Next Generation House - Sou Fujimoto Architects

Check out the Next Generation House by Sou Fujimoto Architects. It's like a house built with Jenga blocks. The NGH is a small weekend house that overlooks the River Kuma in Kumakura, Japan. It's approximately a 13'x13'x13' cube, which makes it smaller than our apartment here in NYC, but way more functional due to the ramshackle space that is formed by the cedar logs, creating spaces for seating, sleeping, eating, storage, etc. I appreciate the simplicity of the idea and the rigor with which they carried it out.

Home Theatre

If you are lucky enough to have a home theatre, most of us would be happy with a projector, surround sound and perhaps a comfy sofa or two. Not so for these homeowners.

Pentagram Architects partner James Biber has designed this home theatre in Montauk New York, taking inspiration from Radio City Music Hall and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The theatre has a series of round arches, which house 600 five-watt dimmer-controlled light bulbs that provide a soft ambient light for when you need to find that elusive remote control. And as in the Music Hall, the lights are positioned to glow away from the viewers — because we all hate to have lights in our eyes when watching the big screen.

Biber has designed the theatre to function like a TV room, in that it is comfortable and intimate enough for a romantic night in with a bottle of red and a Hugh Grant movie, but can also easily accommodate up to ten people to watch the big game, or perhaps a slumber party with the girls.

All of the surfaces in the room are covered in orange felt to help with the acoustics, and seating on the floor has been taken care of by Edelman Leather who custom made the beanbags.

This house, which also boasts a large private outdoor space looking onto the Atlantic Ocean, recently won an American Architecture Award for distinguished buildings and a Citation for Design in the AIA New York State Design Awards.

Les Bains des Docks

The aquatic complex Les Bains des Docks (animation here), designed by the 2008 Prtizker-prize winning architect Jean Nouvel has just opened in the historical Port of Le Havre. Inspired by the Roman thermal baths, the 5,000-square-metre complex offers an eerily beautiful atmosphere of tranquility with the fantastic play of natural light soothing the eyes, the masterful acoustics pleasing the ears, and the pools and treatment areas taking care of the rest of the body.



Although the main “colour” of the complex is white, each section’s distinct atmosphere and hue is created by flowing water curtains, colour walls, and various textures and surface treatments. Each pool — lap-pool, children’s pool, whirlpools — is designed, shaped and lit to create a unique “private space” for its specific users. These seemingly enclosed areas help minimize echoing and sound carriage — an annoying aspect of most aquatic centres - as do the varying-height floors and ceilings, and the acoustic false ceilings. Saunas, a hammam, cold and hot baths, and a spa area with hydro-massage and aquagym areas complete the atmosphere of pampering and care. An external lagoon makes the summer use of the complex even more appealing.



The Docks in the south end of the ancient port city of Le Havre are the oldest docks in France. The area is under massive revitalization with the goal of making this a leisure, culture and shopping neighborhood. When completed, the area will include residences, a large park, a tropical greenhouse, cinemas, bowling alleys and a shopping center, plus a Nouvel-designed Sea and Sustainable Development Centre to be completed in 2011. The Sea Centre will be a showcase of shipping and sailing — exploring their economic and industrial significance as well as their environmental impact on coasts and estuaries. It will be a 120-meter-high metallic structure dominating the port and it will include exhibit areas, an aquarium, a meteorological station and a restaurant with panoramic, 360-degree views of Port of Le Havre.



Nouvel’s well-known public buildings literally span the world from New York to Reykjavik, Dubai, Soul and Tangiers. Recent interesting buildings include the bright-red research center for the maker of brakes for luxury cars, Brembo, in Italy. NouveI's masterpiece for La Philharmonie de Paris will open in 2012.

What? A Bank?

In most cities, strategic downtown street corners are flanked by enormous, old banks, the ornate cathedrals of capital designed to impress and intimidate. With the massive changes in real estate values and consumer banking habits, such monuments to Mammon are no longer smart or necessary. But what amazing opportunities such massive commissions must have been for the architects of the day! And what depressing alternatives we’ve experienced since! Luckily, online banking has made a bank visit almost obsolete, but when you must visit, most of the time you’ll find a boring, convenience-store-type standardized box – retail banking in the worst meaning of both words.



But we are starting to see a change. Several new bank design concepts are in the works, and some have been launched recently, including CheBanca! in Milan by Crea International. The concept for CheBanca! (translation: What a bank!) reflects the brand’s simplicity, transparency and innovation. When Crea International co-founder Massimo Fabbro will speak at POPAI Italia in November on the power of physical brand design to bring to life a brand's language, spirit and values, he will no doubt mention CheBanca!



And now that we have seen a few examples of fabulous bank design, we want more! If you’ve seen, designed or commissioned one, let us know.

Pedro Gadanho Family Home

Bold use of colour has never frightened the 40-year-old, Lisbon-based architect Pedro Gadanho. The colour extravagance of the recently completed single-family residence in Oporto, Portugal, follows Gadanho’s established modus operandi of using white and bright colours as key elements of a space. The petrol-blue kitchen and sanguine stairway draw the attention while at the same time punching up the power of snowy white.



Colour played an important part also in the widely reviewed and admired Orange house he designed with Nuno Grande. The private residence was completed in 2005 in Carreço, Portugal.

Another example of Gadanho’s use of color is the high-profile Ellipse Foundation Art Centre in Estoril/Alcoitão, Portugal. He designed the 20,000 square-foot converted warehouse with Atelier de Santos. It was completed in 2006.



Gadanho’s thought-provoking architecture matches his overall attempt to provoke critical thinking about the relationship between architecture and current culture. He is known not only as an architect but also as a free-lance critic, curator and teacher. He’s taught architecture theory and history at Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto and curated the Portuguese presence at the 2004 Venice Biennale. And for those of us who like lovely names, his full name is Pedro César Clara do Carmo Gadanho.

AESTHETIC BEAUTY

Staying at a hospital or visiting a dentist are mostly unpleasant events, even if you were there just to get a little nip-and-tuck or have your teeth whitened. The universal ugliness and dullness of those bland walls and uninspiring furnishings is surely not going to make you feel better. Plastic surgeons, spas and hair salons fare a bit better, but even most of them are just paying lip service to design or luxury with no real imagination, nothing that makes a lasting impression. Except a few. We’ve seen some that have undergone real makeovers and we want more! Let us know where the coolest places of beautification are — from hospitals, plastic surgeons, dentists to hair salons, spas, manicurists...

KOOL KIDS SPACES

Cool designs does not have to be limited to spaces used by adults as we see with these unique areas designed to enhance places of learning.

Forget the "concrete jungle" archetypal school, complete with bars on windows. This school's hallways (pictured above) have been inspired by the imaginary landscape of the Silver Dragon. This environment is created to read like a story book; the further you progress through the hallways, the higher your senses are delighted. With shimmering walls, glowing ceilings and a fantasy feel resonating throughout the architecture, the children engage on a higher social level within the school environment.



Traditionally, libraries also suffer from an image problem. Hordes of books coupled with the 'sshhhh' factor doesn't make for a very cool environment. By installing colorful interiors such as oversized book sleeves, a learning space such as the library is transformed into an area which kids see as cool, and therefore are inspired to read and learn.



A tree-inspired day care center is a far cry from fake grass enhanced playgrounds. The tree trunk is the very foundation of the center, and as such creates the security blanket for the entire structure. This center evokes a warmth which the youngsters respond to. Dream Blossoms grow out of the trunk and create sleeping areas for the habitants to snuggle and nap in. Above the blossoms sprawls the canopy of the



In Lego-bright contrast to the gloomy fate H.C. Andersen prescribed to his original Little Mermaid (that would be death, no less), today's blond little school-going Danes are encouraged to do the sort of things for which some of us got spanked.



Visual artists have created a school with fascinating interiors that feature high window seating for watching the world outside; green platforms with round, red holes where discussions can buzz and bubble, and large upholstered tubes where kids can hide with a good book or spend some time alone. You can do that at school? Unfortunately, only in Denmark.

Children's bookstores, on the other hand, have not suffered by the traditional libraries image problem. Generally, these stores are designed and merchandised to inspire children to enter and purchase.

The Kids Republic bookstore in Beijing (pic below) has taken that concept and run with it. Incorporating the core design elements of a kid's playground, these slipperyslide-inspired-shelves house books in an incredibly fun way. Breaking from the traditional table and chair reading areas, padded L shaped reading stools are used and enjoyed by tiny readers. Dull lighting is replaced by snakelike fittings that radiate a variety of colors whilst providing adequate light to read with.



The choices for kid friendly restaurants, where both parents and kids can enjoy a meal and an environment which caters to both are rare finds. McDonalds have probably lost count of how many times they have dialed 911 to have a parent rescued from inside a playground slippery tube where they have been stuck whilst attempting to get their child to come home.



In a beautiful Dutch village, 10 minutes out from Amsterdam's centre, a parents dream like, kid friendly restaurant exists.

Praq is a restaurant where parents, outerwear and even business people can enjoy a meal and co exist without complaint. Children feel the sense of independence by being seated in a kids area within moms view. There, they can play with giant puzzles, draw, and order from their very own menu whilst seated at their specially designed kids table. The secret to the restaurants success is the use of space.

Praq has been careful in separating these eating spaces whilst still allowing a parent to keep an eye on their child. The light spacious room creates the impression of separation, whilst keeping safety in mind. The children's food is so good, they don't need to promote it by adding in a free toy.



Traditional cooking schools have always looked like a giant classrooms full of mini kitchens. A kids cooking school in Japan has broken that mould by having design guru Moureaux create a studio space and new corporate identity for them.

The cooking school, which is set in the heart of a shopping area in the city of Kyoto, has created a space which eliminates the intimidation factor which students encounter when entering cooking schools. By seating the class amongst brightly colored decor and sleek table and chairs, the environment feels less like a class room. Here the kids can not only cook in the casual teaching environment, they can socialize and eat their homework too.



With U.K parents said to be lashing out a cool GBP 1 billion a year on kids birthday parties, its easy to see that the kids party industry is a gold mine. As children's taste develop, so too does their demand for the latest and greatest (think Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka). For some parents, the age old sleep over is being replaced by a girls night out at Alton Towers Hotel in th U.K.

The hotel has it's own children's Sleep over Suite, a theme room which caters for up to six sleeping princesses who can indulge in the ultimate girls slumber party. The sound proof room is perfect for 3am giggling fits and Justin Timberlake blearing throughout the night.

The suite is divided into two areas. The party area features an over the top entertainment system, karaoke machine ('I will Survive' - Chipmunk version) mini dance floor and a pink fridge filled with ice cream. The sleeping area boasts chill out beds which connect into one big bed for six occupants, a wall to wall mirrored bathroom which is flowing with pampering products from U.K's leading top brand superdrug (limitless branding opportunities here).

At £300 pounds per night (US $560), mom and dad have outsourced the kids birthday party and only have to worry about the drop off and pick up.



Offering a kid a lollypop to welcome them into hospital is so 1950's. Today, that sort of a deal just doesn't cut it.

Instead of bribery through confectionary, this children's hospital in London has reinvented the concept of infirmary and transformed it into inFUNery. Adorned with cheerful, gently winding hospital corridors which lead to wards which look more like kids bedrooms, the hospital has mapped out themes for each of the wards. From the Seashell Ward located on Beach level one, through to the Sky level, each kids ward uses decor and medical equipment that is colorful, creative looking and non threatening.

With a glass atrium dividing the hospital, patients from either side of the wards can look across to see an inviting garden filled with plants, trees and yes, Juggling clowns.

From cool schools to hip learning environments, kids design is forging ahead, meaning the next generation of adults will have been exposed to the elements of cool since childhood, creating adults with a heightened sense of good design. If you know of other interesting kids spaces, let us know.