Sometimes the most beautiful houses are ones that have been handcrafted by their owners. Artists’ Handmade Houses, by the NY-based landscape architect Michael Owen Gotkin, is a coffee table book that offers a peek at some early examples of these sorts of homes, built from the late-19th century to the mid-20th century.

The home of Architect Paolo Soleri in Arizona seems stilled by the stifling heat of Arizona, as if setting an example for how to live in such a climate, by barely moving.

Here his cool stone cantilevered table is the connection between the indoors and outdoors, flowing from the kitchen through to the outdoor dining room and work space in the southern courtyard.

Likewise, the wall of the bathroom also connects to the back of the fireplace in the next room and provides radiant heat in the winter. Soleri was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and a reinterpretation of the master’s organic architecture is clear in the outside dining room and the bathroom, seemingly grown inside a cave for cool summers.

The boulders in the sunken dining room in the house of sculptor, ceramist, and tableware designer Russel Wright are evidence of the design influences imbuing his work as the result of a seminal trip to Japan in the 1950s.

On the land, which Wright dubbed Manitoga, he planted and cultivated native trees and wove stone paths around them, and even diverted a river into an abandoned quarry.

A very Japanese aesthetic informs his kitchen blending into the rocks beyond. Most of the ceramics are the artist’s own work.

American furniture designer George Nakashima embraced construction as a kind of improvisation. He built without plans, and the detailing was developed from the material on hand or that which was available.

Nakashima combined American vernacular influences and Japanese sensibilities, evidenced here in the shoji screen dividing off the kitchen from the dining room.

In all, the book lovingly details thirteen interiors of homes handcrafted by artists and craftsmen in America, at a time in the early years of the twentieth century that saw a resurgence of interest in oriental design.

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The Private Homes of Artists

Like an abstract idea superimposed on the landscape, our consciousness, alone among the universe – as far as we know! – is fundamentally different from the insensate natural world. This recognition is the foundation of much religious art from many cultures.

In these stunning photos from Mine Dalemans and Kristof Vrancken from Architecture Lab, we see – or more accurately – don’t see – an extraordinary, almost completely see-through church, that represents that peculiar relationship.

If we were flying over it, maybe in a balloon, it would seem like a normally solid structure. But it is actually constructed entirely of spaces created by layering rusted steel strips, laid flat and separated by spacers to create the “air holes” that you see through.

Up close, the ones that are at eye level look slimmer. As you look up, the ones further up occupy more space.

The project in Belgium is a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh - Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.

It is actually not a serious design for a church but an artwork. ‘Reading between the Lines’ is part of an ambitious longterm art in public space project called Z-OUT, that will take form over the next five years in various locations within the Flemish region of Limburg in Belgium.

The idea expressed is that churches are emptying out of their congregations in modern times, and the “emptyness” of the church represents that idea.

But by bringing the world into the church – if it were an actual church, not Art - the architects express an appropriate idea.  The ability to see the world through the lens of the church would represent the idea that how we live in this world is important to the religious and spiritual life.

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See-Through Church Brings This world In

The use of local materials in building an elegant thatched resort in Bali became the inspiration behind this second home for American couple Mark and Mary Jane Edleson who have worked and vacationed on the island for many years.

They selected the Malaysian trained architect Yew Kuan Cheong because of his success in creating several large-scale tourist resorts using these principles. As president of the Asian hotel chain Alilia, Mark was familiar with Cheong’s work.

Attention to the small details of sustainable living nourishes Cheong’s vision of a local Balinese architectural vernacular. Traditionally, Balinese architecture is influenced by the Hindu tradition that arrived on the island via the Spice Islands and Java as well as by the much more ancient Polynesian style of building, that long predates the Indian influence.

The Edelson’s love of Indonesian textiles was the inspiration for this unique handcrafted brickwork creating textured walls that offset the rich woods of the paneling, using the light from above to cast the shadows on the relief.

A traditional Balinese kitchen forms the center of their new home. Throughout the house, the unselfconscious use of natural materials such as thatch roofing, bamboo poles, woven bamboo, coconut wood, and mud and stone, organic statements in complete harmony with the environment, marks this style of architecture.

A second kitchen is contemporary, with the latest high tech equipment, for Jane, who is a cooking enthusiast. But its light comes in filtered by the jungle through traditional bamboo window openings.

The Edlesons chose to make their island within the more traditional culture, in the inland jungle region of Ubud, far from the tourist mecca of palm lined beaches, tropical climate and modern resorts.

Traditional handcrafts such as this locally crafted bamboo-supported tropical wood table provide the decoration for their home, and the predominant colors are the warm, ethnic soft reds and browns of natural indonesian dyestuffs.

But their home is not alone in an isolated area of the jungle. The very affluent area has been the center of dance, art and music for over a century and continues to attract connoisseurs in literature, fine art, film and design.

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A Balinese Home Draws on a Tourist Industry Success

Ever feel excluded from the jock gym culture of climbing walls? Here’s a climbing wall for the artistic design set. The Illoiha fitness club, in Tokyo’s fashion district, takes its cue from its neighborhood of chic design boutiques, fashionista shops, and art galleries.

Instead of evoking sweaty images of forced fun and stress and strain, it’s whimsical and fey.

The laid back pastel lilacs and mauves suggest that it simply doesn’t matter if you are weak or pale and thin and in no shape for physical exertion. Why not just drift up this wall anyway…? What possibly could go wrong?

Indeed, it looks as if passersby are doing just that. Even still in their decidedly non-jock outfits of fashion-y dresses and jackets and pants, just in their street clothes. One has not even taken off his shoes.

Since art galleries are a more common sight in this district, initially, this would be read as a spoof on art galleries, and only once customers are in the main… um, gallery space, would they cotton on to it actually being a climbing wall.

“We developed a design that uses the mismatch between a rugged outdoor sport and Tokyo’s fashion district to its advantage,” says Nendo, the designer.

“Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips.”

Via Adventure Journal

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A Deliciously Arty Climbing Wall in Tokyo

Ever wonder what it would have been like to actually live in this kind of architecture? Well, now is your chance.

We see only the paintings of royal families living in castles – but we don’t see out of the tiny windows they saw out of, or wash in the trickle of water from a jug as they did.

The many bedroomed Castello di Vicarello in the Maremma region of tuscany is available for groups to rent for use as a cooking school, spa or a yoga retreat.

The luxury castle offers a chance to see the world of Tuscany, with its scented flowers, centuries-old olive trees and lush lavender and jasmine, just as the castle’s original inhabitants did.

It was the ancient Etruscans who first settled Maremma. After several centuries the Romans built a spa on the site of their ancient ruins, which in turn fell with the decline of their empire. In 1112, the medieval castle was built.

The castle has been passed down from generation to generation on its hilltop overlooking the Maremma region of southwest Tuscany.

Seven bedrooms are filled with individually selected linens, so guests would feel as if they were staying at someone’s house as a guest, rather than in a hotel.

The furnishing in each of the seven bedrooms and villas are very individual, with hand-picked pieces from around the globe.

Some seem to reflect the spirit of subsequent ages.

Others are decidedly medieval.

All the vegetables and herbs for cooking meals are grown right in the castle’s own garden by current owners Aurora and Carlo Baccheschi Berti. The same garden is still producing delicious food after almost twenty centuries of organic gardening for generations of inhabitants.

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Tuscan Castle for Rent Offers Historical Insight

The sense of the big blue sky above and the beach nearby is echoed by the ample white pillows scattered throughout the outdoor decks, almost like cumulus clouds.

The table has been built-in as part of the balustrade to the outdoor deck.

The superb restraint continues indoors. The living room echoes the subtle play of color outside.

What little furniture there is offers a clear contrast.

The bathroom is just as free of extraneous detail. An open and airy feeling is created by the lack of clutter in this tranquil bathing room.

So often, when used in furniture, this kind of interesting wood can be alarmingly tacky, twirled up as it usually is into touristy objets that look dated and busy.

Here, set off by the simplicity of vast white space, you have time to respect the venerable age and the manufactured gift of this particular wood by this ancient and now dead tree, as a testament to the abundant glory of the world. Less is more.

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Less is More

But, not so fast. Take a look at this fake reclaimed-wood wallpaper from Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek. Really gorgeous. Wow!

This gorgeous photo-realist wallpaper might just change your mind.

I think one reason that it does not offend my sensibilities – apart from being really beautiful of course – is because it is wallpaper.

Wallpaper is made of (duh) paper, which is in fact also made from trees – just like the wood that it depicts.

For this reason it does not seem in the least like ersatz wood, but almost like a new kind of wood scrapings…

I love that it is a “lifesize” depiction.

I also like the way it immortalizes this particular wood. These particular planks, these particular scrapes, and dings, and dents. It is almost like a commemoration.

The last time I was tempted to pick wallpaper was when I was 13 and allowed to run wild and redecorate my bedroom (I turned it a hellish orange).

It has been quite a while since I’ve been so tempted!

Via designboom

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Eek! Not Fake Wood Again! (Wait: Piet Hein Eek Does it Right)

The tiles apparently are hardy enough so they can be used to make both floors for showers or bathrooms, as well as walls.

The mosaic image could be created from a photograph of anything at all. Of course, it is not restricted to photography. It can be a sketch of something. An old masterpiece reproduction. The Bayeux Tapestry? Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks?

Or it could be a two dimensional design of any sort. Or a simple gradiant tint, suggesting the light of a morning sky.

Of course there’s plenty of opportunity for this sort of design to fall within a genre of real kitsch, but under controlled conditions, this could look rather unique.

Source: Designgid

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Glassdecor Makes Trompe l’oeil Mosaic Tiles

For Keelin Kennedy of Barefoot Design, her artisanal pieces are all about connecting with something that is real and has weight; that she can feel and form with her bare hands.

“There is a dance between what I can do and what the materials I use naturally do”, she says. “It makes each piece, each pour, exciting and somewhat unpredictable. Like weather. What this means to a final piece may be in its color variation, texture, or hairline cracks”.

Every piece, from beginning to end, is hand made. Each piece of wood is carefully chosen for its part. Every inlay of wood or shell or stone is thoughtfully placed.

The beauty of the materials speak for themselves.

In Kennedy’s one of a kind sinks, tables, counter tops, fireplaces and benches;  she uses only reclaimed wood. Scavenged parts of urban trees that would otherwise be bound for landfill are incorporated into some of her most treasured art pieces for their lasting beauty.

Source: Greenfest

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A Concrete and Wood Table is a Work of Art

As climate change has warmed winters across a wide swathe of the US and Canada, the pine bark beetle’s ecosystem has changed, and as a result the pine bark beetle population has exploded, and it is decimating 17 million acres of pine forest from Colorado to British Columbia.

InFormStudio also used this locally sourced dead wood to build the Ann Arbor District Library from the surrounding dying forest. But this Canadian cabinetry company has been putting the destroyed wood to another good use – in cabinetry.

First they carefully harvest the destroyed wood. Starting with 2″x4″s, they then split, cut, sand, tumble and polish it into a variety of shapes and finishes.

It has been used to make plinths, walls, tables and cabinets; it has been scuffed and finished and made into these polished wood “river rocks”.

It has been harvested and then unrolled together into tabletops with the diseased portions routed out into these intriguing shapes dispersed across the table surface, seemingly randomly, but actually marking the eradicated spots.

It can also be used to make rough-hewn surfaces for rustic walls, and to support the sides of cabinetry.

Many more designers need to think about more uses for this dead wood. There’s seven trillion square miles available. It is being made into a fuel for driving on, which is ironic. Too much driving is what got us into this mess in the first place! It is even being made into cardboard boxes, as leaving around is a fire hazard.

But surely, such a monumental change to our planet should have a long-term commemoration, as has been achieved here in these beautiful pieces.

Source: Inhabitat
More GreenHomeDesignFind from Susan Kraemer:  Journalists on Twitter

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Pine-Beetle-Killed Forest Must be Harvested Quickly: Furniture?