Luxurious Dream House Looks Like A James Bond-Inspired Villa

Dream houses are all over LA and its surroundings. But I bet you haven’t seen the Desert House designed by super-organic architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg in Joshua Tree, located in Californias’ Mojave Desert is a fusion of what resembles a dinosaur-boned structure with a Flintstonesy feel.

Inspired by the rugged and hard surroundings the exterior of the house seems like an extension of it. Dramatically perched on the slope of a rocky hill overlooking the Mojave Desert, the property seems to disseminate amongst the rocks and stones. That feeling was only made possible due to somewhat a texture that could provide the numerous cast-concrete slabs of the exterior with touch and feel of the desert as materials.

The 3-bedroom house work began in 1988 and finished in 1993 in the 10-acre space, but the interior took about a decade for Kellogg and designer John Vurgin to create and design the house that the owners Doolittle always dreamed about. The Desert House is priced at $3 million, heating up the luxury real estate market of the Coachella Valley and surrounding desert. What makes the house so special and attractive is its balance of organic architecture. The masculine outside is counter-balanced by a somewhat feminine and warm intimate space by using concrete, steel, glass and copper for the interior, making the space genuinely comfortable to live in.

Highlights of the interiors are the parasol in the dining room made of some 800 pieces of sandblasted glass, the master bedroom’s self-standing bronze washing basin, massive amount of light and sun entering through continuous openings that separate the towering concrete panels. It is like living in a piece of art, every little detail in the house has been carefully thought of. You even feel like in a spa when listening to the water sound by the indoors waterfall. What about the scenery of the wide open arid landscape provided by spending some time in the bathtub? Breathtaking at the least.

“You don’t copy nature, you don’t emulate it, you take it for what it’s worth”, says Kellogg.

If there is any interest in checking out the property more details can be found at TTK Represents.

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers a wide range of metals such as copper, widely used in architectural artifacts and construction. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Our English speaking professionals will be more than pleased to help you. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source and photo credit: organicmodernestate.com, yatzer.com, hiconsumption.com, la.curbed.com

Camilla G.//SMC Editor

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New Trend in Modern Retailing Inspired by Japanese ‘Origami’

Inspired by Japanese paper folding ‘origami’ new trend in retailing is portable and aesthetically appealing. The Kiosks created by London-based architecture firm, Make Architects, in collaboration with metal fabricators, Entech Environmental Technology Ltd are a success and use models of origami throughout the design process. Two unique prefabricated retail kiosks opened to the public for the first time at Canary Wharf’s Ice Sculpturing Festival in London in the beginning of this year.

“It was only when we were making [physical] models that we suddenly realized something was jamming, and that was really interesting.” Later, the designers built a full-scale mock-up out of cardboard and foam board. “That way we could really understand how it works,” explains Sean Affleck, Make Architects’ lead project architect.

The outer shell is made of 2-millimeter-thick aluminum plate which is crucial to mimic paper due to its lightweight and easy manipulation. Any other material would be too heavy.

Although lightweight the aluminum shell is not less resistant; the powder-coated aluminum cladding panels are highly durable against weather and graffiti, requiring minimal maintenance. The rest of the body uses stainless steel fabricated in-house.

To create a proper system that allowed opening and shutting the pop-up store with easiness the metal was folded, pressed and rolled. Such a process created an integral hinge into which a stainless steel rod was inserted. Very convenient a remote-control can do the job of opening and closing the kiosk with no stress.

“[The kiosk] had to be solid, but lightweight, so then that led us to origami,” says Affleck. “[You] end up with something very flimsy; add a few folds and creases, and suddenly the strength appears. In the folds, the shape appears.”

The vibrant opening is attractive to the public who also finds a shelter underneath the ‘origami’ roof. When opened the inside of the sculptural rectangular box measures 2m deep and 3m wide, perfect for multitude of purposes; from serving coffee to information points to even a spot for DJs at events. The interiors lined with steel frames and a plywood-stressed skin can be customized by the vendors, depending where and when they are used. It is very comfortable to stand inside the rectangular ‘origami’ box, rain-skin cladding panels protects the changing vendor stories from insulation and reduced solar gain.

“Our solution on the modern street kiosk is a distinctive sculptural rectangular box that transforms when it opens and its function is revealed. The internal fit-out elements can be adapted to suit the needs of individual vendors”, says Affleck.

Aesthetically pleasing, the prefabricated pop-up stores are a great solution as urban furniture. When closed, the booths appear as futuristic sculptures, their matte grey exteriors evoking the steel and stone of the city, enhancing and revitalizing the public space.  The aesthetic form of the kiosks coupled with new activities and landscape would be able to provide a new urban platform for both tourists and locals alike.

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers a wide range of metals such as aluminum, widely used in the fabrication of prefabricated ‘origami’ pop-up stores. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Our English speaking personnel will be more than pleased to help you. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source and Photo credit: sddretail.co.uk, sklim.com, blog.archpaper.com, alucobondusa.com, archiloci.com, bestpaperz.com

Camilla G.//SMC Editor

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