architecture

flow pods are here: let’s eat out on a new york winter night

is this not the best COVID safe outdoor restaurant dinning setup you’ve seen or what? Imagine eating out while you rest your butt on properly heated seats! It’s heat where you want it most – not some electrical death wish hanging over your head giving you a permanent perm you never asked for!

these self heating “stanley kubrick looking” pods can be customized – but for my money Id take the white ones off the cart. they seat 4, actually warm you up, are environmentally “sane” using limited amount of electricity (1/10th of standard heaters out there), they slide open, and slide close for storage, and have detachable roof and side panels to isolate when needed and air out during summer. now why didn’t anyone else come up with that?

last time I sat out in new york was in december and i said to myself, “this is the last dinning i’m doing during winter.” our scalp and hair where on fire and our toes were numb. the metal chairs where like frost bites sticking to my ass like a popsicle to a brat’s tongue.

we ate our food as quickly as possible, skipped the bottle of wine, and desert and espresso, and got the hell out of there. when I got home i started looking to see if any place, in NY had sorted this shit out. none! there level of laziness in sorting this out is incredible. to their credit not many options are out there. its either get some useless electric heaters or smell the fuel while you eat and set the place on fire…

COVID safe isolation – with glass roof and perspex side panels in place

for warmer days, and rainy days the side panels are removed

pod closes down and has a wheel base for transport during street cleaning and closing or storage

modular and cohesive, put a series together with no side panels to join tables – seats 4, 8, 12 , etc.

or close the side panels to isolate groups of up to 4 – whats cool is that they also maximize the available space thanks to its mobility on wheels – slide out, get in, slide back up. just genius!

ok now… lets get all that f#@ing refuge-camp shit off the street of manhattan, and use our heads so we don’t ruin this city any more than its been ruined already. also lets get a solution to a problem that is engineered and thought out (lets say by a colombia university masters graduate) vs slapping some crap wood panels together and half ass solving the real problem which is the lack or any “pleasure” in dinning outdoors! this is especially needed when you already are counting your savings every time you consider eating out. can’t wait for this to be over but in the meantime – which is looking like FOREVER, given the various mutant strains of this virus – let’s do it right people. you can contact flow and co if your planning to remain in business… and then please let us know so we can come and test this shit out. by uh

CATEGORIES: architecture

copper canyon cocktail bar

tall arquitectos have designed a new restaurant/cocktail bar concept, called copper canyon cocktail bar, overlooking the basaseachic falls of mexico. ok, let’s go get a drink asap… just kidding, unfortunately, the copper canyon cocktail bar is merely a proposal. by lb

CATEGORIES: architecture

most amazing country house upstate new york by wojr architects

“your country cottage has just landed”

its all about glass, glass, glass

darth vader will be welcomed

this house was clearly made to sit in the snow, just remember that flat roofs often leak

renders? the glass is suspiciously one “piece-ed”

two homes, created for two brothers

that bike comes in handy in this snow

nice but a bit too obvious and trendy… the usual suspect prouvé lamp and chairs : (

a litte paragraph from the horses mouth: “the agricultural development of the land between the two houses separates them visually (to varying degrees depending on season) while linking them inextricably, both infrastructurally and communally.” you gotta love architects. i can’t understand a word in the last part of that sentence!

that said architecture studio WOJR designed ‘twins’, a site located in upstate new york that consists of two geometric buildings facing each other. created for two brothers, the two houses feature different shapes, a hexagon and a four-sided polygon, yet both are built from the same five structural components. additionally, the homes are linked to each other through an underground piping system for water supply and the like. beautiful and enviable all the same. love it. by dd

CATEGORIES: architecture, ny places

sit on this: maximo riera hippo chair is one motherfrying furniture icon

created in the same style as the rest of his chairs from the “animal chair collection”, the aptly named maximo riera‘s “hippopotamus chair” was created in thick, black, leather with a limited run of just 20 editions. you can sit on one for a hefty $95,000, but just imagine, no matter how fat your future guest will be, they will feel at home and will forever appreciate your love of blubber (PS blubber is indeed found in hippos which makes these chunky animals surprisingly buoyant). by ar

CATEGORIES: architecture, design, perfect gift

don’t love you no more, but you can keep the keys. i changed it to an august smart lock

jack nicholson will now demonstrate the new august smart lock

come on in… well, not alla youz!

we just received our august smart lock and are very excited to put it to work. the installation is supposed to be quite simple and should fit “any standard deadbolt lock”

once installed that’s all you see on the inside of your door

our august smart lock (a $250 cylinder you install on the inside of your door) is here and awaiting to mate with our lovely door. whats great is that we don’t actually need to remove our lock, because it only replaces our deadbolt’s inside module. once placed in and turned on well have a bluetooth-connected, motorized deadbolt that can remotely lock and unlock the door when we press a button on our phone… or automatically lock as we leave, and unlock as we approach the door… nice! but the best part is you can give temporary keys to anyone you choose, and disable them when you want. you can also schedule access, for say, cleaning lady, baby sitter, or your neighborhood dominatrix to set up. but there are a few caveats; 1- don’t forget, there is some effort required here; i.e any user must first download the app, register an account, take a picture of themselves, then verify their email address and phone number before they can open your door. bit of a hassle? yes. but you don’t want just anyone to get access now? 2- although august claims idiot-proof installation, the install does require a few logical considerations. a) if you have double locks you need to be aware that august only controls one (duh!). also b) the mechanism in the electronic lock has its limits. if your deadbolt is not smoothly operating or it was installed during the dark ages, it could affect the performance of the lock by causing difficulty for the august motor to push the deadbolt through. so be mindful that the assumption is that your deadbolt is in tip top shape, if it isn’t (as was the case with ours) you may want to amend the issue before install.

so what’s so great about all this? why would i want to change my current lock? here are a few good reasons that convinced us as to why we would need a key-less entry lock like the august smart lock;

– well firstly it’s designed by the swiss industrial designer yves behar. we were told you should just get one, to have one.

– need to allow temporary access for your most recently acquired boyfriend/girlfriend with out the awkward key exchange… and retrieval

– your pet monkey is really smart… but not that smart

– need to allow scheduled access to your fancy cleaning crew who own an iphone (don’t they all? besides it works on android)

– need to cut down on key and lock replacements due to fast turn-around of lovely “associates”

– forgot your 5lbs key chain at work

– your “roommate” lost his key again

– pierre and marilou are gonna crash in your ski chalet in graubünden, and you haven’t been there for “like weeeeeeks”

– need to let your guest/air b&b into your apt but cant leave work (will require the $50 august connect wifi plug)

– your super called and said there is fire in your study (that’s where you’re supposed to keep your damn books, which you don’t have)

– finally, how can you trust the kids with a key… when you cant trust them with a f#@kin’ plastic bag?

there you have it…if your still not convinced… then i suppose you don’t need one. stay tuned we’re gonna report back with a proper field test… photo credit: jack nicholson in stanley kubrick’s film the shining written by stephen king. by uh

CATEGORIES: architecture, audio-electronics, perfect gift

1910 kubus chair by austrian architect joseph hoffmann

austrian architect joseph hoffmann

early prototypes of hoffmann’s kubus armchair

simplicity of the grid – and repetition

source of inspiration for the now famous le corbusier LC2 and LC3 cube chairs

kubus in soft white leather

where did this come from? evolution of the less linear hoffmann clubchair

chairs we like… kubus is a perfect example of hoffmann’s strict geometrical lines and the quadratic theme in this iconic and historic armchair. designed back in 1910, it was presented at the international exhibition held in buenos aires on the centennial of argentinean independence known as the may revolution. his work was of great influence to modernist architects and this specific chair was reportedly the initial source of inspiration for the now famous le corbusier LC2 and LC3 chairs created back in 1928 for villa church that appeared at the salon d’automne in 1929. corbusier literally took the kubus chair and turned it inside out, bringing the structure of the armchair hidden under the surface material and placing it on the outer edge. hoffmann’s constant use of squares and cubes earned him the nickname quadratl hoffmann or “square hoffmann”. But he was not always bound by linera lines as evident in his club chair above. the hoffmann kubus chairs range from $4K to $2.5k ( pamono wittman edition ) and knock offs for even less. corrections are always welcomed in the comments section. by uh

CATEGORIES: architecture, design, perfect gift

glass house by tokujin yoshioka

we find a lot of inspiration in tokujin yoshioka’s projects, and one of his latest finalized piece is quite phenomenal. yoshioka have made a reinterpretation of a japanese tea house made entirely of glass, residing next to a buddhist temple in kyoto. by kt

CATEGORIES: architecture, art

geometric dreaming

we are swooning over this point of view and great use of geometry of the staircase in hotel de seze, paris. inspiration for the next ts team trip. (source) by kgb

CATEGORIES: architecture, design

if it is going to snow, then go

we are sitting here at the ts headquarters in nyc thinking about the kind of winter we have already been greeted with this year; snow and below freezing temperatures. but there is not much beauty to it unless we get play in it. so if you aren’t a blogger and you can get away, we highly advise finding yourself in following situation. oh, and while you’re out there, feel free to send us a thank you email at ts@tomorrowstarted.com.

“this is the fireside resort in wilson, wyoming just outside jackson hole and grand teton national park. convenient central location 10 minutes from the slopes at jackson hole mountain resort, less than 15 minutes from jackson and about an hour from yellowstone. super-mod cabins are a contemporary take on the area’s historic homesteader cottages. situated on eight wildlife-filled acres where moose, elk, red-tailed hawks, bald eagles and deer roam and nest, you’d never know fireside resort was a mere seven miles from jackson’s bustling town square. just south of grand teton national park with views of the grand teton mountain range from the property, fireside resort offers the intimacy of a boutique hotel, the atmosphere of a wooded campground and the ambience of a cozy vacation home.
walk into your personal one-bedroom cabin, designed in a modern rustic style, and any ideas of cowboy kitsch disappear. constructed from recycled wyoming snow fence, the sleek structures have gas fireplaces, plush chocolate leather couches and bright contemporary art, all softened by the gnarled exposed wood beams overhead. each comes with a furnished deck, a full kitchen, and a tempurpedic pullout couch (in addition to the comfy king-sized bed in the bedroom). HD flat-screen tvs and rain showers add to the contempo-cozy charm.
there is no restaurant or even a central building; most guests cook in their kitchens or eat in nearby restaurants. but the staff can guide you to the top local pros-in-the-know who will assist you in biking, rafting and fly fishing trips in the summer, or skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. the fireside resort experience is simple: it’s a comfortable, tucked-away haven to relax, rejuvenate and set up headquarters for all your jackson adventures. and while it might be tempting to hole up by the fire in your homey pied-à-terre, yellowstone national park, jackson’s saloon-filled downtown and the world-renowned jackson hole mountain resort are all an easy drive away.” – sam storms for jetsetter.com. by ad

CATEGORIES: architecture, hotels, other places

cozying up

this is the maza house by chk arquitectura located in valle de bravo, mexico and spearheaded by eduardo hernández ch. this 5,623 sqf lodge-like home is surrounded in elements of nature. the living room, with its open fireplace, is where the ts team would like to be cozied up in, thinking up our next blog topics. nevertheless, we will not be able to travel to mexico, yet we have invested in personal space heaters for our less grandiose new york city apartments. please read more here and photo creds go out to yoshihiro koitani. by kgb

CATEGORIES: architecture, other places

the architect and the painter

if you have not seen it already, make sure to set aside some time to see the great documentary on ray and charles eames, available on netflix. by kt