Danny Mumble's Blog: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Recorded at All Things D: Jobs and Rubin reject privacy concerns with iOS and Android

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Staircases / Staircase Rails

This outstanding one of a kind staircase in Santa Cruz is the result of the collaborative efforts set forth by an inspired architect and a team of highly skilled and imaginative log stairway building professionals.

Fantasy Forest Tree House

If this looks large to you, imagine how big it would seem to someone half your size or smaller. Like some childrens picture-book come to life, this 'Enchanted Forest' wooden tree house may look a bit kitsch to us as adults from a design perspective but for kids it is one very cool combination of fairy tale magic and real-life adventure.

Held up by a combination of wooden beams and actual tree trunks, a spiral staircase connects this series of interdependent levels to effectively create a single (narrative) structure out of a number of semi-autonomous rooms and floors along the way. Each platform affords places to play as well as increasingly interesting views of the surrounding treescapes.

Part of a larger theme park in the rural old-growth forests of British Columbia, this is part of a sizable fantasy-themed environment that blends natural wonders, wild animals and folklore classics both old and new in a kid-friendly resort setting. This unusual tree building at the heart of the experience holds the record for the largest (and tallest) tree house in BC, Canada. If you have plans to be in the area and are content with the faux-historical concept, there is even a castle hotel in another part of the complex.

Prefab Home Office Interior

Prefab Home Office Interior-plus-Furniture Pod Design Idea

We get the point: modular, convertible, transforming, hideaway, space-saving furniture is the way of the future, so what is there left to do? Prototypes for compact kitchens, combined living-and-dining rooms and home-office pods abound, but the next step is to create designs that do even more by truly sectioning off functional spaces from one another and becoming as mobile as possible.

Though still unbuilt, the LoftBox by Atelier Graff seems like a good candidate for this second-generation approach to versatile interior and furniture design. More than just another multi-functional home furnishing, this piece uses minimal materials to create a separate-feeling spatial zone – an area one can use for small meetings, a phone call, personal workspace or other ‘space within a space’ needs.

When folded back up, it is as minimalist as can be – an unobtrusive-looking object that could be used as an ottoman or coffee table, left right out in the middle of a room without causing any visual or physical disturbances. In short: this idea appears to be on the right track, combining elements of creative modern functionality, basic luxury and the best space-saving office-in-a-box-concepts.

Floating Staircase

Floating staircases are usually perfect for modern interior design. They look so elegant, stylish and minimalist. If you are a kind of people who likes floating staircases and decide to have one in your home, you should check out the floating staircase designed by HSH Architects. HSH Architects presented their floating staircase design that’s inspired by rippling ribbon. They chosen the concept of a delicate rippling ribbon due to the position of the staircase is in the main living area of the house.

The floating staircase designed of HSH Architects is built from 10mm thick sheet metal. There are two apart of staircases, pairs of adjoining steps and an oblique external side joist form a bracket. An oblique external side joist form a bracket that’s constructed as rigid frame anchored in the wall and it was connected with pairs of adjoining steps. The lower steps transmit pressure while higher steps bear mainly drawing forces.

This floating staircase has no railings on the side, so it could be so dangerous for kids. I do not recommend this staircase for you who have kids. For more information, please visit HSH Architects’s website here.

Staircase Drawers

Did you ever think to utilize the space under your stairs? An Australian company came with the great idea of the staircase drawers. As you can see in the photo below, the staircase could be transformed in a real storage organizer. No more messy desks or fully storage boxes! Now you can store in style with under-the-staircase solution.

Space-Saving Furniture

Space-Saving Staircase Shelves for Floor-to-Ceiling Storage

It is technically a bit untrue (most of the time) that one can ‘run out’ of space. Consider the overhead area between yourself and the ceiling, for example. Sure, you want to keep it so you feel comfortable and to allow natural and artificial light to percolate through spaces … but a lot of it is not even necessary for those secondary needs.

This simple modern design by Danny Kuo blends aspects of classic studies and libraries with present-day sensibilities about craft, materiality and saving space. Lower wooden boxes slide out to become steps from which one can reach upper shelves and cabinets.

Since the staircase functionality is built-in, there is no need for the traditional rolling ladder or staircase-on-wheels one associates with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. This, in turn, helps save even more space.

Beyond the big idea, the details are treated with exquisite precision, too, with woodwork that is appealing to the eye and solid to the touch for each of the many pieces involved. Finally, the fact that each wood box is an independent module makes it possible to swap out one type for another as needed, placing more emphasis on cabinet-style, swing-open spaces or sliding drawers depending on what kind of storage is desired. This product would lend itself exceedingly well to mass-customization.

Space-Saving Furniture: Home Office Desk & Storage Idea

The ultimate in visual and structural simplicity, the form of his combined home desk and shelving design by MisoSoup is composed of a single strip of curved wood that wraps up to become as much a work of minimalist wall art as it is a multifunctional work station with useful space-saving storage lofted above.

Like a shelving units or other storage systems, this combined furniture is designed to sit flush against the surface of the wall making it fit well wherever it works within a bedroom, living room or office layout. However, getting such a long and awkwardly shaped wood structure into a small space in the first place might be a difficult trick (perhaps the next move is to make it convert or come apart in a few places.

Otherwise perfect for small apartments and cramped condo spaces, very little interior room is taken up by this combination computer desk and bookshelf system. The keyboard slots back under the desktop surface and the chair slides in turn slides under the desk. Overhead, the shelves are non-obtrusive and, if anything, they help to shape space around them to make this miniature office feel more like a comfortable and enclosed interior space.