NYC Loft - Tribeca

Tribeca Penthouse Loftlicious

Organic Shapes in Architecture and Art

Innovative Buildings and Spaces

Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad, Iraq. She earned a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut and studied architecture design at Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Her work has a distinctive style - flowing and curvy.


Here are some of her amazing designs.

Mini Mod with Pods that Spin

Hanse Colani Rotor House

I know.  This is funky, cool.  A mini home with spinning rooms.  If I had a backyard and lots of disposable cash, I would buy one.  Not that the small inconvenient point about the money matters.  This is a concept home.  Therefore, it is not in production... yet.

Rotating Living Room Pod

Kitchenette Pod for the non-cook

Bathroom Rotating Pod

Exterior Side and Rear

Home with a 360 Degree View

Home with a Rotating View

A house that spins.  Humans are not without ideas and innovation.  This house could be labeled "extreme." I consider it X.  Extreme homes usually infer taste specifically enjoyed by a handful of people.  I see all my friends clamoring to live here.  Perhaps, not forever.  It is located in a cold climate - Connecticut. 

This Rotating House, aka Carrousel House, was designed by Richard T. Foster. It was built in 1968 and was originally designed as a 2 bedroom "Smart House."  A new owner completed renovated the interior and converted the 3,000 sq ft home into a 3 bedroom contemporary sanctuary.  Its wiring allows for preset rotation to change the views and sun exposure throughout the day. The entrance is via a steep spiral staircase and the building overlooks a pond.  It takes about 50 minutes for one complete rotation.

Rotating homes are not as unique as we think.  They are sprinkled all around the world.  A few architects have taken the next leap and conceived rotating towers.  If those get built, that is a triumph.  To that I add, "Welcome to the 21st century."

This house is currently on the market for a mere 1.750 million.  http://tinyurl.com/22qscs2


Here's a video of the house - http://tinyurl.com/26kefya. 

New World's Most Leaning Building... Oh, Really?!

 Capital Gate Tower in Abu Dhabi

The newly pronounced "World's Furthest Leaning Man-made Tower" by Guinness World Records for the Capital Gate Tower is a stretch.

First of all, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built straight and then leaned due to the settling foundation. Secondly, Pisa leans from the bottom up.  Capital Gate does not. 

Tower of Pisa in Italy

Oh well, another lobbyist at work.  Capital Gate Tower is a Hot Design.  Why not award for that?

Poor Tower of Pisa, which truly leans, being blotted out in record books by an imposter! 

An Academic Inspiration

Building 32

Most of us have heard about that mysterious untouchable patch of desert called Area 51.  How about this accessible other worldly marvel on MIT's campus - Building 32? It looks like a traditional building morphing into a Sci-Fi structure.... on another planet. 

Can't you see Scotty tinkering with the transporter to capture and move structures then something goes awry?

Frank Gehry, an award winning architect, designed the amazing Ray and Maria Stata Center academic complex.  The building houses Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, as well as the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. How fitting.

Modern Vintage Style on Wheels

An American Tradition with Radical Air

There are many avid Airstreamers out in the universe. You can read all the bloggers that talk about owning or refubishing their 1970s era Airstream. Read all about 70% of Airstreams that have EVER been built since the 1960s are still on the road. That's not this post.

This post is about how hot Airstreams are.

We quasi got into the RV scene through a friend. His whole family RVs and that is roughing it to them. Our roughing it - tenting. The price is fantastic. The storage is a breeze.

However, there is something to be said about not getting up in the middle of the night, searching for a flashlight, having the hawk slap your face and then your ass as you exit your tent to plod up to the public restroom.

We went to the RV Show yesterday (Saturday, January 23rd). Once again, what rang true before, rang true once more. Nothing compares to Airstream (and their cost). We've attended RV Shows for 4 years now. We've seen many new models and advances in RV trailers.

Yet, every time we strolled over to the Airstream section, we got that buzz all over again.

Consistently this happens.

The design, aerodynamic shape, construction, material, and finish are superior to every trailer out their.

By the way, KOA is striking agreements with Airstream to use trailers instead of those shacks called cabins. We rented an Airstream at the Circus Circus KOA in Las Vegas. We LOVED it. LOVED it. LOVED it.

This baby goes on our future investment list.

Note: Remember, an RV with a bathroom is a tax write-off. ;-) It is considered a second home.

I believe Airstream should have a new slogan, "Airstream = Excellence."

Cool, huh?

Of course, their slogan is sweet. "Adventure inspired by Airstream."

Visit their site here.

Eco Beauty - The Straw Bale House

Sustainable Beauty

For a long time, there's been a myth perpetuated that green cannot be beautiful. Hmmm... I've always thought, "Not so." We only need inspired designers and visionaries to dispell this ideology.

That's true with life. Right? Those naysayers always spout off what is NOT possible and the dreamers always shut them up with what is.

President Obama is an excellent modern example of this. A 233-year old country with a 250-year old history of slavery elects an African-American man as president. Two years ago the American majority thought this milestone impossible.

Remember the slogan from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games? "Impossible is Nothing." I was hypnotized by that slogan. It resonates sheer inspiration, guts, passion, and drive in 3 words. Perhaps, you know this slogan from the Adidas ad campaign, which started in 2007 (3 years after the Athens games). I'm sure Adidas was inspired too... to borrow it.

ModCell's energy effecient and sustainable house built from straw bale offers function, form, and fascination. Read more here.

ModCell's Balehaus

Prefab Office - Nice

File this under... Oh Yeah!

Prefabulous office by The OfficePOD. They make corporate and residential office pods. These prefabs are modern, well-conceived designs.

Their mission:

Telecommuting: The Final Working Frontier

These are the voyages of the OfficePOD

Its unknown year mission

To explore closed minds

To seek out forward thinking corporations

To boldly go into the "smart working" world where few have dared to enter.

Well, that's what I think their mission is.

As for the price, sorry. OfficePODs are for rent only. Lost on why the company chose this strategy. It is wiser to offer a lease or buy option.

Want to know more. Go to http://www.officepod.co.uk/

Extreme Glass House

No Stones Please and No Privacy

This glass concept house by Carlo Santambrogio and Ennio Arosio redefines "open" floorplan and living. Prepare to sleep, bath, and toilet in public. Your house becomes the stage and you the performer.

Free-thinking and free-living people need only request this design. The rest of us will be most happy to admire... from a distance.