spring? springy? . . . not so fast

YUP!

That be   s n o w ! Today, 04/21/21

​Ahhh,  SPRING -  

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Never fails - false promise(s) • you'd think by now we'd know better.
Every year - every spring - Mother Nature teases us, mercilessly, with the promise of warm, sunny days - and then - WHOMP! Snow, cold rain - grey, grey, grey!
S N O W ! ? ? ?  Yup! Wednesday morning. It won't stick around for long, of course - it's just, well -
d e p r e s s i n g !
Right?
I have always maintained, in Montreal we have Fall, Winter, Summer -
Spring just does not occur here.....not like it does, say in Ottawa (tulip festival), or Toronto
.......grey, grey, grey!
Hopefully this issue of DR•I will cheer you up a touch. . . . . 

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

If one is, as a student, behaving badly, it once was that the teacher would send the student to stand in the corner - facing the wall. A crude form of punishment, which was not necessarily physical but which generated tremendous embarrassment for the offending pupil.
Of course those were in classrooms with 90 degree corners - but, but if a room was circular, then one doesn't really face into a corner, does one.....

Oh well - although the formShape of this house is contained within a circular envelope,
the rooms are in fact rectilinear.....but many with the soothing elegance of
​a curving wall, as you can see here.

THIS CIRCULAR HOUSE IS INSPIRED BY A CUT TREE TRUNK AND
WAS MADE TO BLEND INTO THE SURROUNDING PINE FOREST!

BY RUCHI THUKRAL  04/09/2021

I love circular house designs, they are so out of the box…literally! Usually, I see them in cabins and rarely at a larger scale but Circle Wood by Mobius Architekci has taken it to the next level. This stunning circular home is clad in okume wood which was chosen to make the structure blend into the surrounding pine forest. The Warsaw-based architectural firm drew inspiration from a large cut tree trunk for the shape of the home.

Circle wood is a 400 sqm building complete with an overhanging oval frame that encloses the garage as well as an open spa area – all very well ’rounded up’ so the zones seamlessly flow into one another. Every part of the design from its form, the material, and the color palette was carefully chosen so that it would merge into the landscape and also offer privacy to the residents. The exterior features elegant and knotless panels of okume wood that were sourced from West Africa. This choice of cladding material was also instrumental in making the residence naturally blend into the pine forest.

“I thought of the house as a big piece of a tree trunk. Designing through reduction looked like hewing pockets of rooms and cozy, semi-private, glazed alcoves into the wood. Consequently, users can feel as if they are continuously strolling through the trees. It is full of glazing that blurs the boundaries. The plot offers the freedom, or rather intimacy of communing with nature and architecture,”
said Przemek Olczyk, lead architect and founder of Mobius Architekci.

The modern home has been designed for an art lover and collector who did not wish to hide away from the surroundings but also wanted it to be an intimate space. The interiors have been inspired by the flow of a private art gallery. Every element was picked out keeping the beauty of nature in mind so that it would complement the location while creating a visual harmony between the outside and inside. One of the most beautiful parts of this house is the central atrium which rises up towards the sky and brings in plenty of daylight and forest views. Another striking piece in the house is the ribbon-like, white, gigantic staircase which adds to the artistic aesthetic. This is going on the list of my dream homes and if I ever happen to get one, you best believe ill be running in ‘circles’ around it!

 ABSOLUTELY GENIUS SAWTOOTH DETAIL GIVES THIS
SIMPLE COFFEE TABLE HEIGHT ADJUSTABILITY!

BY SARANG SHETH  03/15/2021

Perhaps one of the most simple and smart details I’ve ever seen on furniture, Bjarke Ballisager’s Together and Apart Table uses a sawtooth cutout pattern to turn the unassuming wooden block into a table that can adjust its height on the fly! “The primary unit consists of two wedges that interlock at a saw-toothed surface, allowing them to fit together at any of many different levels”, says Ballisager, a New York-based designer and architect.

The two wedges, made out of solid white oak, can be interlocked in a variety of ways, allowing the product to function as a stool, laptop stand, or even a bedside table, thanks to its ability to match the height you need. The sawtooth design detail cleverly borrows from mechanisms like the rack and pinion, often seen in elevators, or even in the car’s steering system. What Together and Apart does is simplify them in a way that allows you to easily appreciate the mechanism’s workings while also marveling at how robust the locking is! Besides, given the sawtooth shape’s angular detail, it works in both landscape as well as portrait, allowing you to have a table that spans a variety of heights… just using two cleverly designed blocks of wood!

Designer:  ​ Bjarke Ballisager

Have you ever wished you had a way to print photos, documents, and notes on-the-go? This inkless printer is pocket-sized and connects to your smartphone, letting you print any of your mobile creations. Check out this blog post to find out how this printer can save you money and make you more organized.
​
You love your smartphone. But the photos, lists, and documents you create there just stay on the device, never seeing the light of day unless you access them on the screen or print. But since ink is so pricy, you’re likely to print only the essentials. But that’s about to change. The PoooliPrinter L1 Inkless Pocket Printer uses no ink whatsoever, and you can fill it with a variety of printer paper types for things like photos and sticky notes. This inkless printer gives you a physical copy of pretty much anything you’d like to actually hold in your hand.

The PoooliPrinter L1 looks like a cute bird with its beak, eye, and feather design. And the beak isn’t just for aesthetics. It’s a detachable magnet that you can use to display your notes, lists, art, and more. It comes in pastel color options like yellow, pink, blue, and green and the entire printer measures just 3.25 inches square. It’s a fun, whimsical design that’s sure to brighten your mood. But most of all, its size is portable, and fits easily in a handbag or backpack. This is ideal for creative professionals, small business owners, busy students, and parents. With these design elements in mind, let’s take a closer look at this cool new gadget.
​
How does this innovative printer work?
If you’re wondering how this printer prints without ink, you wouldn’t be alone. In fact, this inkless printer uses a process called inkless thermal printing to imprint the image of your choice on the specially designed paper rolls. So no ink is used, and you reduce costs. According to the company’s website, the printer supports black color printing, but with the pink and blue paper rolls, you can also print pink and blue.

​How does this portable printer connect and charge?
The PoooliPrinter L1 connects to your devices via Bluetooth with its free app. It has a Micro USB port and comes with a USB recharge cable. A full battery should last you for 24 hours. So you won’t have to constantly worry about recharging this inkless printer.

The PoooliPrinter L1 is an innovative printer, perfect for people on-the-go or who want to be more organized. Its thermal printing process is economical and fast, printing out photos, documents, notes, and more in mere seconds. The wide assortment of paper rolls gives you flexibility depending on what you want to print. Finally, the Poooli app makes editing your work easy and fun.

The PoooliPrinter L1 Inkless Pocket Printer costs $59.95, and you can buy it on the company’s official website. Would you use a portable, inkless printer? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

POOLI PRINTER

Written by: Lauren Wadowsky 

Jamil House
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Established in 2005 and based in Kuala Lumpur, Eleena Jamil Architect (EJA) has earned a reputation as one of Malaysia’s leading architectural practices. 

Text description provided by the architects. The ‘End-lot’ House is a remodelled urban home located in Bangsar, a bustling neighbourhood in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The term ‘end-lot’ is commonly used in Malaysia to describe a house at the end of a row of terraces. The original structure was built in the 1980s with low ceilings and floors split into 4 different levels within a two-storey structure. It also comes with a narrow linear garden along its open boundary. The project came together as an exercise of extending the existing structure to accommodate a couple, their two young children and visiting guests in a comfortable family home. The family wanted a home that is lucid, comfortable, and private with views of the city.

Architects: Eleena Jamil Architect
Area:   272 m²
Year:   2020
Photographs:   David Yeow Photography

Low profile, no profile or frameless doors have been the sort of Holy Grail for
designers, architects for years. Of course, we can - we have,
created them as needed - as a custom production usually, at great expense.
Now, VIVA brings to market this wonderful range of glass doors sliders -
almost frameless, along with a wide choice of interior doors -
​both frameless and with conventional frames.

An internationally-oriented company, VIVA is strongly rooted in a region, Brianza, that over time has preserved the values and the cultural traditions of woodworking and making furniture. The value of “Made in Italy” is fundamental for us, since it embodies the concepts of the dexterity of our crafts- men and the precision of our industrial manufacturing processes – the building blocks of the high quality of our doors. It’s the outcome of over a century of artisan culture, blended with investments in state-of-the- art production technologies, bringing together specific technical skills with the culture of
knowing how to do it”.
​
Our company’s vocation is to offer distinctive doors built around unique technologies, suited to the tastes of a varied, international clientele, while leading and interpreting the global trends, and offering
a high level of customization and customer service.

V I V A 
VIVA S.r.l.
via Matteotti 37
23891 Barzanò (LC) ITALY T: +39 039 921 7388 E: viva@vivaporte.com
W: www.vivaporte.com

2DM Arquitectos creates angular holiday cabin on Chilean coast 

Tom Ravenscroft | 16 April 2021  

​Santiago-based studio 2DM Arquitectos has built a holiday home overlooking the Pacific Ocean that has a cantilevered upper floor to take advantage of the views.

Built in a wooded area around 10 kilometres from the Puertecillo surf beach, the cabin has an angular form that was designed to give the owners sea views.

"The client's requirement was to get the greatest possible view," explained 2DM Arquitectos founder Daniel Diaz.

"In order to achieve that it was necessary to overcome the vegetation that existed between the house and the sea."
The 57-square-metre cabin has a simple arrangement, with a kitchen and living space on the ground floor and a double bedroom and small bathroom above.

​A cantilever supporting the bedroom juts out from the building towards the sea creating a form reminiscent of the bow of a ship.
The public areas on the first floor allows you to be side by side to the surrounding nature with a more restrained look," he continued. "The second floor, on the other hand, allows the viewer to see as far away as possible to achieve the desired Pacific Ocean views."
The cabin was built with an angular steel frame that has bracing to support the cantilever and has been clad with timber painted black.

Within the cabin, the interiors are simply furnished, with full-height windows in both the kitchen and bedroom to take advantage of the views.
The kitchen is divided from the living space, which is arranged around a wood-burning stove, by an angled countertop that doubles as a dining table.

​To continue the exterior aesthetic the kitchen's cabinets were made from slatted timber that was also painted black.
Previous cabins on Dezeen include a modular structure with a steel frame and sheet metal walls designed by Lithuanian studio ŠA Atelier and a black-painted cabin elevated on a single column in a Finnish national park.

Photography is by Nicolás Saieh.