Future Homes

LAVA, aka the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, an architectural think tank claims future homes will need to create a closer synergy with nature and develop the relationship between nature, technology and humans. In a recent exhibition LAVA unveiled their vision of the future homes. Their display in Sydney can be seen up until March 31 2011.  The use of IT will be paramount and will connect the whole system. The ceiling is to be constructed from ETFE to allow more light to shine through and better insulation, while costing and weighing less.

[Via Design Boom]

Biosphere Home Farming Concept by Phillips

This farming system is called the Biosphere Home Farming Concept. It was designed by the people at Philips, who call the concept a completely interdependent system. This means that there is no input from an external source, but rather that each specific section relies on another part for its continued operation. The concept has the potential to provide households with not only the food they require to eat, but also provide fresh hydrogen, heat and gas. These can be used for other useful purposes, everything from lighting your home to nourishing your plants.

It must be said that this is a stunning concept, one which not only looks great but also fulfils a very tangible problem society is faced with – namely the lack of self-sufficiency. Sure, this will hardly make you totally self sufficient, but it could go some way towards the right direction. Let’s hope that green ideas like this start to be made into reality, and with heavy hitters such as Phillips behind them, this may well be sooner rather than later.

Sustainable Treehouse Deign.

This great treehouse, designed by Dustin Feider, seems like the perfect way to add a funky dimension to your home. It could be used as an additional living space, but we also think it could act as a great home office, allowing you to get away from the hustle and bustle and work with maximum efficiency. Although, trying to get a client up that ladder might be a tall order! What do you think?

What’s more, not only does this tree house look great it is also green, encouraging the use of sustainable materials and allowing us to incorporate our living requirements with our natural surroundings.

Casa Fez – Portugal

Casa Fez is a new development built by the well known Portuguese architect Álvaro Leite Siza Vieira. He is the the son of  Álvaro Siza Vieira, probably Portugal’s  greatest and well known architect – winner of the 1992 Pritzker Prize and the 1988 Alvar Aalto Medal. The son, Álvaro Leite Siza Vieira, was born in 1962 and is a graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Escola do Porto. He is most prominently  known for his Casa Tolo in northern Portugal, and  designed Casa Fez for his personal use

The house is characterised by an abundance of natural light, which interplays nicely with the use of wooden floors. The windows are also all unadorned, giving the project a clean aesthetic feeling which is not too dissimilar to a modern art museum or gallery. In some ways perhaps the project lacks a homely fee, perhaps it is something which is better admired from a distance rather than admired through use? What do you think?

[Pictures via]

Ji Loy: Fashionable Prefabricated Modular Housing

Ji Loy is an innovative housing module which aims to present a viable solution to the housing needs of people in disaster zones, or other emergency situations such as homelessness in urban settings.

The prefabricated module comprises of two parts, ‘Ji’ and ‘Loy’.  Loy is the most basic element in the entire scheme, comprising of a bathroom and kitchen. Ji works as an additional module that connects to Loy, it provides a general open space utility for other tasks.

Designer Nikita Kolbovskiy hopes that housing providers around the world will consider his Ji Loy concept module. The temporary residence features a small area profile, and is equipped with a minimum set of transforming furniture. The standard interior uses high plastic and wood, and the versatile and different versions of these independent homes come in a variety of cool soothing colours such as blue, green, white and red. There’s no word on pricing and availability yet, but its sheer adaptability and stylish design make it a great concept to look out for in the future!

Vals Mountain Home

Modular Light Screen Room Divider

Got a large home you’d like to subdivide for privacy or partition off to create a home office area? Here’s a modular PVC wall divider system that can connect up to 5 screens while also powering a built-in lighting system. The system is comprised of middle unit, which plugs in and powers an internal lighting system. A 3 screen room divider is 30 1/4″w x 8 5/8″d x 72 3/4″h and costs $1999 from InMod. Admittedly not cheap, but a whole lot easier than building or tearing down a wall.

source: Unplggd