Happy Holidays

Pictured above is a Fallingwater gingerbread house by Melodie of Garden Melodies.

PANTONE’s 2011 Color of the Year

Until PANTONE’s announcement of last year’s color of the year for 2010 — 15-5519 Turquoise — I had no idea how powerful this declaration would really be. Every magazine, blog and website was littered with turquoise, blue-green, teal and any shade bearing the slightest resemblance to turquoise.

PANTONE continues its fashion and home decor domination by declaring 2011′s color…

wait for it…

Honeysuckle.

Energizing Honeysuckle lifts spirits and imparts confidence to meet life’s ongoing challenges.
A Color for All Seasons. Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day — with nothing “everyday” about it.

This reddish, pinkish, salmonish color will dominate the internerd for the next 12 months. Are you ready?

Watervilla by +31ARCHITECTS

Designed by +31ARCHITECTS, this modern houseboat resides in the Amstel river of Amsterdam.
From the architects:



The design has, unlike most floating houses, a very contemporary design without losing the characteristic appearance of the typical houseboat. The clients get a lot of positive reactions, it evens happens that people who pass by boat knock on the windows and ask if they can enter the boat.
Living on the water gets more and more popular in Holland. The clients/owners who come to our office always love the typical charms and characteristics of living on the water but don’t like the standard “caravan” appearance of the existing houseboats. More and more people want to live on a contemporary houseboat that has been designed for their specific needs, the houseboat at De Omval is an obvious example of this wish.
The clients wanted a boat with an open floor plan where they could enjoy the views to the water and the outdoor space to a maximum. The distinguished curved line of the facade directly derives from this desire and the restriction that the boat couldn’t be more than three meters above the water.
The living area and open kitchen are located on the waterfront, from here one has a panoramic view at the Amstel and you can enter the floating terrace. Following on from the living area and kitchen the bedroom is located on a split level. The split level introduces an open route to the ground floor of the boat and, at the same time, makes it possible to create a terrace on the south side without exceeding the maximum building height.
To accentuate the round lines of the facade it is carried out in with shiny aluminum.
The white plastered walls and ceilings follow the curve of the facade creating a seamless transition from the exterior to the interior.

Architect: +31ARCHITECTS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Project Team: Jasper Suasso de Lima de Prado and Jorrit Houwert
Location: Omval 4, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Client: Private
Construction: Pieters bouwtechniek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Alferink-van Schieveen, Zwolle, The Netherlands
Building Contractor: Dijkhuis Aannemersbedrijf b.v. / Ardesch, Hardenberg, The Netherlands
Cabinet Maker: Forsa meubels, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Key Materials: Aluminium cladding by Reynobond and Aluminium Windows by Sapa
Built-up Floor Area: 197 sqm
Year of Completion: 2010
Photos: Colin Morsch

Flex Magazine and Wood Holder

Flex by Ak47 design holds your firewood in the winter and your beach novels in the summer.

Despite its namesake and although it appears flexible, Flex is made from a sheet of hardened steel. It can be changed into varying shapes through changing a series of connecting screws.

Fortune Posters

The Best Part’s Fortune Posters series features illustrated phrases taken from actual fortune cookies.
Customers have the choice of either ordering the entire set of 8, or submitting to the “fortune gods” by ordering just one, in which case the poster is randomly selected and sent to you as your fortune in poster form.

You can also get your fortune by ordering any other print in The Best Part’s shop — you get a free fortune poster with each order.

Práter Street

Práter Street in Hungary is a series of apartments by Atelier Péter Kis where a series of connected bridge-like walkways joint the public spaces of the residences, extending over a garden area.

Relation
The final building outline was determined by the scale and proportion of the surrounding buildings. We didn’t want to form blocks that oppress their environment. Our primary aim was to find an acceptable, proportioned building form, that keeps the relative regulations, and we connected the most optimal number of apartments to this form. The surrounding buildings and environment inspired the volume of the building. The existing firewalls on the location determined the volume from two sides: on one hand they are identifying characteristics of the site, on the other hand they ’section’ certain forms and buildings, therefore finishing these were one of the tasks. Instead of building something aside, we added the form to the site.
Local value
We reacted to the form and volume of the surrounding buildings observantly and sensitively. This way of designing gave us the possibility to add the new building volume in a wider sense. We integrated the block that surrounds the location in two levels. On the one part, the new building covers the fire walls, on the other hand, the moulded block evokes them. The new volume finishes the surrounding blocks, at the same time it marks the difference by the change of material.
Rise of value
Our firm will was to generate the development of the certain site, the surrounding blocks and it’s wider environment. The integrated building form generates an inner garden, that visually connects the street to the inner space of the new block. Besides giving the green experience to the space, this solution lets natural sunlight in, it gives natural light to the inner street and apartments. We connected public spaces to this inner garden, that adds a certain value, and completes the simple function of the apartments. Using the advantage of the location, we could create two roof terraces, that give extraordinary panoramic view to the city, and Gellert-hill. The vegetation and its designed elements create a continuous, L-shaped garden and public space, that at the same time separates and connects the two block of the new building.
Organization of inner spaces
A clear and uncomplicated longitudinal zone connects all the functions (apartments, parking, public spaces). This zone and the developed structural system allows the flexibility that appears in the organization of the functions, particularly in the layout of the apartments.
Sustainability and efficiency
Besides using contemporary building methods, we focused on the sustainability of the building by using durable and persistent materials. The building suggests elegance and balance by it’s proportion, scale and inner spaces, while it is functionally organized, frugal. The cost estimation and the construction plan was continuously controlled during the design procedure.
– Written by Péter Kis and rranslated by Zsuzsanna Gál

Project name: Práter street
Design studio: Atelier Péter Kis
Project team members: Péter Kis, Csaba Valkai, Ivett Tarr, János Sarusi Kis, Tamás Ükös, Gábor Balázsa, Gábor Divinyi, Barbora Tuckova
Client: Budapest Józsefváros Municipality
Plot area: 1218 m2
Total square meter of flats: 2065 m2
Project start date: 2005
Completion of work: December 2007
Photos: Dániel Németh