These photos are from an an article by Terence Conran in UK’s Telegraph online, based on his new Eco House Book(Octopus, 2009). This house is completely off the grid, and was built by one man alone over an 18-month period. Its shape mimics traditional Normandy rural architecture and in many ways its living methods are just as traditional; at night it’s lit with storm lanterns. This may not be the way everyone wants to live, but it’s very comfortable and when the power grid goes out, nothing changes. Its credentials include siting to take advantage of passive solar strategies; minimal foundations; timber structure, recycled timber joinery, cedar cladding; no timber treatment; wood-burning masonry stove; no connection to electrical grid; lighting provided by candles and storm lanterns; and natural ventilation provided by vents and high-level windows. And it’s perfect for anyone who likes the look of wild grain plywood. I’m not sure about the ship-style bunks but the building’s face, at top, is beautiful. For more on eco-building from the Telegraph, which is running a series of these features, start with down on the eco farm.

A few years ago architect/builder David Hovey designed and built this house for himself and his family in Winnetka, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Like most of Hovey’s buildings the house is constructed of relatively simple materials, including perforated steel I-beams, and all its parts are designed to be pre-fabricated and then shipped in. The house took only two days to assemble. It’s airy and welcoming, minimalist without being forbidding, and really well decorated. It takes a lot of skill to use this much red and yellow without producing a mustard-and-ketchup colour scheme – how many architects, let alone builder/architects, are this good at interior design as well? All this house needs is an indoor swing; you could hang one just about anywhere. Via AD (article worth reading). Photos by Jon Miller and Hedrich Blessing. More on Hovey at mocoloco and here.

“I’ve spent my career thinking about how to design buildings economically and efficiently,” [Hovey] says. “I want to create systems that go together simply, in a way that leads to rapid construction. By reducing the elapsed time between design and occupancy, I can save a lot of administrative costs. And I want to put everything together using standard products and familiar technologies, which saves even more.”

Vancouver could really use a few builder architects like Hovey – or even just one, somebody with a good eye and an interest in simple materials affordably assembled.

Photos via inside (photo above is at insideinside.tumblr.com), one of the best curated tumblelogs on tumblr. Well-named, also. And see its sister site, outside, which is equally good.

My apologies for not knowing the name of the photographers, owners or designers behind these photos. It’s tumblr, so all bets are off. It’s a zone of 100% copyright infringement and rampant decontextualization. I feel a little funny reposting anything I find there, for that reason.

A swing inside the house changes everything. Yes, not everyone has a ceiling high enough for a swing, and yes, most of the photos we found of indoor swings pictured them in lofts, and in lofts you can do many things indoors that people normally do outside. Actually, though, a normal 8′ ceiling is high enough for a regular kids’ swing. And there’s always the more adult alternative of suspending furniture, such as the hanging daybed in the Casa Redonda hotel in Puerto Rico, above, which could easily be hung indoors. And in the photo of the old gentlemen on the daybed in South India (click below), a regular wooden settee has simply been hung from the ceiling – legs and all. Anything is possible. Most ceilings have strong enough joists to hang a swing, but you need to make sure you’re using at least a 3″ – 4″ screw with eyehook and a strong rope, cable or chain. Thanks to Flickr for many of these shots.

Sources:

1 and 2: An incredible Danish house seen on emmasdesignblogg and Remodelista.
3. Daybed swing at Casa Redonda, Puerto Rico. Swinging furniture is more common in the tropics, and that’s probably because air flow past the body is particularly welcome in the heat – the swing becomes a substitute for a fan.
4. Beautiful walnut indoor swing (unknown source). There’s something touching about a swing wide enough for two.
5. Raven, one of Bjork’s tour stylists, swinging in a friend’s NYC Chinatown Loft. Found on Flickr, this shot is by Brian Liu of toolboxdc.

More indoor swings:

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