Tenerife House

Oooh la la. This incredible house is in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Stunning huh?

I love the Japanese-style slatted(?) screens, the clean lines, and the grey, weathered timber against that raw concrete. Oh, and the view ain't bad either.

Via Coolhunter.

Nendo

'Alice's Tea Party' was held at Ozone Living Design Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of English tea brand Lipton’s presence in Japan. This incredible event design featured custom made shrunken and oversized furniture - inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. I think this is my favourite of Nendo's projects, and won them a Gold Award at the JCD design awards.

Chocolate-pencils - a collaboration with Japanese patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu. diners can shave the chocolate shavings onto their dessert using the sharpener. 'Pencil filings are usually the unwanted remains of sharpening a pencil, but in this case, they're the star!'

'Meguro Office' interior fit-out in Tokyo

Some examples of Nendo's product design. On the left - 'Ribbon' stool produced by Cappellini (winner of a red dot award 2007), on the right - Bowls from Nendo's 2006 '1% series'.

Unique climbing wall design for the exclusive Illoiha fitness club in Omotesando, Tokyo. Winner again of a gold award at the JCD design awards 2006.

I first read about Japanese design outfit Nendo in *Wallpaper magazine a year or two ago, and they struck a chord with me immediately. I was so inspired by their multidisciplinary approach - their impressive portfolio of work includes architecture, interior design, event design, furniture design, product design and graphic design. I LOVE this varied approach to design! It's worth a visit to their website to trawl through through their portfolio... such an impressive and varied collection. It must be an incredible place to work!

Nendo is made up of 6 designers from varied backgrounds - but Oki Sato, who set up the company in 2002, is an architect. He created Nendo only 2 years after completing his architecture degree in Tokyo, and I just read on his website that he was born in 1977 - which means he's only 30!! Aggh.

One of Nendo's ongoing projects is their 1% series - a series of products made in limited editions of only 100, so that consumers can experience 'the joy of owning 1%'! (pieces from this collection available at the 1% website)

ps) There's an interview with Oki Sato here (Mocoloco).

Skinners Playground

Cutting edge architecture in Melbourne means SHIPPING CONTAINERS.

Well not really. But there sure is a hell of a lot of shipping container re-fashioning going on in this town. It all started with Section 8 (aka 'Container Bar')... followed up by those container booths in the Fed Square carpark for The Melbourne Design Festival last year... and now, thanks to the clever people at Phooey Architects, we have Skinners Playground in South Melbourne.

Jokes aside, this place does look fantastic... the 4 containers have been modified enough to make it feel like a really well considered design (rather than just a hunk of metal plonked on a car park). Of course the obvious other benefits are the eco-friendly element and the relatively low cost of this kind of project. Apparently all the materials that went into its construction were reclaimed or recycled... good on 'em :)

The project was the recent recipient of an 'Architecture Review Award for Emerging Architecture' in the UK.

via in design