Table of contents for Nov-11 in Dwell

“What you newspaper and magazine writers, who work in rabbit time, don’t understand is that the practice of architecture has to be measured in elephant time.” So said Eero Saarinen to a journalist in 1953. In 2011, architecture may still be doing well on elephant time, but we writers are now also bloggers and tweeters, and the pace of our work makes that of a rabbit look glacial. The media landscape has changed so much that the office I began working in more than a decade ago, replete with its slide library, contact sheets, and flat files for artwork, seems like a distant dream. When Dwell launched at the end of the first dot-com boom in its San Francisco epicenter, the idea of a print start-up already seemed quaint to…

Shortcuts are nothing new, but most folks are too busy absentmindedly following—or initiating—them to stop and truly notice the way these trails regrid the pedestrian landscape. Dutch photographer Jan-Dirk van der Burg spent four years capturing the evocatively dubbed olifantenpaadjes—literally “elephant paths”—all over the Netherlands. The results provide a droll glimpse into a most basic animal instinct: to conveniently close the gap from here to there. olifantenpaadjes.nl…

Don’t call it a comeback: Wallpaper’s been here for years. These nontoxic, sustainably produced coverings can change the vibe of a room with a single panel. A. C-60 Folk Rock by Mini Moderns Cassettes won’t be remembered for their superior sound, but there’s something so nostalgic about their iconic shape. This mix-tape motif will keep those sonic memories near. minimoderns.com B. Hotel Fantome by Katie Deedy for Grow House Grow! Distilling Victoriana way down to its basic linear essentials, this lavender-accented print was inspired by a paranormal hotel in Provence, France. growhousegrow.com C. Zig Zag by Mary Kysar and Topher Sinkinson for Makelike Papering your walls with the paths and trees of Zig Zag is like decorating with large-scale works of art. Each roll is handscreened, giving the pattern a…

Hidden amongst the trees in Glendale, California, Pierre Koenig’s Lamel House gives a preview of the rectilinear glass-and-steel motif that would become his hallmark. Built in 1953—just a year after Koenig established his own architecture firm fresh out of school at USC, and four years before he was officially licensed as an architect—the residence is classic Koenig: One overhang shades the driveway, while another over the patio allows sun to stream through; a complicated, sloping lot is made hospitable by the orientation of the home and its supports; and the interior is characterized by a largely open plan. It is a testament to Koenig’s ability to use these materials to an end that is clean-lined without being cold and cost-effective without being substandard, all the while establishing a balance between…

With attendance just shy of 21,000 souls, our ideas conference, trade show, and exhibition was, yet again, the West Coast’s design event of the year. The anchor of Dwell Design Week—a ten-day festival of lectures, showroom visits, and home tours— Dwell on Design took over the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 24 to 26. Attendees suffered an embarrassment of riches, with scores of speakers, contemporary design exhibits from Spain and Japan, the Modern World Awards, and a stirring keynote address from sustainability guru William McDonough all competing for their attention. On top of that we had over 100,000 square feet of vendors, ranging from the smart appliances of presenting sponsor LG, to the luxurious cars of Lincoln, to modernist classics from Herman Miller. Dwell on…

This year’s Dwell Outdoor section was downright bucolic, thanks to a sod landscape designed by Shades of Green, chic chicken coops by 100xbtr, a shiny new Airstream trailer, modern planters by Gainey Ceramics, and seating by Eis Studio. The highlight was the ubersustainable Modern Living show home, designed by Zem Joaquin of Ecofabulous with architect Jonathan Davis of pieceHomes and constructed by prefab builder OneBuild. The house spotlighted cutting-edge eco-friendly materials, including energy-efficient appliances by Electrolux and EcoClad siding, made of recycled paper and bamboo fiber.…

In another constantly humming portion of the show floor, our friends at Italian website designboom presented Yakitate!, a group show highlighting the winsome creations of eight contemporary Japanese designers. Curated by designboom’s co-CEO and editor-in-chief, Birgit Lohmann, the exhibition featured works of all sorts, from furniture and lighting to delicate jewelry, clay figurines, and bespoke bookmarks. Over the course of the weekend, each of the artists presented two live demonstrations, articulating his or her design process to the crowd in both English and Japanese. To see the roster of designers and to get all the details on their creations, visit dwell.com/yakitate.…

THOUGH MATT KIRKPATRICK AND KATHERINE BOVEE DIDN’T CRAVE A MANSION, THEY DID DESIGN A HANDFUL OF CLEVER SPATIAL TRICKS TO KEEP THEIR SMALL HOME JUST THE RIGHT SIZE. Strip Show Most people ignore their park strip, letting weeds take over. Kirkpatrick and Bovee turned theirs into a wild-flower meadow, with around 30 varieties of native plant species. From lupine to meadow foam to larkspur, the greenery attracts insects and birds—and extends their living space all the way out to the street instead of stopping short at the sidewalk. On the Level Stairs are often space hogs. To make the most of space that would otherwise be wasted, Kirkpatrick used the intersection of stair levels to their advantage: At the front door, where the stairs descend to the basement, he created…

In her book Du Torrent au Courant, des Barrages et des Hommes en Savoie (From Torrent to Current: Dam and Man in Savoy), photographer Céline Clanet documents the infrastructure of hydropower in the Beaufortain region of southeastern France: four dams and ten power plants. Set in the midst of bucolic hillsides and snowcapped peaks, these structural behemoths have had profound impacts on the surrounding terrain. With a documentarian eye, Clanet captures all facets of these dams and power plants—from their monumental exterior scales, to labyrinthine interior spaces, to caretakers—focusing on how infrastructure has merged with the natural and social landscape. @ Extended slideshow at dwell.com/magazine 1. Roseland dam, upper face 2. High mountain pastures, Saint-Guérin dam 3. Jean-Pierre Blanc, high mountain farmer and cheesemaker 4. La Girotte dam 5. La…

Broom Clean: The condition your apartment should be in when you move out: swept clean, all personal property removed, and all surfaces wiped down. As any landlord will attest, tenants′ interpretations of the term vary wildly. FDR: Yes, these are the initials of our 32nd president, either celebrated for renewing the national spirit during wartime or reviled as a diabolical socialist who turned this great land into a welfare state. You can argue about this with your libertarian uncle in your formal dining room (FDR). Guarantor: A person who is legally obligated to pay the rent in case the tenant is unable to. If you don’t make enough pretax income to meet the landlord’s minimum salary requirements, you may be required to have a guarantor (see: Mom and Dad). House…

FUN FACT 5 Find yourself in the outskirts of Beijing? Need an place to crash? Have few to no possessions? Try a Capsule Apartment: roughly 31 square feet, six-and-a-half feet tall, and a preposterously cheap $37 per month. There are many online apartment-finding services (StreetEasy, Naked Apartments, HotPads, to name a few) but good ol’ Craigslist is still the free and comprehensive resource for finding a new place to live, especially if you don’t feel like springing for hidden fees. We decode a few terms, dispel a few myths, and show you how to spot a broker in hiding. RED-FLAG CRAIGSLIST PHRASES: Mint This word is used often, ostensibly to evoke the idea of “new” without actually saying “new.” Cozy “Cozy” means small. Minifridge small. Prison-cell small. Give it a…

My indulged, spoiled, babied, and much-loved pet chickens will be clamoring for one of those incredible coops if I let them see the photos (“If You Build It, They Will Cluck,” July/August 2011)! While they have a nice basic house of their own, designed and built by my husband, a building inspector, it doesn’t compare to the three beautiful, stylish, and eco-friendly structures designed by the gifted Bertie County, North Carolina, students in the Studio H design-build class. My birds have the run of a fenced three-acre yard all day, but they would really have something to crow about if they got to spend every night in Coopus Maximus. Thank you for including this terrific article, showcasing the talent and creativity of both the students and the teachers. Diane H.…

Fabian Debora believes in the transformative power of art. A tumultuous childhood in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles set him on a path toward drugs and gangs, but putting pen to paper helped him turn his life around. He is currently a substance abuse counselor at Homeboy Industries, a center that helps youths redirect their lives through mentoring programs and employment in its growing businesses. Debora is also their resident artist, merging his two responsibilities by using art as a form of therapy. A recent collaboration with Artecnica allowed the Homeboys to express their skills with a collection of totes. What’s your earliest memory of experimenting with art? I was ten years old—about to be expelled from school—and [Homeboy Industries founder] Father Greg Boyle told me to go…

In 1999, native Seattleite Denise Draper fell in love with the location of a prime end slip in a marina on Seattle’s Portage Bay. She was less enthused, however, with the existing fixer-upper floating there. “I love being close to the water. There’s constant change, with boats and wildlife passing by,” Draper says, so she purchased the home. It took her ten years before she could renovate, but with the help of architect Ryan Mankoski of Ninebark Design Build, his wife, interior designer Kim Mankoski, and local builder Dyna Contracting, Draper ended up with a 1,000-square-foot place that’s tuned in to its surroundings and wears its strong sustainable ethos on its walls. Ninebark and Dyna salvaged as many components as they could from the original structure, including the turn-of-the-century cedar…

In 2007, Lynda and Peter Benoit bought a 1,100-square-foot unit in the historic Besler Building, a former steam-engine factory in Emeryville, California. The San Francisco Bay Area loft was suffering from a case of poor planning; a previous owner had broken up the open area with an ill-conceived elevated storage space directly over the entryway. Over the span of two years, the couple—she’s a communications specialist at Lucasfilm and he’s an architect at Melander Architects—lived and breathed a clever overhaul, transforming their once-dim home into a sunlit space housing Peter’s masterwork: a completely customized 16-by-17-by-10-foot wooden box that accommodates a bookcase on the outside, a bedroom on the inside, and a dressing-room mezzanine above. Lynda: The day after escrow closed, we came over and pulled up this cheap vinyl that…

Our keynote address this year came from the garlanded architect, thinker, and sustainability advocate William McDonough. He addressed a massive, rapt crowd about his Cradle to Cradle design thinking, what the future of sustainable design should look like, and what a “more good” as opposed to “less bad” vision of designing for the future entails. McDonough’s speech was rousing, playful, and necessary. Once the show was over, we had the chance to ask him a few more questions about what he does. What is Cradle to Cradle thinking? Cradle to Cradle is a quality frame-work where we look beyond the various “go green” issues—like the wholly undefined “carbon neutral”—and try to create a certification system that encourages continuous improvement. If design is the first signal of human intention, then designers…

Modern Lifestyles was the most energetic corner of the show floor, with gaggles of young modernists testing out everything from eco-friendly magnetic blocks from Tegu to nontoxic rubber horses from Plastica. You could barely see architect Gregg Fleishman’s portable Playgoda—made of birch panels that fit together without screws or nails—through the blur of sliding, climbing, and scrambling children. The structure survived with nary a scratch or dent. Elsewhere, touchscreen consoles from HP took center stage, and new desks and chairs from Stokke and a suite of stump-shaped furniture by George Sacaris captured the crowd.…

“I think spatial and technical constraints are good for the imagination,” says Jérôme Vinçon, cofounder of the Paris-based firm Lode Architecture. “Without constraints, I am lost.” So when he saw the cramped 270-square-foot apartment his friends Michel Craca and Gaelle Potel bought in a 1904 building in Montparnasse, he reacted with glee. With the help of con tractors (working solo or in pairs, because space was tight), he tore everything out and got creative. Today, the excavated 17-foot-high shell houses an airy living room with a bathroom hovering above it. Six oak-and-concrete steps lead down to a tiny kitchen. From there, it’s another five steps to a subterranean bedroom. A space this compact wouldn’t work for everyone, but Craca and Potel work 15-hour days at a nearby restaurant (he’s the…

Project: Russell-Fontanez Residence Designer: LOT-EK Location: New York, New York Russell-Fontanez Residence Floor Plans A Bedroom B Closet C Bathroom D Kitchen E Dining Area F Living Area G Entry H Laundry New York design firm LOT-EK is known for incorporating recycled industrial materials—shipping containers, truck beds, even airplane fuselages—into its projects. So when Maurice Russell and Jorge Fontanez asked their friend Giuseppe Lignano, a principal at the firm, to renovate their 1,100-square-foot apartment in New York’s East Village, it came as little surprise that Lignano hauled in a truckload of recycled commercial doors. The apartment had issues. In the mid-1980s, the building co-op combined each floor’s two narrow units into single dwellings encircling the central staircase, which resulted in wasted space, awkward connections, and dark interiors. In 2009, Russell…

I rent. There, I said it. As more and more friends sign the closing papers and put down roots, I remain transient, a dandelion seed drifting over their landscaped lawns. Sometimes this makes me feel like a failure at adulthood. Other times I look around and breathe a sigh of renter’s relief. I can pick up and go anytime, without worrying about market value. Plus, it’s nice to have someone else deal with leaks, pests, and jiggly doorknobs. Liberty, mobility, and someone to complain to: This is the American Dream. But the history of renting is not exactly a tale of unbridled independence. Under the feudal system in medieval Europe, peasants occupied thatched-roof quarters but paid rent to their respective lords in backbreaking, Black Death–ridden labor. Russian serfs of the…

The bum is months behind on rent, he’s turned the property into a scrap metal yard, and he believes that the Black Eyed Peas are best when shared. You may be tempted to shut off the water and electricity, change the locks, and call in Dog the Bounty Hunter. Don’t do this. To get rid of a tenant legally, you’ll need to follow the proper protocol. Keep in mind that while horrible taste in music feels like a crime, nonpayment of rent is the most solid basis for eviction, and it is pretty much the only instance where the courts reliably come down pro-landlord. The eviction process varies from state to state but typically involves the posting of a notice to “pay or quit” (pay the rent owed or leave…

48 My House Bantam sofa by Design Within Reach dwr.com Small Font clock by Sebastian Wrong for Established & Sons establishedandsons.com Leran rattan pendant lamp by Ikea ikea.com Stockholm entertainment unit in Golden Brown by Ikea ikea.com Bud vase by Heath Ceramics heathceramics.com Componibili Round Modular System by Anna Castelli Ferrieri for Kartell kartell.com Vintage metal & vinyl upholstered rolling chair from Urban Ore urbanore.com Saucer Bubble Lamp by George Nelson hivemodern.com Dining table by Klassik Living klassikliving.com Latex floor and patio paint benjaminmoore.com Shellac (for flooring) by Rust-Oleum rustoleum.com Tiles (seconds) by Heath Ceramics heathceramics.com Energy-efficient lighting fixtures by the Home Depot homedepot.com Clutched roller shades by Hunter Douglas hunterdouglas.com 56 Dwell Reports Bookworm by Ron Arad for Kartell kartell.it Wall Shelf 112B by Alvar Aalto for Artek artek.fi…

Nicholas Calcott Photographer Nicholas Calcott recently relocated to Brooklyn from Paris. Shooting Maurice Russell and Jorge Fontanez’s home in Manhattan (“Tunnel Vision,” p. 84) involved extreme temptation. “We’d be setting up for the next shot and they would be preparing dinner,” he says. “Then, the most in tense and delicious aromas would fill the room. This made it hard to concentrate, but they invited us to join them for dinner after the shoot was finished.” Céline Clanet Paris-based photographer Céline Clanet spent a year shooting images of the dams, power plants, and people of the Beaufortain area of the French Alps, some of which are featured in “From Torrent to Current” (p. 98). Now obsessed with dams, Clanet is seriously considering a proposal to install a hydroelectric plant on the…

When Austrian entrepreneur Erich Sattler refocused his family’s business from mixed agriculture to grape growing, he needed headquarters to house the budding wine enterprise. He turned to his architect brother, Kurt, to design a winery capable of production, bottling, and cellaring on the ground-floor wine hall, with guest accommodations, presentation space, and an office in the wine loft above. Though it isn’t the only winery in Tadten— their residential adjacency is common in the region—Kurt explains how its distinctly modern styling sets it apart. “Computer simulations were used to exploit the effect of the sun on the space and make the most of cross-ventilation. The upper terraces are situated east to west, which maximizes heat absorption in winter and resistance in summer.” “To keep the ground floor a constant 60…

Sculling is a favorite pastime for the Baltimore couple who commissioned this weekend getaway on Virginia’s Rappahannock River, and the sport influenced the siting, as well as the shape, of the house. Baltimore’s Ziger/Snead Architects based the home’s sleek profile on the contour of a rowing shell, “both in the lightness of the skin and the way it sits gently on the landscape,” says Douglas Bothner, an associate at the firm. Its shoreline location only serves to strengthen the connection. “Everywhere in the house you can see the moment where land meets water.” Project: River House Location: Rappahannock River, Virginia Architect: Ziger/Snead Architects zigersnead.com…

As appealing as an earthbound armoire or burnished-teak credenza can be, few storage solutions offer the hovering grace of the hanging wall shelf. Whether loaded with a cherished first edition, a lifetime of tchotchkes, or maybe just your toothbrush, a chic shelf offers function and expression in one. We rounded up this sextet of handsome hangers that ranges from today’s gems to the classics of yesteryear in hopes of inspiring you to get back on the shelf. For more of our favorite wall shelves, visit dwell.co…

After a decade of publishing the world’s best and brightest designs, we thought it was high time we slapped our seal of approval on the new products and furniture we love. Thus, the Modern World Awards were born. The Dwell editors chose five entries in the categories Play, Eat, Create, Work, and Live because they sit squarely where form, function, and innovation unite. (The selection was taken straight from the pages of Dwell and dwell.com.) Our entire staff voted on the winners, our readers voted on the People’s Choice Award champ, and then we exhibited them all at Dwell on Design. The nominees, please... PLAY • *Bike Shelf by Chris Bingham for Knife and Saw knifeandsaw.wordpress.com Come and Draw by Tian Tang Design tiantang.se A7 Bicycle by Public Bikes publicbikes.com…

Dressed in a silver jumpsuit and armed with a tiny airbrush, Japanese artist Sasaki presented his large-scale, evolving art installation that visualizes the human heartbeat. One by one, “heartbeat donors” were hooked up to a stereo system that broadcast the sound of their heart, a booming thrum that Sasaki expressed in real time as continuous hexagonal forms inching along an expansive white canvas. With each hexagon representing a full minute of one volunteer’s heartbeat, the resulting honeycomb pattern of red was slowly revealed as the day passed. The project, which the artist has been developing for many years, raised over $4,000 for Architecture for Humanity’s relief efforts to help those affected by the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.…

Project: Harpoon House Architect: Design for Occupancy Location: Portland, Oregon It’s a crisp day in Portland, Oregon, and the last few rays of afternoon light are slipping behind the clouds. Arriving home from work, Katherine Bovee pauses in her front yard to pluck a leafy handful of arugula and pocket some radishes before heading indoors to start dinner with her small harvest. Inside, her partner, Matt Kirkpatrick, has a pot of tea steeping on the kitchen table and some lounge music gently grooving in the background. With such a cozy domestic tableau as the backdrop, Kirkpatrick laughs at the idea that they’re missing out for living small. “In many ways, it’s hedonistic,” he says. “We get all the things that are great about owning a house without the extra baggage…

Project: Clipper Street House Architect: Azevedo Design Inc. Location: San Francisco, California Halfway through a pregnancy isn’t exactly the ideal time to buy a house. So after spending months scouting San Francisco’s Victorians and turnkey cookie-cutters—and almost defecting to the East Bay—Lorena Siminovich and Esteban Kerner decided to put the hunt on hold until after their baby was born. But then one afternoon Kerner, a design director with Old Navy, logged on to Craigslist on a whim. He saw a below-market listing for a single-family home in Noe Valley, their neighborhood of choice. With crumbly brick cladding, peeling rust-brown paint, and rotting garage doors, the house lacked curb appeal. But the Argentine couple was drawn to the interior. “It was amazing and strange at the same time,” says Kerner of…

Say you’ve signed a one-year lease but, four months in, you have to move. If it’s due to a “hardship” reason (lost job, bitter divorce, family tragedy), land lords are likely to be lenient. But if it’s for other reasons, say a better apartment, they might not be so sanguine. Like it or not, when you sign a year lease you are personally liable for the rent for the remainder of the term. So tread carefully. Always speak to the landlord first. Once it’s in writing, it’s on the record, and you’ll want to gauge her reaction before announcing your desire to break the lease. Gently explain your situation, then offer to help find a new tenant, place a listing, and screen potential renters (or, even better, present her with…

FUN FACT 3 The first Uniform Plumbing Code in the United States was developed by the Los Angeles City Plumbing Inspectors Association in 1928. This code dramatically improved the quality of sanitation systems, thereby reducing the spread of waterborne disease. FUN FACT 4 “Hey guys, finish your bellinis and let’s go back to my place to see the Rothko.” The average rent of a two-bedroom doorman building in New York City’s SoHo district: $9,062 per month. When you rent, you never know where you might end up next, so your furniture needs to be adaptable to diverse spaces—be it a LEED-certified modern condo or a creaky Victorian flat. Nobody understands this better than Jen Turner. The designer and architect (formerly with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects) lived in five— count…

Ekaterina Voronova’s living and working spaces collide in a 215-square-foot studio behind her home in Dun Laoghaire, a seaside town just outside Dublin, Ireland. The Moscow-born architect built the double-height haven as a place to draw and construct architectural models, but it has evolved into a more social retreat, hosting family movie nights and out-of-town guests. A traditional wood-burner, designed by the seasonally savvy Swedes at stove manufacturer Contura, makes the frosty months bearable—-and provides a year-round focal point. “It’s been absolutely great,” Voronova says. “Good looking, easy to control, very economical, and environmentally friendly, too!” Proof positive that it’s not the size of the space that counts, it’s how you choose to heat it.…