National Trust (August 23, 2023) – A behind the scenes at Belton House in Lincolnshire, built between 1685 and 1687 by Sir John Brownlow, which is looked after by the National Trust.
A filming location for Queen Charlotte: a Bridgerton Story, this 17th-century home has been used as a set for many popular TV series and movies. Belton can be seen in the 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and, most recently, has featured as King George III’s palace in the Bridgerton universe.
Along with a tour of some familiar scenes from the silver screen, you’ll take a closer look at a jewel in the furniture collection – a one-of-a-kind lapis lazuli cabinet. A deep blue gemstone, lapis lazuli has been used as decoration for centuries – perhaps most notably in the funerary mask of Tutankhamun. For a cabinet to be almost entirely covered in the material makes it an extremely rare object.
DW Travel (August 20, 2023) – The Raven’s Nest is tucked away in the mountains of Transylvania in Alba County. This isolated high-end retreat celebrates nature and sustainability. For many, this is the luxury that Romania has to offer as a travel destination, a world away from mass tourism.
the Luxury Travel Expert (August 19, 2023) – A tour of Zakynthos, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea and a well-known summer resort. The harbor city of Zakynthos is the capital and major hub, centered around waterfront Solomos Square. Highlights include Navagio Beach (by boat + view point) – Spotting turtles – Coastal caves – Boat trip to the island’s north & south coast – Bays & fjords on the east coast – Beach clubs on the west coast.
Video timeline:0:00 Intro 0:52 Boat trip to Zakynthos’ north coast 3:00 Blue Caves 10:41 Shipwreck Beach (Navagio Beach) 14:56 Swimming in the sea 19:32 Navagio Beach viewpoint 23:17 Fjords of Zakynthos’ west coast 27:54 Tsilivi Beach 28:53 Seacret Beach Club 32:53 Boat trip to Zakynthos’ south coast 34:43 Turtle island & turtle spotting 40:13 Kalonisi islet 43:50 Sunset
The Local Project (August 18, 2023) – On the north-eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula lies Waimataruru, a dream home by Pac Studio and Kristina Pickford Design. Positioned just above the beach and embraced by a regenerating native forest,
Video timeline:00:00 – Intro to the Dream Home on a Hidden Beach 00:25 – The Dynamic Brief 01:07 – Arrangement of the Spaces 01:43 – A Wild and Exposed Site 02:05 – Responding to the Varying Conditions 02:57 – A Walkthrough of the Home 03:48 – An Environmentally Reflective Material and Colour Palette 04:42 – Spaces to Entertain 05:00 – A Successful Collaboration 05:22 – The Architects Proud Moments
Waimataruru is the dream home of Kristina Pickford, who oversaw the interior design. The client requested that Pac Studio create a dynamic home in an environment that allowed the owner to engage with the restoration and rehabilitation of the surrounding landscape.
Additionally, the site’s typography played an important role in the arrangement of the dream home and, as such, Pac Studio arranged the architectural features to seamlessly cascade down the natural slope of the site. The house tour shows there is a unifying quality to the home to be admired. Choosing to keep the spaces within the home linked together – differentiated only by floor level – Pac Studio creates a dream home that imbues a feeling of depth thanks to clear sightlines of expansive views outside.
Though exposed to the elements, the residence is built to withstand the dryness of summer, heavy rainfall in spring and autumn and the chill of winter. Responding to the varied weather conditions, Pac Studio added a filtered edge to the northern façade as well as covered verandah-like spaces outside to protect occupants from the elements. Cosy interior design moments have also been added to provide a sense of comfort, such as rear pocket views of the forest behind. With an intentional duality, the architect has created a dream home that embraces both the northern beach and the southern forest.
As the home navigates a sloping site, Pac Studio designed each space to give its own individual experience of the landscape – through different colours and materials – to reflect the surrounding natural environment. Though timber is employed as the main element internally and externally, the additional red oxide wall takes centrestage. Lime plaster walls have also been enhanced by sand from the beach, and waxed steel provides a softness and warmth that further enriches the home’s detailing. Designed to be a dream home, Waimataruru provides the space to sit back and appreciate the surrounds.
Romolini – Christie’s Real Estate (August 17, 2023) – In the heart of Venice, a stone’s throw from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, Ca’ Dario is one of the most famous historic buildings overlooking the Grand Canal.
A masterful example of the Venetian Gothic style mixed with Renaissance elements, the palace is an imposing building of 1,000 sqm on five floors embellished with original decorations and unique elements. The hidden gem of the palace is the 170-sqm private garden at the back of the building.
THIS 500-YEAR-OLD VENETIAN GOTHIC PALACE, also known as Ca’ Dario, has claimed a host of unlucky victims, including the rich and famous. It’ said that the people who owned the building or stayed there for more than 20 days died, committed murder, or became bankrupt. Even local fisherman don’t dare cast their ropes by the cursed palazzo, which has been dubbed “the house that kills.”
The house was built in 1479 for aristocrat Giovanni Dario. His daughter Marietta and her husband Vincenzo later inherited the house. Vincenzo was stabbed to death, and Marietta died by suicide in the Grand Canal not long after. Shortly after these tragedies, their son Vincenzo Jr. was killed in Crete by assassins.
Architectural Digest (August 17, 2023) – Today Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects joins AD for an in-depth look at how bridges transformed New York City into the thriving metropolis we know today.
Once upon a time, ferries were the only way to travel between New York’s five boroughs but thanks to the construction of major bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge and George Washington Bridge, the city became connected. Join Michael for a closer look at how five bridges helped shape NYC into the bustling city we know today.
The Local Project (August 15, 2023) – Brad Swartz Architects has become an expert in blending small spaces with wabi-sabi aesthetics and Australian modernism.
Video timeline:00:00 – Intro to the Wabi-Sabi Tiny Apartment 00:52 – The Location of the Apartment 01:16 – A Walkthrough of the Wabi-Sabi Apartment 02:20 – Behind the Renovation 03:09 – The Clients Brief and the Japanese Inspiration 03:48 – Uncovering Unexpected Gems 04:14 – Playful Aspects of the Apartment 04:30 – The Paired Back Material Palette
This focus has been continued in Elizabeth Bay, with this tiny apartment taking inspiration from the client’s cultured past and the architecture of a historical Sydney building that resembles an ocean liner. ‘Kyabin’ is the Japanese spelling of ‘cabin’, a likeness which reveals itself when looking at the client’s brief to convert an 80-square-metre, two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment into a one-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a single guest space.
The living space is also made to be more spacious and opens up to the view of Rushcutters Bay. Form over function was a defining principle of the modernist design philosophy that informed the interiors and overall style of the tiny apartment. Discovering the entire building was built with precast concrete beams – which had been concealed beneath ceiling sheeting for more than 60 years – also informed a refined materiality, deepening the interior design’s wabi-sabi undertones.
A pared-back material palette imbues the tiny apartment with a sense of calm, despite its small size, and a muted textural selection of stone and oak means the focus remains on the views beyond. The home’s design also has longevity in mind, allowing the next occupant to treat Kyabin Apartment as a blank canvas for personal expression.
DW Travel (August 13, 2023) – DW reporter Meggin Leigh tours Trieste, the capital city of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. A port city, it occupies a thin strip of land between the Adriatic coast and Slovenia’s border on the limestone-dominated Karst Plateau.
Video timeline:00:00 Intro 00:22 Coffee at Antico Caffé Torinese 00:54 Piazza Unità d’Italia 01:16 Piazza della Borsa 01:32 Teatro Romano di Trieste 02:52 Arco di Riccardo 03:43 Old Town 04:18 Lunch at Buffet da Pepi restaurant 05:39 Grand Canal and the memorial of James Joyce 06:52 La Bomboniera pastry shop 07:47 Miramare castle
Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Slovenian influences are all evident in its layout, which encompasses a medieval old city and a neoclassical Austrian quarter.
touropia (August 11, 2023) – A travel guide to the top 16 places to visit in Norway including:
Geirangerfjord
Lofoten Islands
Bergen
Jotunheimen National Park
Svalbard
Stavanger
Sognefjord
Oslo
Trondheim
Tromso
Norway is a Scandinavian country encompassing mountains, glaciers and deep coastal fjords. Oslo, the capital, is a city of green spaces and museums. Preserved 9th-century Viking ships are displayed at Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum. Bergen, with colorful wooden houses, is the starting point for cruises to the dramatic Sognefjord. Norway is also known for fishing, hiking and skiing, notably at Lillehammer’s Olympic resort.
The Local Project (August 11, 2023) – Following a brief that required a family beach house that was not only comfortable for two but could house visiting family members, Wellard Architects has delivered a house that flows over two levels. Located on the beachfront, Somers Beach House is formed from a holistic design approach that offers the owners a sense of oasis living.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to The Perfect Beach House 00:25 – Location of the House 00:42 – Brief for the Architect 01:17 – Walkthrough of the Home 02:20 – The Staircase 02:52 – Natural Elements of the House 03:23 – Material Palette 04:23 – Shadow Play in the House 04:54 – Holistic Design Approach
Connecting the house tour over the stacked living forms is the linking external staircase, which allows the two primary users to live independently, or shut down one half of the house when not in use. Furthermore, Somers Beach House is finished with an easy garden path that leads directly down to the sheltered rear yard by Fiona Brockhoff Design and then out further towards the beach.
Upon arrival to Somers Beach House, the house tour begins on the upper level, which contains the primary living, kitchen and dining zones, along with the main bedroom and bathroom. Centred around an established banksia tree, the lap pool allows for the owners to swim out and take in the surrounding views. Moreover, the linking staircase that connects the two levels also allows for easy access straight out to the beach and back through home without leaving sand in the internal spaces of the modern beachfront home.
To complement the home, the existing boatshed that was built in the 1950s was rebuilt and remodeled to the same footprint and dimensions of the original structure. Serving as a miniature version of the main home, the boatshed is filled with minimal furniture and gives the owners a space to find respite as they look over the ocean. As the house is located on the steepest part of the site, the architect has designed the home to cantilever at the southern end to both take advantage of views and connect to the landscape.
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