Posts by Stan Grootes - Author at Minimalissimo

Allandale House

Allandale House is a minimal version of the forest cabin based on an extruded A-frame. The Allandale House also provides space for an eccentric collection of artifacts that resist straightforward classification. Wines, rare books, stuffed birds and an elk mount are among the relics on display in this small vacation house.

The house links three horizontal extrusions of asymmetrical A-frames: the western side contains the library, wine cellar and garage. In the centre lay two floors of bedrooms and bathrooms. On the Eastern side, a medium A-frame holds the living, kitchen and dining areas. The medium A-frame on the eastern side consists of living, kitchen and dining areas. The house aims to undermine the seeming limitations of a triangular section by augmenting and revealing the extreme proportion in the vertical direction, and utilizing the acutely angled corners meeting the floor as moments for thickened walls, telescopic apertures and built-in storage.

William O’Brien Jr. is Assistant Professor of Architecture at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning and is principal of an independent design practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His research and creative practice have been fostered by an interest in the relationships between architecture, technology, landscape, and urbanism with an emphasis on the development of alternative resonances between natural and artificial systems.

Renderings: Peter Guthrie

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Ceramic Speakers

Simple, great material usage and good performance these Ceramic Speakers by Joey Roth are perfect for pairing with an aluminum laptop, iMac, or similarly minimalist turntable.

Made from porcelain, wood and cork, Roth chose the materials not only for the aesthetic appeal they add to desktops, but also because porcelain’s density and “acoustical deadness” rivals that of wood or plastic enabling the cone shape. The upshot contrasts the thoroughly contemporary mix of textures and colors with a four-inch silhouette that conjures gramophones of the past.

San Francisco based designer Joey Roth blew our collective minds way back in 2007 with his conceptual Felt mouse. We hope to see some more beautiful work from this great designer.

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Horizontals

During its almost 100 years of existence, Dutch manufacturer Pastoe has made some great furniture design. These minimalist cabinets named Horizontals are obtainable in two height sizes and are suitable for storing such items as CDs and DVDs.

In Horizontals, coloured metal sliding doors are mounted on a warm wooden or aluminium base. The elegantly extended cabinets may be joined to create a clear geometric object invisibly attached to the wall, functioning much like a painting. The sliding doors, which may be opened on both sides, can be used to highlight the horizontal play of lines. The bodies are divided in the middle by a partition.

Horizontals are designed by Japanese Shigeru Uchida who has cooperated with several leading clients, including Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto. Uchida and Pastoe began working together in 1988. Japanese and Dutch design both distinguished themselves through modesty and an eye for detail.

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The Invisibles

A chair you can’t see, isn’t that minimalist? Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has created a collection of ‘invisible’ furniture pieces for Kartell, employing their pioneering polycarbonate technology.

Yoshioka explains: In the last few years I have been thinking about a design that would include natural phenomena and invisible elements such as senses, wind and light. The ‘Invisibles’, a special collection launched from Kartell, only leaves the sense as if seating in the air. The presence of the object is eradicated and it will create a scenery of a sitter floating in the air. It is as if the physical presence of the object has been uprooted and gives life to a ‘floating’ scenario. Even the installation itself gives visitors that extraordinary sensation of entering an unreal world.

The Invisibles collection encompasses tables, occasional tables, sofas, armchairs and benches which will be on show during Milan Design week 2010 at the Kartell flagstore. To be continued…

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Identity Art & Architecture St Luc Institutes Brussels

Clean, simple and elegant were the first words which came to mind when I saw the identity for the Art & Architecture of the Saint-Luc Institutes in Brussels.

The consistent use of typography, the amount of white space and the small details are a big inspiration for all minimalist minded people. You can download a digital version of magazine #11 for some more inspiration.

The identity for this Bi-annual magazine is designed by the French graphic designer Carine Collin who lives and works in Brussels. She has a good portfolio and her website is also a clean piece of art. I think I am in love!

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Globus

No world globe this time but a beautiful, multifunctional, space-saving work station that’s equally at home in a public environment or an office.

The Globus has a cast aluminium base on wheels supporting a moulded plastic globe with two sections. Once it is opened, the wheels are blocked. One half of the globe is a comfortable seat. The seat’s swivel action makes sitting down and standing up very simple. The other half of the globe hides a small table that can be easily adjusted for height.

This personal mobile workstation is made by Dutch designer Michiel van der Kley for Gispen and Artifort

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Lotta

Minimalist design, beautiful form and color, comfortable feel, and a sense of fun that’s the new Lotta mobile phone. It sits firmly in your hand and casts a delicate, trapezoidal silhouette. A two-tone contrast plays on its bright surface and features a matte finish and polished texture.

Ichiro Iwasaki has designed this new mobile phone for the Japanese company iida. He initially worked at the Sony Design Center, later moved to Italy.

After having experiences at design studios in Milan, returned to Japan and established Iwasaki Design Studio in 1995. He received a number of awards including the design award of the Federal Republic of Germany, the iF design award, the red dot award and the G-mark special award.

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OLA folding table

I love small space solutions, and when you live in a small apartment without a dining room. The OLA folding table looks like it can double up as a desk or dining table in just a few seconds of set-up, with barely any effort.

Designed by AKKA, the table is not only functional, but when put away, it actually looks like an interesting piece of home decor.

AKKA is a pleas­ant design-studio started by Peter Danielson and Oscar Ternbom and is located in Göte­borg, Swe­den. They do indus­trial design, fur­ni­ture, illus­tra­tion and graphic design.

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Blob VB3

Everyone needs a little extra space in their home and maybe you thought about an outdoor office as a solution. You will already know that most outdoor offices on the market are either badly designed, extremely expensive or both.

Belgian architectural firm dmvA designed Blob VB3, a mobile unit for the office of XfactorAgencies as an extension to the ‘house’.

The blob is mainly made by polyester, and holds all necessary items one could possibly need as bathroom, kitchen, lighting, sleeping space and several niches for storage. Moreover, the nose can be opened automatically and functions as a porch. While being closed, it blends into a complete smooth blob. It easily transportable and can also be used as an office, guestroom or garden house.

It is an impressive creation for mobile unit. You could easily use it as an office, a garden-house or whatever you want. The most exciting thing is that it can be moved to any place. Your outdoor lives will be more convenient and of homey comfort.

Photography by Mick Couwenbergh, Rini van Beek and Frederik Vercruysse.

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BIY Lamp

Why use three dimensions if you can do the same with two? This table lamp arrives in a flat envelope, leaving you to bend the steel up into its dynamic two-dimensional form, thread the cord and screw in the bulb.

This interactive piece designed by the Luis Eslava Studio has the silhouette of a lamp die-cut on a stainless steel sheet. The cable is used to hold the structure and to tense the volume; and, on the other hand, the strong red or black color used depending on the model makes it acquire an important decorative role. It plays a very important part in the design of this piece.

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