in advanced air mobility (AAM). Airspeeder’s first unmanned air race is scheduled for 2021 and will feature a full grid of multirotor unmanned Airspeeder Mk3 racing craft. The best pilots from drone racing will utilise latest RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft systems) in aerial battles across the globe. Our innovations will hasten the arrival of new advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies. Close but safe air racing is assured through latest LiDAR and radar technologies that create virtual forcefields around the sport’s cutting edge quadcopter format flying cars.

Rapid hair-pin turning manoeuvrability is delivered using a multicopter layout. This pioneering approach to aircraft design also enhances stability while electronic speed control (ESC) systems empower pilots to exploit the full potential of our advanced electric powertrains.

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Boats, Design, Videos, Views

Sportfish Yacht Tours: ‘Bonnie T – 62 Ft. Rybovich’

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Fully equipped for tournament fishing, BONNIE T was hull no. 105., one of the last Rybovich’s built at the West Palm Beach, FL yard by a repeat custom boat owner.

This sportfish yacht for sale has all the attributes of a classic Rybovich with a teak toe rail, teak cabin half round, teak cockpit deck, teak covering boards, teak bulkhead, teak transom, teak helm station and bridge rail. She is of ample size for both fishing and entertaining.

Accommodating 6 guests in 3 staterooms and boasting an impressive maximum speed of 40 knots, BONNIE T is every sport fisherman’s dream!

Boats, Design, Transportation, Videos

Design: ‘Royal Falcon One’ Catamaran Superyacht By Studio FA Porsche (Video)

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Royal Falcon One is a brand-new 41.14m power catamaran developed by the Singapore-based Royal Falcon Fleet.  It boasts a unique design hailing from the drawing boards of the iconic Porsche Design Studio.

The revolutionary design offers all the efficient economic cruising attributes of a multihull, along with the spatial benefits provided by the wide beam, whilst offering guests a desirable aesthetic and functional yet luxurious interior.

Royal Falcon One has five comfortable and spacious cabins.  There are three guest cabins located on the main deck and the full-beam master suite, with its own private deck area, is on the upper deck, along with a VIP suite. 

The interior design is revolutionary, providing guests with the highest levels of luxury and using only the finest leathers and materials to create a contemporary design that is in keeping with her super-modern exterior styling.

Forward of the main saloon, the carefully considered interior layout allows for a panoramic observation lounge which makes the most of the yacht’s wide beam and is an impressive entertaining space.

Automobiles, Design, Transportation, Videos

Design: ‘ŠKODA 1203’ Made Over As Electric Camper Van With Pop Top Roof

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In his vision the “new” 1203 is a modern camper with a “pop top” roof. “This kind of car has been gaining in popularity recently, so in the end that’s the kind of design I went for. But my first idea was to design a peloton escort vehicle for the Tour de France,” says Daniel, referring to the Czech carmaker’s well-known involvement in the world of cycling.

When designer Daniel Hájek inspects the good-as-new ŠKODA 1203 during the photo shoot, memories come flooding back: “We have a flatbed version like that in the garden of my grandparents’ house, but it’s not roadworthy any more.” And when he adds that “it was kind of my first car, we used it on our farm, and when I was fifteen they let me start the engine now and then and drive it around the field,” it’s clear that it was no accident he chose the legendary ŠKODA utility vehicle for the Icons Get a Makeover series.

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Škoda Auto a.s., commonly called Škoda or Skoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. In 1925 Laurin & Klement was acquired by the industrial conglomerate Škoda Works, which itself became state owned in 1948. 

Architecture, Design, Travel, Views

Travel & Architecture: ‘Ziedlejas Resort, Latvia’

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Ziedlejas is a wellness resort rooted in the Latvian sauna tradition. With a secluded location in rural Latvia, it offers natural retreats away from the crowds. Two saunas have already been completed and a third is underway.

Number 1 or the ‘baltā pirts’ (white sauna) is a concrete structure built into the hillside to avoid interfering with the view from the guest cabins. It benefits from natural light and the proximity of the pond for jumping into. We used locally sourced natural materials like wood, herbs and linen to complete the interior.

The more primeval ‘melnā pirts’ (smoke sauna) is built from spruce and fittingly tucked into the woods. While the sauna buildings remain traditional in terms of their purpose, we made sure to enhance functionality and overall aesthetics from a contemporary design perspective.

In 2020 four corten steel and glass cabins opened to overnight guests. Tea houses by day and bedrooms by night, they are designed to be multifunctional. The glass front affords unspoilt views of the landscape. Thanks to the neighbouring herb patches, guests can literally pick and mix their own herbal tea blend. 

This is a place to enjoy slowly. Open AD has been involved in the development since day one in partnership with the owners and Landshape landscape architecture firm. 

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Architecture, Buildings, Design, Views

Design: 20 Ft. Wide ‘Pencil Tower Hotel’ In Sydney

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An improbably narrow, six meter wide site is envisaged for a 100m tower in the downtown area of Sydney near its central station. 

Our proposal embraces this extraordinary attenuated quality, proposing a ‘column’ tower on a low scale podium. 

The podium references the delicacy and detail of its heritage neighbours, using the language of grand arching brickwork. A three story urban room houses multiple levels of lobby, cafe & lounge, visible through a large scale keyhole window. A walled courtyard garden for shared use overlooks the street. 

The tower simulates the compression and extension of a column, through a continuous abstraction of the elements of a column: base, shaft and capital.
 

The facade begins with compressed horizontal screening, slowly transforming into exaggerated verticals at the top. Horizontals begin wide and flush with the outside frame, slowly thinning and receding at the height of the tower. Each horizontal is at the height of the slab, handrail and door head height. 

The capital is joyfully expressed as a flying balcony and shell curves of a rooftop sundeck, pool and “hammam” spa. The soffit of the curved ceiling  is brightly tiled, visible from both the street below and the city beyond.
 
Each floor houses compact hotel rooms, gathering light from the street, rear court or internal shapely voids. The voids are tiled to reflect light and colour into the rooms. Key hole windows provide a framed vignette of the seamless tiled surface.

Testing the boundaries of construction and design, the ‘pencil’ tower adds both a generous street room and  a heroic skyline to its neighbourhood.

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