Forest’s Quintet / Chiasmus Partners

Forest’s quintet was conceived by Chiasmus Partners as a viable alternative to urban dwelling. Situated in the beautiful mountain range of Yanggu, it is a group of individual dwelling that collectively form an ideal retreat.

The relationship between each house on this 15 acre site reflect the relationship between its owners. They are either relatives and close friends; they have chose to build this dream together and retire together to this beautiful retreat. The architectural language and major material are very similar between each home. Yet, due to the special terrain each house sits on, and the differences in their living habits of each family, every house is unique — via ArchDaily

Nokia at crisis point warns new boss Stephen Elop

Nokia’s new CEO has sent an outspoken and frank memo to his staff that suggests the phone giant is in crisis.

Stephen Elop describes the company as standing on a burning platform surrounded by innovative competitors who are grabbing its market share.

In particular, he said, the firm had been caught off guard by the success of Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone — via richardfarner.newsvine.com

House in Melides / Pedro Reis

The house in Melides, on the southern Alentejo Coast, by Pedro Reis, represents the desire for a holiday house as a getaway from the bustle of a big city. The client made the unusual decision to have an architectural competition between three distinct ateliers, allowing a choice from a wider range of possible solutions. This winning proposal presents a reading of the drama of the natural countryside, building it on top of a steep hill relatively protected by the surrounding rugged topography — via ArchDaily

Mug shot of Herbert Ellis. Presumed Central Police Station, Sydney, around 1920

Special Photograph no. 86. The precise circumstances surrounding this picture are unknown, but Ellis is found in numerous police records of the 1910s, 20s and 30s. He is variously listed as a housebreaker, a shop breaker, a safe breaker, a receiver and a suspected person. A considerably less self-assured Ellis appears in the NSW Criminal Register of 29 August 1934 (no. 206). His convictions by then include goods in custody, indecent langauge, stealing, receiving and throwing a missile. His MO includes the entry seldom engages in crime in company, but possessing a most villainous character, he influences associates to commit robberies, and he arranges for the disposal of the proceeds. It adds that he has the nicknames Curley – his hair is thinning – and Deafy, as he is by then quite deaf. He is seen leaning heavily on a walking stick in the later image.

This picture is one of a series of around 2500 special photographs taken by New South Wales Police Department photographers between 1910 and 1930. These special photographs were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension. Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug mug shots, the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed – perhaps invited – to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics.

Published in: Peter Doyle with Caleb Williams City of shadows: Sydney police photographs 1912-1948 — via Historic Houses Trust

Nivrel La Grande Manuelle X47 Watch

This is the newer Nivrel La Grande Manuelle X47, and handsome classic timepiece that comes with a special type of day planner to go with the watch. It is the perfect type of watch for people who want something well-made but nothing too fancy.

The X47 is a daily planner that uses a clock face and some space below to plan your day. Rather than layout the day in sequential periods. you draw in parts of the clock face like it is a pie chart. The idea is to help you remember things by repetition, and association with where the hour hand is. The X47 book that comes with the watch is specially made for Nivrel, with the clock faces being (more or less) of the Grande Manuelle — via A Blog to Read

Castro Café / Romi Khosla Design Studios

A Cafeteria, designed by Romi Khosla Design Studios, in a University Campus located near Auditorium, Cultural Center, Mass communication, was expected to become hub of all social activities of the Campus.

Due to the extreme climatic conditions of New Delhi, where the summer sees temperatures of above 45 degrees centigrade, and the winters often see temperatures below 5 degree centigrade.

Most student canteens in India are not air-conditioned, and are often poorly ventilated, making them very hot and oppressive in the summer and very cold in the winters.

This canteen was proposed as a Semi open air Café. This allowed to have an ambient temperature for most of the year along with good ventilation, and a variety of degrees of shade from the climate — via ArchDaily

Panerai Luminor Submersible PAM 371

This Luminor Submersible (PAM 371) is another favorite of mine from the 2011 Panerai lineup. It will be available for purchase later this year for price of $11,600. While the price seems a bit high, it is comparable to other exciting new Panerai models such as the PAM 382 Bronze (which can be had for a slightly lower price), and I think that the PAM 371 is a solid choice if you are looking for a more contemporary Panerai dive watch. The PAM 371 features a 47mm brushed titanium case, an automatic-wind movement (the Panerai P.9001), and the requisite dive-watch functions such as a unidirectional rotating bezel, luminous bezel dot, rubber strap, and 300 meter water resistance — via Perpetuelle.com Blog

Lorber Tarler Residence / Robert Gurney Architect

Located in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood of Washington DC, an existing row house has been reimagined by Robert Gurney Architect as a modern, light filled urban dwelling for a professional couple. The compartmentalized interior of the existing house was gutted, and the rear façade and porch were removed. Surrounded by buildings on three sides and limited to the existing seventeen foot wide by thirty foot deep footprint, the new floor layout and open plan are intended to provide dynamic interior spaces in sharp contrast to the originally dark, cramped house — via ArchDaily

Ural Solo by Hammarhead

The Solo X (read cross) project began when the Ural sT was posted on Bike EXIF in May 2010. When I saw the images of that bike, I immediately fired off an email to Ural to see if we could get an sT to customize. The sT was attractive because it’s an elemental motorcycle, but this also made the build a bit of a challenge. There was not any plastic to strip off—Urals are apparently made of metal — via Bike EXIF

25-Year Refab: Concrete Factory Converted to Castle Home

Over a quarter of a century ago, an architect stumbled upon the half-ruined remains of an old cement factory. The grounds contained dozens of silos, vast subterranean spaces and long-silent manufacturing equipment.

Decades later, the results of his ongoing renovation project are beyond remarkable. The complex now houses its re-designer, Gothic-influenced Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, serving as his primary residence — via Dornob

Lariat by OctopusMe

Get hypnotized with this cool Tentacle Lariat which swings like a pendulum when you walk. This piece has been handmade and hand cast from a REAL Octopus Tentacle in solid sterling silver! Hand textures have been added to the skin of the octopus to add sculptural qualities to the Tentacle. It hangs on an 18″ Rolo Chain which is 2.3mm thick. The tentacle piece is approx. 1 1/4 inches long including the bail and 4.5mm at the thickest point. You can adjust the length to wear the ring by double wrapping it. — via Etsy

Mobile number portability flops in India

Mobile number portability has not taken off in India, with only about 1.7 million users applying for change of operator in the 15 days since the program was introduced, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

India had about 730 million mobile connections at the end of November last year, and it was expected that a large number of subscribers would rush to take advantage of the option that allows them to change operators while retaining their mobile numbers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Y-House / TOFU

This plan, designed by TOFU, has high ceilings and large living with cross sections of two small rooms. By the relationship between great rooms and small ones, we created many different places in this small house. The house is wrapped with galvalume, the black masses standing quietly in vacant lot are familiar with the countryside — via ArchDaily

Steve Heller hunts down a Nazi graphics standards manual

Designers and design historians told me over the years that they had heard about the existence of a Nazi graphics standards manual. No one could say they actually saw it, but they knew of someone who had. So it grew into something of a Big Foot or Loch Ness Monster tale, until one day I actually saw it too – and it had been right under my nose the whole time — via Design Observer

Google Translate native app available for iPhone, features speech-to-text and synthesized voices

Last month Google came out with some new synthesized voices for Google Translate, and now the Google Mobile Blog has announced the availability of an iOS version of Google Translate, complete with voice-to-text data entry and synthesized speech. There’s support for 15 languages via voice entry, but you can listen to the translation of 23 languages via those synthesized voices. Tapping a zoom icon makes the translated text bigger, handy when you want to just point and ask “where is the bathroom?” in Greek (or dozens of other languages) — via TUAW

Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Moon-Phase Calendar

The new Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Moon-Phase Calendar automatic watch in rose gold (Ref. 26385OR.OO.A088CR.01) was officially presented last month at SIHH 2011 industry event. And a calendar watch has never looked that beautiful.

Equipped with the relatively thin AP Caliber 2324/2825 automatic movement, the watch is presented in a very slim and elegant rose gold case 39 millimeters in diameter and only 8.80 millimeters high — via World Watch Review