Rotating Apartments

http://i.gizmodo.com/5141597/rotating-houses-are-becoming-a-luxury-trend-not-just-a-gimmick-says-the-economist

I think there are a few parallel universes out there – one for the international super rich, who are having rotating condominiums designed, and another for the rest of us.

What is ‘Quality of Life’?

“I would hope that the current housing market developments will liberate people from ‘resale value’ thinking, and allow them to engage in a serious conversation with their architects and builders about what constitutes true quality. Quality of life is measured in many more years and much greater pleasure than how best to sell one’s home as quickly as possible to the highest bidder. While reduced leverage among homeowners may make for smaller and fewer projects, it may also mean that those projects are more sincerely considered and more deeply appreciated.”

—Lynnette Widder, aardvarchitecture, New York City, and head, Department of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I

Residential Predictions for the Downturn

“With this real estate situation, the first thing to go is the garden, since the mortgage crisis is putting people in apartments. Look at the pictures of houses in foreclosure; none of them have gardens. Americans don’t like to go outside anyway. Even my clients who have beautiful gardens are afraid there might be a bug, or it’s too hot or too cold. People will certainly downsize to afford the mortgage. They won’t build these lavish kitchens they never cook in. They don’t even make coffee in their kitchens. I’ve had many clients who, when I visited them in the mornings, were on their way to Starbucks.”

— James van Sweden, FASLA, Oehme, van Sweden & Associates, Washington, D.C.

Opportunities for better residential design with the downturn

Although the market looks very dire now, it offers a chance to break out of the free-market orthodoxy that hasn’t produced money for anyone and produced terrible architecture, for the most part. The real indictment of the current arrangement is that housing has failed even as a piece of free-market economics—its failure as architecture is all too obvious. Having been lectured and patronized by developers for the last decade, designers can now say, ‘And you guys didn’t even know how to make money.’

I hope we will now design houses that are:

a) not seen as financial vehicles;
b) environmentally sound; and
c) beautiful.

We won’t make money from housing, but hopefully we will:

a) not lose too much money, either, in a downturn;
b) save the planet; and
c) create a place of beauty worth any amount of money (just ask people who live in central Paris).”

—Alain de Botton, architectural critic and writer, London

10 ways to change the home – Karim Rashid

http://www.residentialarchitect.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=280&articleID=888921

Here are 10 ways to change the home:

1. Create large white spaces with accents of strong, positive colors.
2. Knock down walls that aren’t structural and open up spaces.
3. Buy less but better furniture.
4. Use materials that are easy to clean and that age well. Plastic floors (laminates, vinyl sheeting, or artificial rubber) are lightweight, inexpensive, and wear well.
5. Don’t be a pack rat: Recycle newspapers and magazines as soon as you’re done reading them. Better yet, read them online.
6. Use color to express yourself. Don’t be afraid of that bright orange chair. Paint your wall lime green. Be brave when it comes to carpets, countertops, and tables. Color is beautiful.
7. Use biodegradable and natural cleaning products.
8. When you buy something for your home, get rid of something else. Seek balance.
9. Make your space reconfigurable.
10. Embrace technology.”

 

—Karim Rashid, Karim Rashid Inc., New York City