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Home for a Musician and an Architect in a Dark Forest

Designed for a small family, an architect and a musician and their child, this forest dwelling is a cosy haven in the woods.

Even in daylight, very little light gets to the bottom of a tall forest like this.

Parra + Edwards Architects named this Apollo 11 to suggest a structure like a rocket ship that landed gently in a forest without touching it at any time – that could take off again, leaving the forest intact.

The family live here with their child, all sleeping upstairs in a simple arrangement.

But downstairs, an architects studio occupuys the quiet and meditative live/work space.

And musical notes can be heard emanating from the dwelling which also functions as a recording studio and rehearsal space for acoustic and electric music.

The house is set in the a grove of elms at the foot of the Chilean Andes, on the outskirts of the city of Santiago.

The workspace and living and kitchen all occupy the ground floor studio space.

The house is a cosy and warm shelter by night.

But by day, living on the forest floor means very little daylight is filtered down through the forest canopy.

This very filtered daylight is not for everybody. But for some, this sort of seclusion is a plus.

Home is where the heart is.

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Design Dilemma: Pretty in Pink

Spring is just around the corner…. isn’t it? At least we’re hoping so! A long, frigid winter in many parts of the world has homeowners everywhere dreaming of lilies and tulips. But if Spring is still a ways off wherever you are, you can still get a feeling of Spring inside by changing your wall color to a warm, floral color —- pink!!!

Pink is the rarest of colors in most interiors these days. Pink calls to mind the rooms of little girls and just about nothing else. And yet, there is something about pink that is both soothing and a bit flamboyant at the same time. It’s warm but can be bold or subtle. No matter what, pink is nearly always unexpected. For that reason alone, it is a color that comes unparalleled if you want to set a space apart from the run-of-the-mill greige that has taken hold today. Shall we have a look?

The first thing to know about pink is that it can carry an air of Old World sophistication. Plenty of gracious apartments in Milan and Rome, for example, are painted this color, which is regarded as a classic. Pink in these circumstances acts as a neutral, and is a nice color to use to complement browns and blacks. In the foyer below, a quiet pink is the perfect backdrop to paintings and drawings that use brown and black. The black chairs pick up on the idea resulting in a sophisticated, quiet setting with an intellectual feel.

Here’s another view of the same foyer:

Another pink living room with the same classic, intellectual vibe is shown below. There is nothing wild or off-putting about this pink. It’s easy to live with, relaxing, cozy but not common. It feels like the comfort food of interior decorating.

But here’s the thing about pink. Although it can easily go classic when used in a very subtle shade, like this….

Or this…

All it takes is a deeper hue, and suddenly you’ve got a modern vibe going. Like this:

Or this:

Or this:

What’s the key to making pink work?

• Choose the “right” pink. If you’re looking for a sophisticated color, choose a  dusky pink with a bit more brown or gray in it. Avoid the pure “girly” pink of childhood bedrooms, unless, of course, you’re decorating a child’s bedroom. If you’re looking for something dynamic, modern and fun, choose a brighter fuschia or magenta.

• Choose your complementary colors carefully. Pink really does act as a neutral in many ways. You can completely change the spirit of a room by choosing different colors to work with your pink. In a bold modern interior, you might opt for a bold orange, red or even a bold yellow. In a more traditional interior, you might opt for brown, black or grey.
• Use it as an accent wall. Afraid to try an entire room of pink? Paint an accent wall a bold magenta. Or opt to paint a room used for only short periods of time — a foyer or bathroom, for example.
• “Embrace” a pink you’ve inherited. Did  just buy a home with a pink bathroom and you can’t afford to change it?  Make the most of it! Choose a complementary color (black, brown or gray looks great with pink) and run with it. Make it look intentional. Experiment with African fabrics in black and brown, or  choose a few black and white drawings for the wall. Style is all about attitude.
• Bring it in through smaller doses. You don’t necessarily have to paint a room pink to get that unexpected pop of Spring color.  Explore bringing in touches of pink with pillows, light fixtures and textiles. See how much impact pink has in this otherwise quiet gray room?

It may still feel like winter in many parts of the country, but rest assured that with a little pink on your walls, you’ll plenty of warm spring breezes and sunshine!

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Illusion of a Forest Glade Within a Challenging City Site

A clever and tiny floor plan creates a spacious home hidden in plain sight in a wooden box in the most impossible site imaginable – with only a view of ugly apartment towers looming over it.

Tiny courtyards within the wooden box bring in filtered light and some greenery and create a suggestion of a zen garden around each room.

By night, clever lighting transforms the same space: adopting the outside as an extension of inside.

The most astonishing part of the design is a tiny courtyard garden on each side of the short corridor in the center of the house.

Check the plan: this is a nothing corridor. Yet what a reward from that tiny created view!

Looking the other way, viewed from the living room, looking down the corridor to the entry at the end on the left, a garden on each side has a lot of bang for a very tiny buck; the garden is only two or three paces deep.

Arbol Design has created a surprising number of open and airy view spaces within the tall cedar box. Read the rest of this entry »