Design

If you know the name Glenn Curtiss, you’ll probably remember him for his aviation exploits before World War I. Flying his own planes, he trounced established names such as the Wright brothers in competitions. And despite being American, he was awarded the #2 official French pilot’s license—after Louis Bleriot, who flew the English Channel in 1909. But Curtiss’ first interest was motorcycles rather than airplanes. He not only set the motorcycle land speed record, but also beat the mighty Indian Motorcycle Company in endurance races — via Bike EXIF

The house was placed horizontally along the site, with the living areas having direct views to the seaside. Coming from the road you enter an open courtyard that leads to the living area. The bedrooms are located on the first floor, and are composed of a wooden outer shell with a slopped roof — via ArchDaily

The shadow of your project is captured in the landscape, so you must first hearken it, said Renzo Piano.

From the early stages of the elaboration of the sketches we had in mind these words of the great architect. We tried to extrude those elements which would contribute and reflect these thoughts so building and landscape become one: to receive at any time of the day and night, regardless season the glorious sun, the Zephyros, the majestic blue sea and the mysterious silver moon of August, as when we were kids going camping and enjoying nature, so the users can embrace all the elements under one… permanent camping tent — via ArchDaily

The Erlenbach Cemetery Building houses the visitor area facilities for the Erlenbach cemetery. Designed by AFGH, architects Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler, the building includes a room for ceremony services, two vigil rooms, a waiting room, and porch services — via ArchDaily

The new architecture departs from the existing holes in walls masonry character by achieving the duality of being extroverted and open to the landscape, yet being solid, strong and robust. Close collaboration between architect and structural engineer ensured smooth fabrication and erection of the precast concrete wall/roof panels for the Channel Room. The panels were workshop formed to control the quality of the natural concrete finish — via ArchDaily

Audemars Piquet is celebrating its 135th Anniversary this year and in line with this celebration, Audemars Piquet has launched the limited edition Royal Oak Offshore Jarno Trulli. This watch, a limited edition run of only 500 pieces, will initially be available from the Audemars Piguet Boutique in Ginza, Japan followed by a international release at the end of the year.

The watch, reference 26202AU.OO.D002CA.01, will be powered by AP calibre 3126/3840, an automatic 13 ¼ ligne movement. The movement has 59 jewels and is made up of 365 parts. It offers a power reserve of 60 hours and beats at 3 Hz or 21,600 vibrations per hour — via Horology Crazy

The site is a dense residential area which done land readjustment. This sit is surrounded with houses, so we can’t see any good sight if we made windows anywhere. However, we must secure the privacy, carry the sunlight and the wind. We hope a sunny and open house — via ArchDaily

Yesterday’s steel bars are todays bamboo poles. Blinds and shades may add privacy, but do little to secure a property. A clever, cheap and green solution, this undulating sheet of bamboo does double-duty work (or triple, if you count the impressive aesthetic effect!).

ROEWU did not get lucky – they got smart: find something easy-growing that shoots up fast, buy what is for sale on the cheap, and make it work wonders, rather than bending a design to your whims at high material costs — via Dornob

The apartment is located in the city centre of Valencia on the first floor of a five-storey building.

This project remodels two apartments that have been joined together, radically altering the former layout. The proposal clearly differentiates day and night areas, both of them articulated around a spacious corridor which allows a clear flow from one room to another, and provides the whole space with an overall homogeneous concept — via ArchDaily

Japanese architect Kimihiko Okada has designed the Toda House in Hiroshima, Japan — via CONTEMPORIST

A modern and minimalistic building that completely eliminates the accepted barrier between the inside and the outside and hides, within its restrained spaces, a dramatic atmosphere and wide open spaces — via ArchDaily

If you have ever worked in a wood shop, you may have noticed the coiled shavings end up everywhere – a single day of cutting or carving can create massive piles. And what happens to these remains? Well, a sleek and shiny staircase is probably the last place you would expect them to end up.

Italian stair designers at Bonansea specialize in central-stringer curved staircases, stock or custom-fit to client needs. This piece goes a bit beyond their typical set of luxury steps. The idea behind it? Something better suited to a converted loft than cold hard steel – and that makes use of a readily-available scrap material any custom manufacturer is sure to have on hand — via Dornob

A casual summer boathouse-cum-holiday home was designed by MOS Architects with an internal dock to bring the family boat right into its own floating garage under the house — via Home Design Find

The young German watch brand will soon start selling its new Bombfrog BT25 Tactic diving watch illuminated by long-lasting tritium tubes — via World Watch Review

The residence in Küsnacht near Zurich is a late work of the Swiss architect Theodor Laubi, built in 1956 on a plot of land with an ample garden and flanked by a forest. After several changes of owners and their corresponding conversions and extensions the house had lost its original modernistic character.

In 2005 the residence was fortunately taken over by new owners (a young couple – a gallery owner and an artist) who recognised the potential of the house. The opening of a gallery for contemporary art in the ground floor not only revitalised the house but also transformed it into a partial, semi-public building that profited the whole surrounding residential area — via ArchDaily

In the holiday spirit of not taking things too seriously, here’s a curve ball to throw into the Bike EXIF mix. A lot of strange contraptions come my way, but this Rotax-engined number is one of the most extreme motorcycles I’ve seen for a while. It’s built by Jim Davis of MotoMorphic—based in San Rafael, California—and costs $100,000 or more, according to specification — via Bike EXIF

Located at one of the principal gateways to the Australian National University’s campus this new building brings together three previously separate schools specialising in international relations and comparative politics into a new purpose designed facility — via ArchDaily

In terms of an architectural proposition, the BR House located in the countryside could not be more intriguing: situated within the dense and impressive Rain Forest, circumscribing and penetrating the area, dominates all senses. The circumstances, from the inception, forces fundamental questions for architecture: how can architecture present itself and, if making itself present, how can it deliberately show itself as construction? A chalet or any other mimicry of puristic architecture, comfortably absorbed by the landscape, is a banal dissembling response; a denial of the confrontation which would deprive the traces of the radicalness and vigor arising from this contrast — via ArchDaily